Page 36 of Best Friends for Never

“But—”

“No. No buts,” I cut in. “I’ve already made my decision. I’ve weighed this carefully and done all the math. I know this is what I want.”

Noel stares at me, the flames glinting off the blue in his eyes. Finally, after what feels like several minutes, he nods. “Okay.”

It’s all he says about it, and I don’t know why, but it feels like a weight has been lifted. I don’tneedNoel’s permission or approval to do this, but I like that he trusts me enough to do this.

I know it’s a big undertaking, but just as I’m confident in handling it, I’m also confident in this town. Sure, it took some time to get the council to approve it and give me a decent budget, but thanks to our donor, it seems we have interest, and that’s what we really needed.

I don’t expect the townspeople to front the entire bill and am more than prepared to take out a loan to cover the rest. I’m just hoping for as much as I can get before it comes to that.

I settle back in my chair, not even realizing I had sat forward in the first place. “Okay,” I echo.

“Well, now that that’s settled,” my mother says, “how many people have we signed up for the bachelor auction part of the evening?”

“A what, now?”

“A date-night raffle!” my mother tells Noel with glee. “We’ve gathered all the single men in town and will raffle off a date night with them, along with several other services and items donated by local businesses. We thought of it after watching some Hallmark movie where the lawyer lady returned to her small town and fell back in love with her old high school flame, who stayed behind and became a lumberjack or whatever it is he was.”

“A horse trainer,” I provide. “No, wait. That was the other movie with a lawyer. Was he a baker? No.” I tap my chin. “I know! He was a fishmonger!”

“Can you imagine that smell?” My mother wrinkles her nose. “No, thanks. I’d rather live in the city.”

“I don’t know. The city smells pretty bad,” Noel offers.

“Good point,” Mom says. “The last time I was in Seattle, it smelled like pee, fish, and weed. Now, the weed I didn’t mind, but that pee and fish was not for me.”

“It wasn’t that bad, Mom.”

“Youwent to Seattle?” Noel asks, his surprise evident.

It’s warranted, though. I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve been outside Emerald Grove. That may sound ridiculous to some, but I’m perfectly content staying in my little corner of the world.

Noel knows that better than anyone.

“What? It was for a work thing with Axel.”

Is it bad I like the way his eyes dim when I say Axel’s name? That I like how a little wrinkle forms between his brows each time I mention that Axel is my best friend?

Probably, but I don’t care.

“So, what? You fix up the town together and roam the state doing remodeling or something?”

“Or something,” I say, not elaborating just to irritate him.

It works, and his grip on his bottle of Watermelon Lime tightens just a little.

“Well, if it’s anything like the work you’ve done at the café, your success is well deserved.”

My mother gasps. “You’ve seen the café? That’s ... That’s ... Well, that’s a big load of crap!” She huffs. “EvenIhaven’t seen it, and I got her the dang job.”

“You did not! Axel and I”—I dart my eyes to Noel, and yup, the wrinkle is there—“got that job all on our own, thank you very much. We were having Rossi breakfast sandwiches”—Did that wrinkle just deepen?—“and came up with the idea right there in front of Gianna and Greta. They approved and asked us when we could start.”

“Then you went and closed down the town’s favorite breakfast and lunch spot foreight weeks.” Mom pouts.

“It would have been six if Axel had ordered the right materials.”

“Uh-oh. Trouble in paradise?” Noel questions.

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