Drake Sisters 04 - Dangerous Tides

as she yanked up her shirt. She whistled and pulled the material back in place. "You've been having a good time, haven't you?" She gestured toward a chair and waited until Libby removed her jeans so she could kneel by her to begin the difficult job of cleaning her leg. Joley started to work on her palm.

    "I'm going to marry that man," Libby announced.

    Sarah turned back from the window to face her. Hannah covered her mouth to keep the gasp from being heard. Joley and Elle exchanged a long look of near despair.

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    "Are you certain, Libby? You haven't been seeing him that long."

    "Longer than you think," Libby said. "I remember watching him argue with a professor at Harvard. I knew he was right, but the professor was so arrogant and Ty was making a mortal enemy. I wouldn't have done it. I would have agreed and taken the good grade and simply have quietly known I was right.
    It was the principle, the fact that Professor Harding was teaching an entire class something inaccurate.
    Tyson didn't care if that man could fail him, it mattered that the material was taught correctly. I knew then, at that moment, that he was someone special. He stands up, Sarah."

    "Can you stand up to him? A man should make you feel good about yourself, Libby. I saw your face when you talked to him back in school. He made you cry."

    Libby nodded. "I know. I just didn't understand him back then. He thought I had all kinds of confidence, that I was some sort of royalty. Why do people think that of us? I know Jonas does with Hannah, and for years I've heard how popular we were. I didn't feel popular in school. Did any of you? Ow!" She glared at Joley and jerked her hand away.

    "What does that mean anyway?" Joley asked. "I was leader of the pack. Does that make me popular? I just couldn't take having rules. And stop being a baby. You're a doctor, for heaven's sake, it's supposed to hurt."

    "You still hate rules," Sarah said, frowning. "I don't know how you do it, Joley, and you still stay as sweet and as innocent as you do."

    Joley made a face. "Ugg. Never repeat that in public. Or in front of Mom or Dad. That's just wrong, Sarah."

    "All the girls hated me," Hannah said. "I walked into a room and they immediately got really nasty looks on their faces. I was so painfully shy I couldn't have talked to them anyway, but it made it worse. They all thought I was stuck up and haughty. I didn't even know what haughty was the first time I overheard someone call me that." She poured a dark-looking liquid into a bowl. "This is going to hurt, honey, so take a deep breath. We want it clean though."

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    Tears swam in Libby's eyes for a moment as the antiseptic flowed over her leg, but she choked back the gasp and rubbed Hannah's shoulder in commiseration. "School was rough on you, Hannah. I didn't pay all that much attention to what other people thought of me. I had all of you and I was perfectly happy."

    "That's because everyone loved you, Libby," Joley said. "And if they didn't, they were afraid I'd beat them up. And I would have, too. If Jackson doesn't figure out who is threatening you, I'm going to have to do the investigating myself." She passed Hannah the tube of antibiotic cream.

    "That will win you points with both Jonas and Jackson," Sarah said.

    Elle made a face. "Big bad Jackson. Guess we should all hide in the closet so we don't ruffle his feathers."

    "What is it with you and Jackson?" Hannah asked.

    Elle shrugged, turning her face away from her sisters. "He's driving me crazy."

    "He never talks," Sarah pointed out. "How in the world could he drive you crazy?"

    "He doesn't talk to you, Sarah. That doesn't mean he doesn't talk to me."

    The sisters exchanged puzzled looks. "When?"

    "All the time."

    Hannah stood up and crossed the room to wrap her arm around her youngest sister. "What does he say to you, Elle?"

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    Elle let her breath out slowly and turned back to them. "He doesn't approve of me."

    "What a shocker," Joley said, curling her legs under her. "Jonas doesn't approve of any of us, especially Hannah, and no one approves of me. Elle, sweetheart, tell the guy to drop dead. That's what I do."

    Elle flashed a small smile. "Believe me, I do."

    Hannah shook her head. "She doesn't mean he speaks to