He reached out, grabbed my hand on the table, and squeezed my fingers.
"That's not all either." This probably wasn't the right time, but I felt compelled to tell him about Will and me. When I had finally told Tara last night, she'd first playfully slugged me and then gave her speech about how she knew we wouldn't last because I really wanted Jared. I'd denied it, of course. However I felt or was beginning to feel, I hadn't wanted to share it yet.
"What else could there be? Please don't tell me your mother wasn't your mother." He smirked, trying to lighten the mood.
I smiled. "No, but Will and I broke up last night."
The left corner of his mouth lifted. "Really? Are you upset? You don't sound it."
I shook my head. "Upset, not really. I feel guilty about it though. He'd given more to our relationship than I did."
He nodded. "I understand. I feel the same way about Erin."
"How's that going?" I asked.
"I haven't seen her since my parents'. I'm hoping she came to her senses and left town."
That was unlikely.
The Smugglers' Tavern's new owner, Hope Foster, approached the table. "Welcome to the Smugglers' Tavern. What can I get for you today?"
"Cheeseburger, onion rings, and a whiskey sour," I said to her. Alcohol was definitely in order tonight. Then to Jared I added, "Just to take the edge off."
"Okay. Would you like regular fries or sweet potato wedges with that? The wedges are awesome and super healthy!" Hope said.
"Regular is fine," I said.
Jared gave me a half grin and ordered the same, except he got a Coke. When Hope took off, he said, "Have you asked Grams about your mom and Nathan? Maybe she knows the truth."
I shook my head. "No, Amber was with me, and I wanted to wait until Grams and I were alone. Plus, there was Julius, the twenty-years-younger man Grams is shacking up with in Seattle."
Jared's mouth opened and twisted into a smile and then immediately a frown, but he was faking the last bit. It was obvious he wanted to laugh his butt off.
"Go ahead," I said. "Chuckle it up. If my world wasn't crashing around me, I'd be laughing too."
He cleared his throat and got serious. He was an awesome friend. "Well, she'll never get old, right?"
I smirked. "I guess not."
Jared, like Tara, was all too familiar with Grams' antics. Like the time the police brought her home because she went skinny-dipping in the ocean. She'd been in her fifties, and it was Earth Day. She'd argued with the cops that celebrating in water in her birthday suit was absolutely acceptable. They hadn't agreed.
Gloria laughed loudly, pulling me from my thoughts. She pressed one hand to the man's back and leaned into him. He wore a gray T-shirt and jeans. Even his mousy brown hair looked pretty nondescript from the back. I couldn't see where Gloria's other hand was located, and just in case, I didn't want to know.
"Do you want to talk to her before or after we eat?" Jared asked.
"Now." I didn't want to sit here with a nervous stomach, trying to enjoy my food. I wanted my full attention on those rings. "Wanna help?"
"That's why I'm here." He flashed a dazzling smile.
"Uh," I acted offended. "And I thought you were here for my enticing wit."
"Don't forget your stunning beauty," he added, but his tone was thick and didn't sound playful.
"We'll tag team them," I said, ignoring the fluttery feeling his voice awoke in my stomach. "You talk to him, and she's all mine."
We stood and walked over to them. Jared stepped to the man's right side, and I sat on the empty stool to Gloria's left.
She glanced toward the sound of the stool's legs scraping along the wooden floor but didn't turn enough to see who I was. When Jared asked her companion about hidden treasure, she repositioned her body forward and looked me straight in the eye. "Oh, it's you."
She remembered me. I wasn't sure if I should be flattered or not.
Her gaze traveled from the red flower I'd pinned to the side of my updo to my shoes. "I didn't think this was your kind of place. Not that I thought about you much before now."
I refrained from rolling my eyes at her unnecessary rudeness. It must've been a genetic trait. Maybe I wasn't related after all.
"Actually, this place has great food, and I wanted to talk to you."
Her eyes widened. She obviously hadn't spoken to her sister recently. "And you knew I'd be here?"
I smiled, feeling triumphant for a childish moment. "Holly said you practically lived here."
Her gaze narrowed. She was a very animated woman. "The bitch," she whispered.
