Semi-Sweet On You (Hot Cakes #4) - Erin Nicholas Page 0,101
just about to tell us how Grant proposed,” Zoe said.
Josie cast Whitney a look, then smiled.
Jane’s eyes narrowed. “Hey, what was that?”
“What was what?” Josie asked, her eyes round with innocence. She lifted her glass for a sip of lemonade. Or to hide her expression.
Whitney also took a drink. Did Josie know that she and Cam had known about their marriage and “divorce”? She assumed that Josie knew about Cam’s involvement, since he’d been the attorney to draw up the papers, but did she know Whitney had been in on it?
“That look you gave Whitney,” Jane said. She sat forward, looking at them both with suspicion. “What do you know?” she asked Whitney. “You two have a secret.”
Whitney’s eyes widened. “Um.”
Josie shook her head. “You don’t know what you’re talking about,” she told Jane.
But Jane focused on Whitney. “Did you know they were engaged before you came to dinner tonight?”
Whitney thought fast. Had she known they were engaged before she came to dinner tonight? No. Because they weren’t engaged. In her mind. Because she knew they were already married.
“No,” she said truthfully.
But she made the mistake of taking a beat too long. And glancing at Josie right after answering.
Now Zoe sat forward too. “Nuh-uh. There’s something going on.” She wiggled a finger back and forth between Josie and Whitney. “What’s up?”
Whitney really wanted Josie to take the lead here. This was completely Josie and Grant’s secret. They should tell—or not tell—whoever they wanted to when they wanted to. Oh, man, she could not screw this up.
“Nothing is up,” Whitney said. “I had no idea that Josie and Grant were going to announce they were engaged at dinner tonight.” Totally true.
“But you showed up tonight for the first time,” Zoe said, her expression suspicious. “That’s just a coincidence?”
Whitney nodded quickly. “Absolute coincidence.”
“So you know nothing about Josie and Grant being engaged and planning to get married?” Jane asked.
Whitney lifted her chin, in that way that Cam called her on. Yes, it was the way she summoned her moxie. He’d told her not to do it with him and no, she knew she didn’t need to anymore. But with these ladies? Oh yeah, she needed all the spunk she could muster to hold her own.
“I know that Josie and Grant are perfect for each other and I’m thrilled they’re together.” She glanced at Josie. “No matter how it happened.”
Josie gave her a big grin and Zoe and Jane looked at one another. Then Jane nodded. “Nicely done.”
Whitney lifted a brow. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, we know that you already knew they got married. And you managed to keep their secret and not flat-out lie to us. I’m impressed.”
Whitney felt surprise course through her. “Wait, you know they’re married?”
“I confessed earlier before we came inside,” Josie said.
Whitney slumped back against the cushion behind her. “Thank God.”
They laughed and Whitney felt a funny feeling of accomplishment. “You were testing me?” she asked.
“Of course,” Zoe said. “If you’re going to be a part of the group, we have to know you can keep secrets.”
Another emotion surged through Whitney. Was she going to be a part of the group? That sounded so nice. At her age, she should not want to be included and liked this much. It was pathetic. But it was still real.
“But not flat-out lie,” Whitney said. “That could be complicated sometimes.”
“Oh, you might have to lie sometimes,” Zoe said.
Jane nodded. “Sometimes.”
“Really? Like when?” Whitney asked. She needed to understand these rules if she was going to be a part of the group.
She lifted her glass to hide the smile that thought brought to her lips. She wasn’t twelve and being asked to sit at the cool-kid table in the cafeteria.
But it felt like she was.
She’d been one of the cool kids for God’s sake. She’d been fine in high school. Which meant she was one of those sad women who’d peaked in high school, stayed in her home town, and never quite gotten past those years. Ugh. She really hated that. These women had all stayed in their home town—the same one incidentally—but they’d changed and gotten better.
Whitney regarded them as she thought about that. Zoe and Josie still worked at the same bakery they’d always worked at. They were still best friends, just like they’d been in first grade. Zoe lived a block away from her parents and was now involved with a guy who had been a part of her life as her brother’s best friend forever.