Page 80 of One Sweet Day I Found You

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“Great job, ladies. Keep it up.”Beecham had been more than pleased with Kira and Courtney regarding the lodging guide, the Fourth of July piece, and the video Kira had put together from last year’s extravaganza.

Courtney had sped through the rest of her list at the coffee shop after talking with Gia. It seemed an improvement in her mood had made it a lot easier to finish the work on time.

Kira followed Courtney out of the staff meeting. “I’m so glad you’re coming to Marcy’s on the Fourth. It’s going to be a blast. I was going to invite you today when I saw you, by the way, but I’m glad Gia beat me to it. Marcy and I just cooked this up the other day.”

“Oh, thanks, Kira. I’m excited.”

“Hey, you want to go to the beach with me tomorrow morning? I need to work on my tan.”

“What are you talking about?” Courtney said. “I’m the one who needs to work on her tan.”

Kira laughed. “Eh. All right, we both do.” She held up her arm to compare it to Courtney’s.

Courtney grinned. “I’ll be there. What time?”

* * *

Around eleven o’clockon Saturday morning, Courtney made her way through a small crowd on the sand at Headland State Park beach. She carried her blue duffel bag and wore her strapless pink bikini under her clothes.

The day was warm, and the lake sparkled as rays of sunlight reflected off of the bright-blue water. A couple of people in their twenties threw a Frisbee at the far end of the sand while children splashed and played in the shallow swimming zone.

A soft breeze blew through the trees surrounding the inlet, making for an all-around perfect day at the beach.

“Hey, girl!” said Kira, sitting up to greet her. She adjusted her yellow bikini top.

Courtney slipped off her flip-flops and straightened her towel on the sand next to Kira. She wiggled out of her denim shorts and tank top then leaned back on the sand. Kira resumed her sun-worshipping position on her back. They chatted about the latest gossip at the office and around town.

Courtney asked if Kira had talked to Sam lately. Kira said she hadn’t in over a week, that she was doing a good job lately trying not to think about the man who had broken her heart.

“Well, that makes one of us.” Courtney said, her expression sullen.

“What are you talking about, Aussie? Wait—did something happen?” Kira turned to face Courtney, raising one eyebrow above her sunglasses. “Are you hung up on your ex again?”

“Oh, no, it’s not that.” Courtney sat up and stared at the sand. “Nick and I had a fight.”

“Really?” Kira looked stunned and sat up. “About what?”

Courtney sighed. How much should she say? She decided to give her the facts. “It sounds horrible, but I let Austin—that’s the ex—come over to my place so we could talk the other night. I was getting really upset, and I had to get out of the bar before I made a scene.”

Kira sat up. “No way? Really?”

Courtney sat up next. “Really. It was after you left. I never should’ve brought him home with me. It was just that—well, we go back so far. It didn’t seem weird or like I was even stepping over any boundaries with Nick. I mean, it was justAustin—my ancient history ex-boyfriend. I basically hated him that night, but we had to have it out.”

“So, how’d it go?”

Courtney shrugged. “Well, it’s completely and utterly over—finally. I’m honestly really glad we talked.”

“Oh, I get that,” Kira said. “Closure is everything.”

Courtney explained how Nick had never texted to let her know he was cancelling on their date and how he’d stopped over the next morning after Austin had passed out on her couch. That he had shown up out of the blue and raced off angry without waiting for an explanation.

“Oh, my gosh—get out?” Kira pulled off her sunglasses. Her hazel eyes had shot wide.

“Yeah, and it did not go well, needless to say. Nick jumped to conclusions and the rest is history.”

Kira waited for Courtney to go on.

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