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Beach just not good enough for you?”
    “It’s because I’ve got enough exes in this town already.”
    “Three.”
    “Excuse me?”
    “You have three exes—at least serious ones: Jennie Daws, Tamara Chin, and Kara Moseby. I don’t know about any flings. If you’ve had any lately, you must have been very discreet.”
    No one could give him a headache quite the way Helena could. He pinched the bridge of his nose. “And your point?”
    “One, it’s not like you’re a player with a trail of brokenhearted women, and two, why are exes such a badthing? Everyone knows everyone else’s business anyway.”
    That was part of the problem, but it was a fact of life in Magnolia Beach. “It’s a little different when you’ve been emotionally involved with someone.”
    Helena sat up straighter. “Are you telling me one or more of them broke your heart? Who? I’ll kill her for you.”
    “Down, girl. My heart’s in one piece, and the breakups were amicable enough.” He shrugged again. “I just don’t like to be reminded of my failures.”
    “A failed relationship does not make anyone a failure,” Helena said, indignant on his behalf.
    “It’s still awkward as hell.”
    “You’re so sweet, Tate.” She patted his knee. “But you need to get back out there. Otherwise, I might start thinking you’re still hung up on me.”
    “You wish.” Helena merely grinned at him. “Seriously, get over yourself.” He’d told himself last fall that he had to give it a shot. That he’d owed it to his teenage self to finally make a move on Helena, just to see. He now wished he’d ignored that impulse, even if the true surprise had been how wrong he’d been about his feelings all those years. He was glad that Helena had turned him down—though it had stung at the time—but now he wondered whether he’d ever live it down. “I’ve known you for over twenty-five years. In all that time, I made one pass at you. That’s hardly a reason for even you to think I’ve got some unrequited passion going.”
    “True.” She thought for a moment, then frowned at him. “You know, that’s kind of insulting, now that I think about it.”
    He patted her shoulder. “You definitely need to work on that ‘getting over yourself’ thing.”
    “So ask Molly out, then. There’s no better way toforce me to get over myself than by taking out my best girlfriend,” she challenged.
    “Iona would make my life miserable,” he muttered.
    “What?”
    He was not going to try to explain that to Helena right now. “Nothing. Anyway, when would I find time to date? I can only barely manage to fit seeing you—my best friend—into my schedule.”
    “You don’t find time, you make time, doofus.”
    “Helena . . .”
    “You two have so much in common, and I think you’d be great together.”
    “I’m aware you think that.”
    As terrible as this conversation was, it was almost worth it to see Helena’s confused and embarrassed reaction to that statement. “Really?”
    “You’re not nearly as subtle as you think you are. You’ve dropped hints before—not that you needed to. On New Year’s Eve you couldn’t talk about much else. And then you practically threw Molly into my arms at midnight.”
    “Oh.” Helena looked a bit sheepish. “I don’t remember that.”
    He couldn’t help but laugh. “I’m not surprised.”
    “Everything after about ten thirty is a bit blurry,” she confessed. “Molly’s never mentioned it, though.”
    “Since you had me backed into a corner for the better part of an hour, I doubt you had much time to give her the same rundown of how great we would be together. In fact, she seemed a bit shocked at your demand I kiss her.”
    Helena dropped her face into her hands. “Oh God. I should not drink champagne.”
    “Maybe not.”
    Her bout of shame didn’t last long, though. “But thatdoesn’t change the fact that I think you two should at least go out. Just to see if anything sparks. She’s