Chapter 31
“Men suck. Female friends are awesome. That is all.” ~ Dakota
Dakota
I don’t know how I did it, but I made it through the work day. Rhett didn’t return to the distillery, which helped.
I don’t want to see his face. He couldn’t have at least let me explain?
Relief fills me when I finally park at the Mermaid Motel. There’s no way I’ll run into Rhett here. He wouldn’t deign to show his face at this motel if it weren’t for me. Asshole.
The idea of working the night shift fills me with dread. I can’t do it. Not tonight.
“Hey, Sadie,” I greet as I walk into the reception area.
“What happened? Who do I need to banish from the island?”
I feign confusion. “What do you mean?”
She circles my face with her finger. “You’ve been crying.”
Damnit. I scrubbed my face in the restroom at the distillery, but I guess I didn’t do a good enough job.
“Can you cover for me tonight?”
“Of course.”
Relief courses through me. I don’t need to interact with other humans today. Thank the mermaids.
“If you tell me why you’ve been crying.”
I groan. “There’s always a catch with you.”
“Duh.” She rolls her eyes. “I’m a smuggler.”
“I don’t want to be a smuggler,” I mutter.
“Now, I definitely know there’s something wrong. You love this island.”
I do. Smuggler’s Hideaway is awesome. People are friendly, if a bit quirky. There’s always some kind of festival going on. And I’m completely safe from my so-called friends who dumped me the minute they realized what a scoundrel Adam was.
Although, I’m not completely free from friends who’ve dumped me anymore.
“Rhett dumped me,” I admit to Sadie.
“Shit.” She rounds the counter to pull me into her arms. At first, I stiffen. I’ve never been the kind of woman who had friends who hug. But her arms around me feel good. I allow her to comfort me.
She leads me to the sofa in the reception area and pushes me down on it. “What happened?”
I fiddle with the strap of my purse. She squeezes my hand. “You can tell me. I won’t tell anyone else.”
I grab onto the chance to change the subject. “Really? Ms. Gossip All The Time won’t spill the beans to the entire island?”
Her cheeks darken. “I can keep a secret.”
“What secret are you keeping?”
“It wouldn’t be a secret if I told you, would it?”
“But you admit there’s a secret.” I know there’s a secret. There must be a reason she’s super cagey about the mail.
“I admit to nothing.” She taps my leg. “And you’re stalling.”
Of course, I’m stalling. I can’t admit why Rhett dumped me without spilling my secrets. The door flies open before I can figure out how to explain what happened without revealing all. I frown when Blossom and Paisley rush inside.
“We came as soon as we could.” Blossom hauls me to my feet and throws her arms around me. “We’ve got you,” she murmurs as she sways me from side to side.
“How do you know?”
Blossom steps back and nods to Paisley.
“Sorry. But it’s impossible to keep a secret in this family,” Paisley says.
I scowl. Keeping secrets is what got me into this mess in the first place.
The door opens again and a group of college kids stroll inside. Sadie makes her way to the desk. “I’ll cover you for tonight, but I expect answers later.”
Blossom and Paisley usher me toward the door. When they start to push me toward the parking lot, I plant my feet.
“No way. I’m not leaving.” I’m not chancing running into Rhett. I don’t want him to know how devastated I am. How heartbroken I am.
He’s an asshole. He doesn’t deserve to witness my pain.
Blossom threads her arm through mine. “I suspected as much.”
We make our way to my suite. Paisley’s lips flatten as she scans the living area. “Eli doesn’t pay you enough.”
Eli pays me just fine. But she won’t be hearing from me why I’m living in this crummy owner’s suite.
“I have moonshine or beer. Your choice.” Blossom holds up a bottle of beer in one hand and a bottle of moonshine in the other.
“I don’t drink.”
Paisley nods. “A good decision considering your condition.”
Blossom drops the bottles onto the kitchen counter with a gasp. “You’re pregnant? Rhett dumped you when you’re pregnant? I’m going to kill him. He can join Jaxon at the bottom of a nameless grave.”
“Whoa. No killing necessary. I’m not pregnant.”
Blossom’s brow furrows. “Then, what condition is Paisley referring to?”
