“She’s right, Bell. Small businesses everywhere are hurting, and Anchor is no different. Once tourist season picks up, The Catch will be just fine. You’ll see.”

I glanced between my two friends. “We should do some sort of rain dance, but for tourists. That way, if the season’s good enough, Ford will escape back to LA, and life can go back to normal.”

Caelyn straightened. “I bet we can find something on the internet.”

Kenna groaned. “I am not dancing naked around some firepit.” She turned in my direction. “I’m sorry, Bell. I love you, but not that much.”

I laughed, but Caelyn’s eyes narrowed. “I’m not talking about naked dancing, though it might do you some good to loosen up like that. It might open up that sexual block you’ve got going on.”

“Sexual block?”

Caelyn threw up her hands. “You need to get laid, girl. Your crankiness is bringing us all down.”

Kenna’s cheeks reddened. “I’m doing just fine in that department.”

“Mm-hmm,” Caelyn muttered.

I held up my hands, forming a T with them. “All right, all right. Time out. No naked dancing unless with a partner of your choosing. That’s the rule.”

Neither Caelyn nor Kenna could hold in her laughter. Caelyn reached out and grabbed my hand, squeezing it. “You going to be okay?”

I licked my suddenly dry lips, the thought of facing Ford every day for the next few months making my stomach cramp. “I have no other choice.” I closed my eyes briefly before opening them again. “It’s just a few months. I can handle anything for a few months.”

At least, I hoped I could.

6

FORD

I pulled my SUV into an empty space in The Catch’s small parking lot. Switching off the engine, I simply sat there, staring out at the beach. I’d slept like crap last night, tossing and turning. The second I’d descended into sleep, dreams had haunted me, my subconscious taking me through my own little horror show. But it was the happy memories my mind played while I slept that were the worst. The ones where Violet’s blue eyes sparkled when she smiled, or the times when the two of us chased Isabelle around their back yard, Trouble’s laughter floating on the air. They were the worst because for the first few seconds after I woke, I’d forget everything I’d lost. Then reality would come crashing down around me once again.

It was Isabelle who haunted me most now, though. And the reminders were everywhere. Not just in my dreams, but around every corner at the bar. Hell…this beach held an endless supply. I’d spent countless afternoons exploring this stretch of coastline with her while Vi was at cheer practice or one of her other myriad activities. Afternoons that had knitted our friendship into the very core of who I was.