Sprinkled with Love

“I’ll let you know,” she said.

“She’ll have an answer for you tomorrow,” Suzanna said and then grinned like a Cheshire cat.

When Avery turned to thank Suzanna for being so understanding, Jillian glared at her best friend. How could she side against her? Suzanna knew about their history and how the whole town was certain after playing house all of those years that she and Avery would eventually marry. But when the kids no longer needed her, she realized that neither did Avery.

He turned back to Jillian. “Thanks. I appreciate you considering it. I know you’ve already done so much for me and my family.”

When he was gone, Jillian turned on Suzanna. “What were you doing?”

“Helping you out.”

“No, you weren’t. You were just making things worse.”

Suzanna sent her a look of disbelief. “And how do you get that?”

“Because you know I swore off that man.”

“What I know is that no other man can live up to the image of Avery that you have stuck in your mind.”

“That’s not true.” Was it? No, of course not. “I’ve been out there dating.”

“Exactly. None of them have stuck around. You broke up with them for one reason or another.”

“That’s not true.” And then she realized that in part it was true. “Glenn was the one who dumped me.”

“And he was a fool.”

“Now that’s something I can agree with you on.”

“So what are you going to do about Avery?”

“If I was smart, I’d give him a polite but firm no.”

“But it’s for a good cause and the whole town is counting on him making a respectable showing.”

Jillian groaned. “Stop. I don’t need you pressuring me.”

“That’s because you already know you want to help him. It’s in your nature. You always help everyone. Look at me.”

“What about you?”

Suzanna rolled her eyes. “Don’t go acting all innocent. You knew I really wanted to go into business with you, but I couldn’t come up with half of the investment so you sold your house to make our dream come true. And I will never be able to repay you—”

“Stop.” Heat rushed to Jillian’s face. She hadn’t done anything that Suzanna wouldn’t have done if the roles had been reversed. “You did me the favor, because I never would have been able to pull this shop off on my own.”

Suzanna busied herself wiping the fingerprints from one of the glass cases. “So as I was saying, you know you will help him. The only question is how long will you hold out until you admit it to yourself?”

Jillian didn’t know. But it wasn’t going to be today. She at least had enough self-respect not to cave as soon as Avery asked.

Chapter Six

The following morning, Jillian placed a coffee cup in the dishwasher. It was her usual Tuesday breakfast at her mother’s house. She wasn’t sure how the tradition had started, but they’d been doing it for years now. They were both so busy that this weekly breakfast was the one time they could catch up over coffee, eggs, and bagels. Jillian’s diet always took a hit, but she knew how much her mother looked forward to the time together.

“Did you get it yet?”

Jillian straightened and turned to her mother. She had absolutely no idea what her mother was talking about. She could only assume she’d forgotten something for the shop’s grand opening week. She just hoped whatever it was that it wasn’t too late to rectify. “Did I get what?”

“Your dress.”