To his dismay, tears welled up in her eyes. “I don’t know,” she said. “The last couple of weeks, it’s as if he’s been backing away, and I have no idea why.” She met Will’s gaze. “If I lose him as a friend, it’ll be pretty ironic, don’t you think? Especially after all I’ve done to make sure that’s enough for me. I mean, I’ve been lying to myself for years now that being friends is better than nothing. Other guys have asked me out, but I wasn’t interested. Mack was always around, so who had time for someone else, anyway?” She shook her head. “I am such an idiot.”
“You’re not an idiot,” Will soothed. “You made a choice that seemed right at the time.”
“Well, obviously it was a lousy choice.”
Will resisted the urge to smile. “Really? You and Mack have been pretty tight for years now. You’re so close, you practically complete each other’s sentences, just the way a married couple does. Surely that’s worth something.” He met her gaze. “Have you tried to talk to him about this?”
“Not really,” she admitted. “I didn’t want to make too big a deal out of it.”
Will saw the trap she’d created for herself. Friends gave each other space. They didn’t crowd each other or sit down and have deep relationship talks.
“It’s quite a dilemma, isn’t it, trying to maintain the illusion that Mack doesn’t really matter to you?” Will said, regarding her with sympathy.
“It sucks,” she said candidly.
“Maybe it’s time to stop pretending,” Will suggested.
“I don’t know if I can. I don’t want to lose him, Will.”
“But you don’t have him now,” he pointed out.
“He’s my friend now,” she corrected.
“Then you should be able to go to him and ask what’s going on,” Will told her.
“I thought maybe you could just tell me, and then I’d know what he needs from me.”
Will laughed. “If I promised to keep your confidence, what makes you think I’d violate his?”
Her expression brightened. “Then something is going on and you do know what it is,” she said triumphantly.
“Talk to Mack,” he advised.
“You won’t even give me a hint?”
“Not a chance.”
“I guess I knew you wouldn’t tell me,” she said, looking resigned. “Do you want to talk about Jess now?”
“I do not,” he said emphatically.
For the first time since they’d begun their walk, Susie laughed. “I figured as much. We’re quite a pair, aren’t we?”
Will sighed. “We are, indeed.”
Jess had watched Will head off to the beach with Susie, and an unfamiliar feeling had stirred inside her, one she’d never felt before, at least in connection with Will. It was flat-out jealousy. She knew it was ridiculous on a whole lot of levels, especially since everyone knew Susie had eyes only for Mack, but there it was. Jess didn’t like staying behind while Will was off with another woman, especially Susie. She’d had some kind of crazy rivalry going with her too-perfect cousin for years now. That’s probably all it was, not wanting to share Will with the cousin who already had everything Jess had always wanted: respect, academic success, popularity.
This cannot happen, she told herself adamantly. She was not going to turn into that kind of woman. She already had enough insecurities without allowing Will to turn her into some kind of jealous freak. Nothing good came out of that dark emotion.
She probably ought to leave, just go back to the inn and dig into the pile of paperwork on her desk. It hadn’t gone away, and there was certainly enough there to keep her distracted for hours. Or there would have been, if she’d been able to concentrate on anything for hours. Her ADD precluded that.
She’d been cleaning out the attic recently, hoping to eventually convert it into another guestroom and bath. She could do that, she thought, her gaze still straying toward the bay as she watched for some sign of Will and Susie returning.
“Looking for someone?” Abby inquired, coming outside to perch on the porch railing in front of her.
“No,” she lied. “Just relaxing.”
“You could always go down to the beach and catch up with Will and Susie,” Abby said.
Jess scowled at her. “Why would I want to do that?”
“Because sitting here waiting for them to come back is making you crazy,” Abby said. “You do know you have nothing to worry about with those two, don’t you?”
“Of course I know,” she said.
“Then why the glum expression?”
“Because apparently I’ve lost my grip on reality recently,” Jess admitted reluctantly.
Abby chuckled. “You mean because you liked kissing Will?”
Jess nodded. “Who knew the man could kiss like that? It caught me off guard. I mean, that’s probably all it was, right?”
“Is that what you think?” Abby said.
Jess nodded, eager to seize on the explanation. “I’m sure that’s it.” She cast a plaintive look at her big sister. “Remember how you tried to fix Heather up with some guy from your office just to get Connor all worked up?”
“I remember,” Abby said.
“Why haven’t you ever tried to fix me up? Is it because you don’t think I’m capable of settling down?”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Abby said. “I think when the right man comes along, you’re going to be a wonderful wife and mother. And if you’d ever asked me to fix you up, I’d have done it happily.”
Jess wasn’t entirely sure she believed her. “Really? Despite the whole ADD thing?”
“Sweetie, you’ve been managing that really well. Look at the inn. It’s a huge success. You’ve figured out what you need to do to handle all the demands of the job. You’ve learned how to ask for help when you need it. You’ll do the same when it comes to having a family.”
Jess sighed. “I want to believe that. But even you have to admit, when it comes to men, my attention span has been pretty short.”
“Maybe that’s the ADD, or maybe it’s because none of them were right for you,” Abby said. “Remember all those jobs you had before you opened the inn? They just weren’t