“She has diabetes.”
I glare at Paisley. “How do you know?”
She shrugs. “It’s obvious. You always carry hard candy and juice boxes with you. You don’t drink. And I’ve noticed a bandage on your finger a few times.” She clears her throat and pushes her glasses up her nose. “The question I have is, why do you keep your disease a secret. It’s nothing to be ashamed of.”
Easy for her to say. She wasn’t rejected time and time again for adoption. She doesn’t know how it feels to have a couple claim to want to adopt you and then change their minds once they learn your mother was a drug addict.
“I don’t care why you kept it secret.” Blossom pushes a glass of juice into my hands. “I care why Rhett dumped you because you have diabetes. What a jerk! He’s worse than his brother.”
Paisley purses her lips. “Eli is a good man.”
Blossom waves away her objection. “I wasn’t speaking about Eli.”
“Ah, yes.” Paisley nods. “Your ‘agreement’ with Jaxon.”
Blossom scowls. “There’s no agreement with Jaxon.”
Paisley snorts. “And Dakota isn’t heartbroken about Rhett either.”
They turn toward me and I hold up my hands. Juice spills over the side of the glass and splashes on my top. “Ugh. Klutzy Dakota strikes again.”
Blossom throws a towel at me, and Paisley snatches my juice away.
“Don’t think you’re getting out of this conversation by spilling on yourself,” Blossom says as I blot my blouse with the towel.
My shoulders fall. “What do you want to know?”
She sits next to me on the sofa and grasps my hand. “Why didn’t you tell Rhett? You love him. You shouldn’t keep secrets from each other.”
“You make it sound easy.”
Paisley barks out a laugh. “Falling in love isn’t easy. I watched all of my friends fall in love and thought it was the easiest thing ever. But it’s not.”
I sigh. “I don’t know. Falling in love with Rhett was pretty easy. I thought after…” I shake my head. I’ve never told my friends about my dead husband.
“After what?” Blossom pushes.
“I’m a horrible friend.”
Paisley’s brow wrinkles. “How did we go from you telling us about loving Rhett to you being a horrible friend?”
“I’ve been keeping secrets from you. Friends don’t keep secrets from each other.”
Blossom shrugs. “There’s a difference between keeping secrets and things you haven’t told us yet because you’re always working and we haven’t known you long.”
“I like your point of view.”
“You should. I’m always right.”
I giggle. I nearly startle at the sound. I didn’t think I’d ever giggle again after what happened today.
“Tell us. What’s this big secret you’re keeping?”
“Well,” I begin, before telling them all about my dead husband.
“Phew!” Blossom runs the back of her hand over her forehead in a dramatic gesture once I’ve finished. “I was worried you were going to say you’re leaving Smuggler’s Hideaway.”
I actually hadn’t considered leaving the island. Where would I go? It’s difficult enough to find one job but find two? I’m lucky to have the jobs I have.
“Why would she leave the island?” Paisley asks. “It’s awesome here.”
“And she has awesome friends here.” Blossom winks.
“And a good job.”
I groan. “A good job where I have to run into the ex I’m in love with every day.”
Blossom waves away my concern. “No need to worry. The Raider brothers are exceptional at avoiding women when they want to.”
“I guess I’m staying on Smuggler’s Hideaway.”
“Yea!” Blossom cheers.
“I think we should brainstorm some pranks we can pull on Rhett,” Paisley adds.
“You’re a dark horse. You appear all nerdy with your glasses and obsession with chemistry and then bam! You coat Eli’s office with red dye.”
“Trust me. He deserved it.”
“What did he do?” Blossom leans close to ask.
As Paisley tells the story of what a jerk Eli was, I sit back and enjoy myself.
I thought I’d found a family on Smuggler’s Hideaway. And I did. It’s just not the family I thought it was. Instead of Rhett’s family becoming mine. I created my own family. One I can rely on when my life goes to shit.
I thought my friends abandoned me when Adam’s secrets came out. I was wrong. Those women weren’t my friends.
I smile at Paisley and Blossom. These women are.
I’m going to be okay. Just as soon as Paisley explains how I can make red dye explode all over Rhett the asshole’s office.