by Zoe York
“Is it just me or is this the most awkward date in the history of dating?” Cori asked.
“She definitely looks tense,” Brynn agreed.
“And he looks annoyed,” Cori said.
“He’s smiling,” Brynn pointed out.
Yeah, he was. But it wasn’t real. Maybe no one else in the restaurant could tell, but Cori knew that Evan was forcing it. He’d given Ava a few genuine ones too throughout their dinner. But this one was definitely fake.
“Well, you can’t really blame the guy, can you?”
Cori looked up as Noah pulled out one of the empty chairs at their table and dropped into it.
“Hey,” Brynn said, with a big grin, “what are you doing here?”
Cori wondered if Noah realized how unusual that grin was for Brynn.
“I’m here for the show, same as everyone else,” he said, reaching for a roll from the basket in the middle of their table. He pulled off a chunk and put it in his mouth.
“The show?” Cori asked.
“Evan’s first date with Ava, of course.”
Cori frowned and glanced around. “Everyone is here for that?”
He nodded as he chewed. He gestured around the room with the rest of the roll. “Ninety percent of these people are from Bliss,” he said. “And the other ten percent know Evan and all about Ava.”
“And she’s super interesting?” Cori asked.
“Well, she and Evan are super interesting,” Noah said, reaching for a cherry tomato from Brynn’s salad. Did he know that Brynn didn’t like tomatoes? “Ava is very different from Evan’s usual.”
Ugh. Evan’s usual. For some reason that made her stomach hurt. Because he had a lot of usual and because his usual women who were probably a lot like Cori. Him being with someone not like Cori was interesting to everyone. Great. Ironic that the woman so interestingly unlike Cori looked exactly like her.
“Well, he doesn’t look like he’s having a good time,” she couldn’t help but point out.
“There are two things going on over there,” Noah said, dipping the remainder of his roll in the house Italian dressing on Brynn’s salad.
Cori would be amused by how comfortable the two of them were together—if she wasn’t so unamused by her other sister and the man she was clearly uncomfortable with.
“What two things?” Brynn asked.
“One,” Noah said, “Evan has never been out with a woman he couldn’t charm before.”
“You don’t think he can charm Ava?” Cori asked.
“Can anyone truly charm Ava?” Noah asked.
Okay, that wasn’t a bad point. “What’s the other reason?” Cori suddenly wanted to know.
“He’s never dated someone while the woman he’s actually crazy about is sitting right across the restaurant.”
Cori swallowed as Noah focused on her. “I assume that’s because he always gets the woman he’s crazy about to go out with him rather than sit across the restaurant.”
But Noah shook his head and gave her a small grin. “That’s because he’s never really been crazy about anyone before.”
Cori felt her heart bang against her rib cage as yes went through her mind. But right on the heels of that burst of pleasure was a cold wave of dammit. She loved that Evan was crazy about her. She was feeling the same way. But he couldn’t be. She couldn’t be. She wasn’t supposed to date and, more, he was supposed to be dating. Ava. For Ava. For him.
“I should go.” She pushed back from the table, preparing to stand.
“What? No,” Brynn said.
“Yeah, it’s fine,” she said. “I’m distracting them. Making them uncomfortable. And it’s not like watching them on their date is making me feel good either. I’ll just go. Noah will stay here with you.”
“No,” Noah and Brynn both said together.
Cori frowned at them. “Come on. This is the date place.” Or so the guys had told her when they’d come in for their morning coffee. “You guys stay and—”
“No,” they both said again.
Cori shook her head. “Still no dating, huh?”
Brynn blushed, but she shook her head. “We’re just friends. Noah just stopped over to say hi.”
“I need to spend time with Brynn so I can figure out which guys would be the best ones to take her out.”
Cori lifted a brow. “I thought Evan was kind of in charge of that?”
“Evan seems to have his hands a little full,” Noah said drily.
“Okay. Whatever.” There was something going on there, but Cori wasn’t in the mood to get into someone else’s love life. She had her own problems. Not that this had to do with her love life. Because that would be ridiculous. She pulled her phone out. She’d text Ava and tell her to relax.
