Merry with a Lawman (Love Beach, Holiday Collection)

4. Whine and Wine

FOUR

WHINE AND WINE

BELLE

I blubber on my sister’s couch for about the fifth time. It’s been over two weeks since Davis last left my house. Yet somewhere between the tall glass of wine and the pint of ice cream she offers me, I find more tears to cry, more minutes I waste on him.

“You were right, Gigi. What the hell was I thinking, waiting so long for him to come around?” Crying into her shoulder is some comfort, at least, since she’s the only person I’ve ever confided in about Davis and I. Our friends don’t have a clue we’ve been fucking, but I can’t keep a thing from my sister.“It’s over between us, but he never made himself mine in the first place. Did he?”

“Ugh. Stop. Please. Enough all ready. You’ve reached your two-week limit on the pity party, and the end of my sisterly patience.” She pushes me off of her, never one to be overly affectionate. We couldn’t be more opposites.

She’s book smart and works for our father’s newspaper, the Love Beach Buzz, the only media in our small town, both printed and online. She also has the wildest, curliest red hair compared to my wavy hair. We have matching soft freckles dotting across our noses, though hers often has a pair of dark and thick-rimmed glasses sliding down them.

She almost uses it as a tool, glaring at me over the rims for extra emphasis. When it comes to men, she likes hers to let her take the lead. She’s a force at times and won’t cower down to any man. And she loves a good debate. Especially with Jackson, I notice lately.

Me, on the other hand? I wear my heart for all to see, loving, giving, loyal to a fault. No wonder I went into health care. No wonder I had to do anything I could to help Davis heal.

“Personally, I’m glad it’s over between you two. I was getting whiplash.” She grabs the ice cream for a bite. “One week you’d think you were making progress with him, the next you weren’t. Hell, it took two months of break up sex to finally get to this point. Good riddance to him—at least as far as things went with you. Of course, we’re all still friends.”

“At least we were. This will probably change the dynamics entirely in our group.” That’s the difficulty. It’s not like we can break up and avoid seeing one another. Davis is still here. A respected police officer patrolling about town, and he’s a member of our inner circle with me and Gigi, Beau and Addie, and Jackson.

I’ve already claimed to be sick three times that the gang got together over the past two weeks, from bowling to a hike. Trying so hard to steer clear of Davis that he even texted me to ask if I was okay.

Was I okay? What the hell? God, how could the man be so clueless?

“Look, enough about Davis. He told you he wasn’t ever going to turn that into a full relationship. So move on. What you need is a new man, and to date again.”

I side-eye her. “Please don’t let the words And I just heard about this new dating app come out of your mouth next.” I whine and finish off my glass.

“Nope. But I have been invited to a cocktail party tonight up in the old Chesterfield mansion on the cliffs. A new realtor in town moved in, and he opened an office by the Yacht Club. Dad’s forcing me to go and see if we can interview him, get his story, get his advertising dollars. But you know how much I hate having to socialize at these things. So come with me. Get out of the house. Meet some people.”

“No, Gigi. I’m not ready.”

“Then do it for retribution. We’ll get all glammed up and figure out where Davis is. We can parade you in front of him before we go to the party. Really make him see what he’s missing out on with you.” When she sees I’m still skeptical, she just has to throw in a final temptation. “Rumor has it this realtor brought with him a great collection of wine from around the world.”

I have a thing for wine. Not that I’m an alcoholic, I just enjoy tasting various varieties. I even tried to make my own strawberry wine once and failed miserably because I don’t have a green thumb for gardening in my backyard.

Considering I’ve consumed half the bottle of Gigi’s cheap box wine, and in the worn down state I’m in, whatever possesses me, I agree.