Did these women have happy feelings toward anyone?
"She also said that the two of you arrived in Danger Cove before your brother died."
"Li'l sis told you that, huh? Did she also mention how desperate she's been for a piece of the inheritance? How she'd been talking for a few months now about how much she'd get when dear Nathan croaked?"
So they definitely didn't know about Nathan's will before coming for a visit. "When did you learn about your brother's will?" I asked.
She popped a pretzel from a wooden bowl into her mouth. "After he died and his lawyer said we'd get nothing."
So either of them could've killed Nathan for the inheritance they believed they were getting. "And you both came here to ask him for money?" It was a hunch based off of what Max said about the postcards.
Gloria's right eye twitched. "How do you know about that?"
I slowly smiled, trying to unnerve her to get her to spill more.
"Yes, we both tried to hit him up for cash, but I knew he wasn't going to part with any. He never had before. Holly was adamant about making him change his mind though. She didn't share her plans, but she said 'any means necessary.'"
"Are you suggesting Holly killed him?" I asked, keeping my voice low.
From the corner of my eye, I watched Hope head to our table with our food.
Gloria shrugged and popped another pretzel into her mouth. "Don't know, but we knew of Nathan's allergy. It wasn't a secret. He'd had it all his life. And my sister loves to bake."
* * *
After dinner, Jared and I headed to the pier for dessert. I couldn't stand being around Gloria one second more. Throughout dinner she'd kept glancing over at us. I hadn't been able to make out if she was trying to annoy me or if we were bothering her. Either way, it had been distracting, and now the onion rings sat in the pit of my stomach like a lump of lard. That didn't mean I couldn't enjoy a couple of scoops of ice cream though.
We sat on a bench, facing the water. I shoved a huge spoonful of chocolate-vanilla swirl into my mouth and sighed at its deliciousness. Jared's had looked so good last time—I decided to try my own.
Jared smirked. "That good, huh? Are you sure you're just not using seductive sounds so I won't keep asking how you're doing?"
I swallowed and nearly choked. I hadn't realized I was making seductive sounds. And since when did Jared think my sounds were seductive?
He lifted his napkin and dotted the corner of my mouth with it.
It was so intimate, and it took me by surprise. I sucked in a breath. I couldn't remember him acting this way before. Was it possible he thought of me as more than a friend after all? No, I was imagining things. He may have told Erin it was over, but the woman flew across the country to be with him and try again. Maybe she'd convince him to try again. And I had to wonder how clearly he'd told Erin it was over, especially with his Libra tendencies to avoid confrontation if possible. Plus, men weren't exactly known for their directness when it came to matters of the heart. They tended to beat around the bush. Like Will. He said we should take a break, but I knew that meant we were done. Breaks always led to dating others and moving on. Why couldn't he have just said, "Let's end this"?
And what about Nathan? He'd told Mom he was a confirmed bachelor, but then he was watching me at the park and leaving me boatloads of money. Maybe he'd simply become curious about me, or maybe he'd changed his mind about…
Holy macaroons! Was that why he came into the bakery? To see me? That idea didn't help with his cryptic question though, and now that he was gone, I doubted I'd ever find out. This shouldn't have been so confusing. Part of me wished I could talk to him and find out how he really felt about me. The other part wished I'd never learned all of this. I just wanted to go back to believing all I did a month ago.
I turned to Jared to share my messy feelings, but he had such a relaxed look on his face, I didn't want to ruin our night with the past. And as for the two of us, there was definitely something going on that wasn't simply friendly. If it had been, I wouldn't have noticed the electric heat between us when his thigh brushed against mine, or the way he kept staring at my mouth during dinner. Unless he spotted a pool of burger grease in the corner of my mouth, and God I hoped not, he was definitely not acting normal.
And I wouldn't have paid attention to the crinkles in the corners of his eyes when he laughed. Did Will's eyes do the same? In the past six months I'd spent more time with Will than I had spent with Jared in the past five years, yet I knew more about my best friend than I did my ex. What did that say about me?
"Cat got your tongue? Or is your mouth just frozen?" Jared asked with a sly smile that melted my ice cream more.
