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“Tyler cheated on you. Three months ago. You’re still young,” Tiffany continued.
Abby was getting sick of hearing about it. “I know. We talked about this on the phone already.”
“Right, but now it’s time to do something about it,” Carmen insisted. “You’ve had time to get over him, and it’s not going to be hard to find someone to replace him, so that’s what we’re going to do tonight.”
“W-what?” Abby narrowed her eyes and set her lips.
“We’re going to go to the speed-dating event at The Stripe tonight,” Tiffany announced with flourish, grinning wide. “What do you think? Am I a genius or what?” The light from the window caught in her blonde hair and made it shine like gold. The Stripe was Cub's Cove’s bar. The three of them had been there from time to time, on the rare occasion that Abby was in town. “You and I are going to participate, and our happily married bestie, Carmen, is going to be the designated driver so we can have all the good times we need to have as the designated drinkers.”
“But we’re hoping that maybe I won’t have to drive either of you home,” said Carmen.
Abby looked between the two of them, unsure of what to say. Tiffany had been single for a couple years after having suffered from the tragic loss of her fiancé in an accident. Was she really ready to move on just to help Abby out?
“Tiffy—”
“I’m ready,” Tiffany said. “And if I’m ready after losing a good guy like Derek, then I know you have to be ready after ditching a loser like Tyler. So let’s go together. Let’s have a good time!”
“I don’t know. Speed-dating sounds like pain in the ass.” Abby remained skeptical about tonight’s chosen event. “Is that when you cram a bunch of singles in a room and you get just a few minutes to talk to your dates in rotation? It’s ridiculous. You can’t really know someone that way.”
Tiffany pouted and planted her hands on her hips. Again. “You have a better idea? Or would you rather mope all day and night in this gloomy, depressing cabin?”
“I wasn’t just moping, I’ll have you know. I work, too. In case you don’t remember, I’m a writer. I write books. Books with words. A lot of them,” Abby got defensive. Weak. Her excuse was freakin’ lame.
“Uh-oh. And how’s that going so far?”
Abby deflated instantly. “Okay, I’m pathetic. I know. You don’t have to rub it in. Geez.”
“Listen to this, the best medicine for a broken heart is new love. In order to get new love, you gotta get out and find it. It’s not like hot guys are going to magically land on your lap and ask you for a date if you’re holed up in this place. Remember that song ‘It’s Raining Men?’ It lies. If there’s no pain, no hot guys are gained.” Tiffany crossed her arms and set her jaw in determination, like she was preparing to go into battle. “So we’re both going to find love tonight at The Stripe, whether you’re ready or not.”
Abby sighed and covered her eyes with her hands, but she knew she couldn’t argue. Tiffany had the upper hand. Her friend could be very persuasive if she had set her mind on something. “Oh brother.”
“So let’s see what clothes you brought.” Carmen grinned. “’Cuz the two of us will be damned if you’re going out in your pink, polka-dot pajamas.”
“I thought pajamas were the new LBD,” said Abby wryly.
Carmen arched her eyebrow. “At church bingo, maybe. Girl, if you’re going to enchant an eligible bachelor in a pub, you have to go all out. Come on. Show us some spirit.”
“All right, all right. I’m coming with you.”
Chapter Two
“Everyone’s looking at us.”
“Good. That’s kind of the point, isn’t it?” Michael grinned. “Not that there’s anyone here just yet.”
The Stripe was largely empty this early in the evening. The only establishment in Cub’s Cove that served cheap booze to the locals actually qualified as a dive bar. The place was dim although that night it was brighter
than usual. Maybe because of the speed-dating night. In order to cheer up the place, the event organizer tried to be cutesy by decorating it with glittered cutout hearts, streamers, and balloons.
Michael cringed a little. You’d think some kid was having a birthday party in here.
He saw some regulars rooted on the wooden stools butting up against the high counter, nursing their beers with eyes glued up to a flat-screen TV mounted on the ceiling. The game was playing. Broncos versus Raiders. The volume was muted, and instead, the bartender put on some awful elevator music. Great. Michael started regretting having to pay for the tickets.
The speed-dating event wasn’t set to begin for another hour, and the bar food wasn’t good enough as a rule to attract many early patrons. Jason had insisted they come early anyway in order to get a seat, but Michael didn’t see much of a point.
In a small town like Cub's Cove, there weren’t going to be big crowds, even on a night with a special event.
“Not the good kind of looking,” Jason muttered. “The suspicious kind of looking. Maybe we shouldn’t have come.”
