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it’s pretty much been laid on the table at this point. We’re better off not seeing each other anymore. Have a good evening, Megan.”
    Megan watched him leave the tavern again, her mouth gaping open in dismay.
    “Okay, did that just happen?” Kate asked on a wheezing laugh. She leaned forward and shook her head. “Did he just break up with you at Ellie’s bachelorette party?”
    “He totally did!” Ellie guffawed and then lifted her glass of wine and nodded solemnly. “What a douche.”
    Kate joined in the nodding. “He really is. Are you upset, Megan?”
    “No. Not at all,” Megan replied, realizing she didn’t even need to think about the question.
    In fact it was almost a relief it had been so easy. Maybe tomorrow, when the alcohol wore off, she’d feel a little guilty, but right now it was just liberating. She never should’ve started dating Henry in the first place, it was just that her therapist—his business partner—had kept telling her she needed to move on from her past relationship. When Henry had asked, it had seemed like the perfect solution. Hmm. Maybe the whole thing had been a setup?
    “Seriously,” Kate patted her hand. “You could do so much better than him.”
    Ellie waggled her eyebrows. “Yeah. You could do Trevor.”
    Her chest grew tight and another wave of despondency swept over her.
    “That boat has sailed,” she replied softly.
    “Then flag it down and make it come back. Seriously, anything is possible,” Kate said earnestly. “You and Trevor are so right for each other. I think the entire town mourned when you guys split.”
    She didn’t want to hear this. Megan’s fingers tightened around the stem of her drink. Oh God, she didn’t want to be told how awful it was that she and Trevor weren’t together anymore; she already knew this.
    Taking another sip of wine, Ellie nodded. “I have to back Kate here. Though I never knew you guys when you were together, whatever you had is still there. You guys get together and the air just shimmers with electricity.”
    “Look, the past has passed,” Megan said over-brightly and changed the subject. “I want to hear more about these other things, like handcuffs during sex? So Ellie’s the expert?”
    Ellie spun on her stool and lifted a brow, her smile secretive. “Well, I am marrying the town sheriff. I’ll leave it up to your imagination.”
    They all let out another round of laughs, and Megan glanced at Kate.
    “How about you? You ever try handcuffs during sex?” Megan asked.
    Kate’s face turned bright red and then she downed the rest of her drink and shook her head.
    “No handcuffs?” Ellie asked. “I’m telling you, you guys need to try it.”
    “No. Just no sex.” Kate lifted her shoulders into a big shrug. “I’m still a virgin.”
    Megan had to snap her jaw shut when it just about hit the bar. She glanced at Ellie, who was making no such attempt to keep her shock hidden.
    “Shut the hell up!” Ellie finally cried.
    “Are you…serious?” Megan asked carefully. Kate had to be close to twenty-five at least.
    “I’m dead serious. And I’m only admitting it because y’all got me drunk.” Kate wrinkled her nose and took another sip of her drink. “But if either of you ever tell anyone I swear I’ll ban you from ever buying a cupcake from me again.”
    Ellie mimed zipping her lips. “My lips are sealed. Don’t even try and blacklist me from your shop.”
    “Ditto,” Megan replied, nodding. “But I think I’ve found my new purpose in life. To get you laid.”
    Kate snorted and rolled her eyes. “You let me worry about that. Which, speaking of…” She glanced toward the door. “Here he is.”
    “Who?” Ellie and Megan asked at once.
    “The stripper I hired.” Kate grinned and hopped down from her bar stool, her curvy frame striding toward the man at the door.
    “I don’t believe it,” Ellie muttered in awe. “The virgin hired me a stripper.”
    Megan nudged her in the side and giggled.