Keep your cool, Riley.
This was Jared. He knew everything about me. There was no reason to feel sweaty and nervous. And since we'd never played games with one another, I didn't want to start now.
"Okay, I have to ask. Why have you been staring at my mouth all night? Do I have some sort of growth?" I touched my lips just in case my crazy theory was true. Thankfully, my lips felt smooth, with no hideous lumps or foreign matter.
Of course my action made him stare all the more. Then he scooted closer and leaned so far down that our noses almost touched.
With the breathiest voice, he said, "Because I've been wanting to do this the entire time."
A breath caught in my throat as he leaned even closer and pressed his lips to mine.
Oh my God. This was actually happening. Excitement coursed through my body and mind. I wanted this. Really wanted this.
The pressure of his mouth deepened, and I closed my eyes. Tingling pooled between my thighs, and nothing seemed as important as this right now. I leaned into him, wanting more and realizing just how natural this felt at the same time.
His tongue pushed past my lips into my mouth. He tasted like caramel and vanilla, all warm and inviting. And I wanted more.
But just as I allowed him to taste my ice cream choice for the evening, Will's face entered my mind.
Oh my God. Will.
I pulled back just enough to shatter the moment. I couldn't believe I'd allowed this to happen so soon.
Jared's eyes were dark—full of desire and confusion. His frown was deep. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have assumed—"
"No," I said so fast my breath shot out and made him blink. "I want to. It's just…Will. We just broke up. Don't I owe him some time to move on before I do the same?"
His brows returned to their proper spot on his forehead. "Do you? You broke up."
"Technically, he asked for a break."
"Oh." He started to pull farther back, but I didn't want him to leave. I wanted to stay in his warmth forever. I grabbed on to the lapels of his jacket, not caring that I dropped my ice cream onto the ground, and held him close.
We laid our foreheads together.
"I don't want you to go yet," I whispered. "As far as I'm concerned, Will and I are done. We were done when we began."
I knew this now. All of that passion I hadn't been feeling was my big, red-blazing warning sign. Next time I'd pay better attention. Hopefully there wouldn't be a next time.
"It's not really just him though. Yeah, I want to be considerate of his feelings, but I also don't want to ruin our friendship. Even though we've been distant lately, you've been a part of my life for so long. What if we start something and it doesn't work out? And then there'd be so much awkwardness that we wouldn't be able to go back to only being friends."
He started to say something, but a gasp sounded nearby. We both turned and saw Erin standing several feet away, staring at us.
* * *
The next morning, I wasn't in the bakery for more than five minutes when my phone rang. It was Tara. The last time she'd woken before sunrise she'd found a possible engagement ring, and I'd found a dead body. I almost didn't answer her call.
"Why are you awake?" I asked.
She squealed in my ear. "Did you and Jared kiss?
Warmth flooded my face. "How do you know that?"
"Ohmigod, you did, you little hussy. And how do you think I found out? A mom in my tots' class told me. She was told by Mallory Winchester who was told by Norma Childs, and Susan Monroe told her."
Gossip truly traveled at the speed of light in this town.
"And Erin told Susan Monroe? Didn't Susan work at the hardware store? Why on earth would Erin tell a perfect stranger?" I asked.
"Apparently after seeing you and Jared, she ran off crying and broke down at Susan's feet. And Susan had been on the pier, walking her dog."
"What? That's not what happened."
"Oooh, do tell."
I sighed and rolled my eyes at the lies circling town. The poor helpless victim routine wasn't going to work on me, but what if everyone else believed her? No one would know the truth. They'd have no reason to think Erin was lying. The last thing I needed was for my name to be slung around town more than it already had been with Nathan's death.
After Erin caught us, Jared and I had stood up. It had been weird because he didn't go to her, and she just stood there as if she was waiting for him to approach her, to explain, but there was nothing to say. I had expected her to run off, but she walked over to us.
She'd narrowed her gaze at him and spat out, "So now you're cheating on me?"
He'd looked dumbfounded for a long moment and said, "No, I'm not, because we aren't a couple anymore."