Real Men Don't Break Hearts

by Coleen Kwan

  “Care to join me for a drink down at the Red Possum?”

  She felt her eyes widen. “A drink? Now?”

  “It’s not even ten o’clock,” he said in a way that made her feel twice her age. “Surely it’s not too late for just one drink?”

  “What makes you think I’d want to have a drink with you?”

  Nate spread his hands. “Hey, I’m just trying to make things right here.”

  “Oh, so you think just a quick sorry is all it takes and suddenly I’m supposed to forget everything?”

  He gave her a smile that sent a sizzle through her veins. Oh, he had a dangerous smile, filled with illicit promise. “You don’t strike me as someone who holds onto a grudge no matter what. We’ve had our differences in the past, but why make a tricky situation worse? I’m going to be your landlord, you’re going to be my tenant. Isn’t it in both our best interests to at least try to get along?”

  Her lips clamped together. Forget about his sexy smile. He thought just one brief apology made everything okay between them? Well, she wasn’t going to fall for his laid-on charm just to make things easier for him.

  “Sorry, it’s too late,” she said crisply. “Much too late.”

  She held his eye, hoping the cool dismissal in her gaze was too obvious for him to miss. His mouth flattened before his expression tuned aloof and distant. He lifted his shoulder.

  “You’re right. It is too late. Good night, Ally.”

  Chapter Four

  “The leaded glass lampshades?”

  “Going.”

  “The beeswax candles?”

  “Staying.”

  “The Angora sweaters?”

  Ally hesitated. “Um…”

  “Come on, they’re overpriced and hideous.” Tyler held up one of the fluffy, cotton candy–like garments against her chest and pulled a face. “Perfect if you’re going to tea with the Bishop, but useless in Burronga.”

  “Nana will never let me hear the end of it if I drop the Angoras. She and Carol go a long way back.”

  “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 w
ere 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.”

  “Don’t know why you’d do that.” The old lady eyed them over her spectacles. “If it’s served you well all these years then there’s no reason to go changing it.”

  “You’re quite right.” Jess gave Ally a pointed look before she lifted the salad bowl and headed for the dining table. Moments later, Brian walked in with a platter of sizzling sausages and chops, followed closely by the twins, and they all settled around the dining table. Everyone piled their plates with meat and salad while Jess saw to the twins at their kid-sized table with her usual efficiency before joining the adults.

  “Did you really change the mayonnaise?” Nana tasted a forkful of potato salad. “Tastes exactly the same to me.”

  “There you go, then,” Ally said with an encouraging grin. “Sometimes change isn’t as bad as you think.” Nana still didn’t look convinced, so Ally turned to Brian. “How’s business?”

  “It’s been good.” A smile spread across his face as he reached for the ketchup. “Really good. We just got a big order in the other day. Real big—”

  “Sweetie,” Jess interrupted. “Pass the mustard, will you?”

  “But that sounds fantastic.” Ally leaned forward, genuinely interested in what Brian had to say. Despite their hard work, Jess and Brian’s floral business was just scraping by, so she was happy to learn they’d landed a big order. “Who’s it for?”

  “It’s…” Brian glanced at his wife over the mustard bottle, and hesitation stole across his features. “It’s…um…well,” he plunged on, “as a matter of fact it’s for Seth and Paige’s wedding.”

  “Seth and Paige’s wedding?”

  Brian drew in a breath. “Uh-huh.”

  “Oh.” Ally swallowed and set down her fork. Everyone at the table was staring at her, she realized.

  “I’m sorry, lovey. We’re all sorry,” Nana said.

  Jess reached out and squeezed her hand. “You aren’t upset, are you?”

  “Of course not. Why would I be upset?”

  No one answered. Ally glanced from her sister to her brother-in-law to her grandmother, noticing their identical expressions: sympathy, guilt, nervousness.

  “Good grief! Don’t tell me you all feel sorry for me!” Her hands started to shake from the emotion tumbling out of her. “I am a grown woman of twenty-five. I do not need to be shielded and mollycoddled. All of you”—she aimed a glare around the table—“need to start showing me a bit more respect.”

