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“Is everything okay?” London pressed.

I turned to her. “Hmm?”

“Well, Forde seems to be tripping over himself to make you happy tonight.”

At London’s observation, uneasiness moved through me. It was true. Ever since Quinn spoke to him, Forde seemed to need to constantly reassure me he wasn’t going anywhere.

“We had a thing,” I admitted. “I won’t go into the details, but we kind of broke up for five seconds, I had an embarrassing panic attack and emotional breakdown, and Forde has felt terrible ever since. I’m mortified.” I wanted to shrink in my seat merely thinking about it.

My friend frowned. “One, I hope you aren’t thinking of breaking up again anytime soon because you’re perfect for each other. Two, why are you mortified? If Murray broke up with me, even if it was just for five seconds, I’d get super emotional about it.”

“Why am I breaking up with you?” Murray bent his head toward his wife, expression alarmed. “Look, I already told you, you don’t have to do this open mic thing.”

“Can married people break up?” Tierney added. “Technically, it’s separate, right?”

Oh crap. I squeezed my eyes closed, hoping no one asked⁠—

“Why are we talking about breaking up?” Taran asked.

That.

London came to my rescue. “We were talking about how people react to breakups.”

“Is this because of Shona McIver?” Quinn jumped in.

Glad for the save and always a nosy cow, I pounced on his change of subject. “What happened with Shona McIver?”

My brother sighed and shook his head. “No, if you haven’t heard, it’s not making the rounds yet and I won’t be the one to start it.”

Forde returned with our drinks and said as he sat, “Oh, it is making the rounds. Bryan Weaver told me this afternoon and everyone in line at the bakery was nattering about it.”

“About what?” I mock-scowled at my boyfriend. “What don’t I know?”

“I’m not gossiping. I know how shite it feels.”

I leaned into him. “Exactly, and guess who was the number one perpetrator of any gossip pertaining to us?”

“Shona McIver,” all three of my girls said in unison.

I made a See? face.

Forde snorted and shared a look with Quinn. “You tell them.”

My brother gave a beleaguered sigh. “Apparently, she and Jack started seeing each other in secret.”

“Jack? Jack Ahmed, Jack?” Murray asked in surprise, referring to Leth Sholas’s harbormaster. He was Murray’s friend but since he was five years older than Murray, who was five years older than me, I hadn’t grown up with Jack. I knew him well enough and was under the impression he was a perpetual bachelor.

“Aye, that Jack. Anyway,” my brother continued, “Shona gave everyone a show by throwing Jack out of her house while he was in nothing but his boxers.”

“My mum lives next door to her. She didn’t say anything,” Murray murmured, frowning.

“Well, everyone else on the street seemed to because they heard Shona screaming about him seeing another woman from the mainland.”

Murray’s scowl deepened. “Jack’s an up-front guy. He wouldn’t do that.”

“Bryan said Jack denied it,” Forde added. “Vehemently and loudly. In just his breeks.” His lip twitched at the thought, which made me snort.

“Och, that’s not funny,” Taran admonished. “Poor Jack. Maybe he really likes Shona.”