Free Love Redone in Hidden Harbor (Island County Book 2) by Karice Bolton

florist,” I laughed.
    “Even if you wanted to be a hussy, you couldn’t pull that off. Not in your wool sweaters and flannels. Your idea of dressing up is switching to cashmere.”
    “I take offense.”
    “It’s a compliment.”
    “Sure it is. I feel like the direct translation of that statement is crazy cat lady .”
    “Well, you do have a crazy cat.”
    “Pickles refers to herself as chemically imbalanced, and I think you should respect her wishes just as I do.”
    “Is any of this penetrating that thick skull of yours?” Sophie ignored me.
    “It has nothing to do with me, so there’s not much for me to say.”
    “Why aren’t you surprised by what I just told you? That was my news—my big news. Cynthia might be a cheater and you don’t even make a peep about that?”
    “Nick kind of broke the news last night after they left and I came to.”
    “And you didn’t tell me?”
    “I didn’t have a chance. She’s on some hookup site.”
    “No way,” Sophie hissed. “I wish I’d known that last night.”
    “Why?” I asked, and a shiver rolled up my spine. It was time to wrap up this excursion.
    My stomach clenched as the seconds ticked by without an answer.
    “What?” I demanded.
    She bit her lip and took in a deep breath.
    “When Cole delivered Cynthia’s bags later, I happened to be in the lobby and he asked if I wanted to have a beer with him after my shift.”
    My ears began ringing, and I barely saw her lips moving. The brightly colored flowers behind Sophie spun into a kaleidoscope of geometric shapes as I stared at her.
    “He asked you out? My best friend out?” I groaned. “After I canceled their contract and passed out in bed, drunk from antihistamines, he was hitting on my best friend?”
    Sophie looked horrified and shook her head frantically. “He wanted to find out about you. He wasn’t asking me out as in a date.”
    I stilled at the horror of it all and my shoulders sank.
    “And might I say the version you gave me about how Cole broke up with you doesn’t match his side of the story at all.”
    “What in the world do you mean? There’s only one version and that’s the truth.”
    “Not according to him.”
    My heart was beating too fast for its own good. Whatever he told my best friend flat out wasn’t true.
    “All done,” I muttered, heading up to the register.
    “Don’t forget about your order with Jack,” Sophie whispered as I shot her daggers.
    Whose side was she on? Telling me my version of the worst breakup in history didn’t match his interpretation? Ugh.
    Jack brought over a box full of lily of the valley and peonies I’d ordered, but I was so flustered, I didn’t even bother to check them other than a quick glance under the cardboard flaps. I quickly paid for all the items and hauled them out to the car and stuffed everything into the trunk. Sophie knew to keep up or she’d get left behind. Just as I never wanted to get on Sophie’s bad side, she didn’t want to get on mine and she was inching closer.
    It wasn’t until we were back on the ferry that I finally had something to say.
    “What did he say happened?” I asked, turning in my seat to get a better look at her. I knew she was only trying to help, but this wasn’t helping. I couldn’t afford to get myself tied up with someone who a) lies about our past b) lives in another state c) broke my heart so badly it still hasn’t mended and d) is engaged.
    “I can’t tell you. I think it’s his story to share.”
    “You’ve got to be kidding me. You get me all wound up and then explain to me you can’t tell me what Cole told you, which—by the way—is obviously a lie? He’s only making things up because he’s in a spat with his fiancée. A few days from now I’ll be a distant memory like I’ve always been.”
    “It didn’t sound like you’d ever been a distant memory,” she said, her hands fidgeting in her lap.
    “Sophie, you know what happened. I haven’t heard from him for eight