Chapter 9

HANNAH

“This is so…” I bit down hard on my tongue, desperately searching for a word to replace romantic, which had almost escaped my mouth. “Cute,” I landed on, wincing. Well, at least it was better than romantic.

From where we sat in Dockside Park, we had a stunning view of the sunset. The fluffy clouds were tinged red and gold, and those same vibrant colors were reflected on the Hudson River. I took a long sip of my delicious pi?a colada, which was going down way too quickly. It was paired with a shrimp cocktail, which was equally tasty but not very alcohol-absorbent. A pleasant, warm buzz began to spread across my body. I hadn’t drunk alcohol in months. I’d been so miserable I’d been worried that booze might just make me spiral further, but on a gorgeous warm evening like tonight, in my new hometown miles away from Tania and New York, and with my new, sort-of-friend-slash-boss next to me, I was in the mood to indulge. The only gray cloud hanging over my head was the fact that I needed to tell George about my pen name at some point tonight.

“Yeah. I’m sorry, I didn’t realize the seating would be arranged like this. It’s not really conducive to you getting to know everyone.” George looked around. Amanda and Olivia were seated at a table to our left, while Blake and Jenny were directly behind us. I was now fairly confident that George and Olivia were not dating. If they had been, surely they would’ve shared a table together. That realization had, ridiculously, put me in an even better mood than I’d been in before. And I’d also been thrilled that Jenny and Blake were clearly a couple and comfortable holding hands in public. That boded well for Sapphire Springs being LGBTQ+ friendly. And maybeit supports your working hypothesis that George is queer too—queer vibes, queer books, queer friends… I shut that train of thought down abruptly.

“If the movie doesn’t finish too late, we thought we’d grab a quick drink at Builders’ Arms afterwards, if you’re up for it,” George continued.

I nodded. “That’d be nice.” Telling George who I was could wait until later into the night. For now, I just wanted to enjoy the beautiful evening. Perhaps the pub would be a more relaxed atmosphere. “Hey, I forgot to ask. Do you know what the movie is?”

George chuckled. “Sorry, no. I got all my information about this from Blake, who’s notoriously bad at details. I probably should’ve asked Jenny. I figure, if it’s terrible, we can always leave after we’ve finished eating.”

The organizer of the event announced that the movie would begin once it was dark. So, George and I still had some time together, just the two of us, without a movie to distract us. Just me and my very attractive boss. I swallowed.

George nudged me. “What do you think their story is?”

She nodded her head toward a man in his forties with salt-and-pepper hair, wearing a white shirt and tan chinos, and a pretty woman in her twenties, with brown hair and a floral dress. I smiled. Making up stories about strangers was one of my favorite games. I loved that George had instigated it. I tilted my body to get a better look and accidentally brushed George’s shoulder, my arm tingling where we made contact. Focus, Hannah.

“He’s a finance bro who works on Wall Street, and she’s his third wife,” I said confidently. “He’s been working weekends for months—probably having an affair with his soon-to-be-fourth wife—and she put her foot down and insisted they visit Sapphire Springs for a romantic getaway.”

George chuckled. “That’s actually Mark, who runs the ice cream parlor, and his daughter, Kim, who’s home from studying law at Princeton.”

I glared at her, laughing. “Hey! That’s not how this game is supposed to work. You’re meant to engage in wild speculation with me, not know who they really are.”

George held my eye, grinning, and a small shiver ran down my spine. “I think it’s more fun this way, since I know just how wrong you’re getting it.”

“Hmmm.” I eyed George with fake disapproval. “What about that couple?” I nodded over at a sweet-looking gray-haired couple who looked to be in their seventies. They’d been holding hands until the food arrived and were now chatting as they ate. “I think they were childhood sweethearts. Met on the first day of high school, fell madly in love, and got married at eighteen. Definitely have at least three kids.”

George snorted. “That’s Roger and Prue. They officially got together last year after a scandalous affair that got a lot of airtime at Novel Gossip. But they are madly in love and have three kids…each, with other people.”

I laughed. “Ouch, strike two. I’m not doing too well at this. Are there any couples here you don’t know?”

George paused, surveying the crowd. “Those men over there. They must be out-of-towners.”

She nodded her head toward two men sitting at a table near the river, wearing Bermuda shorts and polo shirts. They were both peering at one of the men’s phones.

I looked at her, smiling. “Well, what do you think? What’s their story?”

“Definitely a couple. Met at Columbia, studying…” George frowned, concentrating on them as if she stared hard enough, she’d be able to see through them to their diplomas. “An MBA. They’re considering buying a second home in Sapphire Springs as a weekend pad but want to spend some time here first.”

“Are you serious?” I laughed, shaking my head.

“What?” George stared at me.

“Are you sure you haven’t seen them before, or at least heard about them?”

“Positive. Why?”

“Because they came into Novel Gossip when you were on your lunch break today. I made them coffee to-go and had a chat. They live and work in Manhattan and are looking to buy a second home here. I don’t know where they studied, but they work in finance and I wouldn’t be at all surprised if it was Columbia.”

George grinned, clearly very pleased with herself.

As we took turns to suggest increasingly more ridiculous stories about the people around us, I couldn’t help wondering…if someone was playing the same game about us, what would they say?

I hadn’t been on a date night for a long time. The last few years, Tania and I had gotten out of the swing of it. She’d often worked late—although, now I knew that hadn’t always been true—and when we did go out, it was usually with our group of friends. But while I knew tonight was most definitely not a date night, it certainly reminded me of one. And a good one at that.

“What about them?” George nodded at the couple directly in front of us, who couldn’t keep their hands off each other.

I squinted at them. “They met reaching for the same can of beans at the general store last week and their chemistry was explosive. They’re on their third date and are hoping to get lucky tonight.”

“Bah dum!” George said in a low sing-song voice. “They’ve been married as long as I’ve known them and are having a rare night out without their kids.”

I laughed. “Okay, I officially suck at this game.”

As we were staring at them, the couple amped up their PDA to the next level, hands going under each other’s tops and kissing that involved a lot of tongue. The sun had almost disappeared behind the mountains, but it was still light enough to see exactly what was going on. We looked away to give them some privacy, exchanging amused glances. A tingle shot down my spine.

“Good Lord!” George chuckled. “I mean, I want them to enjoy their date night, but the movie hasn’t even started yet!” She shot me a half-grin, half-grimace. “If I’d known it was going to be quite so couple-ly I would have suggested your husband take my ticket.”

“Husband?” I stared at George, confused. “I’m single. Well, separated—in the process of getting a divorce. From my soon-to-be-ex-wife.” Heat rushed to my face. Not a very subtle way of letting George I’m into women.

George froze for a moment and then furrowed her brow.

My heart jumped into my throat as realization slammed into me. Shit. Had Ben mentioned to George that the woman who’d come in looking for a job was married?

“Oh, sorry. I must’ve misunderstood,” George said after an awkward pause.

To my relief, music started playing, and an image flashed onto the screen. What were we in for tonight?

Wet Hot American Summer.

My stomach dropped. Based on my recollection of watching this movie years ago, it was not something you wanted to watch with your gorgeous boss.