Page 8 of One Sweet Day is Never Enough

“Finally, someone devoid of sarcasm.” Kira grinned. “Go ahead, Gia.” She sipped her iced tea and waited.

Gia told them about the anniversary party she’d just been assigned. She left out the part about the weekend’s wedding mishap and having a different wedding taken away from her and reassigned to Tara. Look on the bright side, her mother always said, and so she would.

“That’s exciting, Gia!” Courtney leaned in.

“Thanks.” Gia smiled.

“So where’s the party?” Nick asked.

“And canwecome?” Tom joked.

“Nobody’s going anywhere, Thomas,” Kira said affectionately. “Now let the poor girl talk.”

Gia laughed and explained. Nick and Tom said they knew of the Pederson Orchard. Kira had also been there last year with Sam, her then-boyfriend.

“Yeah, it’s such a beautiful setting. I can’t get over it.” Gia went on to explain how the owner had agreed to host more weddings there on a regular basis and that her boss was happy with her for pulling off that feat. “The owner was really nice, too. Friendly and smart.” Gia found herself smiling from ear-to-ear.

“That’s excellent.” Kira gave her a little pat on the back. “Good job.”

“Thank you.” Gia looked at the group appreciatively. If they only knew how badly she needed a pat on the back.

The food arrived and Gia dove into her fried whitefish sandwich. She was not only tired, she was starving.

Courtney looked at Kira. “Okay, Kira, so correct me if I’m wrong, but I haven’t seen that kind of grin on Gia’s face before.”

Kira looked at Gia.

Gia started to blush. “What kind of grin?”

“You’re right, Court.” Kira eyed her suspiciously. “In fact, she seems to be glowing with excitement. So tell, tell. What else happened today, Gia?”

The guys looked interested but stayed quiet. Tom took a bite of his corned beef on rye.

“Nothing,” Gia insisted. Was she that easy to read? Okay, so she’d had a nice time talking to Seth, but she’d only brought him up once—and barely.

Courtney raised an eyebrow and dipped a French fry in ketchup then started up again, casually. “So you mentioned the owner of the orchard and that he’s friendly and smart, but what other words would you use to describe this owner?” She dropped the fry into her mouth.

Gia sucked some soda through her straw before she answered them. “Oh, come on you guys. He’s just a nice guy.”

“Uh-huh.” Kira grunted. “And?”

“And he’s about, I don’t know, twenty-seven or twenty-eight, probably.”

“Uh-huh,” said Courtney with more interest. “And what does he look like?”

Gia hesitated. She had promised herself to try and forget about his looks.

Tom cut in. “Come on, Stewart. We’re waiting.”

“Okay. Tall, dark hair…” Gia paused.

“And?” Kira asked.

How did they always manage to pull this kind of thing out of her? “Okay, he’s incredibly handsome.”

“There it is!” Kira smacked her hand on the table and the others laughed. “I knew it. You met a hottie.”

Nick took a bite of his burger, shaking his head at them, and Tom snorted, stuffing a handful of fries into his mouth.

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