Page 14 of Knot a Good Idea

Wear something nice.

As opposed to what?

“I still can’t believe this is happening,” Skylar says as she rummages through my closet. She pulls out a simple black cocktail dress. “This would be cute. Super classy.”

She’s more excited about the date than I am.

Everyone is.

Skylar blabbed to my mom as soon as she walked through our front door, gossiping about what happened at the café.

Now, my mom is just as invested, standing in my doorway as my best friend shows her the dress. “I think it would be appropriate for where you’re going,” she says.

Where we’re going happens to be an award-winning restaurant an hour from here known for their French cuisine and a six month long waiting list.

But it’s obvious how Donovan was able to make it happen.

The man isloaded.

He’s the CEO of a tech corporation—I was wrong in assuming he was a finance guy.

This is worse.

I didn’t recognize him, just like he didn’t recognize me.

At least we have that in common.

“Why the hell is he in Isleton, anyway?” I murmur, staring up at my ceiling. I lay on my bed, still in my lounge clothes while Skylar rummages through my things.

“People come here all the time for land development,” my mom says. “He could be interested in buying up property.”

“What, so he can build some thirty-million-dollar home?”

“April, can you stop being negative for like, two seconds?” Skylar huffs. “Can you just let yourself enjoy something?”

“Pot, meet kettle.”

But that’s not true anymore. Ever since Skylar found her pack, she’s been smiling more. She’s been more positive than ever while I spiral into an abyss of self-loathing and negativity.

Like I said—I came back wrong.

Give yourself grace.

My mom looks at me with a frown on her face. “You don’t have to go if you don’t want to, April.”

Skylar sighs. “Yeah, if it’s too much, you shouldn’t go.”

Their voices are laced with pityagain.

I can’t take it. I sigh and rub at my eyes, a headache forming. “No. I’m going. It’s just a bizarre situation, to say the least. I don’t understand why he would ask me out after only talking to me for a few moments.”

“River offered to tail you?—”

“No Skylar, I don’t need your boyfriend totail meon a date. I’m a big girl. I can do this.”

“You are,” my mom agrees. “I’m proud of you, honey.”

Proud of what?

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