Chapter 8

The sun was already shining bright when I left my house that morning, heading for town to meet Ryan and Tarryn for brunch.

The bright, vivid blue of the sky and the pleasant temperature had brought people out in droves. They walked up and down the sidewalks of downtown Pembrooke, bouncing from shop to shop.

Taking advantage of the beautiful weather, I parked a few blocks down from Sinful Sweets Café and walked the rest of the way, returning waves and greetings from the people I passed and pausing occasionally to do a bit of window shopping. I spotted a pair of boots in one of my favorite boutiques and immediately fell in love.

Checking my watch, I noticed I still had some time before I had to meet my girls, so I pulled the door open, smiling at the happy tinkling of the bell above the door, and stepped into the shop. "Morning, Grace," I said, greeting the woman who ran the boutique.

I was so focused on the boots I was moving toward, as if being drawn to them by an invisible magnet, that I barely noticed the strange look she cast my way. However, it was there and gone so fast that I convinced myself it had to have been all in my head.

"Morning, Jolie. You here for something specific, or just browsing?"

"Something very specific," I answered as I reached the shoe display, snatching up the boot that had pulled me through the door. "Oh my God," I breathed as I twisted the coveted shoe from side to side, taking in all the beautiful detailing that had been stitched into the buttery soft leather. "These are even prettier up close. Grace, I'm pretty sure I'm in love."

The woman smiled brightly as she came over to join me. "Yeah, those are some sexy shoes, for sure. Just got them last week, and I'm already almost out of stock."

I clutched the boot to my chest and sucked in a dramatic breath. "Don't tell me that. Not when I've only just found them."

Grace shook her head good naturedly at my ridiculousness. "You're a seven and a half, right? I may have a pair or two left in your size. You want to try them on?"

Hell yeah, I did. "More than I want chocolate cake to have zero calories."

"Be right back."

She headed for the back of the shop, and I flipped the boot over, nearly swallowing my tongue at the price tag stuck to the sole. I placed the shoe back on the display and slowly backed away as two voices inside my head started arguing with each other.

One voice insisted that I deserved to treat myself every once in a while, that I worked hard and that those boots were my reward. Business was going well, and I'd managed to sock away a pretty decent savings. I could afford one little splurge.

The other voice, however, was arguing that the savings account was supposed to be for emergencies, not something as frivolous as a new pair of shoes. And honestly, did I really need them? It reminded me that, while I loved my cozy little house, it wasn't meant to be my forever home, that I was supposed to be saving up for something bigger, something I could raise a family in. And even though business was doing well at the moment, things could change in the blink of an eye, and I needed to be prepared.

The voice in favor of the boots sounded like college-aged Jolie, while the voice opposed sounded an awful lot like my reasonable parents.

I was still suffering through the internal struggle when the bell over the door tinkled again, and a voice like nails on a chalkboard spoke behind me, making my teeth clamp together as the little hairs on the back of my neck stood on end.

"Oh, those are so pretty! I just have to have them!"

Those two sentences were like a blast of frigid water right to my face as Leighton Cavanagh rounded the corner and rushed past me like I wasn't even standing there, snatching up the boot I'd been coveting.

She held it up like she was a character from Lion King, introducing the boot to the kingdom before turning her head in my direction. "Oh, Jolie, I didn't see you there," she said in a saccharine sweet voice that dripped with insincerity. "What do you think? Wouldn't these just look so great on me?"

The smile I gave her felt brittle and forced as I let out a non-committal hum. I didn't dislike Leighton Cavanaugh because she had practically started dating my ex a minute after we broke up—well, it wasn't only because of that.

It was also because she was a stuck-up, condescending... well, bitch. No point in mincing words. She was a spoiled brat who thought she deserved to have everything handed to her on a silver platter simply because she wanted it. From what I knew of her, she bounced from part-time job to part-time job, never lasting more than a couple months because working for a living just "wasn't her thing". Not when she had her parents to bail her out all the time.

I didn't know the Cavanaughs, only seeing them around town occasionally, but Hershel and Millie seemed like good people. It was like the apple had fallen into the back of a pickup and been driven clear across the country when it came to Leighton.

"You're in luck," Grace said, returning from the back with a shoebox in her hand. "There was one pair left in seven and a half."

"Ooh, that's my size!"

I darted past Leighton and reached out, snatching the box away from Grace before Leighton could get her grubby hands on my new boots. Because the moment she reached for them, my decision was made. Those shoes were mine. She already took my man. I'd be damned if I let her get my boots too. The woman had to learn she didn't get everything she wanted some time, right? And I was more than happy to teach her that lesson.

"Oh, sorry." I pulled my expression into a fake wince, like I felt bad for her. Not my fault she was five minutes behind me.

You snooze, you lose, babe.

"These are mine. I'm afraid you'll have to come back when Grace gets her next shipment in."

I couldn't help but smile snottily when Leighton's lips pulled into a sneer.

She grabbed hold of the other end of the box and tried tugging it out of my hands, but I tightened my grip. The only way she was getting that box was over my cold, dead body. "But, have you paid for them yet? If you haven't paid for them, they aren't yours."

