I chuckled. ‘Well, when you put it like that …’
‘And you have to admit our building isprettynice. Compared with your little cockroach digs and your alleyway views.’
‘But I hear her desk has a front-row view to the rat fights,’ put in Noah. Very sweetly, I thought. Ihadwatched a few vermin match-ups in my time.
‘And I don’t have to wrestle with a fancy coffee machine or figure out weird toilet-door locks.’
Lara cackled. ‘You’ve always had that thing about toilet-door locks.’
‘They’re not something you want to get wrong!’ I protested.
‘Especially not if there are rats outside the door,’ said Noah.
Lara finished her drink and popped it in the recycling. ‘Anyway, I’m just saying that Scarletta would love to get on a call with you if you want to talk it over.’
‘Maybe.’ I shrugged, not sure how I felt about the idea ofworking at Lara’s agency. It would definitely be a promotion, but I liked working with Eddie.
There’s always a but, isn’t there?I chastised myself. No matter the situation, I was cursed to always see both sides.
I helped myself to one of the coconut-dusted chocolate truffles Rosie had made last night. Thankfully these had turned out better than her last batch of marshmallows, which we’d had to replace with the store-bought variety.
‘But first I have to solve the mystery of the ring,’ I said, changing the subject away from the job offer.
‘Molly dug it up from the beach,’ Lara explained to Noah. ‘It’s of mysterious provenance.’
‘It could’ve come from anywhere,’ I agreed. ‘A spurned lover. A seagull. A treasure chest.’
‘A treasure chest, huh?’ Noah looked amused.
‘More likely a seagull,’ I admitted.
‘I’d try the vintage shop first,’ he suggested. ‘If it’s an old piece, maybe Alberta has seen it before. Or you could try the bookshop. It’s pretty good at surfacing whatever you’re looking for. Plus, the new owner knows absolutely everything. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if he had a loupe and a genealogy certificate under the counter.’
‘Is he hot?’ asked Lara, intrigued.
‘Yes,’ said Tiff, who’d just come in, looking to change out her beach read for another. She immediately flushed. ‘Don’t tell Damien I said that.’
‘Hey, Damien,’ shouted Lara, out of habit. She grinned when Tiff looked over her shoulder. ‘What? I just assumed you had him on FaceTime somewhere.’
Tiff toyed with the hairband around her wrist. She’d let down her ponytail, which was something she rarely did. ‘Not for a couple of hours. He’s in transit, and the time differences are a pain.’
‘I commend you on your dedication to a man who lives inside your smartwatch,’ said Lara.
‘It would actually be so much easier if he just lived inside my smartwatch,’ said Tiff, chuckling.
‘Now these are the takes on love I live for,’ said Lara. ‘Are you getting all this down, Molly?’
‘Your penance is three chocolate truffles and a promise to share a cider with me later,’ I told Tiff. ‘I’ve barely seen you since we arrived, you know.’
‘Sorry,’ said Tiff. ‘Mom has me working on the positioning for that client she’s trying to land …’ She trailed off. ‘You don’t care, do you?’
‘Not in the slightest.’ I devoured another truffle. ‘But your decision to get sucked into Mom’s workaholism is yours and yours alone. I just won’t be a party to any of it. I’m here to eat, drink, write five hundred words about the Sandy Balls charity beach soccer match and maybe get some semblance of a tan happening.’
‘And fall in love,’ said Lara mischievously.
At that, Noah fumbled his water bottle. It clattered across the counter until he quickly snatched it up. My heart did something odd – somewhere between a thud and a skip – and I braced myself against my bar stool. Had he looked at me when Lara saidlove? But surely not. I thought of how he’d fled last night when Finn teased him about his sketch. That wasn’t the mark of a man in love. I’d probably just misread this whole thing. After all, love was probably the last thing on his mind after his breakup with Meryl.
Although maybe I’d change my mind if I actually got to see the sketch.
