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“We’d like to take you out tonight,” Cole said.
Her confusion was clear as day as she looked between us. “What, like a friend thing?”
Cole and I exchanged a look before I explained. “Not a friend thing. Definitely not a friend thing.”
CHAPTER THREE
DECLAN
“Oh,” she said, that one word as wilted as her shoulders.
“More than a friend thing. Much more,” Cole added. “A date with me and Dec.”
“Both of you?” she asked, wide eyed.
“See,” I began. “Bridgewater is a bit unusual in its ways…”
“Its ways,” she repeated slowly as if that would help to clear up my ambiguous statement. Obviously Jessie hadn’t told her.
“Bridgewater was founded by people who believed that a woman should always have someone around to take care of her…to cherish her,” Cole said.
She blinked rapidly like Cole was speaking a foreign language that didn’t compute.
I figured it was best to get it over with quickly…rip off the Band-Aid, so to speak. “Here in Bridgewater, oftentimes a woman marries two men.”
After a brief silence, Hannah let out a loud laugh. “Two men. Right,” she said, dragging out that word. “You’re kidding, right?”
As if on cue, the door above the front door jingled and in walked my sister, Cara, and her two husbands, Mike and Tyler. While I had never been keen on my little sister even dating, I had to admit her men put a ring on her finger once they had her in their sights and were good to her. I nodded toward them. “See for yourself. That’s my sister, Cara, and her husbands.”
Mike wrapped an arm around Cara’s waist as they headed toward a table in the back and Tyler took her hand, entwining their fingers. Hannah couldn’t doubt my words; my sister and I shared the same very red hair.
“Oh my God.” Hannah said it quietly, under her breath as she openly stared, but Cole and I heard her. She scrambled out of the booth to stand. “I, uh…I’ve got to get to work.”
While more customers were starting to file into the restaurant, it was hardly slammed. “Stay, Hannah,” I said.
Was it my imagination or did she flinch? I knew the Bridgewater way was an adjustment, especially for an outsider like Hannah, but she was jumpy instead of surprised.
“Don’t judge until you’ve seen it in action,” Cole said, looking up at her. “The divorce rate in this town is extremely low and the relationships last a lifetime.”
Longtime Bridgewater residents—and busybodies—Violet Kane, and her friend, Sally Martin, settled into the booth behind us and didn’t pretend to hide their eavesdropping.
“They hit you with the news, huh?” Sally said, her laugh deep and boisterous. The real estate agent had lunch every weekday in the same booth and wouldn’t have missed our own daily presence in Hannah’s section. She had two husbands and so did Violet, whose son Sam—with his cousin Jack— had just gotten engaged to Katie Andrews. The ladies were very familiar with the Bridgewater way. They lived it, even passed it onto their children. “You should see your face.”
Violet held up her ring finger and showed off her wedding band. “Thirty-five years strong with my two men.”
“That’s, uh… that’s great.” Hannah’s smile had returned but she was clearly still stunned. “Two men. Wow.”
I caught her gaze, bringing her focus back to us. “So what do you say? Will you go out with me and Cole tonight?”
Cole gave her that lopsided grin that all the ladies seemed to love. “Just one drink, darlin’.”
Her eyes were wide and after a second of silence she shook her head as if to clear it. “Sorry, just…I can’t believe I’m being asked out by two men at once. I admit,
I haven’t had much luck with just one.” She reached a hand up and pushed back an errant lock of hair and I noticed the way her hand shook. “So, how does this work? Do you guys always go on dates together?”
I shook my head. Voices came through my police radio on the table and I adjusted the volume to low. If there was an emergency, a tone would come through first. “Not always. You’re special.”
“Sp—” A wariness made her smile falter. “Special, how?”
