Page 51 of Falling for the Wrong Guy

I straightened from her embrace. “I guess Ella is behind on the latest update. I only just learned this myself—I was wrong. The woman and child I saw him with were his friend’s family, Quinn, the man in the coma that Dex came to town to help.”

Isla stared at me in confusion. “If he isn’t hiding a secret family, then why did you let him go? Luke and I both got good vibes from him.”

“I don’t know, Isla. I was so upset after thinking he had a family, I decided that this whole thing was just too much for me.”

“You mean too much because you really, really like the man, and that has you scared.”

“Don’t need analyzing right now, Isla. I’ve made a decision, and I’m going to stick to it because it’s for the best.”

Isla pursed her lips, which meant she was holding back another comment. “Fine. You’ve decided and that is that. I won’t say another word about it.”

“Fine,” I said defensively, then softened my tone. “Thanks for staying to help in the kitchen. I’m not sure I could have handled this place by myself this morning.” I walked into the refrigerator and brought out the tubs of precut vegetables Dex had prepared the day before. Everything was perfectly cubed, and for some reason, seeing those nicely cut veggies made my chest ache. I rolled the cart out of the refrigerator. Isla was tying on an apron. She glanced up when she noticed that I’d stopped in the center of the kitchen.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“I can’t believe I’m saying this out loud, but I’m truly miserable. I like him. I like Dex. He’s completely wrong for me, for my life and yet …”

“Yet your heart says he’s completely right.”

I pushed the cart to the work counter. “Why does love have to be this complicated? Why can’t I just meet a man—a man like—like Luke.”

Isla laughed. “Right, because that wasn’t complicated at all. May I remind you of my terrifying weekend at his parents’ country house with his mother, the viper, nipping at my heels?” She turned her eyes up at the analogy. “I suppose a viper wouldn’t be nipping, but I stand by my assessment.” Isla walked over and gave me a hug. “But things untangled and now we’re as happy as can be. He’s as excited about the bakery as I am. Mostly he’s excited about all the taste testing, but that’s all right.” Isla held both my arms and leaned back to give me a scrutinizing look. “Do you think you made too hasty of a decision asking him to leave?”

“Probably. My emotions were still raw from jumping to the conclusion that he had a family, and my embarrassment was pretty fresh, too. No, Isla, this is for the best. He only came here to help Quinn. He doesn’t plan to stay long. He told me that himself. It’s better to cut myself off cold turkey than let my heart get too involved.”

Isla arched a brow. “Think it might be too late for that. But Ar, you’re my big sister, and I’ve never known you to make a bad decision. And even when you have, like with your engagement to Paul?—”

It was my turn for the arched brow. “Never going to let me live that one down, are you?”

“I need some kind of ammunition against my otherwise failproof sister. It was your one calamity. And the rest of us have too many to count. Mind you, it was a gargantuan-sized calamity.”

“Is this little chat supposed to help me feel better?”

Isla hugged me again. “Sorry, just having some fun to get your mind off this morning. Let’s get breakfast started, eh? I’m a little rusty at this. We’ll get through the morning, and once the rush is over, we’ll see how you’re feeling. If you still think you made the right choice, then I support you a hundred percent. If you, however, decide that you need to rethink the decision, I’m a hundred percent behind that.” She flashed me a big smile. “How is that for diplomacy, eh?”

I shook my head. “Fire up that stove. We open in half an hour.”

ChapterThirty-Three

Dex

Isat out on my beach chair. It was going to be a nice day, but it wasn’t going to help my mood. There’d been no change at the hospital. Quinn was still running a fever, so they were changing up some of the medications. It seemed almost like a “let’s throw this at the wall to see if it sticks” process. I wasn’t feeling great about any of it, and on top of my other massive worries, I’d stupidly gotten myself involved with a woman who had, in a short span of time, found her way into my heart, only to break it. I was sure that same heart was impenetrable, but Aria had found a chink in my armor. This morning, she made herself clear, so it was time for me to move on.

Oscar shuffled past and waved, then stopped. “Haven’t seen your bird this morning. Is he below deck?”

“He’s not below.” I sat up out of the chair and surveyed the deck. “I haven’t seen him. I just assumed he was with you.”

Oscar adjusted his floppy hat to shade his eyes from the sun coming through the haze. “Didn’t stop by for his handful of crackers.” Oscar gave me a nod that reminded me of my dad whenever there was something serious to discuss. “I hate to say it, but I think he’s gone the way of Flipper.”

“You think he’s dead?” My mood and life were so grim at the moment, I instantly jumped to the wrong conclusion. In my defense, his wording made it easy to make that jump.

Oscar chuckled. “No, not death. The way of Flipper.” He bent his arms and flapped them like wings. “Maybe he got tired of domestic life. They all leave eventually.”

Losing Gus made my mood even darker. “Truer words were never spoken, Oscar.”

He shuffled his feet around and tugged his hat lower. “Did you see your friends? I’m not one to meddle, but you might want to look for a better set of friends. They were rude.”

I got up and walked to the railing as he spoke. I didn’t want to alarm him, so I kept my tone measured. “Friends? What did they look like? Did they give names?”

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