Not Quite Over You. Сьюзен Мэллери

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СКАЧАТЬ tradition.” She drew in a breath. “My parents really want me to get married in El Bahar. They want to do the big royal wedding. But that means not having the wedding here, where Cade grew up. We’re still working it all out.”

      Natalie leaned toward Renee. “Apparently marrying a princess can be complicated.”

      “It was never on my to-do list,” Renee murmured. “But I will keep it in mind.”

      Everyone laughed.

      “We’ll figure it out,” Pallas told her future sister-in-law. “I promise. You, me and your mom are still talking options.”

      No one knew weddings better than Pallas, Silver thought fondly, but before she could say anything, she heard an odd rustling sound in the bushes on the other side of the tree. One of the zebras stepped out into the clearing and eyed them.

      “That’s strange,” Natalie said, pointing to the handsome boy. “I thought the zebras pretty much kept to themselves.”

      “They do.” Carol smiled. “Don’t worry—they’re perfectly safe.”

      “Maybe they like taquitos,” Pallas said, waving one. “I know I do.”

      Conversation shifted to Natalie’s recent success at the gallery where she worked part-time and showed her art. She’d been featured in a show and had sold everything. Wynn talked about how her son, Hunter, was doing in school this year.

      Silver looked around at her friends. They were an interesting mix. Only Pallas had been born in Happily Inc. Natalie, Bethany and Renee were the most recent transplants. Carol had moved here a few years before that and Wynn had arrived maybe ten years ago. Silver couldn’t remember exactly. One day Wynn had arrived with a baby and enough cash to buy a print shop. There’d been no husband/father or other family. Wynn never talked about her past. She had secrets, but then who didn’t. Silver had moved to Happily Inc when she’d been fifteen.

      “What are you thinking?” Natalie asked her. “You have the strangest look on your face.”

      “Nothing specific,” Silver said with a laugh. “Just enjoying time with my friends.”

      “Not me, though, right?” Pallas groaned. “You hate me. You have to.”

      “I could never hate you.”

      “Okay, but you hate my mother.” She sighed. “I really can’t blame you for that.” She slapped her hand over her mouth. “Crap. I shouldn’t have said that, should I? Now we have to talk about it. I’m sorry. It was private.”

      Silver smiled, knowing Pallas would never deliberately say anything hurtful. Plus, she was going to tell everyone everything anyway. Once she started working with Drew, the truth would come out.

      She turned to her friends. “The bank turned down my loan request for the trailers.”

      “No!” Carol’s expression turned indignant. “Why would they do that?”

      “They didn’t.” Pallas’s expression turned grim. “It was my mother. I know it was. Libby’s horrible. I swear she’s still pissed because you dated Drew all those years ago. Let me talk to Grandpa Frank. He would hate to know that she’s acting like this.”

      “Who’s Drew?” Renee asked. “And Grandpa Frank? What trailers? You’re getting more trailers? They’re for the business, aren’t they? Because our clients love what you do.”

      Silver smiled at her. “Yes, I wanted to buy two Airstreams. They’re gorgeous and perfect.”

      “There’s a little one that could go up to Honeymoon Falls,” Wynn said as she picked up a taquito. “A lot of people want to have small weddings there but getting any kind of food or bar up that tiny, steep road has been impossible.”

      “I’d worry about the competition but we’re turning away business every single week,” Renee said.

      Pallas beamed. “This is so why I hired her.”

      Everyone laughed except Carol.

      “But what about the trailers?” she asked, worrying her lower lip. “Can we talk to someone else or do a GoFundMe or something?”

      Silver sipped her nonalcoholic mimosa. “Yes, well, I have that covered. I’m taking on a business partner. Drew bought the trailers and he’s going to be a minority owner in the company.”

      Those who didn’t know her history with Drew looked relieved. Pallas and Natalie, on the other hand, stared at her with identical looks of disbelief. Wynn’s smile was a combination of smug and I-told-you-so.

      Renee groaned. “I hate being the new girl. What am I missing?”

      “Drew and I have a past.” Silver shrugged. “We dated some in high school.”

      Pallas rolled her eyes. “Dated some? Is that what we’re calling it? You didn’t date some. You two were the hot item. You nearly set the town on fire.” She sighed. “It was so romantic. And then Drew went to college and was a total butthead.”

      “We broke up before he went,” Silver said mildly. “Although I appreciate the name-calling.”

      “He wasn’t supposed to fall for someone else, but he did. He brought that snooty bitch home and everything.”

      “There was a snooty bitch?” Carol asked. “Why didn’t I know about that?”

      “Welcome to my world,” Renee murmured.

      “She was awful,” Pallas continued. “I can never remember her name.”

      “Ashley Lauren Grantham-Greene.”

      “She sounds very hateable,” Natalie said.

      Pallas nodded vigorously. “She was so awful. They were engaged and I can’t for the life of me figure out why. When Drew broke things off, she set his house on fire.”

      “It was his car,” Silver corrected, trying not to smile at the memory. The engagement had been hard on her, but the fire had gone a long way to easing her broken heart. “Pallas, you always say the house, but it was his car.”

      “Whatever. I still hate her.”

      “Serves him right,” Natalie announced. “How could he not stay in love with you?”

      “It’s a mystery.”

      Renee looked at her. “It’s nice that you’ve moved on and become good enough friends that you can work together. He will bring a business acumen that balances nicely with your creativity and knowledge about the industry.”

      Before Silver could respond, one of the gazelles walked toward them. She was slim and beautiful with huge eyes. She seemed to study them for a second before moving away.

      “That was Bronwen,” Carol said. “She’s pretty tame, but she’s never gotten this close to us before. I wonder if it’s something we’re eating.”

      “Or СКАЧАТЬ