AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Doesn’t mean he wasn’t,” she sang.
“Char, it was so long ago. I’m not twenty-one anymore. I have to wear push-up bras now for a little extra lift. And I’m adding collagen to everything, even my morning coffee.”
“Well, whatever you’re doing, you look amazing. I daresay you look better than when you were twenty-one.”
“You’re such a liar, but I love you.”
“I’m not lying. You know the director for Drake’s latest film?”
“I met him the one time.”
“Well, he says you’re the sexiest woman he’s ever met.”
“I don’t believe that. He works with Hollywood sirens.”
“Exactly, so he knows what he’s talking about. But Drake told him to move on. He has a reputation for being a ladies’ man.”
That wasn’t surprising. “I guess that was good of Drake,” I hesitated to say.
“I know you like him.” Charlotte squeezed me.
“I’m still thinking about it. Anyway, it doesn’t matter. I lost my chance with Patrick.”
“Did you? What if this is your chance?”
“Char,” my voice quaked. “It was three weeks. What can you really know about someone in three weeks?”
“Sometimes all it takes is a smile, a glance,a kiss,” she said with meaning.
I swallowed hard. Patrick’s kiss had told me so many things. Things I still couldn’t admit to. “I can’t think like that,” I said, barely above a whisper, for fear I would think about it.
“You can if you let yourself. Think about letting him stay here,” she pleaded. “I have a feeling.”
“Oh no, no, no. Not you and your feelings.”
“I’m just saying, I think Daisy really wants this to happen.”
Her connection to George’s late wife was kind of freaky. Mostly because it was eerily correct. A lot of love connections happened in our inn, and Charlotte somehow always knew which couples would come together.
“I don’t know. All I need right now is stuffing and pie.”
Charlotte laughed. “Okay. Let’s go do Thanksgiving. Just promise me for once you’ll think about yourself.”
“I’m not used to that.” It was easier to think about other people’s happiness.
“Please, Izzy. You deserve it.”
I wasn’t sure about that, but for Charlotte, I would do anything. “I’ll think about it.”
ONCE JAMESON WAS SOUND ASLEEPand Charlotte snuck out to go “talk” to Drake, I pulled out my laptop while snuggled up on the couch, trying to talk myself out of another piece of pumpkin pie with homemade whipped cream. I thought about my bridesmaid’s dress and decided against the pie. Besides, I had a feeling what I was about to do might make me a little queasy. I was going to snoop into Patrick’s life. I had to know how Nina passed away. She was so young—well, my age. While I felt like I was tossing pennies into the fountain of youth every day, it was way too young to die.
I knew I couldn’t look up Nina on social media—I had a feeling she’d blocked me. I never saw her on any of our mutual friends’ feeds. Not like I would have followed her. I wouldn’t have been able to take visual reminders of things I had no right thinking about. I’d made my choice. But I still found it weird she would block me. We were friends. Good friends. And I wasn’t the kind of person to go after another woman’s man.
I would have never been unfaithful to Jared. Although I wondered sometimes if he’d cheated on me. I still never knew why he wanted the divorce or wouldn’t even try to work it out. We were happy enough. Okay, so maybe indifference had crept in like a silent killer. We became more business partners than lovers. Jared had never been overly emotive, but he could be tender and thoughtful. Those qualities had waned over the years. To him our relationship became more about the next bid we won. Some competition even snuck in and reared its ugly head. He hated when clients chose my designs over his. We never disclosed whose concept was whose to our clients—we merely presented multiple design options. But Jared’s ego didn’t take it well. He would try to act like he didn’t care, but I knew he did. He would get sulky and distant. For a long time, I would try to stroke his ego and make him happy. After years of it, I just started to ignore his behavior. All I ever wanted was for him to be my cheerleader in the same way I tried to be his.
I worried on occasion whether Jared sought happiness outside our marriage. I’d even asked him if he had. He denied it. In fact, he was quite upset I would even ask. But that only added more fuel to my suspicions. I supposed it was a moot point now.
Instead of working on Christmas ornaments like I should have been doing, I opened my laptop and logged in. While my laptop came to life, I looked around my little home. It didn’t look like much now, but I planned to go Joanna Gaines all over it with shiplap walls and farmhouse decor. The first thing to go would be the floral wallpaper. The only redeeming feature was a rustic stone fireplace that was currently crackling with a low-burning fire. No matter how cozy the fire, I was still freezing. I would be for at least the next five to six months. Winter loved to linger in the valley. This Florida girl still wasn’t used to it. Maybe if I had someone to “talk” to at night, it would help keep me warm.
