The Inn on Harmony Island (Sweet Tea and a Southern Gentleman #1)(12)

Charity, my cousin, was standing in the dimly lit hallway. Her cheeks were pink, and she was in her running clothes. Her ponytail was windblown, and her blue eyes were bright as she stared at me.

“Took you long enough,” she said as she pushed past me into my living room.

I sighed. My cousin was the only person I knew when I moved here. She was from my dad’s side, which was why I reached out to her when I packed up my lone suitcase and drove my twenty-year-old car from Harmony to New York City. We roomed together until she got married. But that relationship only lasted a few months, and by the time she kicked him to the curb, I had found my own place.

That didn’t stop her from unexpectedly dropping in every now and then. Most times, if she was visiting, she needed something.

“Come on in,” I said, shutting the door and turning to see her slip her shoes off and head for the kitchen. “Did you run here?” I asked as I followed her.

She opened the fridge as I rounded the corner, and I watched her take a quick scan of the inventory—which was meager at best. “No bottles?” she asked, flicking her gaze up to meet mine.

We were in different tax brackets. Even though I was hustling to climb the income ladder, she preferred to date her way up. The last thing I’d heard, she was dating some Duke I’d never heard of.

“Tap water is just fine,” I said, to which she wrinkled her nose.

“This is why your life isn’t doing better.” She wiggled her finger in the air as if to indicate that she was talking about my entire body.

“My life needs me to drink incredibly expensive bottled water to thrive?”

She sighed and brought her newly manicured fingernails to her temples. “No, no.” Then she breathed out while muttering under her breath, “The things I have to teach.” Her smile widened as she glanced over at me. “What you wear, drink, buy.” She waved at my apartment. “Where you live…it matters.”

I tried not to roll my eyes. “Why would it matter? I’m good at what I do. And I’m pretty sure that Cosmo wouldn’t write an article about New York’s rising wedding planner if they cared about that kind of stuff.”

Charity looked confused before recognition passed through her gaze. “That photo of your boss where you were in the background?”

Heat burned my cheeks. Sure, the article was about Patricia, but I was in the photo. My face was in a magazine that was in every American home. That had to count for something.

Charity snorted as she pulled out her phone from the tiny pocket of her yoga pants. “You haven’t seen the story, then,” she said as she swiped her finger on the screen a few times and held it up for me to see.

“See what?” I asked, but then I saw the title of the article, “New York’s First Daughter, Willow Parks, to Take Job at Elite Wedding Planner Inc.” My stomach sank. “What?” I asked, grabbing her phone and staring at the words just to make sure I hadn’t read it wrong.

“Yep,” Charity said.

The whole world spun around me. That’s why Patricia fired me. It was all so she could hire Willow. My face must have paled, because suddenly, Charity had both hands on my upper arms and was guiding me to the only kitchen chair I had.

“Sit down and let me get you some water,” she said. Or at least, I think that’s what she said. My ears were ringing and my head felt cloudy.

When she returned, she uncurled my fingers from her phone and set the cold glass in my palm. When I didn’t move my fingers to hold it, she did it for me.

“Anything you want to tell me?” she asked as she started doing some yoga stretches in the middle of my kitchen floor.

I sighed and set the glass down before I leaned forward and collapsed on my forearm. “My life is in the crapper,” I whispered.

“So, you got fired.”

I moaned and nodded but didn’t move to face her.

Charity clicked her tongue. “That witch.”

I sighed, lifting my shoulders as I drew in my breath. “This sucks.”

Charity was quiet for a moment before suddenly standing up and punching me.

It startled me enough to make me sit up and grip my arm where she’d hit me. “What the—”

“Stop it.” She was a foot in front of me, looking down at me with a meaningful stare.

“You hit me,” I said as I drew my eyebrows together.

“Your aura is messed up enough as it is. All this negative energy you’re putting out there, it needs to stop.” She took a step back and began to stretch again.

I stayed upright, rubbing my arm as I continued to glare at her.

“Your face will freeze like that,” she said without looking over at me.

I pumped my eyebrows up and down a few times to release the tension. It didn’t help. I was stressed. Not only about this, but also about Harmony Island.

I threw my hands up and let my arms fall to my side. “What do you suggest I do?”

Charity stood, crossed her arms, and rested her hip against the counter. She studied me for a moment and then clicked her tongue. “Go out with Titan.”

I blinked. Was she speaking another language? “What?”

She had her phone in her hands and was already typing away with her thumbs. “Titan Strom. He’s the linebacker I dated last month. He’s single, and I’m sure he’s up for something fun.”