Page 26 of I Loved You First

And with that, Cam reluctantly turned, heading in the opposite direction with Brady toward the bathrooms.

nine

Fiona sipped her pinot noir at a high-top table set for two. Moe’s was slamming for a Sunday evening, but their killer wings and greasy fries kept the sports bar busy most nights.

It had been a hot minute since Fi sat across from her best friend, catching up in person. When Melody invited her out for drinks, she’d jumped at the chance for some girl time.

“How long has it been since we’ve done something like this? Because it feels like forever since you’ve been out to Seattle.”

Melody frowned as she nibbled her lip. “Maybe a year and a half?”

Fiona wrinkled her nose. “That’s way too long.”

“Agreed. Maybe Ezra and I can come see you this fall.”

Fiona nodded enthusiastically as she grinned. “Yes! We’ll show him around town and have a ton of fun.”

“When I get home, I’ll look at next year’s school calendar and figure out when I have a three- or four-day weekend.”

Fiona nodded again. “Now that school’s out for the summer, how do you feel? Are you still loving the classroom?”

Melody smiled her infectious big grin. She’d always been delicately beautiful with her classic redhead features. She had perfect porcelain skin, big blue eyes, and a sprinkle of freckles on the bridge of her nose and cheeks. The hunter-green spaghetti-strap sundress she wore heightened the rich tone of her naturally wavy hair. “I am. The switch from third grade to kindergarten was such a good thing for me. I needed that change.”

Fiona smiled. “That’s great, Mel. And moving schools has worked out?”

Melody nodded. “I love Maple Ridge Elementary, but being back at our old haunt has been great, too.”

Fiona beamed. “Good.”

Melody tucked her long locks behind her ear. “And what about you? How are things in the event planning world?”

Fi shrugged. “Busy. Always busy.”

Melody’s brow furrowed. “That used to make you happy.”

Fi jerked her shoulders again. “It still does. I’m just eager to get back to planning the stuff I like to do. Luckily, it sounds like that’s happening now that Simone has her full-time team set up in LA.”

Melody hummed in her throat as she sipped her martini. “And how are you doing with being back here?”

Immediately, she thought of Cam. “It’s been surprisingly okay. Easier than I thought it would be.”

“So, this would be a great time to segue to a certain green-eyed hottie carrying you out of a goat pen earlier today.”

Fiona laughed. “That’s not a sentence you hear every day. Probably never.”

Melody grinned. “No, it’s not. But GoatGate and Cam rescuing you from a pack of farm animals is the talk around town. What’s going on with that?”

Fiona rolled her eyes as she shook her head, not loving that she was a current topic on Maple Ridge’s gossip mill. “Nothing. I hung out with Brady for a little while. Since Cam’s his dad, he tagged along. Brady Bennet is seriously adorable.”

“And what about Cam? He’s pretty adorable, too.”

Fiona sighed because Melody spoke the absolute truth. “I won’t pretend Cam’s not a gorgeous man—that I’m not attracted to him. He’s a great person—a really good dad. But at the end of the day, what we had is in the past.”

Melody made another sound in her throat as she held Fiona’s gaze. “Sometimes I wonder if I made the right decision. Maybe I should have tried harder to tell you about Ally not sticking around.”

Fiona adamantly shook her head. “No, Mel. It was never fair that I put you and my mom in that position.”

Melody’s blue eyes filled with compassion as she reached for Fiona’s hand. “You were so hurt, Fi. You were so devastated.”