  Jess’s mouth dropped. “But Ally, we’re only trying to—”

  “Protect me from bad news. Yes, I know. You’ve been doing that ever since the day Mum and Dad died, and I really appreciate that, Jess, but I’m all grown up now. I’m not your frightened little sister too scared to sleep on her own anymore. Do you hear what I’m saying?”

  The bewildered look on Jess’s face brought her up short. Jess had always taken her big sister responsibilities seriously, maybe too seriously, and she probably didn’t know what had come over her normally even-tempered kid sister. But what Ally had just blurted out had been long overdue, she realized. She needed to convince her family that she could stand on her own two feet, that she could make her own decisions, and that even if she got knocked down once in a while, she’d still survive.

  She exhaled deeply, forcing her hands to relax, and tempered her voice as she continued. “Look, I’m glad you got the flower job. Really. I want to hear all the details.”

  “Well…” Jess began uncertainly. “We’re just a small part of the whole extravaganza. We’re providing the centerpieces for the tables at the wedding reception and a few other arrangements to decorate the marquee.”

  “That sounds like a big order!” She drew in a deep breath. “I’m so happy for you guys. You two deserve a break like this.”

  Brian nodded at her, approval and relief spread across his face. “Couldn’t have come at a better time.” He squirted ketchup over his meat and dug into his food. “Peonies are coming into season. Jess is gonna make those centerpieces look fantastic. And we might get a mention in the magazine coverage. Wouldn’t that be great, getting free publicity? Jess has already had a meeting with the bride and her mother.”

  “Oh.” Ally raised her eyebrows at her sister. “So you’ve met Paige Kerrigan?”

  “Just briefly.” She hesitated before continuing. “Crystal Kerrigan did most of the talking, but Paige was very definite about what she wanted. She strikes me as a very single-minded person.”

  “But not half as beautiful as you, dear,” Nana added, patting Ally’s hand.

  Ally chewed her lip. It seemed she’d successfully impressed Jess and Brian with her desire to be treated like an adult, but Nana was still determined to coddle her. She knew Nana was only trying to make her feel better, but it was time to show her independence.

  Taking a deep breath, she turned to her grandmother. “Nana, there’s something I have to tell you.”

  “What is it, dear?” Nana smiled encouragingly.

  Ally cleared her throat. “It’s about the gift shop. I’m afraid it hasn’t been doing well lately. Visitors have dropped, and sales are down. So I’ve decided to give the store
a major overhaul.”

  “Really?” A worried look swallowed up her grandmother’s smile. “What kind of overhaul? You’re not going to rearrange the stock, are you, because I don’t—”

  “I’m not just rearranging the stock; I’m getting a whole lot of fresh new things.”

  “But where will you put it all, lovey? The shop isn’t that big.”

  “I’m culling most of the existing stock. I—”

  “Culling?” Nana’s tone sharpened. “What do you mean, culling?”

  “It means I won’t be selling it anymore.”

  “But—but I don’t understand.” Nana gripped the table edge. “Which things won’t you be selling anymore?”

  “Well, there are the leaded glass lamps…”

  Nana groaned. “George’s lampshades. Oh, he’ll be so disappointed.”

  “The crocheted baby booties…”

  Nana clutched at her bosom. “No, not the booties!”

  “And the Angora sweaters.”

  Nana gasped. “Oh my lord! Carol is a dear, dear friend of mine. I’ve been selling her beautiful sweaters for years, long before you ever came to the shop. How can you just dump her like that?”

  “Please don’t be so upset. It was purely a business decision. Her sweaters aren’t very popular these days.”

  “They’re wonderful, every one of them uniquely designed and hand knitted. You won’t find her level of craftsmanship anywhere else.”

  And for good reason, Ally silently retorted. She stretched her hand across the table toward her grandmother. “I’m really sorry, Nana, but I don’t have much choice.”

  Nana pulled away from Ally’s reach. “I’m shocked you’re doing this to my store.”

  In the past Ally would have tried to placate her grandmother, but not this time. She kept her voice low but firm. “It’s not your shop anymore—you passed the responsibility on to me. I make the decisions now, and I’ve decided this is best. You need to let go and allow me to succeed or fail on my own.”

  Her grandmother jerked her head away, her profile set and angry. Ally’s heart sank, but she swallowed the words of contrition that instantly came to her lips. This time she couldn’t afford to back down.