Page 2 of Love is Grand

“Nah,” Rylan said, waving off my concerns. “No way. Plus, Tony is crazy for you.”

“We’re just friends,” I said a little too defensively.

I was my own worst enemy. Here I was wanting Rylan to ask less, and yet I was leaving little bread crumbs for her to follow a path straight to the truth.

Rylan tilted her head, studying me. “Tony would be good to you. He’s a nice guy.”

“Look, he’s great, and I know you two are best friends, but now isn’t a good time for me to get involved like that.”

Except, I was involved, but with someone else. Someone more complicated, and much worse for me than Tony.

“I hear you,” Rylan said softly. “But you’re not alone, Shell. I’m here. Teddi loves you. Reach out.”

“By the way, you didn’t run here from the new house, did you?”

Everyone knew Rylan’s guy, Adam, had bought a huge house in the West Bay. He’d decided to live here for most of the year, traveling back and forth to the States, wooing her along the way. Of course, she’d moved in with him.

“No, I came in early to work to check on a delivery, took a run, and now I’m going back to work.”

“You’re still bartending?”

“Yep, but I start my new gig in a few weeks. I’m nervous I won’t like it, but this will let me travel back to the US with Adam. He only has a three-month visitor’s visa now.”

I knew what Adam wanted because he’d told Dad, but I was pretty sure Rylan was in denial.

“Do I hear wedding bells?” I asked, pleased to see Rylan looking uncomfortable instead of me.

“Uh, no.”

“We’ll see.”

With that, Rylan stood tall and finished her coffee. “I gotta jog back and get a shower. Are you free this Friday, or do you work?”

Actually, I had the night off at the restaurant, and my parents were taking Weezie, so I was totally free. I’d planned to take a bath and read a book, but I wasn’t about to tell Rylan that yet.

“Why?” I asked warily.

Rylan smiled. “We’re going to have some cocktails and apps. Can you escape and come?”

“Oh, that sounds so nice,” I said, unable to control my desire to have some adult time.

Then Rylan dropped the bomb.

“Cal’s flying in. Adam wants him to have a good time since he’s shouldering a lot of the workload. Which I know is BS, but you know Adam. He’s always indebted to his family.”

Sadly, after she said Cal’s name, everything else sounded like gibberish as my brain fought to find an excuse for begging off on Friday.

Rylan must not have noticed because she said, “See you around seven,” flicking her ponytail and then hurrying out the door.

The chimes tingling above the door after she left didn’t even bring me out of my haze.

Cripes. Cal was coming back to Grand Cayman.

Luckily, the floors in my bedroom were hardwood, so there was no evidence left behind that I’d been pacing my room for an hour or longer early Friday night. Not like anyone was going to walk in while I ran around in circles in a bra and a jean skirt.

My parents insisted on taking Weezie for a sleepover, leaving me home alone in the tiny house I normally shared with my daughter. With my husband gone for good, I should stay put and concentrate on being the best mom I could be. Instead, I walked back and forth in front of my dresser, contemplating what to wear on top, or whether it would be best to just change into my jammies.

A romance novel called to me from the nightstand, and I paused my pacing, staring at it. I could make a cup of tea and crawl into bed for the night, no one the wiser. When Rylan asked why I didn’t show up for the party, I’d blame it all on Weezie wanting me to stay home.

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