Cole Remington was rough and abrupt.
Curt to the point of rudeness.
When he did speak, he seemed to say whatever he was thinking the moment the thought popped into his head.
He had absolutely no filter, and unfortunately, most of his comments were surly.
The man was intense, and that intensity had always made me uncomfortable.
Nevertheless, I didn’t exactlydislikeCole.
I just…couldn’t.
And I certainly didn’t believe that he’d murdered his father.
“How did you like the tea?” Millie asked, changing the subject.
I smiled at her. “It was delicious, but I’m not sure if it’s as good as last week’s English toffee tea.”
Our tea days were something special that Millie and I had been sharing since I’d moved back to Crystal Fork. We both had a weakness for delicious gourmet teas. Whenever I got a new one, or whenever Millie found one, we got together to try them out together as soon as possible.
“It would have been more delicious with fresh scones,” Millie teased.
I groaned. “I hated asking you not to bake any today. I’ve been too sedentary over the winter. I don’t want to gain back the pounds I lost before winter set in, and I still have to lose more weight.”
Life really wasn’t fair. Weight had always been a struggle for me, but I was a major foodie.
Millie’s freshly baked scones were one of my biggest weaknesses.
My friend sent me a disapproving look as she said, “You don’t need to lose another pound. You exercise and you’re healthy. Your body was meant to be curvy. You’re beautiful exactly the way you are, Lauren.”
I let out a long sigh. I’d heard exactly the same thing from Hannah, Reese, and Anna, all three of Millie’s daughters-in-law, who also happened to be my three best friends in Crystal Fork.
In reality, I carried more weight than was considered desirable for a woman of average height.
And Idefinitelywasn’t beautiful. My three best friends had tried to help me get more chic and up-to-date, but I still felt like the same overweight geek with a genius IQ that I’d always been, even though I’d been trying to change my style.
I might be a blue-eyed blonde, but there was nothing really stunning about my looks. My hair was wild more often than not because it was so thick, and there was nothing I coulddo about my ridiculous dimples. My blue eyes weren’t the kind of blue that was vibrant and sparkly. They were muted and pretty boring.
I sent Millie a small smile. “I appreciate the vote of confidence, but I’m thirty-one years old, and men have never been beating down my door to ask me out on dates.”
“Then all of the men you’ve known are idiots,” Millie answered. “It has nothing to do with the way you look. You’re extremely intelligent and highly successful. That’s intimidating to some men. You’ll find the right man.”
I nodded, even though I highly doubted the right guy was going to just fall into my lap someday.
I wanted what my friends had with Millie’s sons, and I wasn’t willing to settle for anything less.
If I never found a man who was crazy about me, I’d rather end up alone for the rest of my life.
On the surface, I was a pragmatic, sensible female.
Deep inside, I wanted what everyone wanted from a relationship. I wanted to love and to be loved.
More and more, I was starting to wonder if that was ever going to happen for me.
“I’d better get going,” I told Millie regretfully as I rose and took our empty teacups to the sink. “I have to stop by Cole’s place on my way home, and I should probably get home and do my laundry.”
It was probably sad that it was Saturday and my excitement for the night was doing my laundry and watching some true crime shows.
