Nina:

“What’s this I hear about Dr. Bollington selling your building?” Maggie asks me. “Is that just more New Summit gossip, or is it true?”

“It’s true,” I confirm gloomily. “He told me about it last week.” Dr. Bollington, bane of my existence, landlord from hell, has decided to put the building that houses my bar, the Merry Cockatoo, on the market. Normally, I’d be doing cartwheels in the street at the thought of getting a new landlord, but New Summit’s economy is booming, and several retail chains are sniffing around for prime real estate. If he sells to one of them, I’ve no doubt that I’ll get evicted. “I’m trying not to freak out about it.”

Maggie, Becky, and I are at the China Garden, the restaurant Maggie runs along with her mother and brother. The three of us have fallen into the habit of eating lunch together once a week, usually on Tuesdays.

Mia and Cassie often join us, but they both had other plans today. Cassie’s painting the living room of the house that her two men, James and Lucas are renovating, and Mia’s in New York with her boyfriends, Ben and Landon, at a book signing of some kind.

Yup, you read that right. Both my friends are in threesomes. It’s ménage heaven in New Summit. At the rate we’re going, the entire town will be in unconventional relationships, and the fabric of reality will fray at the seams.

Not that I have any time to think about all that. Despite what I said to Maggie and Becky, I’ve spent the last week panicking at the thought of the upcoming sale. When I opened the Merry Cockatoo fifteen months ago, my father loaned me a hundred thousand dollars so my business could get off the ground. Since then, I’ve given him every spare dollar I earn. I’m well ahead of the loan repayment schedule, but I still owe him sixty thousand dollars. If I’m forced to relocate the Merry Cockatoo, I’ll be screwed.

“Didn’t Dr. Bollington just sell Mia’s building to Ben and Landon?” Becky asks with a frown.

“He did.” It’s freezing outside, and the big bowl of hot and sour soup warms my insides as I sip at it. “Unfortunately, the furniture store next to me went out of business, and he can’t find another tenant for it. Without a tenant…”

“He’s running out of money.” Maggie shakes her head. “My mother always thought he was dreadful with his finances. Will he find a buyer?”

Six months ago, I would have been confident that time was on my side, but unexpectedly, New Summit is growing. There’s a huge new subdivision being built on the outskirts of town. Matthew Steadman, the construction foreman, tells us that the houses will be on the market by spring, and he fully expects the units to sell out. “A lot of young people are telecommuting nowadays,” he told me last week, sounding astonishingly like a realtor, “and they can’t afford to live in Manhattan.”

Before Bollington dropped his bombshell, I was quite thrilled about an influx of new people into the small town that’s been my home for the last twenty months, but now, the burgeoning economy works against me. Downtown buildings are suddenly hot commodities—Starbucks bought a building on the northwest corner of Water and Main last year—and the chain stores are sniffing around looking for retail space.

“Hopefully not,” I say, crossing my fingers in my lap. “Let’s talk about something else. Maggie, what’s new with you?”

“My mom is buying a home,” she replies. Reaching for a spring roll, she dips it into the small saucer of chili plum sauce at her side. “We went to look at the model home in the new subdivision yesterday.”

I raise an eyebrow in surprise. “You’re moving out of downtown?”

A wide smile breaks out on her face. “Not me,” she replies. “My mom. She’s going to live on her own.”

“Whoa.” Maggie moved back into her mother’s apartment when her father died, and she’s been living with her for the last three years. Though Maggie never complains, I suspect that it’s been challenging for my friend. “What brought this on?”

Becky chuckles. “You don’t know?” she asks. “Mrs. Zhang and Patrick Fowler were spotted taking a walk in the park together. They went to the movies last week, and on Saturday night, Mrs. Zhang’s red Corolla was seen parked outside Lucas and James’ place all night long.” She spoons some fried rice onto her plate from the family-style platter in the middle. “Maggie, you grew up here, so maybe you’re immune to it, but this town is insanely gossipy.”

“Tell me about it,” Maggie groans. “Every time I go to the grocery store, Mrs. Fischer tries to pump me for information. She even had the nerve to ask Dominic how he felt at the thought of Patrick joining the family.”

Maggie’s brother is intensely private. I have to bite back a laugh when I imagine his reaction to Mrs. Fischer’s nosiness. “When’s the move?” There’s still one spring roll left on the plate, and no one seems to want it. Becky’s moved on to the rice, and Maggie has a half-eaten roll in front of her. I’ve already eaten three of the delicious treats, and I’m silently wondering how greedy I’ll seem if I grab the last one.

“I’m not sure,” Maggie replies. “I think Matthew’s crew is still finishing up the interiors. Zane thought it’d be a month before she could take possession.”

Zane. My heart stops beating when I hear that name. It can’t be. The Zane I knew was a rockstar, not a real estate developer.

Except Zane isn’t a very common name.

“Zane?” I ask, astonished that my tone stays casual. “Is he a realtor?”

Maggie shakes her head. “He’s the lead singer in a band called Evolving Whistle,” she replies. “We chatted for a bit when he showed us around. Zane’s dad is the real estate developer, and Zane’s helping him out, I think, while he and his friend Scott work on their new album.” She fans herself exaggeratedly. “What a pair of hotties,” she adds.

Becky deposits the solitary spring roll on my plate while Maggie continues talking. “They were asking about the Merry Cockatoo,” she says. “I think they might play at your open-mic night.”

And with those words, my appetite disappears completely.

Once upon a time, I was madly in love with Zane Marshall and Scott Leyland. For a year and a half, I’d traveled with their band as they toured North America and Europe. I’d put my life on hold for them until it became blindingly clear that while I was head-over-heels in love with them, my feelings weren’t reciprocated.

So I’d left one day, and just as I’d suspected, they’d never tried to find out why. Why would they? There was no shortage of women desperate to take my place at the side of the sexy-as-sin rock stars.

Now, twenty months later, they’re in New Summit. My emotions are topsy-turvy. Anger and rage war with the deep hurt that I thought time had healed. Last week, I’d finally gone out on my first date since I left Scott and Zane. I’ve tried to forget them. I’ve fought hard for peace of mind.

And they’re here to disrupt everything. To shred my heart again.

This time around, I won’t let them.