I yanked the box back. "The only reason I haven't paid yet is because you won't get your greedy little hands off my box."

Grace looked between the two of us nervously, clutching her hands in front of her. "Um, i-if it matters, there's another shipment coming in next week."

"There, see?" I exclaimed cheerfully as I continued playing tug-of-war with the boot box. "You can get your pair next week. I'll be taking mine now, though."

"But I can't wait another week for these? I have very important events coming up."

I couldn't help but roll my eyes. She didn't even know the damn boots existed until a few minutes ago. "Looks like you'll have to find something else to wear."

She looked beseechingly at the clerk, like they were longtime friends. "Grace, I'm sure you understand. I have my engagement party coming up, and these boots would just look so perfect with my dress."

Tires squealed inside my brain at her declaration before my gaze cast down to her hands, still clutching my box. All the air inside my lungs wheezed out of me like a balloon being deflated. I could feel my cheeks growing hotter as I stared at the shiny diamond nestled on her ring finger and knew my face had to have been turning the color of cherry pie filling. It took a few seconds to realize it was happening because I was holding my breath.

"Oh, you haven't heard?" the she-devil asked demurely. God, I wanted to punch her in her stupid pageant-contest-perfect face. "Barrett and I are getting married." She released the box with her left hand and placed it on her chest. "It was in the paper this morning. I'm surprised you didn't see it."

You can't punch her out. You can't punch her out,I repeated over and over in my head.

"We're both just so happy. Over the moon, really."

I rethought my warning not to punch her out. I was friends with Eliza Prewitt, after all, and her father was the local sheriff. I was sure he wouldn't lock his daughter's friend up for assault... for long, at least.

It took everything in me not to react when all I wanted to do was reach out and snatch the silky-smooth blonde hair right out of her scalp. Instead, I ripped the box out of her hands and passed it over to Grace, the smile on my face feeling as fake as the Tofurkey my mother tried to pass off as the real thing last Thanksgiving—thanks, dad's crappy cholesterol.

I was determined to take the high road, damn it. Even if it killed me.

"Will you ring this up for me please? I'm in a bit of a hurry." Then I turned back to Leighton. "Congratulations. I hope you two will be very happy together."

What I really hoped was that they'd both fall in a pit of poisonous snakes... but high road and all.

"Oh, we will. Barrett said he couldn't wait to make me his wife."

My face was starting to feel like it was encased in plastic. "Yes, well, I'm glad you weren't bothered that the ring he'd given me was so much bigger. You know, some women can be so petty about things like that. It's nice to see you aren't one of them."

Welp, so much for the high road.

With my shoppingbag in hand, I stormed through the doors of Sinful Sweets Café like a pissed-off tornado, hell bent on destruction. I didn't miss the curious eyes drilling into my skull from all sides, and could only assume it was because everyone had seen the announcement in the Pembrooke Press.

Ignoring the stares, I moved straight to the table Ryan and Tarryn were currently sitting at, the two of them leaned in close together like they were reading something.

"You won't believe what just happened," I stressed as I dropped my purse and the box containing my new boots in an empty chair across from them and collapsed dramatically into the one beside it.

They shot straight up at my arrival, hands fluttering frantically to slap closed the copy of the Press they were looking over, but they weren't fast enough.

"Oh, hey, babe," Tarryn greeted, her voice pitched way too high.

"You look great," Ryan added, then pointed to my shopping bag. "Whattaya got there?"

"A pair of the hottest boots in the world. But more on that later." I pointed to the paper Ryan was trying to slide off the table discreetly. "What were you guys looking at?"

"This? Oh, nothing." Tarryn folded the paper up as small as she could. "We were just looking through the coupons. I'm thinking of becoming a coupon clipper. I saw this show on Netflix that got me interested. And you know how I love a good deal."

Tarryn would hate clipping coupons, she didn't have the patience for something like that. But I appreciated the lie all the same. It was good to know my girls were looking out.

I arched a brow at her. "You were looking at Barrett and Leighton's engagement announcement, weren't you?"

Their shoulders slumped at the same time, their frames deflated and twin looks of sympathy spread across their faces. I loved my friends to death, we were closer than any blood relation. But the pity radiating off them was enough to make me ragey.

"You've seen it already?" Ryan asked, her hand moving across the table like she was reaching out to soothe me until she caught the look of pure murder on my face. Wisely, she pulled back.

"I haven't, actually," I grumbled as I grabbed the empty coffee mug sitting on the table and proceeded to fill it, using the pot they'd already ordered before I arrived. I ripped open a sugar packet with more force than necessary, spilling half the contents onto the table before trying again. My spoon clanked loudly against the inside of the cup as I aggressively stirred in the cream and sugar. "I got the wonderful news up close and in person when she tried to steal my boots right out of my hands." A smile that felt downright vicious pulled at my face, making me look like a maniac, I was sure. "But I got the last pair in our size, so she can suck it."

Tarryn's hand made the journey across the table, coming down on the one I was still using to stir my coffee violently. "Okay, crazy. I think maybe you should take a second and breathe. Your smile has a real Pennywise thing going on right now."

