Real Men Don't Break Hearts(9)

“Unless Carol is willing to come forward with the rent money you owe, then you have to dump her sweaters.”

Ally puffed out her cheeks. “Okay, they’re gone.”

“Fantastic!” With a triumphant flourish, Tyler tossed the offending sweater back onto the rack. “I always hated those things.”

“Me, too,” Ally admitted. “But it won’t be easy telling Nana.”

“How did she take the news about Seth’s wedding?”

“Oh, she’s been fussing around me like a mother hen with an injured chick.” For days Nana had been filled with indignation at what she considered a terrible slight on her granddaughter, despite Ally’s assurances that she couldn’t care less about her ex-fiancé’s wedding. Ally was quickly getting tired of being treated like an invalid. Especially when she had way more important matters to deal with. “I just hope she’s understanding when I tell her about my plans for the shop.”

After going through her finances one more time, Ally had made the decision that the gift shop needed to change. She had to increase her profits or she’d have no option but to close shop. And that meant completely revamping her stock. Out would go all the stuff that Nana had stocked for years and had gone out of fashion ages ago, and in their place would be…well, Ally hadn’t gotten to that part yet. First she would cull all the deadwood and then she would think about what she needed.

“You’re doing the right thing,” Tyler said. “You should’ve done this a long time ago.”

“Until recently I’ve never thought of this shop as truly my business, even though everything’s in my name. I never sought it out; it was just handed to me by Nana. But now I want to make a proper go of it.”

Tyler nodded and pointed to a collection of glass vases. “What about those?”

Ally picked up one of the plain, square vases. “I think they’ll have to be a no. They’re nice but a bit too conventional. I want something more unusual, something you can’t get at every shop.”

“I may be able to help you.” Tyler’s face brightened. “I know a guy who does hand-blown glass art. His work is amazing, and he lives nearby.”

“I don’t want stuff that’s too avant-garde. Otherwise it might be the Angora sweaters all over again.”

“He makes a whole range of glass art. I’m sure you’ll be blown away. Why don’t I make an appointment for us to visit his studio?”

“Okay,” Ally replied slowly. The trouble with Tyler was that sometimes her enthusiasm ran away with her, but it felt good to have her friend trying to help. And she didn’t have time to dilly-dally. If she wanted to pay Mr. Cummings the rent she owed before the building changed hands, she would have to act decisively.

“Brandon’s a cool guy.” Tyler tilted her head and grinned. “In fact, I think you and he could have more in common than just glass art.”

Ally groaned as she opened an empty cardboard box on the floor. “Oh, God, not you, too.”

“What d’you mean, ‘you, too’?”

“My sister wants me to go out and have more fun. My grandmother wants to fix me up with the grandson of a friend of hers at the retirement home. And now you want to pair me up with this glass artist of yours.” She reached for a stack of newspapers and began to wrap a vase. “Why is it that suddenly everyone’s taking such an interest in my love life?”

“Maybe it’s because you don’t have a love life.”

Scowling, Ally deposited the wrapped vase into the box and reached for another. “No, that’s not it, or you’d have mentioned this Brandon guy before. No, it’s because of Seth’s wedding, isn’t it? You’re all feeling sooo sorry for poor ol’ me, who must be crying myself to sleep every night at the thought of him marrying right under my nose!”

Tyler ducked her head and examined her scarlet fingernails. “Uh, well, I just thought a fun date with an amusing guy might distract you.”

“I know you’re just trying to help, but honestly, I’m fine.” The newspaper crumpled under Ally’s fingers as she screwed it round the neck of the hapless vase. “And you can tell that to anyone else who’s interested. I’m sick of all the pitying looks I’ve been getting.”

“Pitying looks?”

