Page 59 of Twisted Hearts

“Oh. Well that’s a funny story…I thought Oliver, when we were still dating, cheated on me with her.”

“What?”

“Yeah.” She laughed. “It was a misunderstanding. Years ago, he used to keep a hotel suite because he traveled so much during the season, and it was easier for him to stay there some nights than head back to our home in the country. Bethany had the suite next to his, so they became good friends.”

She licked her lips and got a far-off look in her eyes, like she was remembering those sweet, new-love times. I let her have that moment, that prick of jealousy needling my skin as she did so. I had no idea what it was like to be in love.

“Sorry.” She flashed me a sheepish grin like she realized she’d totally zoned out. “I forget how far I’ve come in life, how lucky I am to have Oliver and the family we’re growing. It hits me out of nowhere how much changed for me once I moved here.”

She said it so sweetly I was desperate to know more. If anyone needed their life to change for the better to give them the same look in her eyes Shannon had, it was me.

“Care to tell me more?” I asked.

She glanced at the large, circular, rustic wooden clock on her wall and looked back at me, grinning. “How about this—we order lunch, I’ll take a break, and I’ll tell you all about it.”

“Sounds fantastic.”

* * *

Lunch endedup being gyros and Greek salads from a local authentic Greek restaurant only a few blocks away. The DoorDash driver had it delivered in half an hour, and I listened with rapt interest while Shannon explained to me everything about her life. How she grew up with her brother and mom in Iowa. How when her mom passed away when she was in college, she took care of Beaux. What happened with her ex-fiancé, and how everything changed so drastically for her once she showed up in Raleigh.

It was incredible and hilarious, all wrapped up with an awe-inspiring bow. By the time she was done, I had immense respect for both her and Beaux.

She amazed me. I’d grown up with a lot of wealth and surrounded by people who had the same, yet none of them ever behaved in such a way as Shannon did, so thankful for all she had while still so level-headed with everything as well.

We were just finishing up when her phone lit with a text and her grin went soft and dopey. “Oliver’s here. Come with me and meet him and my kids.”

She was already out of her chair, yanking open the door to the front of her store. Three customers were perusing the glass-enclosed jewelry items, and she had two employees out there I hadn’t seen yet since we’d been holed up in her office.

“I’ll introduce you to the ladies later.”

“Sounds good.”

As I answered, the door to Stamped opened, and in walked one of the handsomest dark-haired, godlike men I’d ever encountered in my life.

To his right, clasping his hand, was a gorgeous little girl with pigtails in her dark hair that matched her mom’s, and in his arms was a tiny little bundle of a pink blanket. Tiny feet encased in white socks were the only indication he was holding a living being and not just rolled-up fabric.

“Hey.” He flashed Shannon that sexy chin-up tilt guys mastered way too early in life and came straight toward his wife, not looking at anyone else in the store, like no one else existed.

That prickle of jealousy pinched tighter in my chest as I stood close to Shannon.

Her face lit up the entire place as she rose onto her toes and kissed her husband. “Hey honey. How’s your day?”

“Little Miss Molly here decided to have a tantrum about refusing shoes, but other than that, the girls were angels.”

“Of course. They always are for you.”

“That’s because I’m their favorite.”

“Mommy favorite!” shouted the little girl holding his hand as she let go of her dad to wrap her arms around Shannon’s waist.

“Hey sweetheart.” She bent down and lifted her daughter, propping her up on her hip with ease then turning to me. “Oliver, this is Addi. Addi, this is my husband, Oliver, and our daughters, Molly”—she hugged the girl wrapped around her waist and brushed her hand over the blanket, pulling it down—“and this here is our newest one, Bridget.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” I told Oliver.

He nodded, dropping his smile and instead giving me a scowl that made me tremble. “You too. You girls good?”

“We’re perfect,” Shannon said, “and be nice.” She looked at me. “He’s a dick to most everyone but me. You can ignore him.”

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