Page 47 of Clumsy in Love

“We almost got him to leave the store and go to work with Holly in camo and a neon orange hunting vest.” Tess chuckled.

“Did he do it?” Juliet asked.

“No,” Tess said. “Another customer called us out, causing Cole to rip off his shirt. That view was a heart-stopper.”

“Yeah. That backfired on us pretty spectacularly,” Holly agreed.

“You should have a fling,” Faith said. “Your horoscope says you’ll get closer to someone you know today.”

“Why are you so hung up on this fling idea?” Holly asked. “I was engaged five minutes ago. The town would have a fit.”

“Who cares?” Alex said. “Tess is right. He’s hot.”

Holly rolled her eyes. “Hooking up with him is not on the table.”

“Speaking of your engagement,” Alex said, shifting gears. “We have to dissect what Rick said to you the other day.”

“Yeah,” Juliet said. “Too tall? What an idiot.”

“That’s not exactly how it went down,” Holly said, unsure why she was defending Rick. “Said he had feelings for someone else. I mean, thank goodness he didn’t just push through and marry me. Then where would I be?”

“True,” Tess said. “I didn’t say it before, but you can do better, Bennett.”

Holly shrugged. In the last few days, she’d given a lot of thought as to why she wasn’t more upset over Rick’s desertion. Why she felt more relief than devastation. “It’s possible I was more in love with theideaof being in love than I actually was in love,” she said.

From the way Alex nodded, Holly could tell she’d thought but never voiced the same thing. “Why didn’t you guys say anything?” Holly asked.

“You’d just gone through all the stuff with your dad,” Tess said. “And then your mom split. It was just never the right time.”

“And like we mentioned before,” Juliet added. “On paper, you should be perfect for each other.”

“But it comes down to that spark thing. Or lack of one,” Faith finished.

It was as if they’d rehearsed the whole spiel. Talked about it behind her back. Which she didn’t begrudge them. They were only looking out for her. She should have asked their opinion sooner and been more open to it. They could see stuff from the outside that her rose-colored glasses blinded her to.

“Yeah,” Holly said. “I guess you’re right. Maybe subconsciously I was trying to replace my parents with someone.”

“Well, forget Rick,” Faith said. “Let’s get back to Officer McHot Stuff.”

“He’s sobig,” Juliet said. Holly had to agree. Tall, broad, and menacing.

“Revisiting the fling thing,” Faith said. “They say the best way to get over someone is to get under someone else.”

“Faith!” Holly slapped at her arm. “I already said, that isnotan option.”

“But if it were?” Tess pushed.

“Shut up,” Holly said. “Here he comes.”

“Hey,” Cole said, approaching the table. “I have some good news.”

“I thought he got away,” Holly said.

“He did. But Detective Flanigan just called. They found out he’s scheduled to be on a one o’clock flight out of Portsmouth. I think this morning was his last-ditch effort before he had to return to New York. That’s why he was so bold at the parade.”

“That’s great.” She pulled a beer out of the cooler and offered it to him.

“As soon as we verify he’s on that flight, we’ll arrange to have him arrested at the airport in New York.” He waved off the beer. “I’ll relax and have a drink when that happens. Until then, we still need to be careful.”

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