“How could you possibly know that I’ve kissed Jack?” Nora asked, her throat growing drier by the second.
Shit.Did everyone know? Did her family? Surely, if Cassie had heard something about the kiss, she would have descended on Nora’s condo to demand an explanation, much like Jade was doing now.
“If you don’t want the whole town to know, maybe don’t kiss him on the dock of his cabin.”
“We were seen?” Nora gasped, her face burning with shame and embarrassment.
“Of course, you were seen. This is Half Moon Key. What do you think?”
“Who saw? Who blabbed? Who knows?”
Jade waved off the questions as if they didn’t matter, but they did. Nora wasn’t one to participate in public displays of affection. Especially not when all of the town knew she was all but in love with Jack. If the wrong person asked Jack about it, would they spill the beans that she was a little bit mad for him?
“This is so bad,” Nora whimpered, covering her face with her hands.
“Hardly. You finally got to kiss the guy you’ve been crushing on forever. Was it good? Was it really good? Did he use tongue? Did you feel his c …”
“And that’s enough out of you, Jade! Seriously. This is a family establishment.”
Jade looked around. “There’s no one here.”
“Well, not exactly the point. This is my family’s business. If Cassie or Adam were in the back, and they didn’t know, you realize that you would’ve told them a very personal moment in my life.”
“If you want a personal moment, don’t have it where all of the townsfolk can see you.”
Nora didn’t want to tell her friend that she was right, but there was no arguing about it.
“You need to tell me how this happened. Like right now. I want all of the details.” Jade walked around the counter, grabbed the discarded chocolate orange ice cream cone, and took a seat at the little stool behind the cash register that Nora used to read. The novel she was reading was flipped open to the chapter break, where she had stopped reading to tend to the shop.
Of course, it would be paused at a great big, important moment: the detective was about to make an arrest in the murder she was solving. For her part, Nora didn’t think the character was guilty. It was a red herring, but she would have to wait to get to the bottom of the mystery.
Jade moved the book, grinning at the cover when she closed it. “I’ve got my treat. It’s not popcorn, but I’m ready to listen to your tale.”
Nora sighed, but she started telling Jade about her fight with her sister, the fight that had thrown Nora into the arms of the man who had kissed her senselessly not once but three times.
Jade ate her ice cream cone, but she was completely mesmerized by Nora’s words.
“Well, it’s good that he kissed you,” Jade said. “I don’t super understand why he did it, but I guess that doesn’t really matter. It’s all semantics, isn’t it?”
“I’m still not sure how you found out.”
“Oh, that’s easy. Jack told Mason, who told Parker, who told me.”
Nora rolled her eyes. “Fucking small towns.”
Jade snorted. “We’ve been friends for a very long time, but I’m sure that’s the very first time I ever heard you swear. I like it. And that’s only from a couple of kisses. Imagine how life will be when you …”
Nora held up her hands. “Please, I beg of you, do not finish that sentence.”
Jade giggled. “You’ve got it. I won’t say a word about your little situation.”
She pointed toward Nora’s crotch area. “You know, there are better novels to read out there that would maybe be a bit more educational than murder mysteries.”
“I don’t know. Maybe I’ll have to commit the perfect crime if you don’t cool it,” Nora shot back.
“Ha! With Cohen Pierce as our sheriff, I doubt there can be an unsolvable crime in this town. That man is a bloodhound.”
Nora had the impression there was more meaning to her friend’s words, but she didn’t press it. A family of six came into the ice cream parlor, and that took over Nora’s mind for the next little while.