Just when I could feel my heart rate stabilizing, Serena motioned for her to come closer. Georgie eagerly scooted her chair with a discordant scrape. Even Teddy, features inscrutable, leaned onto his knees.
“Hypothetically speaking, one of the men might’ve been descended from Hollywood royalty.”
I subsequently choked on nothing.
She gave no room for responses, rising from the couch with a sweep of her hands as if she wielded a fairytale wand. “We should go before we lose the light.”
“Go where?” I all-but wheezed.
Serena smiled. “Scouting for wedding venues, of course.”
I stood, my mind instantly reeling with a thousand excuses. She was faster.
“Georgie told me you’d be free.”
My eye had to have twitched at that. I tossed the woman in question a surreptitious glare, to which she grimaced and tossed her palms to the ceiling in mock-surrender.
“Who’s coming?” I replied through my teeth.
“I have to get to the shop,” Georgie said, snatching her iced latte from the table, already moving toward the door like a blur of copper. “I’m sure you two will have so much fun!” She added brightly, giving Serena a tight hug and wisely avoiding me entirely.
Then she vanished, leaving me with the human alternate-reality-machine and an uncharacteristically quiet Teddy.
Any attempt at an argument seemed to be a completely lost cause when Serena began ushering me to the door. All I could manage was to wrap my coat back around my shoulders and grip my purse with clammy fingers.
The cool air nipping my face shook me from my stupor.
“What was that?” I hissed as I followed her outside.
Serena plucked a set of keys from her bag. “Please, Margot. I saw you two making eyes at each other as if no one else even existed.”
That confirmed it. She’d lost her head somewhere between Manhattan and Bluebell Cove.
“Do you need glasses or something?” I snapped, hugging my coat tighter against a gust.
She pursed her lips and held up a single finger. “Just wait.”
“Look, Serena, I don’t know what Georgie told you, but I actually have a very busy day planned.”
By her squint in return, she didn’t believe a word. And I didn’t blame her—I could hear the wobble in my voice, plain as the symphony of ringing bells as doors shut and swung open up and down Main Street.
“You’re going to want to cancel,” she whispered, grinning somewhere over my right shoulder.
“What—”
I turned on my heel, and there was Teddy, looking somewhat breathless as he finished pulling on a sherpa-lined trucker jacket. “I’m coming,” he explained with a bright smile, flicking the strap of his leather camera bag over his shoulder. “ForTravel and Taste.”
Something sour washed over me.
Serena motioned us to her car, a shiny black rental waiting in a nearby parking spot that seemed more like what a President might be escorted in. Teddy brushed by too close to my liking, shooting me a lopsided grin that was nothing if not devastating.
See, if I wasn’t unemployed, I wouldn’t be stuck on a day trip with my ex and our meddling friend.
I really needed a job.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
By the time we reached the edge of town, the clouds had begun to cluster, sunlight dripping through the gaps like honey. Serena had the radio on—something upbeat and offensively cheerful—and sang along in between talking about floral arrangements and champagne tastings. Teddy drove, one arm hooked out the window, his hair ruffling in the wind like nothing about this was remotely weird.