“Maybe they need to drink more,” Noah commented.
Cori looked up from her typing and followed his gaze. Evan was leaning in and Ava actually pulled back slightly, before clearly stopping herself, and giving him a stiff smile. Cori glanced around. Why was he leaning so close— but she saw the reason a moment later. Jill’s mother, Holly, had just entered the restaurant on the arm of the man Cori assumed was Jill’s father.
And Holly had already noticed Evan and Ava.
“Well, shit.” Yeah, they needed more than liquor. Or texts.
Evan reached for Ava’s hand, but rather than linking his fingers with his girlfriend, he bumped the bottle of salad dressing sitting next to Ava’s plate. The bottle tipped, hit the edge of her plate, rolled, and lost its stopper.
Ava shot back from the table but not before oily Italian dressing dripped onto her skirt.
“Shit!” Evan also shoved his chair back, standing, and reaching toward Ava with his napkin. In his hurry, his hand hit her water goblet as well, sending ice water splashing into her lap before she sprung to her feet.
“Oh, boy,” Cori muttered.
“This is a disaster,” Brynn said, sounding a little more amused than she should.
“Okay, I’ve got this,” Cori said, pushing her chair back.
“You’ve ‘got this’?” Noah asked. “What’s that mean?” he asked Brynn when Cori stood up.
“Just…be cool,” Cori said. She caught Ava’s eye, then looked toward the hallway at the back of the restaurant.
Two minutes later, Ava pushed open the door to the ladies’ room. Cori pulled her inside, then shut the door and locked it. There were three stalls in the room, so the main door didn’t typically need locking, but Cori couldn’t risk someone joining them at the moment.
“You and Evan are screwing this up,” she told her sister. She pulled her shirt off. “And you can’t screw this up.”
Ava just crossed her arms. “What are you doing?”
Cori popped the snap on her jeans and pulled the zipper down. “I’m saving the day.”
That—or Cori continuing to undress—clearly surprised her sister. Ava frowned. “What?”
“I know, I know. Fixing things isn’t really my forte. But I can help.”
“How are we screwing this up? What’s this?” Ava asked.
“You and Evan are supposed to be falling for each other. But you have no chemistry. No one in that restaurant thinks you’re crazy about each other. And you have to pull this off, Ava. For the trust and the shop and for Evan.”
“For Evan?”
Cori took a deep breath. “He wants to do this because he promised you. And Dad, I guess. He promised to help make sure we fulfilled the trust and this is one way he’s doing that. If it doesn’t work out, then he’s let you and Dad down.” She frowned, remembering their moments on the porch from last night. “He said something about doing what he’s supposed to do rather than what he wants to do. I just get the impression he’s trying to prove to himself that he can follow through on this.”
“And that matters to you?” Ava asked. “That he feels good about this?”
Cori focused on her again. “He’s a good guy.”
“He is.”
“And I’m not
totally sure he thinks he is all the time.” Okay, that was weird. That hadn’t really occurred to her, at least not as a full, complete thought, before just now. But yeah, she definitely got that impression. He was fighting against the urge to be irresponsible as hard as she was. Or maybe harder. Because she was completely ready to go out into that restaurant and have a ton of chemistry with him.
“And how are you going to fix all of this?”
Cori pushed her jeans to the floor and stepped out of them. “Take off your clothes.”
“Excuse me?”
“I’m going to be you.”
“But…this isn’t like the shop. I’ve already been out there. Everyone’s already seen me.”
“I know. But no one but Brynn will know which of us is which if we change clothes and I go out there as you, I promise. People see what they want to see.”
“You really think this will work?”
Cori sighed. “It’s our best shot. Look—” She faced her sister squarely and took a deep breath. “I know I should have just left him alone. But I didn’t. Of course. And now he’s all distracted and I’m loving that you have no chemistry and kind of encouraging it even. Like by flirting with him and kissing him and stuff I shouldn’t be doing. I should be trying to help. Like telling you how great he is and what an amazing kisser he is and how funny he is and that you should give him a chance. And telling him how smart you are and how to get you to relax. And I really should want you to go out with him. For all the reasons Dad wanted this to happen. You work too much, you take everything too seriously, and you could really use some fun…some hot, sexy fun. But I don’t want to tell you or him that stuff. Because…that would be the mature and sensible thing to do and God knows, I’m allergic to both of those things. Let me try to help this way.”
