Page 33 of The Friendship Pact

“That’s a nice one,” Nick said.

“Do you think it’s too short?”

“Not at all. Try it on.”

“Maybe after you leave.”

“What? You don’t want to model them for me?” he teased.

Kate’s phone pinged with a notification. She placed a hand on her stomach and then tucked her phone away. She should have removed Jacques from her social media feed. Determined to enjoy the day, she decided she’d look at the post later, or maybe not at all.

“You’re done, Nick,” Chloe said. “Go ahead and change, but be careful of the pins.” She joined Kate as Nick went into the dressing room.

As he emerged, back in his uniform, his radio squawked. “I’ve got to go,” he said. “See you tonight.”

“Stay safe,” they called as he dashed out the door.

“He’s always getting called away,” Chloe said. “Now, let’s concentrate on you. I have a few dresses I set aside that you might like. One I just finished up. It’s a vintage style I found at a shop in Willow Creek. I made my signature adjustments and if I’m not mistaken, it should be your size—a six, right? Would you like to see it?”

“Definitely.”

Chloe carried out the most exquisite wraparound dress Kate had ever seen. Kate steepled her fingers in front of her lips. “Oh, Chloe. I hope it looks as good on me as it does on the hanger.”

“It will. Try it on.”

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Kate hung the vintage red silk wraparound dress in her closet. With its deep neckline, its front tie waist, and its long, loose sleeves anchored with cuff ties, it was perfect. She knew she had unpacked her favorite strappy heels, she just needed to remember where she’d put them. On her hands and knees, she rummaged around on the closet floor until she found them. They wouldn’t be great in the snow, but she’d deal with it; the shoes were perfect with the dress.

Kate’s phone vibrated, causing Lucy, who was curled up on the bed with Nyla, to open one eye, yawn, and stretch. Glancing at her phone, Kate saw two more social media notifications about Jacques. She opened the app and clicked on the post.

The shoes slipped from her hand and dropped to the floor as she stared at the photo of her ex . . . with his new girlfriend, a tall, thin woman of French descent. Jacques had his arm around the woman, and her hand was thrust in front of her, showing off an enormous diamond on her ring finger.

Stunned, Kate shut off her phone, curled up on the bed next to her fur babies, and cried herself to sleep.

A pounding on the door awakened Kate, and she ignored it until the knocks became more insistent. She sat up, grabbed her phone, and smoothed out her mussed hair and adjusted her clothing on the way to the door. She opened it to find Nick, concern etching his face. He wore jeans, a dark blue sweater, and a leather jacket.

He took in her puffy eyes, stepped forward, and cupped her face. “What happened? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong. I’m fine. Come in.”

He dropped his hands and trailed her to the living room.

He sat close and knocked her shoulder with his. “You can tell me. We’re friends, right? You were upset when you glanced at your phone earlier. Tell me what’s wrong.”

“It’s nothing. I overreacted to a social media post.”

She opened the post and handed Nick her phone. “My ex.”

Nick studied the photo. Her ex, GQ-type handsome, had his arms around a French beauty showing off a large diamond.

“We were together for seven years,” Kate said. “The night he dumped me, I thought he was going to propose.”

“Ahh. When did you break up?”

“Almost seven months ago.”

Nick did the math. Kate had made a major life decision based on her broken heart.