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“Besides, why are you so against me dating your friends?” I ask. I turn around and lean against the counter, throwing her an expectant look. “Not that I want to,” I quickly add before she accuses me of something I didn’t say again.

“You’ll break her heart and then things will get awkward.”

I scoff. “Break her heart? It’s good to know you think so highly of me. Thanks for trusting me.”

I push away from the counter and grab my helmet, but before I can reach the door, Maggie stops me, the look in her eyes softening. “Look, I didn’t mean that in a bad way. I just don’t want Elle to get her heart broken again. She’s been through enough these last few months.”

“Fair enough.”

“Have a great day at work, Co,” Maggie says. “We’ll talk later.”

“Later, Mags.”

I step back into the warm morning air and get on my bike. Even though I promised my sister I wasn’t interested in her best friend, I can’t stop thinking about our first encounter in years. Elle is funny and charming. She’s like a breath of fresh air blowing through this town. And I’ve never met a woman I could talk to so easily.

Then again, I know I can’t date her. At all. I’m so close to reaching my savings goal to buy myself a house in the mountains. I’m not planning on backtracking now. Especially not for a girl I just met.

Chapter Three

Elle

I plop down on the bed, legs and arms sprawled out. I’ll figure out a plan to get my life back on track tomorrow, but today I just want to do nothing and think about nothing. Especially not the past two weeks.

Moving to Paris was supposed to be my big break. I had dreamed of eating croissants in the morning, with the mesmerizing sounds of the city in the background. I had even been foolish enough to think I’d marry Paul one day and move to the south of France with him. In my fantasies, we would drink wine every evening while looking at the sunset from the wooden chairs in our backyard, where I would plant lavender and wisteria. Ugh. He sure pulled the rug from under my feet when he left me and ran away with every cent I had to my name. I hadn’t found the courage to tell Maggie about that yet. As far as she was concerned, my relationship with Paul had gone wrong and I didn’t want to stay in a foreign country without any family or friends. The truth is that I had literally been out on the French streets. I even spent one night in a stinky bus station. At the thought of that night, I shiver.

A knock on the door forces me to sit upright again, something that takes all of my willpower. Up until now, I didn’t realize how exhausted I am. All I want to do is sleep for days.

“Settling in okay?” Maggie asks while plopping down next to me.

I nod. “Are you sure you don’t mind me spending a few nights here? I swear I’ll be out of your hair as soon as I land a job and save enough to pay a security deposit for a rental studio.”

“Nonsense, you can stay as long as you want to. Best friends don’t let each other sleep on the beach. Or in a dank studio apartment.”

I give her hand a friendly squeeze. “Thank you, Maggie. Honestly, if it weren’t for you, I’d be sleeping under the Eiffel Tower now. I swear I will pay you back the money you wired me for the plane ticket. My brother Caleb might be able to help me financially as well. I’m going to give him a call soon and see what he can do for me.”

“Elle, we talked about this. I don’t need you to repay me.”

“I will, though,” I say with a yawn. “Sorry, I’m exhausted.”

She gets up. “You should sleep, but promise me we’ll catch up tomorrow, okay? We can make it a girls’ day.”

“What about tonight?”

“Can’t, sorry. I have a date. I’m hoping this time it’ll be with someone who’s right for me.”

I scrunch up my nose. “Fingers crossed he’s not like that guy who brought his mother to your date.”

“Oh man, that was the worst,” she says with a laugh. “And the way his mother was constantly telling him to sit upright and make sure his elbows weren’t touching the table.” She shudders. “I’m sure this time it’ll be different. The guy I’m seeing works as a sailing instructor.”

“Ahoy,” I say before falling back on the bed again. “We’ll make it a fun day tomorrow, just us girls.”

“Sleep tight.”

I lift my hand to wave at her and doze off before I can even hear the door close.

***

I’m not sure what kind of sound wakes me up, but my heart is going a hundred miles an hour. I jolt upright in my bed and try to make sense of my surroundings. For a couple of moments, I’m disoriented, trying to figure out where I am. In the distance, I can hear the waves crashing against the beach. Paris doesn’t have beaches. What’s happening?