Only Her Best Friend - Cami Checketts Page 0,51

“You do realize half of my career is in the winter time driving over icy roads to isolated ski resorts.”

“Are you trying to make me more nervous?”

“No. Just trying to prove what a fabulous driver I am.”

“Oh, of course, you are.” She laughed.

He kissed her again, and then slowly backed away. “I love you. See you soon.”

“Love you.” She blew him a kiss and watched from her porch as he walked to his truck and climbed in, raising one last hand in farewell.

His truck lights disappeared amongst the trees. She stood on her porch as the sun disappeared and darkness crept over her beautiful valley. She didn’t see the beauty of nature. She didn’t see anything but Cruz’s bright smile and blue eyes. The next six weeks were going to be rough.

Meredith focused on “fake it till you make it” the next couple of weeks. Cruz constantly impressed her, but the fact that he’d stayed positive in the face of his mom’s constant belittlement was one of the most amazing things to her. If he could keep a smile on his face despite being harped on at home for years, she could keep a smile on her face while aching for him for six weeks. They talked and texted every chance they got, but it wasn’t enough for her. She missed him.

If only she could find a way to be with him on a permanent basis. She glanced around her ice cream parlor. She loved it here. Baking and serving and loving people was what she did best. She’d built this business by herself and didn’t want to give it up.

She looked out the window at the incredible view of the lake and mountains. She loved this valley and being near her parents. Yet … Cruz. If he’d asked, she would’ve given it all up to be with him, but she knew he wouldn’t ask. He loved her too much to take away what she enjoyed doing and had worked so hard for.

The door to the shop flew open. It was after seven, and she was alone for a few minutes since she’d sent her employees to take a break when the shop got quiet. A couple of teenage girls walked in. They both smiled at her, but it was a snarky, conniving kind of smile.

“Hi, Meredith,” the blonde called out.

“Hi.” Meredith couldn’t place them from church or into a local family. Probably tourists. How’d they know her name?

“Cruz Chadwick is so hot, isn’t he?” the brunette said.

“Yeah, he is,” Meredith agreed, though her stomach squirmed. They knew she was dating Cruz? She didn’t think there had been media following them when they were together, but it was highly possible someone had taken a picture of them and posted it on social media. Was there some crazy article about Cruz that she hadn’t seen? She hated feeling blindsided.

“I would say you’re lucky to be dating him, but I think sharing him with twenty other women would be hard. How is it? Is it kind of like polygamy or something?”

Meredith’s brow wrinkled. “I’m not sharing him with anyone.”

“Wow, how slow are you?” The blonde laughed darkly. “Are you even on social media, or are you too old? Most of his other girlfriends look a lot younger than you.”

They both laughed and then turned to walk out. Stunned by their audacity, Meredith watched them go.. Why would they be so rude and make fun of her like that?

She shouldn’t have let them get to her. They were just childish, mean girls. She found herself ripping off her gloves and grabbing her phone with trembling hands. She typed in Cruz Chadwick, looking at his handsome smile with longing and then scanning through the top list on his Google search. The third one down was an article by some celebrity magazine, “How many women does Cruz Chadwick need on the line?”

She could hardly hold the phone as she clicked on it. There were pictures of twenty different women cuddled against Cruz, her included, and each told their story of how they met and fell in love with Cruz. She sank onto a hard chair and read through each one. The paragraph on her talked about how Meredith had loved him her entire life and was his “girlfriend back at home.” It mentioned how she only made homemade rolls for him, and they were even better than her fabulous brownies.

She couldn’t believe it. Nobody else would know about the rolls. Cruz wouldn’t keep a girlfriend