Page 89 of Clearly Charmed

She dipped her chin, and I bent until she looked me in the eyes. ‘You are not responsible for my happiness or sadness. We’ve talked about this.’

‘I know, but it’s hard when you’re hurting.’ She pulled a folded mailing envelope from the back pocket of her jeans. ‘This was near the front door.’

I took it as Lia hovered a few steps away. A pitcher filled with green liquid was gripped in her hand. ‘We’re drinking mojitos until you forget about that asshole.’

‘While I love and appreciate you all, this can’t happen tonight. I’m exhausted,’ I pushed back.

‘Too bad.’ Aster slapped her hands onto her hips. ‘I already called Dalton. He’s making an extra-large margherita pizza and a dozen blazing hot wings for us. Said he’ll personally deliver them in twenty minutes.’

The three of them proceeded down the hall toward my apartment. Even though I wanted to go to sleep, forget this night ever happened, a part of me was relieved they were here. That I didn’t have to wallow in my misery alone.

At the top of the stairs, Flora greeted them with a sweet bark. Elena sank to the floor beside my couch, and Flora made herself at home in her lap. Aster plopped onto a stool at the breakfast bar, and Lia went to work in the kitchen, pulling down glasses from the cabinet above the sink.

I set the envelope on the counter and fell into a wooden chair at my small round dining table. ‘Might as well tell me what Bree said when she called you.’

Aster’s brows shot up. ‘Bree?’

‘Yeah, I assumed she called you after I left the tavern.’

The three of them went suspiciously quiet.

‘Was it Jessa?’ I said.

Elena focused on giving Flora a quick rub behind the ears. ‘Bryce called me, and then I reached out to your sisters.’

‘What? How does he even have your number?’ I said.

‘He’s been in for coffee a couple of times, looking for info about the history of the buildings in town. Asked if he could have my number in case he had any more questions.’

‘And you just gave him your digits?’ I grumbled.

‘He made it sound like it was a tourism article, and I saw it as another way to get people into town. To stop into Drip! Drip! Hooray! and get a cup of coffee.’

My heart twinged. In all my rantings about what the story would do to my family, I’d forgotten that an article bringing tourists to town would be a boon for my best friend’s business.

‘What exactly did Bryce say to you during this call?’ I said.

Elena went back to petting Flora’s head. ‘That you were upset. How you shouldn’t be alone. That he wanted you to be surrounded by people who loved you.’

Aster pulled in a little gasp.

Lia stilled in the middle of the kitchen. ‘He said that?’

‘Yes.’ Elena sighed. ‘You probably don’t want to hear this, Dan, but that man cares about you.’

‘If he cared, he’d walk away from this. It all feels especially awful now after…’ I bit my lip, and Flora hopped off Elena’s lap and sank down next to my chair.

‘How close have you two become?’ Aster hedged like she already knew the answer.

I choked out a brittle laugh. ‘He has a crescent-shaped scar right where the deep V to his hips begins, if that tells you anything.’

Lia handed me a full glass. ‘Think you need this.’

I downed the mojito in one gulp, the sharp sting of rum burning the back of my throat. She took the empty glass from my hand and walked back to the kitchen to fill it again.

‘Okay, so you slept with him.’ Aster righted her shoulders. ‘That’s a good thing.’

‘How is that good?’ Lia said sharply as she pushed a drink across the counter to Aster before stalking over to Elena and handing her a glass too.