So much new inventory had arrived in the shop that I considered closing for the first half of the day just to deal with it, and then I remembered that I was a businesswoman and not a teenager and closed stores didn’t make any money. So I resigned myself to the fact that it would take all day to unpack, steam and hang up the new inventory while I dealt with the few customers who came in today.

As much as I hated putting away inventory, I loved getting the first look at all the new arrivals, especially the jewelry from a local designer Mae had sent my way. The pieces were vibrant and striking, every design had some oddity that made it unlike anything I had ever seen. The temptation to put something aside was too strong and I spent a lot of time talking myself out of purchases and reminding myself that if I spent all of my profit on inventory, I wouldn’t have any left for me and Max.

Sometimes I really hated being a rational, reasonable adult.

But ration and reason were why I was allowed to drink alcohol and have mind-blowing sex with a husband I was growing far too attached to, so I went to the storage room and pulled out a few foam display cases for the jewelry and got to work arranging them in a way that would draw the customer’s eye. Thirty minutes later I was still fiddling with the jewelry display case when the bell above the door chimed and a woman walked in.

A striking woman with long blond hair she wore in a neat but tight ponytail. Right away I was on edge. She looked like another of Zeke’s women, polished and sophisticated in her royal blue suit and crisp white blouse underneath. She was either here to check out the competition like Shayla or worse, she’d come to remind me that Zeke was the settling down type.

As if I didn’t know that. I did know that, but I also knew that hope was a cruel bitch and she had no problem making me hope he could be. Hope he wanted to be the settling down type. But that was none of her business. No matter what she said. I fixed a polite smile on my face and turned to face the beautiful woman. “Welcome to High St. Fashions. Anything I can help you with today?”

She smiled to reveal a set of perfectly straight white teeth without a hint of coffee or wine stains, but with a heaping spoonful of disdain that the idle rich wore so well. Though her shoes and suit were just worn enough to say she worked for a living, I guessed something like public relations or event planning. “Just looking around,” she said with the same level of excitement one would when they were talking about a steaming pile of crap.

Something about her had me on edge but until she revealed otherwise, I treated her like a customer, which is to say I ignored her, confident she would let me know if she needed me for anything. I moved on from the jewelry and opened up a box of beautiful, colorful blouses that were thankfully as flat as a board which meant that awful steamer could stay right where it belonged. Steaming fabric was a time-consuming job that always had me asking myself if this was really how I wanted to earn a living, but putting away the blouses made me smile. Hell yes I wanted to do this every day for as long as I could. Even the snooty blonde’s constant perusal and judgment couldn’t stop my happy glow.

Okay, maybe Zeke had something to do with it.

She made her way to the register and smacked the hangers on the glass counter hard enough that it echoed through the store. Out of spite, I waited another fifteen seconds before fixing a grin on my face and prepared for battle. “Did you find everything all right?” She chose a little black dress with leather tuxedo stripes down the side and two sets of lingerie. The most expensive sets, for which I was grateful.

“Yes, it was fine,” she said dismissively and I followed her lead, keeping my mouth shut while I rang her up. She didn’t want to engage, well that was just fine with me. “Maddie Trenton, right?”

“That’s me,” I answered breezily even though my smile was so tight I don’t know how I didn’t snap when she looked me over. Twice.

“So you’re the woman-,”

I held up a hand to stop however she planned on finishing that thought. “Yes. I am the woman who married Zeke and I don’t a goddamn if you’re upset or jealous or pissed off. I am perfectly aware of who Zeke is and isn’t, and if you don’t like it, well I don’t give a damn.” My chest heaved with adrenaline. Snapping at people wasn’t something I did often. Or rarely but these women were tiresome. I rang her up quickly. “$309.57.”

The woman blinked and I could see her eyes weren’t blue like her suit, instead they were brown. Wide and brown and…familiar. “Wow and to think, I heard southern women were polite.”

With a hand over my heart, I tilted my head and smiled at the woman. “Bless your heart.” If she wanted southern I’d give her the best of southern hospitality. “Have a nice day,” I told her and placed the bag on the counter, my smile in place like the perfect little shopkeeper I was.

Her smile turned from phony to genuine and she thrust her hand out. “Amelia Riley, nice to meet you.”

I let my surprise show for exactly one moment before I banked it behind a cool expression. “Come to make sure some hillbilly gold digger isn’t after your brother’s money?”

Amelia, Zeke’s kid sister, folded her arms over her chest and laughed. And laughed. “Nope. I just came to see what the woman looked like who finally tamed the best. Honestly, I expected a mousy little schoolteacher.”

“Not a shop girl?” I arched a brow, daring her to deny it because I knew the truth. Zeke had never come right out and said his family was loaded but his hints helped me fill in the blanks.

She laughed again but this time it was a blend of contrite and good-natured ribbing. “No, I mean I always thought it would be someone sweet and meek, like a kindergarten teacher.” She shook her head, still amused and I was still finding reasons not to kick her skinny little ass. “A curvy little business woman did not crack my top five, I’m embarrassed to admit.”

“Don’t forget single mother, because I’m that too,” I added with a bit more twang on my accent than I needed. Amelia was nice enough but there was something about knowing who she was, about seeing her so polished and put together that put me on edge. Made me feel self-conscious. Lacking in some way.

Her smile this time was a bit more than sympathetic, maybe it was more commiserative. “Party girl?”

I scoffed at her assumption. “Worse. Stupid enough to believe first love could last.” There was no point in lying to the woman, mostly because I wasn’t ashamed of my choices but also because I was sure she’d already run a background check on me.

She stared at me for a long, assessing moment before another, amused laugh erupted out of her. “I too am a member of that not so exclusive club and I can’t even be mad because I have the most adorable three year old little boy in the world to show for it. In my biased opinion, of course.”

“Of course. Mine is seven. Max.” Her brows rose again in surprise, either at having a kid so old or that I was so open with that detail. “He loves Zeke, even before we got together. They’ve known each other a few years now because Zeke’s best friend recently married mine.”

“Small towns,” she said with a hint of amusement. “I can’t believe it, little Zeke in a small town. A really small town.”

“He fits in and has a successful business, seems like a good enough reason to stick around.”

“And you,” she added with a smile that rang more of hope than false praise.

“And me.”

She glanced at her watch and tensed. “You have a great shop here, Maddie. I’ll buy all of that new line of lingerie if you let me surprise Zeke.” As much as it appealed to me to sell out of stock, I couldn’t let her ambush Zeke.

“That depends,” I told her, arms crossed defensively as a wave of protectiveness washed over me. “Why did you come down here? I mean, really.” Something like pride shone in her eyes and I nodded. “I thought so.” I wasn’t’ naive enough to think that Zeke’s estranged family would suddenly show up for nothing more than a peek at his new bride.

“If he knows he’ll just dodge me until I have no choice but to go back home.”

I believed that too but it wasn’t my job to help Amelia. It was to help Zeke. “Tell you what, go settle into your hotel or B&B and come to dinner tonight at seven. Don’t be late.”

She laughed. “And how will I know which house is yours?”

It was my turn to smile. “I’m sure it’s on the background check you did, I’ve been in the same house for years now.”

“I think I like you, Maddie Trenton-Riley. Don’t make me regret it.”

“More like don’t make me regret it,” I said to the empty store because I had a feeling Zeke wouldn’t be happy to see her.