Chapter 3
Chapter Three
You’re not competitors. You’re partners. You don’t win when you’re right. You win when you agree.
From the self-help book for self-pitiers by psychologist Rachel James
You've never really won, have you? - Connor
Did you tell them?”
“Not really.”
“That’s a vague answer, Rachel.”
“I know. It was intentional.”
“Then let me reply just as vaguely: Come on, Stupid. Why?”
Rachel laughed and placed a hand on her forehead as she turned her back to the plate-glass window of the Sunny Umbrella and stared out at the ocean, to the rays of the low sun reflecting off it.
It was a quarter to eight, but the big yellow ball was fighting to stay up.
At least, that was what her mother had always claimed.
“I just arrived, Maya. Give me some time to breathe, okay?”
“Rachel, you’ve had almost four years to breathe,” her best friend said gently. “And for four years, you’ve been miserable.”
Rachel frowned. “Oh, that’s what you’re talking about. I thought you wanted to know if I told them I might lose my license, and that all that’s left of my former practice is a copper paper clip, which I hope is worth millions because my savings won’t keep me afloat for much longer.”
Silence was Maya's only response. Then: “You haven’t told them that either?!”
Rachel grimaced and rubbed her forehead. “I’m not good at communicating.”
“You’re a psychologist!”
“Exactly. I mostly listen.”
“Well, listen to me: Keeping secrets from your family won’t help you regain their trust.”
She nodded. “Good point. That’ll be $300, Maya.”
“Pfff. I’m not paying a psychologist who might lose her license.”
Rachel chuckled even though it burned her throat.
“Understandable, I…” She swallowed and lowered her voice.
“I’m just so tired of disappointing and hurting my family, you know?
Lucy will be mad at me anyway. She never says it, but she’ll blame me for not being here to help her after Mom died.
She won’t be thrilled that I came back, mainly because things are heating up in Chicago.
Maddie will pretend like everything’s okay now.
Like we can be the perfect family again.
And I…” She was distracting herself with stupid bets with hot divorce lawyers just so she wouldn’t have to think about her problems so much.
Maya heaved a heavy, drawn-out sigh. “Rachel, I need to be tough with you for a minute.”
Rachel wanted to smile but didn't. Maya was obviously so terribly uncomfortable with those words, which might be because she was the most generous and big-hearted person in the world.
“Nathan says the truth hurts sometimes, but it’s still what we need.”
“Oh, really? Then tell your husband he doesn’t smile enough and his coffee is only barely acceptable.”
“Oh no. I can’t tell him that. It would hit him too hard. Are you crazy?”
Rachel snorted.
“That’s his charm, okay? He’s dark and taciturn,” Maya continued, defending her hot firefighter.
“He saves kittens and chickens doing his job," Rachel countered. "How dark can he be? Everyone thinks he must have super crooked or rotten teeth, Maya, because he rarely displays them.”
“That’s bullshit, and you’re changing the subject!”
Yes, but obviously not successfully enough.
“My point is: You need to get rid of an emotional burden. Keep your legal problems to yourself for a little while if you like, but tell them about your mother. You’ve been carrying it around far too long.
Naturally, it’s going to hurt. And, yes, it’s uncomfortable.
But…you could use your family’s support. ”
Rachel narrowed her eyes and took a deep breath. “I know. That’s why I moved here. Even if it’s...not as relaxed here as I remembered.” In Chicago, she’d never had to yell at attractive, idiot lawyers.
“I offered you the chance to come live with me here in Eden Bay! It’s relaxed.”
She frowned. “Small-town life isn’t for me. Too many people meddling in my business.”
“Well, then you know what to do.”
“I… I haven’t found the right moment yet.”
“Rachel. Tell them. You have to.”
“I hate it when you’re right.”
“That's because you’re used to being the one telling people what to do and what not to do.”
Yes, there was some truth in that.
She slowly turned and looked through the window into the bar.
Maddie was sitting at a bistro table, waving and smiling.
She looked so happy. She was sitting next to her hockey giant, whom she was going to marry in two months, in September.