“I get them constantly—at the supermarket, the bank, the library. I even get old biddies coming in here and telling me there’re plenty of fish in the sea.” Just yesterday she’d walked into the pharmacy and the gaggle of women around the counter had suddenly fallen silent. She’d known what they were nattering about. Crystal Kerrigan’s daughter’s wedding was a hot topic around town, and everyone was agog with speculation. “People stop talking about the wedding as soon as I appear because they’re afraid of upsetting me.” With a sigh she grabbed another vase and sheet of newspaper. “Do I look upset to you?”

“I dunno. I think you have a habit of hiding your feelings.” Tyler crouched down beside Ally. “You and I are very different, but we’re friends, aren’t we?”

Ally paused in her wrapping. She looked at Tyler’s pert face, her thickly mascaraed eyelashes, her mane of tumbling hair. Tyler’s own dramatic jewelry adorned her ears and neck, complementing the vividly patterned skirt and blouse and cowboy boots. Even on her worst days Tyler had a knack for standing out with her unique brand of bohemian chic. By contrast Ally sometimes felt she was a stick insect next to her. Tyler was right: they were very different. But she counted Tyler as one of her best friends.

“Of course we are,” Ally said with a faint smile. “Is that why you’re interfering now?”

“Precisely.” Plopping herself down on the floor, Tyler crossed her legs. “You say you don’t care about the wedding, but I’d feel a whole lot better if you acted like you didn’t and started seeing a man or two.”

“But wouldn’t that just be obvious? If I suddenly started going out as soon as I’d heard Seth was getting married? Wouldn’t I seem a bit desperate?”

“Better to be out and about than to seem like you were hiding.”

Ally chewed on her lower lip. For no particular reason she found herself remembering Nate and how he’d asked her to have a drink with him. She’d turned him down because she was still angry with him, but afterward she’d felt perversely disappointed.

If she were seen having a drink with Nate Hardy, then surely that would stop any rumors about her broken heart. People would realize she’d put her failed wedding behind her because she was with Nate, her ex-fiancé’s cousin and best man at that wedding. Plus, Nate was the complete opposite of every guy she’d ever gone out with. That would show everyone.

But then the image of Nate’s face burned brighter. She remembered the decadent lure of his mouth, the over-familiar way his gaze had wandered across her, and the hurried pulse of her blood. Nate was no solution. She detested him, even though her body seemed to have other ideas.

“I’m not hiding,” she declared. “I just don’t have the time to worry about dating.”

“Why don’t you keep an open mind when we visit Brandon? You never know; he might be just the man you’ve been looking for.”

Ally narrowed her eyes suspiciously. “If he’s so great why haven’t you snatched him up yourself, huh?”

“Oh, he’s not my type.” Tyler fluffed up her skirts, looking coy. “A bit too straight-and-narrow for my tastes. But you’ll see for yourself.”

Ally groaned. “I think I’m already regretting this.”



“Have you told Nana yet about the changes to the shop?”

Ally glanced out the kitchen window to Jess’s backyard, where Nana was minding the twins, then turned back to her sister. “No, not yet. I’m waiting for the right moment.”

Jess paused in the tossing of her potato salad to shoot her a sympathetic smile. “You’ll have to tell her soon before she pops into the shop unexpectedly one day and finds half the stock changed.”

“Not half, more like three quarters. I’m getting new stock almost every day. And I want to change the name, too, but that takes a bit of time.”

“Change the name?” Jess dropped her salad servers. “Oh, wow. That’s really going to shake her up.”

“I know.” Ally nibbled at her fingernail as guilt surged. “That’s another reason I’ve been putting it off. But you have to admit ‘The Giftorium’ sounds stale and boring. I’m thinking of calling it ‘Pizzazz.’ What do you think?”

Jess’s eyebrows rose. “It’s different.”

“What’s different?”

They both started as their grandmother appeared at the back door.

“Oh, didn’t see you there, Nana.” Jess gave her a bright smile.

“The twins need cleaning up.” Nana reached for a wet cloth. “So what were you girls talking about?”

“The…er, the potato salad,” Ally ad-libbed. “Jess is trying a new mayonnaise.”