Then she looked like she’d forgotten something.

It was a look that put a foreboding sense of danger in Sloane’s gut.

Run, Sloane! Run or she’ll eat you alive!

Carol’s smile went to high-wattage bright. “You know what? It’s so sad to drink alone; why don’t you come join us? You know Marcus already, and I’m sure Ruby and John would love to pick your brain. It’s not every day an Arbor Bay native makes such a big splash.”

She winked. Again. Why was she always winking? It made Sloane panic even more. For whatever reason, she glanced at Brady.

Which didn’t help matters at all.

Recognition didn’t just flash across his expression; it exploded.

He looked at her…and then to Marcus at the other end of the room.

All reasonable excuses as to why she couldn’t join Carol went out the window. Once she lost those, she was toast.

And Carol knew it.

“Grab your drink and let’s go.” She wrapped her arm around Sloane’s shoulders and guided her off the stool. “Between your fame and Marcus’s new engagement, we’ll be talking all night.”

Sloane had never had a panic attack before, but, by God, she was about to. There were too many things going on. Too many opportunities to say the wrong thing or slip up. That was half the reason she’d come back to Arbor Bay in the first place: to avoid anyone she interacted with daily picking up what she didn’t want to be putting down.

And now she, a grown-ass woman, was letting another grown-ass woman walk her to her awkward doom. Best case scenario? She kept her one secret safe while making a fool of herself. Worst case? She admitted she’d been totally and terrifyingly in love with Marcus to Marcus, which had earned him top-shelf treatment in her blog…and with the queen of all gossip in Arbor Bay at the table watching.

Small towns were truly awful.

…

Brady Knox had already counted the cars in the parking lot before he’d come inside the bar. There weren’t as many as he’d hoped. While Fridays and Saturdays were a much busier time for most bars, their small-town establishment lived and died during the weekdays. All except Wednesdays. There was a plummet in patron attendance, thanks to church services. At least, that had been Brady’s experience during the last six years he’d been working at Cassidy’s Place.

Tonight was no exception. Brady had already counted the vehicles and done the damage in his head.