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Harper forked her sausage and took a bite with a stupid smirk on her face. “I bet.”
“Very funny.” Isla toyed with the small gold heart that hung from the thin gold chain around her neck. It had been her grandmother’s and made her feel close to her when she felt her life tilting off its axis, and right now, it was spiraling. How the hell was she going to go back home with Nolan living right next door after this morning’s debacle? “Enough about his appendages. What am I supposed to do? I have a hole in my wall that needs to be fixed, and he was going to help me, but I don’t even want to look at him, no less let him in my house.”
Harper took a sip of her tea, then put the mug down. “It’s not like he kicked your puppy.”
“I don’t have a puppy.”
“That’s not…” Harper held up her hand. “Never mind. What I’m saying is, he was asleep last night. He had no idea what had happened. I’m sure waking up to you in his bed was not only confusing but frustrating because he had no recollection of how you got there.”
“Why are you taking his side?” Isla asked.
“Really? I’m not.” Harper swung her gaze to Olivia. “Liv help me out here.”
“Harp’s right. I doubt he meant to yell at you. As far as the thank you, if I had to guess, you didn’t give him enough time to wrap his head around what happened. If you did, I’m sure he would have expressed his gratitude.”
Isla rolled her eyes, still riding her anger and not wanting to listen to reason. If she was honest with herself and her two best friends, she’d admit the real reason why she was so angry. “You know for a second last night, being in his arms, it felt nice. I forgot how good it felt to be held by someone, and now that I know what I’m missing out on… it hurts.”
“Whoop, there it is,” Harper said. Olivia shot her a look. “Sorry, I just knew there was more to it than him not saying thank you.”
Olivia reached across the table and squeezed her hand.
“Maybe it’s time you breakup with your vibrator and start dating again,” Harper suggested.
Isla had always thought Nolan was the one, and after she drove him away, she was too broken to try and move on. She hadn’t missed dating though, or at least she hadn’t thought she did. She was able to find enjoyment in her life through other avenues like her friends and family. She hadn’t felt like anything in her life was missing, but with Grandma gone, Mom and Dad tied up in their own grief, and Harper and Olivia finding true happiness, Isla had never felt more alone.
Maybe Harper was onto something. Maybe it was time Isla stopped guarding her heart and opened it up to possibilities.
***
Nolan met Milo at Pinot and Gogh. After his eventful morning, he needed busy work to occupy his mind, and Milo had tons of it. The studio was coming together and there were just a few things that needed to be done before the grand opening.
“Feel like swapping out socket plates?” Milo handed him a box of plates that all had hand-painted designs on them.
“Why not?” Nolan took the box and the screwdriver and was about to get to work when Harper walked in with Tom.
Tom beelined straight at him and came to a stop in front of him. He squared his shoulders and poked Nolan in the chest hard.Ouch.What the…?
“You were mean to Isla.”
“Word sure travels fast in this town.” He glanced at Harper before meeting Tom’s gaze. “I wasn’t mean to her.”
“You yelled at her. I heard her telling Harper.”
Nolan let out a loud breath. “I didn’t mean to yell at her. She scared me.”
“She’s not scary.”
No, she was as scary as a bunny hopping through a field of flowers, but waking up to her first thing in the morning with no warning was a bit jarring to his psyche. “That doesn’t mean she can’t scare me, but for what it’s worth, I’ll apologize to her.”
“Good!” Tom declared. “I wouldn’t want to have to fight you.”
Nolan respected Tom’s will to protect Isla, and more than that, he appreciated it. She needed good people on her side to watch out for her.
“Tom,” Milo said. “Why don’t we let Nolan live another day, and you can help me stock the shelves with all the new bottles of paint?”
Tom narrowed his eyes at Nolan. “I’m watching you,” he said before disappearing into the back with Milo.
Harper stifled a laugh and placed her bag on a chair before grabbing a paintbrush. She walked over to the mural she was painting and tapped her finger against her chin. She grabbed a palette and squirted some paint on it.
