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“Of course! It’s a small town. Word travels fast.”
“The same can be said for you. You were spotted out with Briggs looking cozy.” She smirks.
“It’s not like that.” I feel myself frowning.
“What do you mean it’s not like that? It’s been like that for weeks. We’ve all talked about it.”
“Glad to know I can be a topic of conversation for all of you, but it’s not. He doesn’t want it. He doesn’t want me.”
A lump rises up in my throat. Talking about him makes me want to cry, and I really don’t want to. I know I’ll get past this soon enough where it won’t hurt so much, but not today.
“That’s crazy. I’ve seen the way he looks at you. Did something happen? What exactly did he say?”
She isn’t going to let this go, so I may as well give her the highlights and get it over with. Maybe if I pull off the Band-Aid enough times, it won’t be as sticky and hurt as much.
“Winston showed up here on Tuesday to chastise me over leaving my parents’ party early. Briggs was there, and Winston embarrassed me thoroughly in front of him. Not shocking, Briggs tells me we’re better off friends because we’re neighbors right afterward.”
“Eww,” she says, as her face scrunches up.
“My sentiments exactly.” My heart aches.
“There has to be more to it than that. Briggs doesn’t strike me as the type of guy to let anything or anyone get in his way once he knows what he wants. Did you push him to be more specific?”
“I did. I asked him what I did wrong, and he said nothing.”
“I’m still not buying it.” She frowns.
“It is what it is. I haven’t seen him or talked to him in days. Your turn. Who are you meeting at the bar?”
“Michael.” She smiles softly. “Bryce and I went to the Italian place to try it out after Avery suggested we eat there, and he came out of the back to greet the tables. We talked, he bought our dinner, and he invited me back in. So I went.”
“He’s the chef there?”
I’m shocked. I never saw her dating a chef. Not that there’s anything wrong with chefs. Maybe it’s that I just didn’t picture her dating anyone. I never met her ex Dillon. Then again, I’ve never seen her with anyone.
“Chef and owner. He’s really nice.” The look on her face is dreamy.
“Wow, I didn’t see this coming.”
“Me either. He’s also divorced and has custody of his daughter half the time. His ex-wife wanted to move here, so he followed.”
“How old is his daughter?”
“His daughter, Bella, is ten.”
Bella, the name of the restaurant.
“Are you going to see him again?”
“I am.” She blushes.
“This is good. I’m happy for you. I might need to secretly drop into the restaurant a few times before I’m introduced to watch him and do my due diligence. Maybe have a background check run,” I tease, and she laughs.
“You’re still good to come over for Halloween and hand out candy, right? He’s got Bella next weekend, so I think we’re going to go trick-or-treating together.”
“Yes, I’ll be there to hand out candy. But only if you take a bunch of pictures of Bryce. I need one for my house.” I’ve been thinking about adding a few new photos to my stairwell or swapping some photos out.
“That’s so sweet. Of course I’ll get you a photo.”
