“Of course not!” she says, in the way of a born romantic. “If Idomeet someone who’s worth my time, then it’s meant to be. If not, then at least I’ll know I’m doing something good. He’s out there, though. I know that.”
I sneak a glance at Cole, who doesn’t seem as charmed by this as I am. Then again, he didn’t grow up around matchmaking.
“Gah, I love you,” Tina says, nudging Kennedy. “Now, be good and finish your tea so I can pretend to read your fortune.”
“Pretend?” Jane asks, her tone scandalized.
“Hey,” Tina says, lifting her hands. “I’m working on my success rate, but this girl needs practice.”
Jane points to Cole and me, across the table from her. “You saw a heart in my dad’s tea last month. Youknewthis was going to happen.”
“Hey,” Tina says with a smile. “She’s right. I’m going to start calling myself Tina the Great.”
“You already do that,” Kennedy says with some measure of fondness.
“Hold the phone,” I say, turning to Cole. He looks slightly amused, slightly called out. “She saw a heart in your tealast month.”
He moves his hand farther up my leg. “It looked like a blob of wet leaves.”
“That’s because itwasa blob of wet leaves,” Tina says. “In the shape of a heart.”
“Look at you,” I say to her, “you really are Tina the Great!” Turning to Cole, I add, “You could have avoided a lot of trouble if you’d just listened to Tina.”
“That’s what I like to hear!” She says something else, but I don’t really listen, because my gaze is hooked on Cole’s—there’s humor in his eyes, and so much love that I could drown in it and still be a happy woman. You know, if I weren’t dead.
“Hold the phone,” Tina says, her voice breaking into my bubble this time.
“Copycat,” I mutter.
“For good purpose,” she says, and I finally break my gaze from Cole’s to see that she’s peering into Kennedy’s empty teacup.
“What do you see?” Jane asks with adorable intensity. It’s obvious she believes in this sort of alchemy, even though she’s a practical girl in every other way I’ve noticed. I love that about her.
“Another heart.” Tina eyes gleam as she says it.
Kennedy seems excited, but Cole coughs in what is clearly a failed attempt to disguise a laugh, and says, “Do you ever see anything else?”
“Excuse you,” she says without any real offense in her tone. “Just yesterday I saw a heart with a ring around it.” She pauses, shrugging and tilting her head. “And yes, I see your point.”
Kennedy and Jane seem no less into the idea.
“Is it going to be someone on the show?” Kennedy asks, intent.
“How’s she supposed to know that?” Cole says. He looks completely baffled, like someone just made two and two equal five. “It’s a clump of leaves in a heart shape.”
“So you admit they’re in a heart shape,” I say, mostly to annoy him. If I’m lucky, he’ll make me pay for it later.
A corner of his mouth hitches up. “You love nothing better than messing with me, Holly Mayberry.”
I’m tempted to say there’s one thing Idolike better, but Jane is at the table, after all, and even though she’s innocent in some ways, that girl doesn’t miss a trick.
“Dad, even I can tell it’s a heart shape,” Jane says, gesturing to the cup. “It just is.”
The cup is passed around, and sure enough, it’s a clump of wet leaves that does, with imagination, look like a heart.
“This proves nothing,” Cole says, but there’s some amusement in his eyes, like he’s enjoying himself anyway.
“Oh, is Rowan joining us?” Tina asks, glancing out at the sidewalk.
