“No,” I answer quickly, too quickly.
“Oh my God! Yes, you do. Who were you texting, Kelly?”
“Nobody,” I say defensively, crushing my phone to my chest. “Just my best friend who’s coming to stay with me for a while.”
“Uh huh, do I get all weird and defensive when I text Summer? No, I do not. Try again.” Her eyes narrow, then widen. “Wait, is this high school guy? The one you kissed in high school and thought it was love at first sight, only for him to fall for the head cheerleader? I thought he was married!”
I wince. “I will never drink tequila around you again. It’s way too much of a truth serum.” Relaxing my death grip on my phone, I take in a deep breath. “Yes, it’s Jensen. No, I didnotthink it was love at first sight, I just said that I never felt that way after kissing someone. And no, he isn’t married anymore. That’s why he’s coming to stay, he’s moving to Westport to start teaching at the middle school.”
Mila squeals. Like, legit, squeals and claps her hands. It’s so ridiculous, and I need to set her straight.
“Would you calm down, crazy lady? Nothing is going to happen!”
But there’s no stopping her.
“I don’t believe that for a second. He’s heartbroken, and he needs his best friend to save him. It’s a freaking Hallmark movie come to life. I can see it now, in the middle of the night, you hear a scary noise, you run and jump into his arms—Oh Jensen, save me!
“You are out of your mind.” Rolling my eyes, I pick up my rapidly cooling coffee, my phone, and my keys, making my way to the back door of the bakery. “I’ll see you tomorrow, you nut job.”
“Serious question!” Mila yells after me and I stop and turn to her. “Does he have a dog?”
It’s just now dawning on me that I need to keep Jensen away from Mila, and all of my Dogwood Cove friends, for as long as possible. Which actually should be pretty easy, since I’m assuming he’ll be busy apartment hunting and getting ready for the school year that starts in just over a month. I’ll make sure anything we do together is far away from the bakery, and far away from Mila’s observant eyes. She’ll see the truth the second she sees me around him.
The truth is, everyoneexceptJensen knows I’ve been in love with him forever. How he has stayed oblivious to my awkward feelings, I do not know. And the alternative? That he knows I wish we were more than friends, but doesn’t feel the same way, so he ignores it? I can’t consider that. Nope, I’ll stay in my little bubble of denial where I have myself convinced he thinks I’m fine being just friends.
We met as teenagers when my parents moved me to his school in the small suburb of Vancouver where my mom’s job was at the hospital. Paired up for biology, we hit it off instantly. At first, it really was just friendship. I was dating a guy from my old school, but that ended rapidly when we realized how difficult long distance was for two teenagers. Unfortunately, by the time I was single, our relationship was solidly in the friend zone. Then, in senior year, Jensen started dating Tatyana. She was not my biggest fan, and for a while we didn’t get to hang out much because Jensen was obsessed with his new girlfriend, and she didnotlike him spending time with me.
But eventually she loosened up; I guess she saw there was no hope for anything romantic between us, given my status as resident tomboy athlete, and the fact that we were opposites in so many ways. Tatyana was the stereotypical cheerleader, I was the captain of the softball team and played basketball in the winter. She was petite, with dark hair and big brown eyes, and always had immaculate hair and makeup working for her. I was athletic and strong, with blonde hair that was always up in a ponytail, and makeup was a foreign concept to me. I’ve never had a problem with body image, but it was obvious we were different, just as it was obvious where Jensen’s tastes lie.
When they broke up in university, my mom, who had always rooted for Jensen and I to date, tried to convince me it was my chance. But I had been seeing a really great guy from culinary school and didn’t want to mess things up with him, especially given that Jensen had neverevereven hinted at being interested in me.
No one in our town was surprised when Jensen and Tatyana got back together and married each other fresh out of university. Hell, I even went to their wedding, and no, I didnotsecretly wish it was me standing up there with him. Nope. Not even a little.
Okay, maybe just once or twice.
Fast forward a few years to when Jensen and Tatyana’s marriage ended pretty spectacularly this past winter, when she announced she had fallen in love with her personal trainer and wanted a divorce.
I don’t blame Jensen for wanting to get away from everything and everyone that reminds him of his marriage and the life he had. So when he came to Vancouver Island for a visit in the spring and told me he wanted to move to Westport, what else could I do but offer myself up as temporary roommate and relocation assistant?
We’ve never lived together, but it shouldn’t be a problem. We get along great, and his dog, Oliver, is easily my favourite animal.
I just can’t let Mila meet him.
Ever.
Chapter two
Jensen
“Not the front seat, Ollie, come on, man!” I reach in and grab his collar, tugging on it to encourage him to get out. After giving me what can only be described as a withering glare, my lab reluctantly hops out of the front seat of my truck and walks oh so slowly around to the open back door. “Take your time, bud, not like we have a ferry to catch or anything.” I close the door on him and make my way back to the driver’s side. “Man’s best friend? More like man’s biggest pain in the ass,” I mutter under my breath, but I don’t mean it, and Oliver knows it, the damn dog. Because as soon as I’m seated, he puts his nose down on the center console and pushes it against my elbow. “Yeah, yeah, good boy.” I pet his head affectionately. The truth is, without Oliver, life would be boring and quiet. For four years he’s been my sidekick — I even had him certified as a therapy dog so he could come to work with me at the middle school. It’s amazing how easily preteens will set aside their issues, open up, and try new things when they’ve got a cuddly dog at their side.
The drive to the ferry terminal is traffic free, thank fuck, and we make it for our reservation. My ex-wife hated my deep-seated need to be early for everything, calling me a control freak and uptight more than once. That’s not the case, I just have a healthy respect for schedules and appreciate it when others do, too. Our frustration over stupid things like that should have been a minor inconvenience, at most. But when it was layered on top of so many other issues, well, let’s just say finding out she was in love with Ivan, her personal trainer, it was more of a relief than it should have been. I was just happy she didn’t fight me on custody of Oliver in the divorce.
Yes, I offered a custody agreement to her, but she signed away her rights to him with nothing more than a roll of her eyes.
What can I say, I’m a dog dad through and through.
Once we’re on the ferry, I let Oliver come up and sit in the front with me. Lifting the center console, he lays down on the bench seat with a huff and rests his head on my lap. I open up my phone and flip through the depressing news headlines quickly. God, when will this world get its shit together…just as I go to start a new round of Candy Crush, my phone rings with a FaceTime call from Kelly. Instantly my lips turn up in a smile.
