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had her own concerns: a struggling florist business, two hyperactive twenty-month-old twins, a mortgage, mounting bills. She didn’t need Ally’s business woes as well.
    “I’m working on it. I’ll find a way to clear the debt.” And fast, before ownership of the building transferred to Nate. “But I don’t know what will happen when Nate takes over as landlord.”
    “He’s not going to evict you, is he?”
    He’d have every reason to, considering all those soap bars she’d let fly at him. The memory of his strapping hands holding her wrists surged through her mind. He’d been so close she’d felt the heat pulsing from his body, heat suffused with power and virility. A frisson rippled through her. Nate was a jerk, but he was an attractive jerk, damn it.
    “Nana would be crushed if you had to close the gift shop,” Jess said. “Probably best not to tell her about the outstanding rent. At least, not for the time being.”
    They both fell silent, imagining their grandmother’s reaction if the gift shop she’d started so many years back were forced to close. A boating accident had orphaned Ally and Jess when they were young and left them in the care of their grandmother, and Helen Griffin’s gift shop had become the family’s major lifeline. The shop was her crowning achievement, and she’d hated giving it up when her worsening health problems made it impossible for her to continue. Only the knowledge that her own granddaughter was taking over the reins had softened the blow, but even in retirement she couldn’t help interfering with the running of the shop, and though she loved her grandmother dearly, Ally was often frustrated by her meddling. If Nana found out about the outstanding rent, she’d be bitterly disappointed, and if she suspected the possibility of the gift shop closing… Well, Ally didn’t even want to contemplate that.
    Jess stood and started unpacking the shopping bags. “Nana rang this afternoon to tell me about Seth’s wedding.”
    Ally slid onto a bar stool at the kitchen island and rested her chin on her elbow. “Mmm. Brian told me.”
    “She’s worried about you. I’m surprised she hasn’t called you.”
    “I’ve been letting everything go to voice mail.” She wasn’t up to dealing with her grandmother yet. Later she’d give her a ring, but right now she needed Jess’s calming presence. Her older sister had always been the perfect one in the family. Petite and beautiful like a china doll, popular, responsible, caring, and kind. Without being the least bit calculating, Jess had a life that pretty much turned out the way she’d wanted it—an adoring husband, two terrific children, a business, and a home in the town she’d grown up in. Sure, Jess had problems, but they were nothing terrible, just minor hiccups that were part of a very happy life.
    Sometimes, when Ally was down in the dumps, she couldn’t help feeling a tiny bit envious. Like Jess, she’d had plans, too. She’d thought she and Seth would be together forever. They’d run a coffee shop in Burronga, buy a house in the area, and one day start their own family. But it turned out Seth didn’t want to marry her or stay in Burronga or run a coffee shop with her. He’d had other dreams, dreams he’d never confided, and when he’d left her, it wasn’t just a groom she’d lost but a whole future life as well.
    Jess emptied a packet of fish fingers onto a baking tray and tipped frozen peas into a glass container. “Maybe you could take a break for a few weeks. You haven’t had a holiday in ages.”
    Ally pulled herself upright. “I couldn’t do that. Who would look after the shop, and where would I go? It’s not as if I can afford a fancy trip overseas.”
    “Between me, Nana, and Tyler we could work out a roster for the shop, and you could visit Katrina. You haven’t seen her in ages.”
    Katrina had been Ally’s best friend in high school. Ally had thought they would be in and out of each other’s