“How about you?” Bethany sat closest to her. She reached over to lay a hand on Amy’s arm for a second, her wedding diamond reflecting the light from a pendant lamp above the table. “Any hope of continuing that friendship?”
“I think Sam has too much on his plate right now to think about that.” She gave an honest answer, even as it occurred to her this was the most girl talk she’d had since high school. Or, more accurately, it was the most girl talkshe’d had about her own life. Because while she’d made a few casual friendships in Atlanta, she hadn’t let anyone too close to know much about her private life.
She hadn’t actively missed that kind of thing; she’d craved independence when she’d first moved to Atlanta. But she couldn’t deny this felt...nice. These women might not have seen her in a decade, but they quickly zeroed in on things that were important to her. Things that weighed on her mind.
“Men don’t ever have too much on their plate to think about ‘that.’” Erin sipped her water coolly while both Bethany and Nina swung around to look her way. “What? It’s true. Remy was still grieving for his wife when he showed up in Heartache. Neither of us was searching for a relationship, but we can’t choose when the right person comes along.” She stirred up bubbles in her water with a striped straw. “It just happens.”
“I’m a long way from having the right person come along,” Amy said. She had thought she’d found something special with her last boyfriend, and he’d bailed on her almost as soon as she’d shared her pregnancy news. “Sam is just very committed to this case. And he knows I’m in town to support Heather while she testifies. That’s half the reason I came back.”
The table went quiet for an awkwardly long moment.
Making Amy realize that the women here might feel shunned that she hadn’t come home for other milestones in their lives. Bethany had almost gotten divorced, and her daughter had graduated. Nina had returned to town and became engaged to Mack, starting a restaurant along the way. Erin and Heather had opened this store. Erin had gotten married. And, of course, all of them had been here tohelp their mother after the death of Amy’s father. That had to have been a traumatic time.
But as she cringed inwardly, her sister-in-law leaned closer.
“We’re glad you’re home.” Bethany’s hand returned to her arm. This time, her hand stayed for a long moment. “And Heather is, too.”
“I know someone else who is glad she’s in town.” Erin stared down at her phone screen for a moment before flipping it around for the rest of the table to see.
An image of Sam—taken from a security camera—showed him standing just outside the front door of Last Chance Vintage. He pushed a buzzer or maybe an intercom button, his square jaw flexing as he glared at the closed entrance.
Had he come out of a sense of duty? she wondered. Or was he anxious to see her? His eyes gave away nothing.
“He’s here for you, Amy Finley.” Nina gloated as if she’d predicted it. “And he’s the talk of all the single women in Heartache.”
“I’m letting him in,” Erin announced, stabbing at a button on her phone. “Because I can hardly lock out a lawman.”
“That’s some high-tech security system,” Amy observed, hoping to steer the conversation away from Sam.
Erin’s expression shifted, softening somehow. “Remy installed it all to keep me safe.”
After another silent exchange of gazes around the table that didn’t include her, Amy wondered what she’d said this time.
“His first wife died during a home invasion,” Bethany said softly as Erin jumped up to flip on a light in the store. “It made him very protective.”
Howawful. Amy hadn’t heard that, but then, she and Heather had exchanged a limited amount of information over the years, a dialogue that she’d deliberately kept to a minimum. As much as she wanted to embrace her family now, she didn’t know if they would ever understand.
“I should go.” Rising from her spot at the table, she tossed her empty water bottle into the recycling bin under the coffee bar. “Sam will want to finish up our discussion.”
It was as good an excuse as any to retreat. And besides, he was her ride.
“Of course he will.” Nina draped her arm over Amy’s shoulder as she walked her toward the office door. “How good of you to do your civic duty.”
She didn’t bother arguing. She smiled instead and let it go.
“I was the mayor’s daughter, you know,” Amy reminded her.
Nina tossed her head and laughed as they paused in the back hallway near the fitting room. “You were at that.” She squeezed her once before she let her go, her attention shifting to where Erin was greeting Sam near the cash register. “Good luck.”
“You ready?” Sam seemed to notice her as soon as she stepped onto the sales floor. He turned at once, jamming his hands in the pockets of dark pants.
Tall and broad shouldered, he was a fine-looking man. No wonder all the single women in town were talking about him.
Too bad for them, he’d kissed her today.
As their gazes connected over the racks of rock-band Ts and floral skirts, she felt a ping of electricity. A shock of awareness that bolted straight through her. Maybe he’d been thinking about that kiss, too.
“I’m ready.” She was ready to follow where he led. Ready for a replay of this afternoon and maybe more.
