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generous squirt of whipped cream.
    “Wonderful.”
    The dreamy look in Keira’s eyes made Holly giggle. “I’m glad. How about you, Susan? Are you and Blake blissfully happy, too?”
    “Of course. I still can’t believe we’re married. There’s something to be said for eloping.” Susan slid a bowl in front of each of them and stood at the other side of the bar. “Enough about us. What’s the emergency?”
    Holly shuddered, then explained what had happened at her parents’ place earlier. “I don’t know what to do. I’ve really messed things up with Todd, and it’s not like I can avoid him. I see him at work all the time. I never should’ve agreed to pretend we were seeing each other.”
    Susan waved her spoon in the air. “Take it from me, avoidance doesn’t solve anything. You need to figure out how you feel about Todd and have a heart-to-heart with him. It’s the only way.”
    Keira nodded.
    Holly pushed the bowl away, her appetite soured. “I really like Todd, but not romantically. He was doing me a favor today, and I guess he misunderstood or misread the situation. This has been the worst day.” She buried her head in her arms and felt a hand on her shoulder a moment later.
    “It’ll be okay, sweetie.” Keira rubbed Holly’s back. “When do you work at the hospital again?”
    She turned her head to face her friend. “Tomorrow.”
    “Okay, then. Call him tonight and clear the air. You don’t want to have things awkward between you at work.”
    Holly looked to Susan for her opinion.
    “I feel like a hypocrite telling you to call him after I went to ridiculous lengths to avoid Blake this past summer, but it’s the right thing to do.” She twirled her spoon around in the ice cream. “Unless of course you really do have feelings for Todd.”
    “No. I don’t. He’s a friend—period.”
    Susan slid the phone across the counter toward Holly. “Then you know what to do.”
    “Now?” Holly’s heart rate increased. She shifted in her seat and tried to ignore the churning in her stomach. Her friends offered encouraging smiles. What had she gotten herself into? Of course she knew they were right, but maybe she shouldn’t shut Todd out that fast. What if there was potential there? Ack! What was she thinking? She had no interest in a relationship with him—or anyone else. That was the whole point of bringing him along to lunch, so her mother would stop trying to set her up. “Okay.”
    Keira and Susan took their bowls to the sink and moved toward the door.
    “Don’t leave! I might need you when this is over.”
    Keira looked out the window and frowned. “It’s looking like it might snow. Sorry, but I need to head out.”
    Holly’s gaze shot to the window. Her friend had been terrified to drive in winter weather when they’d met last year. Her first husband had been killed when he hit black ice. She’d worked hard at overcoming the fear, but she was still nervous. “It’s okay. Go on, I understand.” Holly gave Keira a quick hug. “Thanks for coming over. I actually feel better.” Sure, she was not looking forward to the conversation with Todd, but her friends were right. This needed to be dealt with immediately.
    “No worries, Keira. I’ll stick around. Blake is busy writing, and his sister is at her friend’s house.” Susan plopped down on the sofa and grabbed a fashion magazine Holly had left on the coffee table. Her friend must be desperate for something to do, because she was not into fashion at all. But at least Susan had started wearing colors again, instead of boring black, since Blake reentered her life.
    Holly reached for the phone and dialed. Todd picked up on the second ring.
    “Hey, Holly. What’s up?”
    She ignored her rapid heart rate and concentrated on the task before her. “I wanted to talk with you about what happened between us earlier.”
    “Okay.”
    Holly tightened her grip on the phone. “You can’t kiss me again. Okay, Todd? I value your