Page 19 of Best Served Cold

I give her a half laugh, murmuring, “So do I.”

But my mind is stuck on what Dottie said—Robarranged to pay our bill?

Surprise bubbles up inside me, chased by regret. I let Jonah shape my opinion about Rob as surely as if my thoughts were clay. He convinced me his brother was a deadbeat loser. And,sure, maybe Rob is a deadbeat—I truly have no idea what he does other than play with the garbage band—but he’s not a loser. He’sinteresting, and he cares about other people in a way Jonah is clearly not capable of.

What other horrible ideas has Jonah infected me with?

I clear my throat. “You know, Jonah never wanted to go to any breweries with me. He said it made him think of work, and he wanted to keep his home life and work life separate. He spent so much time traveling, working nights and weekends…I figured it made sense. But now…”

Hannah laughs through her nose. “He didn’t want us comparing notes. Which means that’s exactly what we should be doing. So what’s the worst thing about him? You go first, Sophie.”

My mind whirls, sifting through every little grievance I’ve stowed away like bugs in a spiderweb. “Uh…he’d say he didn’t care about something, like where we went out to eat, or what favors we were going to give away at the wedding, and then he’d let me spin my wheels for hours, only for him to choose something completely different. Oh crap…” I bury my face in my hands, spearing my fingers through my hair. It was in a neat ponytail a couple of hours ago. It’s an unholy mess now, and I honestly don’t care. “I forgot about the wedding. I have so many arrangements to cancel.”

“We’ll help you.”

I look up, surprised, because it was Briar who made the offer, her voice quavering.

“This isn’t your fault, Briar. You don’t owe me anything. He hurt you, too.”

“I know,” she says, still playing with her gorgeous hair. “But I want to help. Jonahneverwants to help. He walked past an old woman lugging a stack of boxes into the post office, and he didn’t even offer to hold the door for her. Not until I asked him to.That’s when I should have known, but I made excuses for him. I told myself he mustn’t have noticed.”

A burst of air escapes me, not quite a laugh. “I know what that’s like. I really wanted to believe he was what he seemed to be. So I ignored any evidence that he wasn’t.”

“What he is,” Hannah says, setting down her tea, “is a bad kisser. Like seriously bad. We should all count ourselves lucky for escaping him. GingerBeerBabe too, if she has indeed escaped him.”

I hug myself, worried for this woman I’ve never met. “I hope he didn’t bamboozle her.”

Briar smiles at me. “I haven’t heard that word since I was a little girl. I like the way you talk. You called Jonah an ignoramus earlier.”

“And I like your hair,” I say. “You remind me of Rapunzel.” A sigh seeps out, and because I’m still feeling the influence of one and a half high-gravity beers on a mostly empty stomach, I find myself saying, “You know, you’re both stupidly hot. I don’t understand why Jonah asked me to marry him in the first place. He’s successful. Good looking. I work in a taproom and shop at big-box stores. I’ve never understood makeup…like, I bought a tube of lipstick at this makeup counter because the clerk promised it would change my life, and it was the same color as my lips. What’s the point?”

Hannah, who was sipping her tea again, plunks her cup down so forcefully the bottom clinks on the wood table. Her expression is fierce. “You stop that, right now. Weallwork in breweries, and there’s nothing wrong with that. I’m sure you have your own hopes and dreams. You’re going to get them someday, but it won’t be by stepping all over other people. Because you’re not an asshole. And you’realsostupidly hot, by the way. He’s just stupid. But if you ever want to learn about makeup, I’ll help you.”

“Really?”

“Absolutely. I studied to be a makeup artist before I fell into the whole customer service thing. You need the perfect red lipstick. Every woman does.” She glances at Briar. “You too, Rapunzel. I’ll hook you both up.”

Briar finally drops the lock of hair she’s been messing with. She smiles at Hannah, then looks at me. “She’s right. You’re beautiful, Sophie. Your aura is too.”

“You can see auras?” I ask, wondering if I believe her.

“I can’t see them.” She pats her hand on her very full chest. “But I can feel them. I felt yours the moment I met you.”

“Not to be a naysayer,” Hannah says, “but if that’s true, why didn’t you pick up on Jonah’s aura?”

“You really know how to ruin a moment,” Briar says, but she’s smiling. Hannah and I both start laughing. It feelsgood. Maybe it’s a just-for-now good, and later I’ll slide back into that darker, oozier place. But I’m happy right now, and that’s what matters.

“I like you both a lot,” I say. “Isn’t that funny? We all have terrible taste in men, but Jonah has fantastic taste in women. That’s his silver lining.”

“Maybe everything really does happen for a reason,” Briar says, finishing her tea. “What if we were only drawn to him because he was supposed to bring us together?”

“An interesting theory,” Hannah says as I lift my tea to finish it. “But it would have been a lot less traumatizing if we’d met after joining the same book club.”

“But then no one would know the truth about Jonah,” I say, setting my cup down. “What do you think about what Dottie said? I don’t think I’m prepared to plan some sort of grand revenge.”

Briar gives me a sympathetic look. “I’ll bet it was exhausting planning the wedding.”

“Actually, I had to let Jonah and his mother plan the whole thing. They sort of insisted on it.”

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