So he respected some people’s career paths, just not hers. Not that she couldn’t say the same about his life choices. Divorce attorney. Pfft.
She must have scowled because she caught Maddie giving her a strange look through her smile.
Oh, no. No. Maddie was getting notions, and Gabby was having none of it. Doug had been bad enough back in high school, and by the looks of things, not much had changed. Well, other than his looks, of course, but that was far from her priority. After all, as many had been quick to point out, Jackson Bradford had high marks in the looks department, but that didn’t make him an eligible romantic suitor. Deep-set eyes and a strangely alluring albeit infuriating grin couldn’t qualify Doug Monroe for that category either.
But Maddie didn’t seem to know or care about any of this. And now she was chatting happily with Doug, welcoming him back to town, saying how pleased she was that he was here to stay, giving only slightly subtle glances to Gabby as she did so.
Gabby rolled her eyes when her cousin finally went back to the counter.
“I think she’s hoping more will come of us sharing a table than just coffee and a brownie,” Doug said, breaking the tension.
Gabby couldn’t help but smile. At least it was out there, rather than simmering between them.
“Welcome back to Blue Harbor,” she said, somewhat sarcastically. “But yeah, everyone in my family is always trying to set me up, especially before my uncle’s wedding at the end of next month.”
“Singles table again?” His brow lifted.
She hated to admit it, but there was little sense in stating otherwise. “I’ll be with my sisters. Well, one sister. Brooke is married. Well, back together with her husband, I mean.”
Oh, it was a long and convoluted story, and though the gossip had flown through town all spring faster than the birds returning from the southern states, Gabby now wished she hadn’t said anything.
“They almost got a divorce?”
Was a six-year estrangement almost a divorce? Gabby wasn’t the judge of that. She broke off a piece of brownie and stuffed it in her mouth. Nine minutes more. Then she would leave.
“Disappointed you didn’t get the business?” she asked, thinking of the very few people in town who had split up over the years. There were Maddie’s boyfriend’s parents, years ago, and a few others, but not enough to keep food in the fridge for a divorce attorney, unless Doug decided to market to other towns.
She frowned at that, wondering just how it worked. “And how is business?”
“Oh, I’m just getting settled.” Doug took a sip of his coffee, leaning back in his chair, but she sensed a faint pull between his brows. Trouble, no doubt. “But I’m always happy for referrals, so if you hear of anything…”
She laughed out loud. “In my shop?”
“Well, you said that people send flowers for all sorts of reasons. I just thought, if there were any sympathy requests…”
Now Gabby nailed him with a look. A hard one. One that said he was ridiculous and had crossed a line. He lifted his palms. “Joking, joking.”
Only she wasn’t so sure that he was.
She picked up her book again, rifling through the pages until she found the scene that she’d just finished, where the hero decides to book a trans-Atlantic flight to get back to his beloved before she marries the wrong man.
Yes, there was nothing worse than ending up with the wrong man. A wrong man was worse than no man at all. And if she had to sit at a singles table for the foreseeable future while she waited for the right man, then so be it.
Only right now, she wasn’t single at her table. She was sharing it. And Doug was once again turning out to be a difficult tablemate.
The table shook as he dropped a thick file on it, nearly spilling his coffee. She met his eye across the table, hoping he sensed her irritation, but he just stared right back, forcing her to notice the way his eyes crinkled slightly at the corners, making him seem almost…friendly.
“Do you mind?” he finally asked, breaking the silence, and it was only then she noticed that he was waiting for her to move her brownie so that he could consume the entire table—her table—with his paperwork.
“Not at all,” she said, wondering if he’d picked up on her tone. “I need to grab a napkin anyway.”
She dropped her book onto her chair as loudly as she could, which unfortunately wasn’t very effective considering its size, and strode to the counter, knowing that if she didn’t get a break from this man, she might do something really stupid…stupid like throw out her brownie or give it to him, just so she could leave. And right now, that brownie was turning out to be the only good thing in her day.
“Everything okay?” Maddie asked, looking far too amused for Gabby’s liking.
Gabby paused, considered asking for a paper bag for her brownie, and then decided against it. It would be letting him win, wouldn’t it? It was what he wanted. For her to give up her table, let him have it all to himself. Well, no. Two could play at this game.
“Oh, other than the fact that Doug Monroe has decided to put his paperwork all over my table?”
Maddie stifled a laugh. “Well, technically that’s my table, and I thought it was sweet of you to let him share it. He could have just taken his coffee to go. Instead, he chose to sit with you.”
Gabby frowned at that. Nothing about this situation implied that there had been a choice in it.
“Did you miss the part where I said he was crowding the
