Bailey: I’m going to the Hedgehog tonight, if you want to come with.
Word was spreading that she had a broken heart. On the one hand, she wanted to grieve and heal in private. On the other, every surface in her apartment still seemed imprinted with Owen’s big frame.
Kerry: I’ll meet you there.
She showered and then dressed with a confidence she didn’t feel. Skinny jeans, black boots, a sexy top that should have made her feel good, but only made her miss Owen. She swapped it out for a black turtleneck instead, went a little extra gothic on the eye makeup, and headed out the door.
When she arrived at the pub, she half-expected it to be decorated for the holidays the way it had been the first time she’d visited almost a year ago. But after she got settled at the bar and asked Lore about it, the bartender explained that because so many army reservists came in, the owner was careful to wait until after Remembrance Day to haul out the Christmas decorations.
Kerry blamed her thoughtlessness on her disrupted sleep, and Lore waved it off. “Some of us can wear a poppyandhang up some holly and ivy, you know? But it’s just a few more days, and then I’ll be a proper elf complete with Christmas drinks, too.”
A glance at the chalkboard told Kerry that the cocktail of the week was a gin and tonic. She’d pass. “Can I have a cup of mint tea?”
“Not drinking tonight?”
“I’m just here to catch up with Bailey, because I missed the last couple of practices.”
As she said that, their teammate came in the door, her smile extra wide. Warning-wide. “Don’t panic,” Bailey said quickly and under her breath as she skidded to a stop in front of them. “But—”
Kerry’s gaze slid to the front door again as Owen stomped inside. He sucked all the air out of the room.
“It’s fine,” she said around the lump in her throat. It wasn’t, of course, but from the stricken expression on his face, it was even less fine for him than for her.
She’d bitten off his head the day before. Of course he didn’t want to see her.
He stood there longer than she liked, and she wondered if he was going to turn around and head home. No fun for Owen, that was always a risk. But then he stomped past, heading to the back, and Lore poured him a stout.
Well, fork. She pointed to the glass. "I can take it back to him. And cancel my tea—I’ll take the same.”
Lore hesitated, clearly torn between the unwritten bartender code of ethics and wanting to be a good friend. Kerry couldn’t be glib here. She lowered her voice. “I hurt him. Let me try and fix it. Better that I deal with the awkwardness tonight than it become an ongoing problem.”
“Don’t make a scene,” Lore said as she grabbed a second glass.
Kerry blinked in surprise. “I won’t.”
“Good.”
She hadn’t opened herself up to her new friends as much as she thought she had if Lore thought whatever might happen would have any aspects of making a scene. That wasn’t Kerry’s style, and it wasn’t Owen’s, either. She chewed on her bottom lip for a second. “Lore…”
“Yeah?”
“I really care about him. You know that, right?”
Her friend paused, then nodded. “Sure, I guess.”
Ouch. “Where does theI guesspart come from?”
“You’re a love ‘em and leave ‘em kind of woman. Party hard, go home alone.”
She had been. Before coming to Pine Harbour. Now her chest had a hole in it the size of a big, surly man. “That was the old me,” she whispered. “Before Owen.”
Lore pushed the two drinks across the bar. “Go make sure he knows that.”
Damn. Kerry hadn’t meant to give Lore the impression she was trying to win Owen back. That wasn’t her goal here—but they could be friends again.
She found him in the back corner, carefully laying out a set of darts on a tall table against the wall.
Taking a deep breath, she marched over and slid the beers onto the table next to his hand. She didn’t miss the white knuckles. “Twice in two days.” She said it extra lightly. “What are the odds?”
