Page 71 of Single-Minded
When I moved to Dragonfly Lake, I’d never expected this.
Today was my thirty-sixth birthday, and I was spending it surrounded by girlfriends, more girlfriends than I’d had all at once since I was a kid.
Rowan and Chloe had organized dinner at The Cove, the restaurant at the Marks Hotel. As dusk approached, I sat with the two of them plus Maeve, Anna, Olivia, and Magnolia at the table with the best lake view in the covered patio dining section.
“Chloe, you did a fine job with this hotel,” I said as we enjoyed our cocktails and waited for the dessert course. She’d brought me here when the property was still under construction, back when she’d been a VP at Marks International. I hadn’t been inside since.
Chloe laughed. “I can’t take much credit, really. Angelica worked on it through the planning stages and early construction. I oversaw it for a few months is all. But I agree, it’s wonderful.”
“Don’t tell Cash,” Olivia said, “but the food was excellent.”
“My brother-in-law would be the first to agree with you,” Chloe said, then emphasized, “now. Back when Henry’s was competing with The Cove for that TV show…” She shook her head, grinning. “Enemies. He and Nola, the chef here, have made peace and have a good, if competitive, relationship.”
“So we don’t have to keep it a secret that we ate here,” Magnolia said.
“As if anyone can keep secrets in this town,” Anna said, laughing.
“That’s the truth,” Maeve said. “Sometimes I wonder if Loretta Lawson has hidden cams throughout town.”
I laughed with them and kept it to myself that I had a secret named West Aldridge.
Since Thursday evening when we’d had the hot wall-sex hookup in the shop, he and I had snuck in some private, steamy looks and secret touches Friday when he and his crew were working at my house. Then today we’d worked all day at the shop together, until I’d had to leave for this, and he’d had to get ready for his dads’ group.
We’d started the brickwork on the walls, which meant dealing with wet mortar that we couldn’t allow to dry out before the bricks were in place, which meant no time for frisky business, but it’d been a great day anyway. We’d talked a lot, flirted a lot, stolen kisses.
It would have to tide me over until the next time.
I was impatient for the next time, but I knew that was just because it was new and forbidden, not to mention I’d gone without sex for too long before West.
A large sailboat with a pink and orange sail pulled up to the Marks’s dock as the sun fell lower in the sky.
“What a gorgeous boat,” Magnolia said as we watched it.
“It belongs to the Barringtons who live in the development on the southeast side of the lake,” Anna said. “They’re a sweet retired couple. They love to sail over here for drinks.”
“How do you know all of this?” Rowan asked.
“She managed that development before she became the manager at the Honeysuckle Inn,” Olivia explained.
“West’s little girls would absolutely love this,” I said, thinking maybe someday I would bring them here for dinner. Would that be weird? It would probably be weird.
“West’s little girls?” Chloe asked, her head tilted with nosiness.
“Yeah, what am I missing?” Olivia asked.
Oops. I needed to be more careful with what I said. This part of the story was pretty innocent though, so I explained, “One evening a week or two ago, right after I got my kayaks, I was testing one out, and along comes this boat with three little princesses in the front.”
“West’s little girls,” Anna guessed.
“And West and Jagger McNamara,” I told them.
“That must’ve been a boatful of swoon,” Olivia said.
“Jagger had taken them out for a boat ride,” I continued, ignoring the swoon comment, “and one of their favorite things to do is go by the hotel and gawk up at all the ‘rich people.’ I heard all about it because they stopped by my dock directly after the hotel drive-by.”
I saw Rowan and Chloe exchange a look, but no one else appeared to, and I was able to ignore it when Maeve said, “Those girls come into the bookstore for story time. They are adorable. Almost cute enough to make me find a sperm donor.”
“Your clock is ticking loudly, huh?” Olivia said.
