“I don’t think he wants to be your friend. I think he wants to beway morethan your friend,” I say with a raised brow.
“Well you’re on crack and need to let that go. It wasn’t true in high school and it certainly isn’t true now,” she protests. Having picked a carrot out of the crate, she slices off a few pieces and pops one into her mouth to taste. “Oh my god, what is true is the fact that that man knows how to grow a vegetable.”
“I’m sure he’d like to show you his personal vegetable and how well he can make it grow,” I comment without missing a beat. I smirk at her and laugh when her face screws up into a grimace.
“Oh!” she scoffs before tossing a piece of carrot at me. “You’re disgusting.”
“Says the girl who was asking me about my sex life a week ago!”
“Who’s sex life are we talking about?”
Belle has entered the kitchen and stepped directly into ourwildly inappropriate workplace conversation. She looks between the two of us, a shy smile forming on her face.
“Jack and Eve’s,” I say quickly before Eve can defend herself.
Belle’s mouth falls open as she gasps. “Finally! Oh my gosh, the town will be so happy to hear it’s finally happened!”
“Oh, not you too,” she groans, throwing a piece of carrot at her. Belle catches it and pops it into her mouth.
“I’m sorry, Eve, but that man is in love with you. Has been since we were kids.”
“Thank you for backing me up,” I say in her direction. We bump fists and look back at Eve with matching smirks.
“I hate both of you. I never should have come home,” she mutters, going back to inspecting the fresh produce.
“Speaking of high school love interests,” Belle continues, drawing out her words as she talks. “I heard a certainsomeoneis back in town.”
She’s looking at me out of the corner of her eye and I do what I can to play dumb.
“Oh? And who’s that?” Eve asks, not looking up from her vegetables.
“A one Nick Winters seems to have blown in for the holiday season. As word on the street goes, he and our girl, Noelle, had quite the run-in last week in front of the coffee shop.” Belle’s voice tips up at the end as she looks at me expectantly. We both jump when the sound of a knife coming down hard on a cutting board cracks through the kitchen.
“Nick…Winters?” Eve seethes from the other side of the table. She looks at Belle as she says his name but darts her eyes to me. “Is this why you’ve been acting so weird since I’ve been home? Yousaw himlast week and failed to tell me?”
“Eve, stop. It didn’t mean anything and it wasn’t ‘quite the meeting.’” I scowl at Belle for blowing my secret. “We ran into one another, literally, on the sidewalk last week. He caused meto spill my coffee on my favorite pair of loafers and that was that. Nothing more.”
“I thought he was never coming back to Evergreen? Has he lost his fucking mind? Does hewantme to chop his dick off for what he did to you?” She’s waving the knife in her hand around in the air and all of the men in the kitchen scatter like mice at the sound of genital mutilation.
“Eve—” I start but she cuts me off.
“No, don’t ‘Eve’ me. It took me months to put you back together and I’m not going to be here to pick up the pieces after he comes strutting back into town.”
“I’m not some naive girl anymore. I don’t need you protecting me,” I argue.
“Like hell you don’t because if he knows what’s good for him, he won’t come within twenty yards of you,” she retorts, pointing the knife at me.
“Besides,” I continue, trying to calm her down before she accidentally takes off one of her fingers. “I have zero intention of seeing him anyway, so there’s no chance he can do any damage. Not that he can because I’msoover him.”
Liar.
“Well that’s good to hear because he’s out in the library asking to speak with you,” Belle says brightly.
“What?” All of the muscles in my face fall at her announcement. I feel my heart quicken behind my chest at the thought of him being here, at the inn, and asking for me.
“That’s it,” Eve cuts in. She pulls out the largest knife I think I’ve ever seen. “We’re serving testicals for dinner.”
And before I can stop her, she’s storming out of the kitchen headed straight for the lobby.
