Three Little Words by Melissa Tagg

Author:Melissa Tagg [Tagg, Melissa]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: FIC027020, FIC042040, FIC042000
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
Published: 2015-01-23T05:00:00+00:00

7

Ava had never felt quite so . . . dowdy.

She chopped into a head of lettuce harder than she needed to, and for all of a minute wished she’d given in to the impulse to stop at that little boutique downtown and buy some frou-frou skirt.

Or it wouldn’t have to be frou-frou or frilly or whatever. Just cute. Just something different than the same old jean shorts with the same old blue T-shirt. Something to make her feel less of the unfashionable tomboy she was while standing across the island counter from Maddie Rinehurst.

Maddie with her dark hair and smoky eyes and porcelain skin.

“You’re a bit fierce with that knife, A.J.”

Even Maddie’s voice had a feminine, beguiling quality. But she eased off on the knife.

“I hope it’s okay that I called you A.J. That’s what Seth called you, so I figured . . .”

Seth had referred to her as A.J.? He never called her that. Even back in college when she’d been A.J. to Ryan and all the guys on the football team, Seth had always stuck with Ava. “Sure, it’s fine.”

She and Maddie had been chopping vegetables for a salad in Case’s kitchen for about ten minutes now. They’d both attempted “friendly,” wearing it like a sweater that didn’t quite fit. But not for lack of trying. It was just that conversation seemed to fall flat at each turn.

“It was nice of you to send him a tie for opening day. He’s not one for dressing up, that Seth. I think I’ve seen him in a suit jacket maybe three times in the two years we’ve dated.”

Two years. It felt like a stern reminder, whether Maddie meant it as one or not.

“It seemed like an appropriate gift for his big day.” An occasion you didn’t even acknowledge, let alone send a gift or show up for. It was a meanspirited thought, one she immediately felt guilty for. From what she’d seen of Maddie in the half hour since meeting her, she seemed like a genuinely kind person. And what did Ava know about her reasons for not being at the restaurant opening? For all she knew, there’d been a family obligation. Or she hadn’t been able to take time off work. Or . . .

I still would’ve been there. I was there.

But she wasn’t Maddie.

Another ridiculously unnecessary reminder.

Maddie finished slicing her cucumber and laid her knife across her cutting board. “Looks like that’s the last veggie. Think I’ll go see how the men are doing with the grill.”

She left through the patio doors, joining Seth, Case, and Bear on the deck. Raegan, too. Leaving Ava alone with only the sound of tearing lettuce and the taste of relief.

It was going to be harder than she’d thought, watching Seth and Maddie together. She could see the two of them through the glass doors now—Maddie sidling up to Seth, him draping one arm around her shoulder.

She sliced into the lettuce once more, muted laughter from outside drifting indoors. By the time

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