Read Online Bolted by Meg Benjamin - Free Book Online Page B

shade of pink. Greta herself could never quite pull off that kind of organization, so she had always been suitably impressed.
    Nadia picked up her coffee cup. “And?”
    “And one day she called me and said Ryan wanted me to meet him for lunch.”
    One of Nadia’s dark brows arched up. “Was this unusual?”
    “Sort of. He’d never done it before. And he’d seemed a little preoccupied before then, so I was kind of surprised. But I figured maybe he wanted to make it up to me for being preoccupied.”
    “Right.” Nadia’s eyebrow stayed up. “Go on.”
    “Well, when I got to the restaurant, Ryan was there but he seemed sort of surprised to see me. Shocked, in fact.”
    “He hadn’t asked his secretary to call?”
    Greta shook her head. “When I mentioned Dorothy’s name he actually turned a little pale.” Which should have been the tip-off, of course, but Greta had still been living in her nice little bungalow in the Land of Denial.
    Nadia grimaced. “Let me guess—Dorothy herself soon appeared.”
    Greta nodded. “She did. She sat down next to Ryan and told me to take a seat too.” Greta had actually been too shocked to do anything else at that point, and Ryan had looked almost as shocked as she was.
    “What did she say?”
    “She said they were in love—she and Ryan, that is. She said it was time for everybody to move on. And for me to move out.”
    “Did your husband say anything at that point?”
    Greta shook her head. “He looked sort of stunned.”
    “Meaning he hadn’t realized what his secretary was up to.”
    “Probably not. But he didn’t contradict her either.”
    Nadia gave her a dry smile. “Some men find it easier to let strong women take the lead. Perhaps your husband was that kind of man.”
    Greta sighed. “Maybe.”
    “So what happened next?”
    Greta shrugged. “He moved out. We got a divorce. I put my stuff in storage.” And she’d come back to Promise Harbor for a quick reconnaissance that had turned out to be the Wedding That Wasn’t.
    “Yes, I get that. What I actually meant, though, was what did you do at the time. In the restaurant. Did you walk out meekly or did you tell your husband what you thought of him?”
    Greta blew out a breath. “Well, neither actually. I mean, the waiter showed up and asked if he should set another place at the table. So I told him no, and then I dumped my glass of water into Ryan’s lap and left.” She shrugged again. “Not much of a gesture but it felt good at the time.”
    Nadia’s lips spread up in another dry smile. “I’m sure it did.” She pushed herself to her feet, dusting the crumbs from her fingers. “Well, this has been delightful, but I really must get started on my creams. I’m doing tea rose today, if you’re interested.”
    Greta nodded. “I might be at that.”
    “Good enough.” Nadia gathered her caftan around her, pausing as she reached the door. “I’ll mull all of this over and see if I have any advice to give you. And I do hope you’ll call your mother. She must be worried. And you’re certainly welcome to stay as long as you wish.” She gave Greta a warm smile, then sailed through the swinging door, presumably to change into her gypsy outfit.
    Greta put the last pan in the drainer, sighing. She would call her mother. Soon. She honestly would. Just not right now.

Chapter Six
    Sophie Brewster woke up angry, although it took her a moment to remember just what she was angry about. But once she remembered, the anger escalated.
    Josh. Allie. Gavin. The mind reeled. Didn’t anyone know how to behave anymore? If Gavin was so bent on stopping the wedding, why couldn’t he have called Allie before the ceremony? Sophie refused to believe he didn’t have enough bars on his cell phone. No matter where he was, if he couldn’t phone, he could have used email. Or Spacebook or MyFace. Or whatever it was they did.
    He didn’t have to show up at the wedding Sophie had spent months putting together. And, of