Real Men Don't Break Hearts Read Online Free PDF Page B

mother a couple of days ago, and apparently Crystal’s been working the phones nonstop. The whole town probably knows by now.”
    Nate’s stomach made a bilious nosedive. The memory of his encounter with Ally in her gift shop seared through his brain cells. Had she already heard about Seth’s wedding? He recalled her blazing blue eyes, her voice cracking, the soap flying past his head… Yes, she’d known, all right. And what had he called her? A prissy Goody Two-shoes? He winced. She certainly wasn’t that girl anymore, not by the way she’d sparked and flared as she’d hurled the soap at him. With her hair tumbling around her flushed cheeks she’d looked anything but prissy. In fact, she’d looked kind of appealing. And now she had even more reason to hate his guts. What kind of bad karma had connived to make him walk into her shop as the new landlord just when she’d learned the fiancé who’d jilted her was marrying someone else, and in the same town?
    “You’re not going to use the same church, are you?” he asked.
    “God knows. You know women and weddings. As soon as we decided on the date, Paige was off and running. She’s got a whole file of what she wants—the dress, flowers, cake…jeez, everything. Apparently all her friends have wedding files, too. Did you know women do this?”
    “Not the women I date,” Nate retorted.
    Seth sighed. “Well, it’s out of my hands now. All I have to do is turn up on the day.”
    Silence built between them, prickly, uncomfortable. “You know how I feel about marriage, so I won’t bore you again,” Nate said. He was reluctant to ask the next question, but he brought it up anyway. “Are you sure you want to marry Paige?”
    “Yeah, mate, I do.”
    Not exactly a ringing endorsement, but neither of them could be accused of being sensitive new-age guys. He didn’t ask Seth if he was in love with Paige. Didn’t want to know, didn’t trust the answer. He’d never been in love, so what could he add? Paige was an attractive young woman, but he’d never really clicked with her. For him she was too spoiled, too sure of herself. She was like a million other women he knew, and privately he wasn’t sure what Seth saw in her. But it wasn’t his problem—he wasn’t marrying her.
    There was only one more question he needed to ask his cousin.
    “So,” he said. “Have you told Paige about Ally?”

Chapter Three
    Ally shut her car door and hurried toward her sister’s house. Jess’s place was always open to her, and tonight she needed her sister’s company, but when she entered the kitchen via the back door, there was only Brian, her brother-in-law, pulling off his work boots.
    “Uh, hi, Ally.” He looked slightly perturbed at her sudden appearance.
    “Hi, Brian.” Ally’s gaze darted past him. Brian was a sweetie, but he was about as garrulous as a lamppost. “Is Jess around?”
    “She’s still picking the boys up from daycare. She’ll be back any minute.” He toed a boot off, leaving a crust of dirt on the floor. “Um, you all right?”
    I must really look strange , Ally thought, for Brian to say that. He was the type of guy who wouldn’t notice if she dyed her hair blond or started wearing glasses.
    “Actually, I’m not all right,” she said, unable to contain her frothing emotions any longer. “I’ve had some bad news this afternoon that’s really got me worried. I don’t know how I’m going to handle it.”
    Brian stood, alarm spreading across his blunt features. “Oh yeah, the wedding. We heard about that.”
    “You did? Already?” She blinked at him in surprise.
    “Your nana called Jess this afternoon…”
    “Nana! I should have guessed.” Her grandma lived nearby in a retirement village, a hotbed of gossip, so by now the news would be halfway across the continent.
    A rubber toy squeaked under Brian’s foot as he moved toward her. “It’s bad news but, um, these things happen…” He listed from side to side, gave her an