Small towns are great, don’t get me wrong. But living in a small town where everyone knows that your family, who is well-known, doesn’t like another family, who is also well-known, means you have more eyes on you than I care to admit.
I glance over my shoulder as I head up the walkway to my friend Brooke’s front door. I don't bother knocking before I step inside and let out a breath.
No, it’s not the end of the world if people see me, but it would lead to too many questions and I cannot handle more than one problem at a time.
“You made it!” Sadie Collins, who is engaged to Hudson Asher, says with so much happiness, it’s hard not to smile at her welcome. She wraps me in a hug. “I’m so sorry about that last night. I could see that you wanted to talk, but the people in the room made it hard.”
“It’s fine. I get it. I could just suck it up and tell them to mind their own business.”
It’s true, I could. But I'm not exactly the kind of girl who likes confrontation, so I just … avoid.
“We all could, but the safe choice would be to make a plan first so that you get to set the story. Otherwise, rumors will fly like confetti at a gender reveal.”
Also another great reason to avoid confrontation.
I glance at Brooke and then back at Sadie. “Anything you need to share?”
“No.” They laugh in unison. “Unless we want to get to the bottom of this whole Miles and Quinn thing. I mean, do youthink he got her pregnant and that’s why they decided to justboomstart dating?”
Sadie laughs at Brooke’s theory and shakes her head. “And that right there is how rumors get started. Miles is smart, so is Quinn. Whatever is going on with them is their problem, not mine, not yours, and definitely not Shay’s.”
“Agreed. So what is Shay’s problem?” Brooke asks, nodding to the living room for us to move there. Just as we sit with a charcuterie board and mimosas, Grace blasts through the door.
“Sorry, sorry, a last-minute reservation got lost and my brother couldn’t find it and it was chaos. What did I miss?”
She drops her purse to the floor along with a pair of slippers in her hand, toes off her heels, and replaces them with the fuzzy ones.
We might be a small town, but seeing as how Grace runs the lodge and its status is growing larger in the country, if she’s working, she will never not be wearing heels.
It’s crazy how we ended up as best friends. I’m in torn jean shorts and a tank with slip-ons, and she’s all business.
“Shay was about to give us an update on The Marina.”
“Oh, good. Tell her to hire Luca.”
“For what?” Sadie grabs a cracker with cheese.
“Her contractor bailed yesterday,” Grace says for me.
“Oh my god.”
“Are you freaking kidding?”
I groan and down my first mimosa.
“It’s true, and if I don’t find someone to replace him soon, that’s it. I’ll lose The Marina.”
“Oh, babe.” Sadie hugs me.
Brooke refills my drink and says, “Would hiring Luca be the worst?”
“Absolutely, it would.” I grab a cheese cube and toss it into my mouth.
“That would basically seal The Marina’s fate. The moment word gets out that he and I are working together, my parents would have Linc stake a for sale sign out front faster than the speed of light.”
“I would tell my brother he can do no such thing,” Sadie says. Her family owns the only reality company in Lovers.
Again. Small-town things.