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“Ah, you just missed her,” Cat said flatly.

Hattie smirked. “I heard you’re having a book signing here for Tara Holloway.”

“We are.”

“You know how much I like her movies.”

“I remember,” Cat said.

“I had no idea you knew her. I always hoped I’d run into her someday since she moved out to the lake.”

“Elena and I have been invited to her lake home this evening to discuss the preparations for the book event,” Cat said. She couldn’t resist being petty since she knew how much Hattie loved Tara Holloway.

“Wow, do you think you could introduce me to her?” Hattie asked excitedly.

Cat just stared at her. That was how it had always been: What could Cat do for Hattie? She’d helped her several times with clients by showing them the tax advantages to teaming up with Hattie’s company, but whenever Cat asked for something it was always such a production.

“Oh, okay.” Hattie huffed.

“Look, Elena will be here any minute to pick me up. Do you want to talk about the house?” Cat was ready to put the house on the market, but she would rather Hattie agree to it before she took that step.

“Um, I’m still thinking about it. There’s a lot to consider.”

As if on cue, Elena walked into the bookstore from CeCe’s salon.

“Hey, babe,” Elena said, putting her arm around Cat’s waist.

Cat turned to her and smiled. She gave her a quick kiss then looked back at Hattie. “We’ve got to go.”

“Right,” Hattie said dejectedly. “See ya later.”

“I just have to get my purse, it’s in the back,” Cat said, looking at Elena hesitantly.

“It’s okay.” Elena glanced at Hattie. “We’ll be all right.”

Cat nodded and walked to the back of the store.

Hattie watched her go, then turned to Elena. “So, how did you meet Cat?” Hattie asked.

“Here,” Elena said. “We both love books.”

Hattie smiled. “She always loved to read.”

Elena nodded and raised her eyebrows.

“So, just like that then,” Hattie said.

“No, it took us a while. She was very hurt when we first met.”

Hattie nodded. “I never liked to read much.”

Elena smiled. “There’s a lot more to Cat than books. I know you saw how much fun we were having the other night at the bar.”

“I noticed. You’ll never find a better person than Cat.”

“I know.”

Hattie gave her a sad smile. “It took me too long to figure that out.”