Page 10 of Pinch of Love

I chuckled and nodded as she bounded into the library.

“Your daughter seems extremely happy being here in Buttercup Lake,” I whispered.

“I think it’s the combination of the lake and a boy named Caleb.” Grace smiled and nodded. “But it’s night and day being here. It’s why we decided to stay.”

I grinned. “Ooh, Caleb. He sounds cute.”

“He is adorable.” Grace smiled. “But he’s also a teenage boy, so I know what’s on his mind.”

I cocked my head and playfully frowned. “And yet the thought would never occur to your angelic daughter.”

Grace groaned and took a sip of lemonade. “That’s precisely the problem. She’s my daughter, and I know precisely what’s going on in her head.”

“Ah, to be a teenager again.”

Grace looked horrified. “I’d never wish that on my worst enemy.”

I shrugged. “I don’t know. The thought sounds pretty ideal to me. No worries. No men to dump you or try to swindle your business away from you.”

Grace’s jaw dropped. “Maya, are you serious? He’s going after your company?”

“Isn’t it grand?” I rolled my eyes, trying to suppress the anger roiling through my veins. “I should have seen this train wreck coming.”

“But love.” She nodded. “Love clouded your vision.”

“Not just clouds. It was more like a hurricane or a tornado. I’m not sure which is worse.”

Grace pressed her lips together and shook her head. “I’m so sorry, and I suppose now is not the time to mention that I never liked him either. Or are you going to get back with him, and then I’ll awkwardly attend the wedding, pretending I never said those words?”

I chuckled and took another sip of the perfectly tart with a hint of sweet drink that my grandma had made.

“Not a chance.” I winked at her. “It’s crazy how something as simple as Grandma’s lemonade can make me feel like all is right in the world again.” I smiled and shook my head.

When the truth about my life was anything but that.

I had an ex who was threatening to take me to court for his share of the company, which he felt was more than fifty percent his. Meanwhile, I was trying to pretend that my heart hadn’t been shattered to pieces, burned with a torch, and then buried six feet under with the rest of me.

“It’s crazy that I run an online therapy app, and I’m such a mess personally.” I shook my head and took another sip of lemonade.

Grace nodded sympathetically.

“The one thing I don’t want to become is bitter, Grace.” I let out a sigh. “But some days, it is extremely difficult to be Pollyanna.”

“It’s only been three weeks,” she offered.

“True.” I nodded and smiled. “But some days, it feels like just yesterday, and other days, it feels like an eternity has passed. So weird.”

A funny look came across my sister, and my brows scrunched.

“Why are you looking like that?” I asked, getting nervous.

She leaned over the kitchen counter as I sat on a stool. “What did you think about Cash?”

I cocked my head slightly. “What do you mean, what did I think of him?”

She waggled her dark brows. “You know...”

Not taking the bait, I smiled. “Becky across the lake assured me that he’s not a serial killer, so I take that as a great sign for a potential landlord for this short-term rental I’m in.”

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