Free Trouble In Triplicate by Barbara Boswell Page A

nodded.
    "And you're still a virgin, waiting for that first real love to come along and be your first lover. And when he does you'll undoubtedly marry him."
    "There's nothing wrong with that," she said defensively. "It doesn't make me some sort of a freak."
    "No." He shook his head. "But it is unusual. Why would three beautiful sisters reach the age of twenty-six before two of them finally made love? Why is the third one still holding out? You and your sisters weren't recluses. All three of you have dated through the years. In fact, I distinctly recall Sophia frothing at the mouth your senior year in high school because the Post triplets took up three of the nominations for prom queen. If you'd been elected triple queens, I think she would have slashed her wrists," he added dryly.
    "Bonnie Jo Webster was prom queen," Juliet remembered with a smile. "She married her high-school boyfriend and moved to Lynchburg. They have three children now. The oldest girl, Kyla, is—"
    "Do you have the answers to my questions, Juliet?" Caine interrupted softly. "Or are you trying to avoid answering them?"
    She stared into the candle flame. His questions. Sometimes she'd asked them of herself. "I guess my sisters and I never felt the need, the urge, to be that close to anyone else," she said slowly. "It's hard to put into words. I—I've never tried to explain it to anyone before. ..."
    "Explain it to me. Juliet," Caine demanded quietly.
    Their eyes met and clung for a timeless moment. Juliet felt herself being drawn into the mysterious amber depths of his gaze. She was suddenly quite breathless from the intensity of his searching stare.
    It required considerable effort to drag her gaze from his, but she mustered her strength and looked away. "From what I've heard—and read," she said, "falling in love involves a certain dependency and loss of autonomy. For a while, in the early stages of a passionate relationship, the couple's identities sort of merge." She glanced up at him for confirmation.
    He was watching her closely, his expression enigmatic. "Go on."
    "Well, I think that's why my sisters and I avoided that kind of intense relationship when we were younger. It took us years to feel like three separate people because we were never treated as individuals. We were always the triplets, a single entity, a single identity. So none of us was particularly eager to merge herself with another person." She smiled slightly. "You're not following me, are you? I told you it was hard to explain."
    "I'm following you very well, Juliet. And I believe I understand why Miranda was so quick to break her engagement to Grant. I think she was still unsure of committing herself."
    Juliet considered his theory. "That may be true. It's not easy to give up your identity after finally finding it. For years the boundaries between the three of us were blurred. If one of us wanted to go somewhere, we all felt like we had to go. If one of us liked or disliked something, the other two thought we did too. We even had one name we used interchangeably between us."
    "Sissy," he guessed.
    She nodded as she fidgeted nervously with a spoon. She had never spoken so frankly about the difficulties of being an identical triplet. She drew in a deep breath. "It took us a long time to grow up and finally learn who we were. I don't think any of us was ready for a mature relationship with a man ..."
    "Until this year," Caine finished for her.
    "Yes. Liwy started going with Bobby Lee, and just three months later Randi met Grant. They were serious about each other almost immediately."
    "And Juliet has yet to take the plunge." He studied her across the table. Those big, beautiful periwinkle blue eyes of hers were troubled. He saw the traces of uncertainty and confusion in them, and was inexplicably touched.
    "I don't want to sound as if I've ever resented Liwy and Randi or being born a triplet," Juliet hastened to add. "I haven't." It was so strange putting her previously unspoken