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“From a man?” Dorothy asks, leaning forward with her wine dangling between her thumb and forefinger.
Fallon’s jaw hardens.
Nora tilts her head from side to side. “Something like that.”
“That ass.” My mother huffs, then glances at the crew of elderly ladies leaning in to hear every word. “Get the pitchforks ready, ladies.”
Nora's lips twitch. She flicks her gaze to Fallon, who’s scrubbing his forehead with his broad hand.
“Don’t worry, honey, we’ll sort him out,” Dorothy says. “If all else fails, we can ask Agnes to go speak to him. Lord knows being in her presence would scare him straight.” The older woman shudders.
“Who’s Agnes?” Nora asks, her shoulders relaxing ever so slightly. She breaks a piece of cookie off and pops it in her mouth, her eyes widening in surprise and delight.
Yep—Jen’s creations. They have that effect on people.
“Agnes is the town hag,” Dorothy says with a pleasant smile on her face.
When Nora's brows tug, I glide over to them. “Don’t mind them, Nora. Welcome to Heart’s Cove. Do you know how long you’ll be staying?”
She bites her lip. “That depends on Fallon.”
“No, sweetheart.” My mother pats her hand. “It depends on you.”
Something crosses Nora's eyes—surprise, or maybe revelation. As if she hadn’t considered that she could be in charge of her own future. But before she can respond, the bell above the door rings, and the last person I ever expected to see enters the café.
“Iliana?” My mother straightens in her chair, her head tilting to the side. “Lily, baby?” Her voice breaks on my sister’s nickname.
My youngest sister puts her big travel backpack down beside her, eyes sweeping over the assembled crowd. She’s wearing loose, drawstring sweatpants with a cropped patchwork sweatshirt of a thousand colors. Her dark, near-black hair is piled high on her head in a messy bun, face lined with tired lines. Streaks of silver shimmer in her hair, as if she hasn’t been to the salon in ages. Damn her, but gray hair looks good when Iliana does it. My sister’s bright-green eyes meet mine, and she gives me a half-smile. “Surprise.”
I jump when my mother shrieks, then launches herself at Lily. The top of my mom’s head only reaches my sister’s chin, but she still manages to nearly bowl her over. They crash into the wall as my mother grasps Lily’s cheeks and lays a thousand kisses all over her.
“My baby’s home!” Mom pulls away, her hands on my sister’s upper arms. “You didn’t tell us you were coming.”
Lily’s eyes slide to the side, and warning bells start ringing in my head. Something’s up. “It was…unexpected.”
“Well, you’re here now.” My mother turns around and starts jabbing her finger at people. “You remember Dorothy and Margaret? This is Fiona and Simone; I think you met them at Thanksgiving a couple of years ago. They own this café with Candice and Jen. That’s Fallon’s sister. You remember Fallon from before, yeah?” Her arm is hooked tightly around my sister’s as she drags her around to various people, making introductions.
When they reach me, my mother reluctantly pulls away from Lily and allows me to hug my sister. Lily clings to me, hard.
Something’s definitely wrong.
But when I pull away and search her face, my sister just paints a smile on her face and glances around. “Where’s Trina? Last I heard she moved here to be with all of you.”
“She’s having a sexy two-week vacation with her new motorcycle-riding hunk of a boyfriend,” Simone supplies, grabbing empty mugs and plates from a nearby table. “Back in a week.”
Lily’s eyes widen. “Katrina has a new boyfriend?” Her gaze lands on me, shock written over every line of her face. “And her boyfriend rides a motorcycle?”
“I know.” I grin. “I’d expect that from you, but not from Trina.”
Lily’s face shuts down. “I’m done with men.”
“Oh, that’s what they all say.” Dorothy nudges my sister with her elbow. “Won’t take long for you to find someone of your own.”
Lily grimaces, and I bite back a smile. A year and a half ago, I would have thought the same—then I met Blake. Meeting my man’s eyes, I extend a hand toward him.
He closes the distance between us and slides his arm across my shoulders, extending his other hand toward my sister. “I’m Blake.”
Lily’s eyes widen. “Blake Harding.”