Ava was regarding her with a bemused expression. “When things get messy you usually just leave.”
Cori gave a short, humorless laugh. “Yeah. I get out of the way. But this time I can’t. I’m stuck here in Bliss. Sorry.”
Ava shook her head. “God, Cori, don’t be sorry for being here. I couldn’t be handling any of this without you.”
Cori stared at her sister. “Really?”
“Really. This is all crazy. And crazy is your specialty. As long as you’re smiling, I know we’re not totally off the rails.”
That was…unexpected. She knew Ava had fun when Cori was around, but she wasn’t sure she’d ever reassured Ava before.
“Well, don’t go by me,” Cori said. “I’m usually the one pushing you all off the rails.”
“Yeah, but…okay, if I’m going off the rails, I want someone with me who has experience. Who’s survived that before.”
Cori laughed. “You need someone who’s climbed the mountain before?”
“I was thinking more like I need someone who’s been in the scary, haunted forest and been chased by a creepy clown with a machete but who’s made it out alive.”
Cori snorted. “That makes Bliss the haunted forest and Evan the creepy clown?”
Ava grinned. “Okay, maybe it’s not quite that bad.” She paused. “Actually, I know why the haunted forest came to mind. Do you remember the haunted house we went to when we were thirteen?”
“You were supposed to be sixteen to go in, but I sweet-talked the guy at the door into letting us go,” Cori said.
“I was scared to death,” Ava said. “Even before we got inside. But you were…giddy about it. I just knew that if you could get that excited and think it was fun, then there wasn’t anything to be really scared of.”
“You hated that haunted house. We all had to sleep in the same bed for like two weeks, with you in the middle.”
Ava nodded. “But you did that for me too. And honestly, that haunted house has always stuck with me. You were diving in because of the adrenaline rush. Brynn wasn’t scared because she was able to look at everything and immediately figure out how they’d pulled off the illusions. It was just me…too uptight and not smart enough to avoid being scared.”
“Hey—” Cori started.
But Ava shook her head. “But in the end, I got the best deal. You two, sleeping on either side of me, laughing and giggling until way past our bedtimes, for two whole weeks.” She gave Cori a soft smile. “Totally worth it.”
Cori blew out a breath. “You think Bliss can turn out the same way?”
“With you making it all fun and exciting and Brynn making it all practical and breaking things down step-by-step? Yeah, I think it can be the same way.”
Cori reached out and squeezed Ava’s hand. “I’ve got you, sis.”
“I’m counting on it.”
“Okay. Now take off your clothes for fuck’s sake.”
“I hate to ask you to sacrifice like this,” Ava teased, but she began unbuttoning. “I mean, making you go out there and act all goofy over Evan.”
“Yeah, yeah, more unbuttoning, less talking,” Cori said, but she was smiling as they exchanged clothes.
Within minutes Cori was in a silk blouse and pencil skirt that was slightly tight through the hips. She needed to lay off the carbs. Or she needed to get her sisters eating more of them. Triple the wardrobe was one of the most obvious benefits of being triplets.
“Okay, let’s do this fixing everything and making it all totally fine again,” she said, as she slipped Ava’s heels on. These were Gucci rather than Louis Vuitton but seriously, Ava had great taste in shoes.
“Hang on.” Ava stepped forward, pulling the clip out of her hair. “Let’s do it right.”
Cori turned and she felt Ava gather her hair back and then twist it and secure it with the clip.
“Okay, now let’s go. I can’t wait to watch this,” Ava said, actually looking like she was looking forward to it.
A minute later, Cori approached the table where Evan sat. She tried to keep her heart from pounding and her breathing from increasing. She wished she could blame it on nerves, but it was pure and simple lust. She wasn’t nervous at all about sitting across the table from him. Or acting like she was falling for him.