Ryan's brows pulled together in a worried frown. "She's right, honey. You look downright feral. I think you're actually scaring some people."

I toned down the killer-clown grin that was creasing my cheeks and picked up my coffee cup, taking that first fortifying sip. I swallowed down the caffeinated goodness and let out a sigh, feeling a little saner with each passing second.

My friends gave me a much-needed minute to properly collect myself after the bomb that had dropped on me earlier. I closed my eyes, counting to ten in my head and taking calming breaths until I felt stable once more.

"Okay, I'm better now," I assured them.

Their relief was palpable. Tarryn leaned forward, propping her elbows on the table and cradling her chin in her hand. "Okay, so what happened?"

I recounted the whole scene with the boots from start to finish before pulling them out to show them to my friends.

"What a nasty little bitch," Ryan seethed after I shared all the nasty, underhanded things Leighton had said to me.

Tarryn nodded vigorously. "Agreed. She's the worst. But I love that you managed to still get the boots and insult her ring."

I chuckled, feeling pretty damn proud of myself for that as well.

Ryan studied me closely before asking, "So, you're okay about this? I mean, you aren't going to spiral again and spend the next two weeks drowning yourself in cookie dough ice cream until we have to pull you out of it with another intervention?"

Okay, so I may not have handled the breakup all that great the first time around. But that was a year ago, for crying out loud. "I'm fine," I assured them, feeling a twinge of guilt at the concern in their expressions. Alongside my parents, these two had been my rocks when the breakup first happened and the handful of months that followed. "I'm over Barrett, I swear." The relief I felt at the truth of that statement was a huge weight off my shoulders. The pain of loving him and losing him was gone. After seeing him for the kind of man he really was, it hadn't been hard for those feelings to shrivel up and die.

But my pride was something else altogether, and it was pride that had me up in arms over my ex being engaged to the woman he'd started seeing so shortly after our breakup. I prided myself on being a good person, and I didn't like wishing ill on people, but I would have been lying if I said I didn't hope the both of them got a terrible case of cystic acne the day before their wedding. But I'd keep that to myself.

Eliza appeared at the end of our table just then, dressed in a crisp white chef's coat with the name Sinful Sweets Café embroidered across the left side of her chest. "Hey, sweetie. How are you doing?"

I bit the side of my tongue to keep my snarky response at bay. Eliza Prewitt was a friend of mine, one of the sweetest people I'd ever known. She'd had it rough growing up, thanks to a shitty mother. But when her father fell for Chloe Delaney years ago, things started looking up for her. Chloe gave Eliza the mother figure she never had with her own, even expanding her bakery, Sinful Sweets, to include a dine-in café after Eliza completed culinary school.

Now she was married to her childhood best friend, retired football star, Ethan Prewitt, living out the happily-ever-after she absolutely deserved, and the last thing she needed was for me to act like a jerk all because she was trying to be a good friend.

"I'm fine, really," I assured all three sets of eyes that were watching me way too closely. "I'm not heartbroken, and this isn't going to send me spiraling, I swear. It was just a bit of a shock, that's all. Now that I've had time to process, I'm over it."

Well, not completely over it, but enough that they didn't need to worry about me stepping in to exact some karmic retribution, since that stingy bitch was taking her sweet time doing it herself.

Eliza nodded proudly. "Good. You deserve so much better than that jerk."

"Exactly," Ryan agreed. "As far as I'm concerned, those two deserve each other."

Tarryn's hand came down on the table like she just had the most brilliant idea in the world. "You know what you need, Jo? You need to get back on the horse. Find another dude to dust the cobwebs off."

My brow crinkled and I choked on the sip of coffee I'd just taken, sputtering and spilling it down my chin. "Oh my God," I wheezed once I was able to pull in a full breath. "I don't have cobwebs, you asshole."

Eliza and Ryan just laughed.

"You know what I mean," Tarryn exclaimed with an eyeroll. "It's been a year. You need to get back out there, already. This may be a small town, but it's not lacking in hot men."

At the mention of hot men, why in the hell did my mind immediately go to that sexy-as-sin stranger who'd insulted me and my cat? I shook my mind clear of his gorgeous face and rock-hard body. It was one thing to be good-looking, but another entirely to be a raging prick.

No thank you.

"Amen to that." Eliza threw her hands up in agreement.

I jabbed my finger in her direction. "You hush. Women happily married to hot men don't have the right to chime in." She mimed zipping her lips and throwing away the key before I turned back to Tarryn. "And as far as getting back out there, I'll do that when I'm damn good and ready, and not a moment sooner."

I planted my feet and prepared to stand so I could go to the bathroom to clean up my little coffee spill, but as soon as I shoved my chair back, it collided with something behind me. Something—or should I say someone—who let out a grunt at the impact.

"Oh my God. I'm so sorr—" I started, spinning around to apologize to the person I'd just plowed into, only for my gaze to lock onto a pair of teal eyes ringed in copper.

"You," I let out on a surprised breath, almost as though my earlier thoughts had summoned him out of thin air.

"You have got to be kidding me," the man from the other day barked out as he looked down the front of his suit to take in the blooming coffee stain spreading across his once crisp white button-down.

Whoops.