Beary Overdue (Polar Bliss 1) Read Online Free PDF Page B

than her five-foot, nine-inch frame, and the woman’s dark, auburn hair fell to the middle of her back in large, loose curls. Her light green eyes sparkled in the twinkling lights from the window, and though they’d been four years apart, and little more than causal acquaintances, Jillian was happy to see another familiar face.
    Jane had been born and raised in Longmeadow, the same as the Hollands, and she was Ridge’s best friend. She hadn’t hung out in Polar Bliss often, which explained why Jillian didn’t know her well, but the two friends had spent nearly every spare moment together when they weren’t working in their respective family’s businesses.
    Jillian had been sure the pair were mates.
    All these years later, it was disappointing to see she’d been wrong. They were still best friends, but nothing more, and it didn’t seem like that status was ever going to change. On the plus side, if Ridge found his mate one day, Jane wouldn’t be cast aside like an old girlfriend would be.
    Like you would have been if you’d stayed with Reid.
    She pushed the truth away and focused on her friend.
    “Jane!” She stood, and gave the woman a hug. “How are you?”
    “I’m doing well,” Jane said. “I’m sorry to hear about Fred’s passing. I know the two of you weren’t close, but…are you doing okay?”
    “I am,” Jillian smiled. “I haven’t spoken to him since I left town, but my mother loved him and he provided me with a home and an education when he didn’t have to. I’ll always treasure his generosity.”
    “That’s a good way to look at things,” Jane agreed, though her smile didn’t reach her eyes. “Sometimes you have to search harder to find the good in someone.”
    Jillian nodded and thought about Reid.
    Their first meeting hadn’t gone well, and after talking with Riley, she wondered if he had any redeeming qualities left. At the end of the night, she would either be surprised or disappointed, but she had a feeling it would be the latter on a very large scale.
    Three days ago, on her first night in town, Riley had shown up at her motel an hour early and proposed a new plan. Instead of visiting Reid’s bar, her friend suggested a girl’s night in, and Jillian had eagerly agreed.
    As it turned out, they’d both had enough of Reid that day.
    They’d ordered room service, visited a convenience store sometime after midnight for ice cream, and stayed up most of the night filling each other in on every big, and not so big, event from the last seven years.
    By the end of the night, she’d learned about Riley’s painful past, and Reid’s evolving path to destruction and desertion from his family.
    Both stories had been incredibly painful to hear, but while Riley had her love and sympathy, she felt nothing more than frustration and relief when she thought about Reid.
    If she’d stayed, it would have been a huge mistake.
    Riley bounded up to the table wearing a pair of dark jeans and an oversized sweater.
    “Are you guys ready to go?”
    “Where’s Ridge?” Jane asked.
    “He’s changing,” Riley said. “He’ll be out in a minute.”
    In an effort to save time, Ridge had worked until closing, and then showered and changed in the back while Riley had left an hour early and gotten ready at home. Ryker wasn’t going to the bar with them, but it had been his night off, and it seemed all of the Hollands still preferred to open the shop rather than close it.
    She’d laughed out loud when Riley and Ridge had tried to switch shifts with Ryker at dinner the night before. Apparently, everyone hated cleaning the machines and performing the closing duties, and each sibling guarded their nights off with unabashed, possessive determination. 
    In the end, the schedule had stayed the same, and they’d decided to go out an hour later, but she’d loved listening to their banter. Reid hadn’t been the only one she’d missed, and it was wonderful feel like part of a family again.
    A few minutes