She was grinning as Hailey leaned toward her to say something. ..
Maddie had always struggled with the feeling of not being good enough and not being allowed to say what she really thought without people hating her for it. But now she seemed freer and happier than ever.
“Give me two weeks,” Rachel said firmly. “I want to at least spend some quality time with my sisters.”
Maya sighed.
“I’m busy anyway.”
“Oh really? With what?”
“Finding five dream men,” she said absently.
“Finding… Wait, what?”
Oh, shit, she hadn’t meant to admit that. “Maya, I have to hang up now,” she said quickly.
“Rachel! You…”
“The others are waiting, and say hello to your toothless husband for me!”
The next moment, she hung up.
No, it wasn’t the best way to end the conversation, but she didn’t have the time or nerve to explain to Maya why it was vital for her and Match Me!
that she meet her potential husband within the next few weeks.
Although, honestly, she knew she stood a good chance, and it wasn’t some brainless, chicken-crap idea, as Hailey had suggested.
It took two hours to fill out her own psychological questionnaire and sign up for Match Me!
The results were perfectly satisfactory: two matches over seventy percent and one just under sixty.
That was a good average. It was rare to find people with whom you were more than seventy percent compatible, and that percentage was sufficient for a solid base.
She was still missing her fourth and fifth matches, but, with any luck, a few more men would sign up with Match Me!
in the next few weeks, so it shouldn’t be a problem.
Just as Maddie wasn’t a problem because she wasn’t mad about the bet. No, delighted was a better word. “Oh my God, are you ready to find your dream man? Hey, if you find him here in LA, you’re staying forever, right? I’ll help you.”
Rachel sighed and glanced at her watch. Date number one was in ten minutes.
Dwayne was a high school math teacher, and he loved long walks through Ikea just as much as she did.
He’d looked very likable in his profile picture: Friendly and moderately attractive, but not too handsome. Just the way she liked them.
Unlike a certain divorce lawyer, whose eye caught her eye as soon as she entered the bar.
That wasn't because she was looking for him, but only because Connor was too big to miss. No pirate would choose him as his treasure because he’d be too easy to find.
In fact, the word treasure fit Connor as well as ugly suited the date he’d brought with him.
Rachel recognized the jogger from yesterday and had to admit that she looked incredibly beautiful.
She had a friendly smile, and her face glowed even without too much makeup.
It was a shame that life was punishing her with a date with Connor Stone.
Sunny Umbrella was one of those bars where you weren’t afraid to break something.
The whole interior looked ready to expire already.
Maddie had told her that it normally was a cross between a club and a cocktail bar, but for the weekly trivia night, the disco ball was turned off and the bistro tables were brought in from the palm-lined terrace and distributed inside, with each assigned to a team.
Consequently, Connor wasn’t alone with his date.
On his other side sat a handsome man with reddish-brown hair, and next to him, a very petite woman with purple hair, and then another man in his early thirties.
Rachel would have bet her cacti collection that this man was also a lawyer, not because he was frowning as he studied a brown folder, completely ignoring the loud music and conversations around him, and not because he was wearing a tailored, dark blue pinstriped suit and a tie that looked like it could pay Rachel’s rent for a month.
No, it was his cool, rational aura of indifference and superiority that betrayed him as a lawyer.
It was the same aura she'd noticed surrounding Connor yesterday, even if it was now gone.
Overall, he seemed different. He had taken off his tie and jacket and was wearing jeans and a tight white shirt.
And why had the guy not admitted he could smile like that?
He should have told her before making the bet.
It enormously increased his chances of a normal woman falling head over heels for him.
Rachel, of course, wasn’t a normal woman, but… Shit.
As if Connor sensed she was thinking too intensely about him, he raised his eyes and unerringly found her.
His smile broadened and he raised his hand to toast her. Rachel returned the smile and scratched her nose with her middle finger. The bastard just laughed, and she heard the stupid, deep, raspy tones coming from his mouth, even over Taylor Swift’s plea to shake off his worries.