Meeting Your Future In-Laws Can Be Exciting

"Bernard, this is my sister Sandi."

Bernard Morton smiled automatically but it took less than a second for him to realize that he'd proposed the wrong Cooper sister. While Mindy was a very pretty girl, Sandi was a knockout. She also had a figure that made Mindy look like an outfielder on a Little League team, a figure that she showed off in snug jeans and an even snugger sequinned T-shirt. "How do you do, Sandi?" he asked.

Sandi purred her response. "I do just fine, Bernard. It's a pleasure to meet the man who's going to be my brother-in-law."

Well, well, well. Things were finally looking up. "It's a pleasure to meet you too," Bernard assured her as he gave her hand a little extra squeeze. "Ummm...how long will you be staying in Schuyler Square?"

"Oh, until the wedding," Sandi assured her, her bold eyes staring into his. "I wouldn't dream of missing Mindy's wedding."

"Sandi is going to be Mindy's maid-of-honor," Betsy Cooper added. "I told Mindy that you two simply can't elope. Sandi has planned on being in Mindy's wedding for as long as I can remember."

Bernard noticed that Mindy looked like she was about to throw up. That didn't surprise him. Mindy had never mentioned even having a sister to him and it seemed like there was little love lost between the two of them. "Will your husband be joining you?" he asked Sandi.

"Oh, I'm not married. I haven't met a man yet who can tame me." She smiled at him through dark lashes. "I'm not as lucky as Mindy seems to be."

"It's beyond me why Sandi isn't married," Bernard's future mother-in-law remarked to no one in particular. "She's gorgeous, smart, has a beautiful figure."

"She's just too perfect," Mindy said sarcastically. "How could any man stand so much perfection?"

"It has been difficult to find someone up to my standards," Sandi told Bernard, ignoring Mindy's outburst. "Most of the men I meet are so...average. Not like you, Bernie."

"His name is Bernard," Mindy snapped, "and I'll thank you to remember that Bernard is MY fiance, Sandi, not yours!" Mindy turned to Bernard. "She's done this to me ever since we were kids. If I had a new coloring book, she had to have two new coloring books. If my Barbie got a new dress, her Barbie got a new wardrobe. I knew she'd do this if she came to our wedding! I knew she'd have her claws out for you!"

To Bernard's surprise, neither Sandi or Betsy acknowledged that Mindy had spoken. Instead, they turned to each other and began to discuss what kind of dress Sandi should wear as the maid-of-honor. Bernard felt a rare rush of sympathy for Mindy. It had to be difficult having a sister like Sandi.

"Bernard? What do you think? Should I wear black to your wedding? I don't want to look like I'm in mourning." She reached over and touched his knee lightly. "But black is my color. I look divine in it."

On the other hand, it might be a lot of fun for him to have a sister-in-law like Sandi...