Page 126 of When You Blush

“I will. Have a good day, dear.” She blows me a kiss,and then she’s gone, and before the door can close, my nurse pokes her head in.

“We have a chest pain patient who just came in through urgent care.”

“I’m right behind you.”

Chapter Twenty-Eight

HARPER

“But are you feeling better today?” Ava asks as we stow our purchases into the back of my car. “You seem fine.”

“Yeah, I’m much better. It was the weirdest thing.” My best friend and I have made our way up and down the main street in Bitterroot Valley, buying things from Pocket Full of Polly, the flower shop, and the bookstore. You name it, we probably bought it today. Now, we’re headed over to Sage & Salt to grab dinner before our book club meeting. “I was hiking along, and suddenly, I was just sotired.I felt achy and just generally not good. But then I rested at home, and a few hours later, I was fine.”

I shrug as we push into the restaurant. I love that it’s already busy in here. I want Juliet’s restaurant to be here for a long, long time.

“Maybe it was the bike ride,” Ava says with a nod. “Too much sun and all that jazz.”

“Probably.” We step up to order, and my stomach growls so loudly, Juliet laughs.

“You’re my kind of customer. What can I feed you, friend?”

“Apparently, I need all the food you have.” I chuckle and check out the board. “Oh, I’ll take that fish and chips special. That sounds good.”

“Make it two,” Ava says, passing over her credit card before I can. “It’s on me tonight.”

“Hey, thanks.” I kiss her cheek, and we go find a place to sit. “I didn’t realize I was so hungry until we walked in here.”

“We worked off a lot of calories this afternoon,” she says, leaning on her elbows. “Now, tell me everything that’s going on. I know you moved in with Blake, but we haven’t hung out in way too long, and I feel like I’m missing everything.”

“I know. It all happened so fast.” I lean back in the chair, suddenly feeling tired again. Man, I really do need some protein. “Blake and I are great. It was getting to be torture, spending so much time apart because of our work schedules, and then only catching glimpses of each other here and there.”

“So naturally, the next step is to shack up,” Ava says, her voice dry as sand.

“When the sex is that good?” I nod at her. “Hell yeah, that’s the answer.”

“There’s no need to be a bitch and brag about your hot boyfriend,” she says as Juliet arrives with our food.

“I have some vinegar here and some tartar sauce. Let me know if you need anything else.”

“Looks amazing,” Ava says, and I nod in agreement. When Juliet walks away, Ava continues right where she left off. “Is his house nice?”

“Yeah, it’s great. I’ll have you over. You can come home with me later if you want.”

“Hell yeah, I want.”

“And how’s everything with you?” I ask her before biting into my fish and sighing in happiness. “Holy shit, that’s good.”

“So good.” She nods and then sighs. “I’m working my ass off. Connor Gallagher hired me to work on the new condos at the resort that are going up next, and it’s ahugedeal, Harps. The biggest account of my life. Most of the condos are up for sale, and they want them to be designed and staged for listing. The ones that are already sold, well, he’s recommending me to the owners so I can design according to their specifications.”

“How many total condos are there?” I ask her.

“Forty-six.” A smile spreads over her face. “That’s a whole lot of work, friend. And Billie and Connor asked me to start with their super-fancy penthouse.”

“Holy shit, that’s incredible.”

“I know. I had a nice long chat with Billie when we were all up at the resort, and I think I can do a good job for them.”

“Iknowyou can. And you will. You’re a badass bitch, and you’ve got this, babe.”