Page 51 of Just One Summer with the Grumpy

well as any manner of thy friends or of thine

own were; any man's death diminishes me,

because I am involved in mankind.

And therefore never send to know for whom

the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.

I’d found this online, searching for something else as I sipped my morning coffee, and immediately thought of Chase. If anyone qualified as an island, it would be Chase Everett with his dark sunglasses and gruff demeanor. A measure of protection from people who saw him as an opportunity? A calculated distance to ensure he never became his uncle? I couldn’t say, and I really wanted more time to find out.

My phone buzzed with a text. Bridget.Hey, lady. You awake yet?

Grinning, I texted my reply.For you? Always. How’s boring old Arkansas?

Missing you. How’s it going with the fake dating thing? Has Chase kissed you yet?

I practically giggled, remembering that I hadn’t updated her in a couple of days.Maybe.

A pause in which she probably squealed, thenSeriously??? Is he a good kisser?

Very. Like Earth-shakingly good.

Better than Ty? He’s the standard you compare everyone else to, so that’s the ultimate test.

She was absolutely right about that. I’d compared Chase and Ty almost constantly in the past twenty-four hours, and Ty came up short every time.

Better than Ty. Almost no comparison.

There was a long pause before Bridget came back.Sorry, Pops needed something. OK, I’m totally doing a browser search on Chase. If he has any dirt, we need to know it pronto because you, girl, are obviously smitten beyond repair.

I frowned, but she was right. Better to have all the facts now rather than later.How is Pops doing, anyway?

Not so good these days, but I don’t want to talk about that. I’m calling you, k?

My phone rang almost instantly. I answered in a second and heard a scream on the other end. I had to hold the phone away from my ear until it ended.

“What was that for?” I asked, barely holding back a laugh.

“That’s the scream you deserve after news like this. Don’t worry, Pops can’t hear anyway. Okay, I’m pulling up some articles. They look pretty tame so far. Dude. Chase wears a lot of suits, doesn’t he?”

I grinned. “You have no idea.”

“I’m going to pretend that was an innocent comment. Wait, you guys haven’t, like, gone further than kissing, right?”

“Bridget! Of course not.”

“Just checking. I mean, this seems like a pretty new thing and you were dead-set on Ty just yesterday. Maybe you still are.” She paused. “Are you?”

I hesitated. Was I? If I planned on stealing Ty, I wouldn’t be dating Chase. But what if this thing with Chase ended just after Ty’s wedding and then I couldn’t have either of them? “I don’t know.”

“You don’tknow? Daphne, do I need to come out there and talk some sense into you?”

“I’ve got this. I just don’t know where my head is yet.”

“Sounds like it isn’t your head that needs sorting out. I thought you had a plan. The fortune cookie? The horoscope? The plan to steal the groom right out from underneath that bratty bride’s perfect nose?”

“Yes, and I did. I do. I think.”

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