CHAPTER 1
“Online dating is about as much fun as getting a tattoo over a sunburn.” Jessa Myers’ statement fell on deaf ears.
Her feline companions didn’t hear a word she said. One of them, literally. Elvis Pawsley, her hearing-impaired cat, sat beside her in her breakfast nook, his tail flicking as he bathed himself while soaking in the morning sun as it streamed through the bay window. Next to him Marilyn Purroe was lounging on her throne pillow. She could hear just fine. She just didn’t acknowledge Jess’s existence unless there was food involved.
“You have no idea how lucky you are to be neutered,” she said to Elvis as she ran her hand over his head. She looked back down at her phone and tried to will herself a positive attitude.
If it was up to her, her love life would be like a John Hughes movie. She wanted to meet the man of her dreams organically, not online. But that wasn’t reality. Reality was that this was a numbers game. So, even after her dud of a date the night before, Jessa was determined to get back on the dating horse. Which in this day and age, especially living in a town as small as Whisper Lake, meant using technology.
So here she was, sitting at her kitchen table, sipping a green tea as she swiped her way through a dating app that hadn’t been particularly successful for her in the past.
Her thumb slid over her screen as she quickly moved through dozens of potential matches.
Shirtless guy with guitar.
“Nope.” She swiped left.
Guy standing in front of a sports car.
“Uh-uh.”
Duck-face selfie of a guy with better eyebrows than her.
“Oh, hell no.”
She was just about to swipe again when a face popped up on her screen that she’d never swipe left on. Her best friend, Ali was calling.
She answered, “Hello soon-to-be Mrs. McKnight.”
“That still feels so weird.”
“Really? Because you’ve been pretending to be Mrs. McKnight since you were in elementary school.” Ali had been crushing on her fiancé Kade McKnight since they were kids. Unlike other girls who played wedding day dress up and doodled their crush’s names on notebooks, Ali and Jessa would play business women and store owners, which was exactly what they were now, and Ali would always sign “invoices” and “checks” as Mrs. Allison McKnight.
Now she was going to be living out her childhood fantasy of being Mrs. McKnight. Two days ago, Kade had asked Ali to marry him.
“I know I have, but that was always make-believe. This is actually happening. I still can’t quite believe I’m getting married.”
Jess was happy for her friend. Ali had been raising her teenage nephews, KJ and Ricky, since her older brother Patrick had passed a year and a half ago due to a brain aneurysm. She was the sweetest, most selfless person that Jess knew and she deserved all the happiness in the world. And she knew that Kade was going to do everything in his power to bring her that happiness.
Jessa heard a deep male voice in the background.
“You better believe it because it’s happening.”
“Hello, Kade.”
“Jess says hi,” she heard Ali say before then hearing some very distinct kissing sounds.
“Hello!” Jess interrupted the impromptu make out session. “I’m still on the phone.”
“Sorry,” Ali said breathlessly as she giggled. “How did your date go last night?”
“I was home by seven.”
“I thought you were meeting him at six-thirty.”
“I was.”
“Oh boy, what was it this time?”