“It is true. All I ever wanted was to fall in love with a wonderful man, get married, have a family and maybe a career that satisfied me. Now I have nothing. I gave up my business for him! Do you know how successful Abby’s Attic was?”

“I heard it was very popular.”

“I made a quarter of a million bucks there last year, and I walked away from it like it meant nothing to me. All for a man who wasn’t worth my time.”

While Adam knew he should at least attempt to defend mankind, he was stuck on the money. “You made a quarter million dollars selling T-shirts?”

“And toys. There’s big money in toys, especially when you’re the only toy store on the island,” she said, hiccupping loudly. Her hand covered her mouth. “Oh my. Excuse me.” This was followed by another hiccup, louder than the first, and more tears. “My life is a mess.”

He shouldn’t ask. It was none of his business. And yet… “What happened with Cal?”

She used her own sleeve—thankfully—to wipe her nose and eyes, which smeared the mascara into dark smudges under her eyes. “His ex-girlfriend happened. Apparently, he’s not completely over her, or some such baloney.”

“You mean bullshit.”

“What?”

“If you’re going to swear now, you want to say bullshit rather than baloney.”

“Oh, right. Yes, it’s a big pile of bullshit.”

“Much better.”

That drew a tentative smile from her.

“So what’s the deal with the ex?”

“She comes sashaying up to him every time she sees him and makes sure to flip her fake blonde hair and bat her fake eyelashes and rest her fake boobs on his arm, and he acts like it’s no big deal that she’s totally flirting with him. This goes on for weeks. She’s over at the house every day, supposedly to check on his sick mother because they’re so very close, you see, but really it’s all about more chances to hang all over Cal. I finally got sick of it and confronted him about it. That’s when…” Her chin quivered anew, but she managed to blink back the tears this time. “That’s when he admitted he still thinks about her. Candy. Her name is Candy! Can you stand that? She makes me sick. It’s all so…so…”

Nearly breathless with anticipation, Adam raised his brows.

“Screwed up,” she said.

He shook his head. “You can do better.”

“I can’t.”

“Yes, you can. You’re a whole new woman now, remember?”

Her face turned bright red, and in that moment, he discovered she was rather adorable, raccoon eyes and all. “Fucked up,” she whispered, turning a deeper shade of scarlet as the curse passed her lips.