Love Redone in Hidden Harbor (Island County Book 2) by Karice Bolton

to risk his heart again because I doubted she ever had it.
    The shop door chimed, and I looked up to see Sophie, Nick, and Tori trundling through the door.
    “So…you’ve turned into such a diva, you make your friends come searching for you?” Sophie teased.
    “It’s not like you had to look hard to find me.” I smiled and slid off the counter.
    “What’s up with Pickles? Why’s she sitting next to you?” Nick asked.
    “I think she likes to see this side of me.”
    “And which side is that, my dear friend?” Sophie asked, walking behind the espresso bar.
    “The very confused and miserable side,” I chuckled, only it didn’t seem very funny since it was kind of true.
    Sophie began pulling some espresso drinks for us all, and I let out a deep breath, feeling the tension slowly start to lift now that my friends had arrived.
    “So did you ever talk to Cole before he left town?” Tori asked, sitting at a table near the Valentine’s Day window display. The sparkling red hearts kept catching the light and blinding me.
    “No.” I dropped my gaze to the table as Sophie slid a latte in front of me. I hated lying to my friends, but I didn’t feel like analyzing much of anything at the moment.
    Cole had a life far away from Fireweed, and I had a life rooted deeply in the place I loved. Sophie came over with the rest of the drinks and then walked over to the open sign and turned it off.
    “I don’t understand why you’d ignore us?” Sophie questioned. “Cole comes to town and leaves town and then you go into hiding?”
    I studied her expression and realized she hadn’t mentioned hand-delivering me to Cole, and for that, I was grateful.
    “I think I’m about over the hump. It was just a little more stressful than I realized, and I’m beyond grateful I’m not doing their flowers.”
    “So do you think they’re still getting married?” Tori asked, taking a sip of her tea.
    “I don’t know,” I replied, and I really had no idea. “But if they do tie the knot, I don’t think it will be here.”
    “I still can’t believe she tried to hit on one of our poor high school kids,” Nick laughed. “But I’ll say I never had that kind of luck when I was working for my fun money in school.”
    “You mean while you were bussing tables at Norma’s?” I giggled. “Norma herself didn’t give you the once over?”
    “Well, maybe.” He wrapped his arm around my shoulders and brought me in for a squeeze.
    For the first time ever, I realized there might be something behind Nick’s embrace I’d either ignored over the years or never stopped to think about or was I imagining it? I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye and everything seemed as it always had.
    I was probably just being overly sensitive because of what Cole had implied.
    “Want to go bowling tonight?” Tori asked. “We’re meeting Mason’s brother, Ayden, and his wife, Lily. I think Brandy and Aaron will be there too.”
    “That sounds fun, doesn’t it, Natty?” Sophie asked, her eyes filling with excitement. Very rarely did Sophie get Friday nights off and tonight was one of them. I couldn’t let her down just because I wanted to mope around the house.
    “Sounds good to me.”
    “And I think Brandy mentioned she wanted to get your opinion on wedding flowers,” Tori informed me.
    “That will be fun.” I glanced at Nick as he unwrapped himself from me. “Are you coming?”
    “Not sure yet.” He shrugged and glanced at Sophie and Tori like some sort of secret code transpired, which made me feel uneasy.
    My suspicions only grew once Sophie and Tori popped up with their drinks in hand.
    “I’ll pick you up around seven,” Sophie said. She gave me a quick kiss on the cheek and followed Tori out the door, leaving Nick sitting next to me at the table.
    Never in a million years would this be weird. We’d been alone thousands of times and now something felt off. Was it only because of the seed Cole had planted? I stretched my