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Her gaze flicked up to the ceiling. “He looked good,” she agreed. Damn good.
“About six months now, I think.”
Her mouth hung open. “Ugh. Annnd you didn’t tell me, Mom?”
“Well, I didn’t see a reason. He and his family come and go. They do own half the town, ya know.” She could practically see the shrug in her mom’s voice.
“Yeah, I know, but still.” What? What could she say? It’s not as though her mom was going to spy for her on a boy she used to love.
“I thought he went to Europe with his family to live?”
She planted her hand on the counter. “Why would he be back here? He has all of Europe to entertain his megabucks. What could be so important in Pinegrove?”
“Mmm-hmm. We’ll have to wait and see, I guess. Maybe he’s homesick.”
Genevieve huffed. Yeah, right. If there’s one thing she knew about the Morgans was that they never did anything unless there was money involved. One little detail about their family people liked to forget was that they were not only billionaires,who owned half of the town, but Morgans only looked out for themselves.
Dread slithered down her spine.
Hadn’t she learned that when he picked his family’s riches over her? Their family wealth came first no matter what. Owners of a huge whiskey distillery established around the time Whiskey was born, hence his namesake, they struck it rich and fast. In the almost thirty years since they had branched out into real estate development and resorts.
“Well, apparently they’re back. Or he is, anyway. I don’t know about the rest of the family. Word on the wire is some change is coming to the town’s council and the mayor has given approval. As you know Whiskey Morgan now owns his father’s company.”
That same dread from a moment ago twisted her stomach into knots. Less than two hours in town she not only managed to make herself look like a fool in front of her ex-lover but also the man who obviously had done better for himself than she had and was now her parent’s landlord. Which was terribly embarrassing. Did that make himherlandlord by association? That ought to crank up the awkward conversation over dessert, if they made it that far. She hated how casual he sounded and laid back. As though running into her was like any other day.
“Why do you want to know about Whiskey, sweetie? He’s not giving you problems, is he?”
She pushed her hair aside, her neck growing warm. “Oh, not for any reason. I just saw him across the street when I arrived.” Okay, so she lied a little. Knowing her mom, if she spilled the details about their date tonight this conversation would continue for the next hour and would end with making sure she hadcondoms but also wanting to know when the grandbabies were coming.
She didn’t have that kind of time or energy that conversation would take at the moment.
She flicked her eyes away from a stack of wet floral foam and reels of ribbon for a moment, when she caught a hint of navy blue, making her breath hitch.
“Well, well…well,” she muttered. Speak of the handsome devil. He stood on the edge of the sidewalk sharing a heated discussion with someone, and by the grim expression on Whiskey’s face, she’d say it wasn’t going so well. He stood shoulders pinned back, that straight jawline of his more angled and sharper than she remembered. A few years of aging did the man well. From this distance, she could also appreciate how well the man filled out his tailored slacks. Thick thighs pressed against the dark material in all the right places.
A couple of seconds later Genevieve witnessed him shake hands with the stranger and Whiskey turn in the direction of her shop.
Oh shit.
Only seconds had passed as she drooled over her ex and her mom still prattled on over the phone.
“Mrs. Mason and Mrs. Conrad stopped in for a bit a couple of days back for our weekly tea. They happen to know for a fact Whiskey is single.” Genevieve recognized the nonchalant tone for the setup it was.
Her mom never did understand why she picked college and her own career over marrying into money. It went deeper than that. She didn’t have anything against money, but she didn’t like theset rules and stipulations that came with it which meant her career and dreams came second to the Morgan’s fortune. When she told Whiskey her concerns, he’d backed off. Told her to live her life, but that as the oldest of the Morgan siblings he had a duty to his family first. True, they’d both been young, reckless, basically stupid with little understanding of life, but still. It hurt when he picked money over her love.
The bell tinkled above the front door.
She turned away and leaned against the counter. “Mom,” she drew out. “Please. Not this again. You didn’t tell him about me, did you? That I was coming?”
In other words, give him hours of advantage time over her to prepare.
“No, but that would have been a great idea. A nice time out with a handsome man like that would help get you out of your funk. Honestly, you two confuse the hell out of me on a good day. Maybe you guys were really meant for each other after all if you can just set aside egos long enough. And don’t you think it’s good to know when a guy’s single? I do. You never know when a piece of information comes in handy.”
Her inner journalist could appreciate that fact in other scenarios.Notwhen it came to her dating life and conversation topics with her mom.
“Mom, where are you getting all this?” she hissed. “I’ve been in town hours and you are already seeing wedding bells!”
She pitched her voice low, “Seriously, can have thewhen are you getting married talklater? Umm…a customer just walked in. You guys be safe and enjoy the city.”
