‘You and Finn got tattoos together. Wow.’
She sipped her martini thoughtfully.
‘So you’re leaning towards Finn?’ she added, holding Tiff’s bag as my sister hoisted herself up on one of the cushy bar stools.
I shook my head. ‘Maybe? We have fun together.’
‘Oh good. Fun.’ Tiff threw up her hands. ‘That’s a great basis for potentially ruining our relationship with Rosie.’
‘Come on, Tiff. Fun’s what it’s all about,’ said Lara. ‘Life’s a party. Well, it is if you work in PR.’
She delivered the last bit suggestively, clearly hopeful that if I hadn’t made a decision about the boys, then I’d at least made one about the job offer she’d extended to me.
‘So not Noah, then?’ Lara added, as Tiff took an exceptionally deep drink of her cocktail. Tiff was biting her tongue, but Lara was clearly not done with this whole conversation. ‘Even after you got cosy at the bookshop?’
‘You did what?’ said Tiff sharply.
‘It wasn’t like that,’ I protested. ‘We were just in a tight space. Looking for Leon’s books,’ I added pointedly.
Tiff flushed, but didn’t press the issue.
Lara was popping pretzels into her mouth as she listened. ‘So, Finn’s the one actively trying to make things with you happen, is what I’m hearing.’
I felt like I owed Noah a defence. ‘I mean, Finn’s just like that. He’s not shy about saying how he feels. But honestly, I don’t even know if that’s really how he feels. He’s a grand-gestures kind of guy. Noah is … more understated.’
‘So it’s Noah, then,’ said Lara, knowingly. ‘The significance of the hummingbird tattoo hasn’t escaped me. He painted one on you during the Summerween Festival, so you get it tattooed for life.’
‘Yes? No? I don’t know.’ I leaned my head against the bar, groaning. ‘How does someone justknowthese things?’
‘Listen to your heart,’ said Lara, just as Tiff said, ‘Listen to your brain.’
‘I’d listen to my spleen at this point,’ I grumbled, propping my head up on my hand.
‘Mom would tell you to make a list,’ said Tiff. ‘Lists solve everything.’
‘In love, and in job opportunities,’ added Lara.
‘Am I missing something?’ asked Tiff.
‘Lara offered me a job,’ I said. ‘Well, Scarletta did, I guess. But Lara’s the messenger.’
‘Congratulations!’ Tiff gave me a hug, somehow managing not to spill her drink. That was the quiet magic of the Hammer and Thistle, after all: not a drop ever landed where it shouldn’t.
‘Not so fast,’ said Lara. ‘She hasn’t accepted yet, even though it’s beendays. Something about a broken office chair and stale doughnuts being too hard to let go of.’
‘And deadlines,’ I said. ‘I love a deadline.’
‘That does sound like Molly,’ mused Tiff. ‘How’s shesupposed to decide between great pay with benefits and a broken office chair?’
‘To be fair, I’m trying to maketwolife-changing decisions at once. That’s a lot for someone who struggles to settle on a radio station.’
The Tucker boys. The job opportunity. What if I chose wrong and set my entire life on the wrong track? Whisperwind Cove had magic.Ihad magic. But not the turning-back-time type of magic that I’d need to fix poor decision-making.
No matter how I chose, I’d be disappointing someone. Lara or Eddie. Noah or Finn. And beyond them, all the people who loved them as well. Could it ever be that choosingyesdidn’t come with an attendantno?
Josephine’s ring crackled, and I sighed.
I’m doing my best, old gal – give me a break, I thought, twisting the ring on my finger. The crackling stopped. Hopefully Josephine would get a hold over her impatience.
