Page 6 of The Hometown Dilemma
Her cheeks pinked and I knew I had been right. “I started talking to someone a couple of weeks ago and he seems nice.”
I snorted. Seriously, my sister was a girl of extremes. From dating Wade Dempsey, who was six years older than her, to being attracted to someone who was probably six years younger. She ought to be looking at someone her own age. God, now I sounded like a mother. Not our mother, I hasten to add, Sylvie Harlow was also a woman prone to extremes.
“Will you come with me?” Cami batted her eyelashes at me. “Shelley said she was busy tonight.”
Given I hadn’t been out properly since I’d been home, it would be fun to do something with Cami. I knew I wouldn’t get any peace until I agreed. “Fine. Why not?”
“Yay! Thanks, sis!” Cami jumped off the bed and went to my closet. “Can I borrow your dark blue jeans?”
“What if I wanted to wear them?”
Cami turned back to me, the jeans clutched firmly to her chest. “But you won’t, will you? You always wear black jeans when you go out.”
“Maybe I feel like a change. And I am the older sister here, so I figure I get first dibs. Not to mention the fact they’re my jeans. Don’t you have a dozen of the same pairs anyway?”
“Not like the ones you got from New York.” Her expression was pleading, and I didn’t have the heart to say no, even though I probably would have worn them myself.
I rolled my eyes. “God, if you’re that desperate.”
She beamed. “I love you! I’m going to get ready. We’ll leave at six thirty.”
Then she was gone, blowing in, then out like a whirlwind, leaving a trail of destruction in her wake followed by silence. Not for the first time, she’d coerced me into doing something. In reality, the more time I spent in my bedroom refreshing a web page for an application process that wasn’t even open yet, the less opportunity I had to meet people and find my first clients. Although I didn’t expect to find them having drinks at Dempsey’s.
My gaze fell to the discarded book on the bed. While I would have liked nothing more than to have had an uninterrupted hour or so of reading, getting ready for our night out took priority. Although, to be fair, getting ready for a night out in Abbott Ridge was much less stressful than getting ready for a night out in New York. Dempsey’s wasn’t exactly on the same level as the fancy wine bars and clubs I used to frequent with my work colleagues. Places where everyone was on their best behavior and wanted to be seen in the right bar, with the right people. It would be a fun, laid back night out with no expectations.
We arrived at Dempsey’s shortly after seven. Despite Cami’s insistence of leaving half an hour before, she took extra time making sure her hair and make-up were just right. She didn’t even wear the jeans she’d made such a fuss about. I wondered who this guy was she was making such an effort for – and if he was even going to be at the bar.
Wade Dempsey was nowhere to be seen when we got there. Cami hadn’t divulged much about their breakup, and I didn’t want to pry. But if she was happy going to the bar for a night out, I sensed there couldn’t be too much bad blood between them.
“What’s it gonna be, Cami?” asked the bartender, treating Cami to a wide grin. I guessed he knew her from her relationship with Wade.
“Nothing you’ve got to offer, Brad.” She grinned and I wondered whether anything had gone on between the two of them. “Jaime will have a vodka, lime, and soda and I’ll have a mimosa.”
“You got it.” Brad winked and walked off to prepare the drinks.
I nodded in Brad’s direction. “What’s going on there? Was he the reason you and Wade split?”
Cami shook her head. “He likes to think he is.” She tilted her head and narrowed her eyes, as if appraising me. “He could be good for you though.”
A laugh bubbled from my lips. “Thanks for trying to set me up, sis. Exactly what I needed.”
Brad placed our drinks on the bar, and I fished in my purse for some cash to cover the bill.
“Can we get a big serving of nachos?” Cami asked Brad. “We’re going to sit over there.” She pointed to a table near a television screen. I suspected they would put football on later, hence the attraction for the college team coming in.
“Do you want extra chili?”
I said no at the same time as my sister said yes. Not for the first time that day, I let her have her own way. If worse came to worst, I could always scrape it off. Hot chili wasn’t my favorite thing.
We went to the table and sat down. I noticed Cami made sure she could see the door.
“So, what’s going on with your love life, Jaime?” Cami sucked on the straw in her cocktail. I wanted to warn her to slow down but sensed there was little point. “I thought you were seeing someone in New York. Did you decide long distance wasn’t going to work?”
I chewed on the inside of my cheek. It turned out Emmett had decided long distance wasn’t going to work but forgot to tell me that fact before he slept with his executive assistant. Cliché, I know, but once I’d told him I was coming back to Abbott Ridge, he seemed to lose all interest in me. We’d been dating for almost six months, so it wasn’t as if we were on the verge of marriage. But his betrayal hurt me nonetheless, because I’d always been so open and honest with him about my plans. I did wonder whether he would have done it anyway, regardless of whether I’d been leaving.
“We weren’t compatible anyway,” I mumbled. “He was a lawyer who didn’t see the creative industry as valid.” That much was the truth. We’d argued many times over my career choices. He’d tried to railroad me into getting an admin job at his law firm because it would have paid better than any design job I could get.
“Sounds like a total delight.” Cami rolled her eyes. “He had to be good in bed though, right? Otherwise, why would you have stayed with him?”
