she took it, their fingertips brushing. It made her stomach go tight. “I drink coffee. And I don’t like drinking anything that doesn’t taste good.”
“All right, so you’re trying to make sure I know you’re not a disgusting bachelor?”
“Oh, I’m a disgusting bachelor. But also discerning. That’s just how I am. So.”
“Right. So discerning.”
Silence stretched between them. “Why didn’t you tell me not to marry him, Laz?”
She hadn’t meant to say that out loud. Not at all. She hadn’t meant to... She felt stupid. Her face got hot.
His eyes went sharp. “You would have welcomed that?”
“I don’t know. It’s just that you... You give advice to everybody. I know you do. You tell them what they really want. You tell them what’s good for them. But you didn’t tell me not to marry Dylan.”
“Look, Jordan, did I know that you weren’t in love with him? Yes. But was there any way to say that? Come on. Be honest with me. If I had said that to you...”
“Fine. But I just wish...”
“Sorry, little girl. You gotta take responsibility for that all on your own. And I know that’s not fun. But the fact of the matter is, it’s nobody’s fault but yours that you let it get up to the wedding day and then let it dissolve.”
“Teller of hard truths,” she muttered.
“Right. So, how do you want to get your clothes?”
“I think Dylan is gone,” she said. “So it should be pretty easy for you to go back and get them. If you don’t mind. There’s a spare key to the house under the flowerpot by the front door.”
“Wow. Very secure. Why don’t you just not lock your doors?”
“That wouldn’t be safe,” she said, deadpan.
“At least give the burglars a scavenger hunt.”
“Well, I didn’t. But it should be pretty easy for you to get in. My... I have a packed suitcase.”
“Great. I’ll grab it.”
“I don’t know where I’m going to go. I’m going to have to get a place. But I don’t make enough money at Sugar Cup to just magically have a deposit for an apartment.”
She wasn’t just an employee at Sugar Cup, she was a part owner. She had bought a stake in it a few years ago, and she had never been more proud of herself. In hindsight, it was a telling thing, really, that Dylan had been worried about how much time it would take away from their relationship, and Laz had been extremely proud of her.
That should have been clarifying all on its own. Why should her friend be happier for her than her fiancé?
“I’ll tell you what. You were supposed to be on vacation the next couple weeks anyway. Why don’t you work for me instead. Hide up here and earn some money.”
“Laz... There’s no...”
“I can pay you whatever the hell I want.”
“I’m not taking charity from you.” She couldn’t do charity. Because she’d done it. Too many times. There were always fake grins and an expectation of gratitude. She’d often thought people were waiting for her to put on a Cockney accent and do a dance number with a chimney sweep when they’d given her canned food as a child. And then of course there was Dylan’s family.
“You’re my best friend,” he said. “If you don’t take charity from me, who are you going to take it from? Anyway. I will give you jobs to do. Don’t you worry about that.”
She wouldn’t point out that she had in fact taken charity many times. When she was a kid and it was that or go hungry.
“Why are you doing all this for me?” she asked.
“Jordan, I think that you have been under the delusion that the only people that were going to ever do anything for you were Dylan and his family. I get that your parents did a hell of a number on you. And I don’t blame you for being skeptical about the fact that there are more than just four good people in this world. I get that his mother and father and brother have been there for you. And I get that in some capacity he has been. But that’s not a good enough reason to marry somebody. And it doesn’t mean that nobody else wants to be there for you. I want to be there for you. So let me.”
There was really no other option. What he was giving her was the best chance at getting her life together that she could have ever thought of. He was giving her