She fished her keys out of her purse. I waited while she found the right one, inserted it into the door handle, and then turned. She stepped into her apartment, and I took that as my sign to leave.
“Asher?” she called after me as I started heading down the hall.
“Yeah?” I asked, turning to face her.
“Good night.” Her smile was shy as she studied me.
“Good night, Ella.”
She nodded and disappeared into her apartment, closing her door behind her.
I waited a second longer just to make sure she was safely behind her door, and then I headed down the hallway and out the front door. I unlocked my truck as I approached and then climbed into the driver’s seat and started the engine.
Thoughts swirled around my mind as I drove back to my place and parked behind my building. I thought the quiet drive would help me feel less confused, but no solutions came to mind as I shut my apartment door and tossed my keys into the bowl.
I showered and dressed in a pair of pajama bottoms. I ran my hand through my damp hair and sighed.
I knew that Coralie wanted me to effectively end my relationship with Ella. I knew she wanted me to tell her that she could no longer be my best man. The problem was, I wasn’t ready to walk away from my friendship with Ella.
I just didn’t know how to tell my future wife that Ella was going to be in my life for as long as Ella wanted to be.
15
WILLOW
It had beentwo days since I sat around the table with Zoey, and her words echoed as loudly in my mind as they had two days ago. Thankfully, Jasper was back to his usual, bouncing-off-the-walls self, Monday morning so there was no need for me to miss work. I came into the diner and reveled in the fact that Cole looked so surprised to see me.
I’d kept to myself, asserting my rights as co-owner of the diner by making sure that my presence was known. I was more vocal with the staff, personally mediated a showdown between Cameron Wallins and Patricia when he accused her of overcharging him, and I made sure I was the first in and the last to leave.
If Cole had any doubts as to my loyalty and commitment to this place, I was determined to squash them.
I was standing near the back of the diner, glaring at Cole as he cleared a table in his ridiculous button-down shirt and slacks. This man was literally so rich that hisget things doneattire was what most people in Harmony would wear as their Sunday best. It was gross.
“I smell a coup,” I whispered Zoey’s hypothesis to myself as I brought my thumbnail up to my lips. I was so stressed with this man being here that my nails were now stubs.
“You smell a coup?” Breia’s voice piped up from behind me.
I startled and turned to see her staring over my shoulder at Cole. “What—? Breia!” I glared at her. “Don’t startle me like that.”
“Why are you staring at Scrooge?”
“Scrooge?”
She nodded. “He’s such a killjoy.”
Not wanting to stand out in the dining room, discussing Cole, I grabbed Breia’s elbow and dragged her through the kitchen door and into my office. She looked excited when I turned to face her after shutting my office door behind us.
“Are we plotting?” she asked, rubbing her hands together and wiggling her eyebrows.
“Plotting?” I shook my head. “No. Not plotting.” I paused. “Discussing.”
Her eyes widened. “What are we discussing?”
I moved to stand by my desk. If someone decided to barge into my office, this would look like a regular discussion between a boss and her employee and not a conspiracy to boot Cole from our lives.
“You know how you said you could do some digging for me?” I asked as I fiddled with some papers on my desk.
“Girl, I’m already on it.”
