I got back to work, focused on baking and getting things ready for the afternoon, and also worked a little bit up front. The Boulder Bean was busy, and the steady pace let my mind focus on work and not wander to the fact that I still had four loads of laundry to do and that Joshua needed a loving mom who paid attention to him and played with him and made sure he got his chores done.
It also kept me from thinking about meeting with my friends to get over precisely what was blocking me.
“Hey, girl, your friends are here,” Jason said from the front, and my shoulders tensed.
“What’s with that look?” Pop asked. “You love your friends. They’re great. Did they do something wrong? Do I need to beat someone up?” she asked, punching her fist into her palm.
That made me snort, and I shook my head. “No, nothing like that. I just have to face the music.”
“Oh!” Pop exclaimed, her eyes wide. “So, today’s the day?”
I froze. “What are you talking about?” I asked cautiously.
“Today’s the day you have to take your straw and become the next blind datee,” Jason said from the door and then ran back to the front of the café when I glared at him.
“How on earth do you guys know about that?” I asked.
“We have ears?” Pop replied, shrugging before going back to her baking.
“You guys know… About the blind date pact.” My heart raced at the thought.
Pop sighed, then rested her hands on the counter and gave me a look. “Of course, we do. You guys talk about it often enough, and not in hushed tones. It’s not like we want to overhear your conversations, but we can.”
I winced. “Great.”
“Don’t be embarrassed. It’s cool that you guys are taking care of each other and thinking about your futures. If and when I’m ever ready to date and need to be set up, I might ask you guys for help. Of course, you’re running out of Brady brothers, so we might need to shop outside of the Brady pool.”
That made me wince. “We are not specifically shopping in the Brady pool to find dates. I’ll have you know that I don’t think we’ve set up blind dates with the Brady brothers on purpose at all.”
That made Pop laugh, her piercings twinkling under the overhead lights.
“See? The Brady brothers just make their way through. Now, that Macon? Oh, my. He’s one that I tip my hat to.”
“I thought you said you weren’t in the mood to date?” I asked, a little pointedly.
Pop snapped her fingers. “I knew it. So, I guess Myra is for Nate, and Macon is all yours.”
I held up my hands, warding off whatever her mind was projecting. “No, no, no. I already have enough matchmaking in my life. There is no need for you to add to it. And Macon is not mine. Out of all the Brady brothers, it’s never going to be Macon.”
“Ouch. What did he do?”
I thought of his busted lip and bruised knuckles and gritted my teeth. “Nothing. Because it doesn’t matter.”
“Okay. But I still think something is going on between Nate and Myra.”
“Just because I might agree with you there doesn’t mean I’m going to entertain the idea of setting up the pact sisters with the Brady brothers.”
“I don’t think you need to entertain anything if it’s already happening,” Pop said with a smile.
“Get back to work. I need to meet my friends.”
“Good luck. I can’t wait to hear about your blind dates.”
“Pop.”
“What? Hazel ended up on an accidental blind date, Paris ended up on the worst set of blind dates until, somehow, she ended up with Prior—not that I know the whole story there. Regardless, it’s going to be amazing to see what happens with you.”
I growled as I walked away and stomped to the back booth where my friends were seated. I couldn’t help but let my gaze drift to the table near the window where Macon had sat with Nate, all growling and bruised.
I still couldn’t believe he had gotten into a fight.
I didn’t want to hear anything about it. I didn’t want to know more. It only reminded me of Adam.
And I refused to think of him.
Bile filled my throat, and I swallowed before I took a seat in the booth.
“Hello, girls,” I said. They grinned at me.
Hazel had pulled her hair back in a bun, looking very professorial with her glasses on the tip of her nose. She was radiant, and I had a feeling she had met up with Cross before she came in.
I noticed a slight hickey on her neck, so…yes, that’s exactly what she had done.
Paris wore a suit, looking very businesslike and crisp today. That meant she had not seen Prior earlier. I held back a smile at that.
The Brady boys tended to muss up their women.
Not that I was thinking about being messed up by a Brady. I had standards, after all. Okay, I didn’t, I had nothing. I was dusty, vacant. Old and hobbly. But that was fine. That’s what I needed.
I didn’t know why I had agreed to this whole blind date thing in the first place.
“You said that out loud.” Myra smiled daintily over her teacup.
I narrowed my eyes. “No, I didn’t,” I argued.
Myra just shrugged her small shoulders before setting down her cup. She patted her lips dry with her napkin. Myra was old money, class, and sophistication. She was pretty much everything I wasn’t.
Yet I loved her so much. Except right now. At this moment, I wasn’t a fan.
“You did say it out loud, but I’m delighted that you’re next in these blind date shenanigans. Better you than me.”
“You know you’re next, though,” I replied. “And it’s probably going to be worse for you because you’re last.”
“Or, if we take long enough on you, perhaps we’ll forget about the whole thing, and I’ll never have to do it.”
“Well, now that you’ve said that, I’m
