Page 14 of Not Just Gal Pals

Since moving back to Sapphire Springs, I’d rarely stayed out late—Sapphire Springs wasn’t exactly known for its nightlife—so dancing at Frankie’s until well past midnight had knocked me around. It also hadn’t helped that when I’d finally gotten to bed, I couldn’t stop thinking about Jenny—replaying the memory of my hand around Jenny’s waist in the pond, the way our eyes had locked, sending electric shocks down my spine. And later, Jenny dancing at Frankie’s, her hair swinging, eyes twinkling, a huge smile on her face. Eventually, I’d given in to temptation, pulling the new vibrator out of my side table, and I used it, imagining what might have happened if, in some alternate world, Jenny and I had hooked up. It must have released some of the tension, because I finally drifted off.

I’d gotten about five steps into Novel Gossip when I spotted Jenny sitting by herself at a table in the corner, bent over her laptop. I froze. Crap.

I was wearing gray sweatpants and a hoodie and hadn’t looked in the mirror before I left the house. I’d also forgotten to brush my teeth. Not only was I not looking my best, but I was not mentally prepared to see or speak to Jenny. I’d orgasmed eight hours ago thinking about her, for goodness’ sake.

My immediate impulse was to turn and hightail it out of Novel Gossip, but the heavenly smell of coffee and the realization Jenny had seen me stopped me—and the fact I owed her a proper apology.

But coffee first, niceties second. I wouldn’t be able to string a sentence together without it, and I already had enough difficulty communicating with Jenny. I swallowed, waved at Jenny, and continued heading toward the counter.

When I moved back to Sapphire Springs, I was thrilled to discover a new café-bookstore had opened. I was even more thrilled when I found out the owner, George, was a warm-hearted lesbian with a great sense of humor and a mission to bring good coffee and cake to Sapphire Springs. And thankfully, while George and I got on like a house on fire, there was absolutely zero romantic attraction between us, so she wasn’t a threat to the ‘no relationship’ rule I’d implemented after Grace.

George was standing behind the counter, in her usual uniform of a button-down shirt and chino pants, staring at me with an eyebrow raised so high it nearly reached her brown hair, which was styled in a crew cut.

“The usual?” George asked. I nodded. She looked me up and down and grimaced. “Actually, are you sure you don’t need a triple shot this morning?”

That was exactly what I needed. “God, yes. That sounds amazing.”

George clearly realized just how pressing my need for caffeine was, because in less than a minute, I had a gigantic latte in my hands. I took a few sips.

“Mmmmm. Have you ever considered going in one of those ‘Best Baristas in the World’ competitions? I seriously think you might win.”

George grinned and rolled her eyes at the compliment. “Amanda was just in here before, looking worse for wear, and your pal over there”—George nodded in Jenny’s direction—“also looks tired. You must have had a big night last night.”

I followed George’s nod over to Jenny. She was chewing on her lip and frowning at her laptop. My eyes lingered on her.

George cleared her throat. “Sorry, Blake, but there’s a bit of a line. Can we catch up later, once things quiet down?” I tore my eyes away from Jenny and saw that half of Sapphire Springs had lined up behind me.

Damn. I’d been hoping to get more caffeine into my system before I approached Jenny.

I took a big gulp of coffee, ran a hand through my hair, and started walking toward her table. Jenny was leaning forward over her laptop, her hair falling down the sides of her face like a golden curtain.

“Hi, how are you holding up this morning?” I asked, my heart thudding in my chest as she looked up at me with her dark-blue eyes.

“Surprisingly, I’m not feeling too bad. Amanda, on the other hand…” Jenny shook her head, a wry smile on her face. “We had brunch earlier, but she had to cut it short to go lie down.”

“Oh, that’s good—I mean about you, not Amanda of course. I...um...hope she feels better soon.” Very smooth, Blake. There was an awkward pause as Jenny stared up at me, clearly under the impression I had more to say. I swallowed.

“Is everything else okay? I thought you were looking kind of worried.”

Jenny shook her head. “Oh, it’s nothing serious. Amanda’s wedding planner has had to step down, so I’m taking it over. I’ve just been trying to get my head around all the emails she forwarded me.”

My eyes widened. No wonder Jenny was frowning.

“Nothing...nothing serious? Just taking over a wedding? Shit. What happened to her wedding planner?”

Jenny filled me in on Miriam’s situation. “So, to be fair to Amanda, her wedding planner canceling is probably the cause of her splitting headache, not her hangover. She’s pretty stressed about it.”

I shook my head. “Well, let me know if I can do anything to help this week. I’m pretty tied up during the day with work and my niece and nephew who are visiting, but if I can help in the evenings at all, just let me know.” Even though it was a Sunday, I was planning to work most of the day so I could get on top of all my admin, especially because I was going to take Tuesday afternoon off to hang out with the twins.

“Thanks, will do.” Jenny paused, a thoughtful look flitting across her face. “Actually, while you’re here… Would you mind taking a look at the seating plan? Amanda did it a while ago, so it may be a little out of date. A few people can’t make it, so I thought I’d check if we need to change it at all. I’m not asking you to breach doctor-patient confidentiality or anything like that, but you probably have a better idea than me of who does and doesn’t get along in this town. I’ve been to a few weddings where booze combined with past hostilities have caused some blow-ups, and I’m keen to avoid that, both as a friend of the bride and in my new role as wedding planner! I’ll run all the changes past Amanda, of course.”

“Sure.” I was privy to a lot of gossip in my role.

Worrying I hadn’t brushed my teeth and the coffee wouldn’t be helping things, I held my breath and leaned over Jenny’s shoulder to look at the screen.

I spotted an immediate issue and stepped away from Jenny, hoping I was a safe distance from her before I opened my mouth.

“Seating Joe Livanidis and Rory Goldsworthy near each other could end badly. They almost came to blows last weekend at Builders Arms arguing about the new fence between their properties. Apparently, Rory was very keen on painting it bright red, but Joe didn’t think it would be a complementary backdrop for his red and pink roses and insisted on white. They decided to compromise and paint their side of the fence their preferred color, but Rory was a bit sloppy, and now there are red paint dribbles all down Joe’s white fence. According to Joe, it looked like blood stains from people being impaled on his fence, and from what I heard, he was threatening to impale Rory on it as well!” I shook my head, chuckling. I’d heard all about it from the town gossip, Ms. Berry, when she’d been in for her annual physical on Tuesday.