“He didn’t say where they came from?”
“Girl.”Zoey heaved out a breath as she shoved in the last box. “I don’t?—”
“You don’t know. Right. Sorry.”
“Well, Merry Christmas.” Zoey smoothed her cheetah-print blouse and wiped her hands on her pleather spanx. “Cameron and I are going to head to Frank’s for a few beers after this. Wanna come?”
“You and Cameron are heading to Frank’s for karaoke night.”
She flashed an innocent smile. “I can’t help it that I have the voice of an angel.”
A beer sounded great. Howling coyotes did not.
Frank’s Bar was a good ol’ southern honky-tonk bar with ninety-nine cent taps and the best barbecue in the tristate area. A favorite with the locals, the bar was tucked away in the outskirts of town, away from the prying eyes of the tourists that flooded the town half the year.
I shook my head. “This angel is calling it a night early. I didn’t get much sleep last night.”
“Let’s hope you don’t pull up the driveway to your ex wearing nothing but a G-string and a purple orchid between his teeth?”
I wrinkled my nose at the image, reminding me I had zero sexual attraction to my former fiancé. Zoey, on the other hand, apparently did.
I’d told Zoey about the orchid, but not about Creepy-Ted. I wasn’t sure why, exactly, other than I didn’t want to have to dissect it more than I already had and bring more “energy” to it. Bad juju and all that.
“I won’t say it again,” Zoey continued, “but I really think you should give the guy another chance, Rose. I mean, he’s…”
“Marriage material.Iknow.You’ve reminded me a million times.”
“He’s handsome, educated, comes from money…”
“Nice to know your checklist.”
She grinned, then, “I’m serious. You’re the marrying kind, Rose.”
I smiled and looked down. Good to know that the carefully orchestrated life I’d built around myself wasn’t going unnoticed. Thing was, Zoey had no idea it was all a facade. Zoey had no idea about my past.
No one did.
“What about any of those hot doctors you interviewed on your Roseology podcast? Are any of those eligible bachelors?”
“Are you asking for afriend?”I winked.
“No, just trying to find you a good man. Why’d you close that down, anyway?”
“Men or my podcast?”
She laughed. “Podcast.”
I shifted my weight. “I wanted to put my full focus on this new job.” It was a truthful answer, but one that I still questioned every day. I missed doing my podcast, more than I could have ever imagined when I’d canceled it. It had been my little baby, something I’d started from nothing, worked my butt off to grow, and turned it into a success that had stacked my savings account and birthed my love for designer duds. It wasn’t the money, though, it was the feeling of accomplishment. Like one step closer to my dream of running my own business.
Yeah, I missed it terribly. But I knew that if Theo would approve my Equine Therapy Center, it would fill that void. And help potentially thousands of people in the process.
I felt my shoulders begin to tighten. The usual reaction to anyone bringing up my former fiancé and any time I thought about my past.
“Anyway…” I swooped down and picked up a box.
“Okay, I’ll shut up,” Zoey said. “I’m just saying, you’re not getting any younger is all.”
“Not getting anyyounger?”I dropped the box from my arms, missing my heels by an inch. “I’mtwenty-eightyears old, Zoey.”
