Janice shot him a sideways glance. “Why do you care? Are you staying home tomorrow, or going to see that new girlfriend of yours?”
Rowan looked pleased. “I just spent time with her today.”
“So you’re not going out tomorrow?”
Janice didn’t bother hiding her intentions. “I invited that young doctor over for dinner tomorrow. Thought it’d be good for you two to get acquainted…”
“Nope.”
Rowan cut her off without missing a beat, putting on a dead-serious face. “Just remembered—I’ve got something to do tomorrow.”
Janice rolled her eyes, seeing straight through him. “What, is your girlfriend the jealous type? She’d get upset just because you met someone new?”
“Well—”
A shadow flickered across Rowan’s deep eyes as he fished a cigarette from his pocket and rolled it between his fingers. “If she had dinner with a man who almost became her blind date, I’d be jealous too.”
Every time he saw Frank sitting beside her, he couldn’t help thinking—why did her husband have to be someone else?
Why not him?
—
The next morning, Elissa woke up early, got ready, and set out to pay Janice a New Year’s visit.
This time, she entered the neighborhood on her own, not wanting to trouble Janice to come out and meet her.
“Elissa, Happy New Year!”
Janice spotted the bags of health supplements in Elissa’s hands and quickly waved her off. “Oh, you really didn’t have to bring all this! I just wanted you over for a meal.”
“It’s nothing, really.”
Elissa smiled and slipped off her shoes in the entryway. As she opened the shoe cabinet, she glanced at a pair of men’s dress shoes that looked oddly familiar.
A high-end, handmade brand.
Very expensive.
Rowan owned a pair just like these—and if she remembered right, he’d been wearing this exact style yesterday.
But there was no way Rowan would be here. His grandmother was Paige Jensen, the matriarch of the Murphy family.
Elissa pulled on a pair of wool slippers and followed Janice into the living room, still smiling. “These supplements are just what you need for your health. They’re perfectly safe for you.”
“Wonderful, wonderful.”
Janice was all smiles. “You really shouldn’t have spent so much.”


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