That was, unfortunately, something that was as real as the diamond bracelet she’d also taken from Ava.
“Everything okay?” he asked as he stood and held her chair for her.
She gave him a smile and a nod. “Sure.”
Be Ava. Be Ava. Let him scoot your chair in. She knew how that was done, of course, but she didn’t hang out with guys who did it much. Of course, no one really held a barstool for a woman.
She gave him a smile as he returned to his seat in the chair perpendicular to hers. “Okay then, what were we talking about?” She definitely should have asked Ava that question. Instead she’d been busy apologizing…and being shocked to find out that Ava really liked having her here.
Evan hesitated, then he leaned back in his chair. “Cori,” he said simply.
For a second, she thought he’d recognized her and was saying her name to confirm. Then she realized that he meant he and Ava had been talking about her.
Surprised skittered through her. She wet her lips. She should tell him who she was. He could be in on the ruse, of course. And she would. In a minute.
“Cori. Right. What about her again?”
“Her crazy idea about the party in the park.”
The surprised rippled through her again, stronger this time. “Did…I…tell you all about it?” Cori asked, remembering partway through the sentence that she was supposed to be Ava.
“Is there more to it?” he asked. “She wants to call it Parking and Pie and have everyone come to the park for pie and a movie. Like a drive-in. She wants to make a bunch of kids’ pies, like that s’mores pie she made the other night, and really appeal to the kids, who will then bring their parents. She wants to show that animated movie, Jelly Jam. That one is about a bunch of kitchen appliances and tools that cook and bake at night to save their owner’s restaurant, right?”
Cori nodded and reached for her water glass. She was biting h
er tongue. She had to let him talk, see what he already knew, and act like Ava about the whole thing. And Ava was not practically jumping up and down in her seat over the idea. That much Cori did know. She’d told her sisters the idea that morning and had been met with not a lot of enthusiasm. Ava was worried about the pies and the general logistics of pulling something like that off when they hadn’t been in town long. Which was, of course, why Cori thought it was a great idea. What better way to meet the town and show them that the girls wanted to be a part of the community? Brynn, the more practical one, talked about things like licenses and permits. Which was where Evan could, obviously, come in. He knew the laws and he knew everyone in town. Or maybe even the county. But Cori had figured she would be the one to bring it up to him, and she was surprised Ava had done it. Maybe they hadn’t had anything else to talk about.
“And I told you about the charity part of it, right?” Cori asked. “Where we’re going to give half of the profits to the before-school breakfast program and the snack program for the daycares?”
She’d asked the coffee club that met in the pie shop every morning if there were any food-related charities in the area—a shelter or food bank or something—that they could donate to. The guys had suggested the food bank in Great Bend, but she’d wanted something right in Bliss if possible. Thankfully, the guys had grandkids in the school system and one of them had a daughter who did daycare, so they’d known about both the breakfast program at the school and the program that provided nutritious snacks and nutritional education to daycare providers in the county. Which tied in perfectly with the kids’ theme for the event, as well.
“You did,” Evan said. “And I agree that knowing it’s partly for charity will make everyone even more likely to come and participate.”
“Oh, good. I didn’t remember if I’d mentioned that.”
Cori felt a little warm that Ava had brought all of this up. Cori had wanted to tell Evan about it. As more than the local attorney and guy-in-the-know. She’d wanted to tell him because…okay, because she’d wanted to impress him. The entire Parking and Pie event idea wasn’t for Evan’s benefit. The idea had come to her in the shower actually. But, she’d wanted to let him in on her idea and see his reaction. It was stupid, but she’d liked the look on his face when he’d accepted that first cup of caramel macchiato, and heard about Nutella-dipped bacon, and when he’d heard her talk about putting a photo booth in the pie shop, and when he’d watched her toast the marshmallows on the s’mores pie and taken that first bite. She liked the look of amusement combined with a touch of admiration on his face. It had seemed as if he’d liked all of those ideas, but even more, he’d been kind of intrigued by her out-of-the-box thinking.