Liv retrieved her water bottle from her desk and then sat. “You make it sound like we’re in middle school.”
“Come on, you know what I mean, Liv.”
Yeah, she did, but giving Emma a hard time was too much fun. “Honestly, I’m not sure.”
“How can you not be sure?”
“It’s not like we’re in sixth grade and he passed me a note asking me to be his girlfriend.”
“Fair enough. But there are usually signs. I’d say that right there is one.” Emma gestured toward the flowers. “Have you seen him since Thursday night?”
“Just Friday night. He spent the weekend with a cousin in Providence. He planned to come back today.”
“You saw him three days in a row. Sounds promising. Did you hear from him while he was in Providence?”
“I covered Maggie’s shift Saturday night, and he called about ten minutes before it started, so we didn’t talk for long. Yesterday we exchanged some text messages, but they weren’t earth-shattering.”
“Liv, how can you possibly wonder if he’s interested in being more than a friend? Three months ago, if I’d told you Brian and I had gotten together three nights in a row, that he’d called while visiting his family, and then sent me flowers, what would you tell me if I told you I wasn’t sure what was going on between us?”
Liv shrugged. “That the two of you were in a relationship, or at least headed in that direction.”
“Exactly, so why are you wondering about the status of you and Matt? It’s obvious to me, and if you ask Phoebe, she’ll agree.”
“Brian also lives twenty minutes away and spends his days writing computer code. Matt has fans around the world and dates supermodels. Not to mention, he lives more than a thousand miles away and only comes to town once or twice a year.”
“Just because he’s dated supermodels doesn’t mean he can’t be interested in you. As for him living so far away, he’s here now. Maybe he’ll decide to stay.”
“I guess.” He owned a beautiful home in town, so he obviously liked Orchard Harbor. But that didn’t mean he liked the area enough to call it home. “Speaking of Brian, how are you two doing?” At least for now, she was done talking about her and Matt.
“Great. Sunday, I went with him to his aunt and uncle’s fortieth wedding anniversary. I think I met just about his entire family. And his sister and sister-in-law were much friendlier this time.”
She was glad to hear things were going so well. Emma’s last boyfriend had turned out to be a two-timing jerk, and it had taken Emma a long time before she started dating again.
“And you’ll never guess who was at the party.”
Maybe it was because they’d spent so much time talking about Matt, but Eclipse’s bassist was the first person to come to mind. “Jordan Mead?”
“I wish. No, Fredrick.”
“As in Fredrick Waldman?”
Emma nodded. “Yep. He’s dating Brian’s cousin.” She made air quotes when she said “dating.” “Considering I saw him hitting on another woman at the party, I don’t know how long it will last.”
“Why am I not surprised he did that?” The man was more of a creep than she’d thought. “That reminds me, I didn’t tell you. I found out who’s buying the building.”
She’d shared that her family’s offer hadn’t been accepted right after she found out. However, she’d never told Emma they didn’t have to worry that Timberlane Development or another company like it would tear down the building and replace it with a hotel or condos.
“Matt.”
Emma’s eyebrows disappeared under her bangs, and her chin nearly hit the table. “That’s crazy. I mean, it’s great, but he’s the last person I would’ve expected to buy the building.”
“Trust me, I was shocked when he told me too.” She’d had four days to digest the news, and she still half expected to wake up and find out she’d dreamed the entire conversation with him.
“Did he tell you why?”
Liv replayed their conversation Thursday night. “He said he’d seen what Timberlane Development did to Sandy Cove and didn’t want to see it happen here. And that his favorite restaurant in town is in the building, and he didn’t want to see it go out of business.” She intentionally skipped the third reason he’d given for buying the property because she didn’t want Emma to insist once again that Matt was interested in a long-term relationship.
“Sounds like he’ll be in town a lot more. Maybe he’s even thinking about living here year-round.”
