Stirring Up Trouble Read Online Free Page B

hour or so, and Adrian can handle getting the tasting menu started.” Carly waved toward the propped-open doors leading to the kitchen, where the burly sous-chef in question was already creating both some incredible smells and a holy racket. Strains of Sinatra oldies filtered in around the metallic clatter of pots and pans, and although Sloane was tempted to smile, she just couldn’t work it up.
    “I hate to say it, but I was wondering when that wanderlust of yours was going to catch up with you. Greece, huh?” Carly cocked her head, sending her dark braid over one shoulder with a heavy swish.
    The tinge of amusement sparkling in her friend’s glance wasn’t lost on Sloane, who wiggled her brows in a self-deprecating maneuver that was just as much knee-jerk reaction as it was defense mechanism.
    “Yup. One more place to cross off my bucket list. As soon as I can figure out how to finance the trip, anyway.” Each idea she’d come up with on the drive back to Pine Mountain had been worse than the last, to the point that despair threatened to seep past the bravado she normally wore like a fashionably perfect suit of armor.
    “Your bucket list reads like a cross between a world-tour travel manual and a stunt double’s daily agenda.” Carly waved a breadstick with an accusatory flourish before taking a bite. She wasn’t embellishing—Sloane had a bucket list as long as her leg, and at five-foot-ten, that was really saying something.
    A tiny smile found Sloane’s lips, and she let it stay for a brief moment. “Yeah, but you’ve gotta admit. I’m the only person you know who’s hiked to the top of an active volcano and learned how to drive a motorcycle all in the same month.”
    Carly brushed the breadcrumbs from her fingers, casting Sloane a measured glance. “I know that when I moved in with Jackson, it left you without a roommate, and I wish I could help you with the money to make up for it. But even small, intimate weddings are bank-breakers these days.” Her fingers moved absently to the engagement ring hanging on a gold chain around her neck, a definite safety precaution considering Carly’s profession. Sloane’s gut twanged at the remorse on her friend’s face.
    “Don’t even think about apologizing for moving out of the bungalow! Plus, I’m not worried,” Sloane said, feeling instantly guilty at the lie. But what kind of friend would she be if she burdened Carly with a sack full of issues a week before the woman’s wedding? “Something will come up to get me on my way.”
    Carly set her jaw in thought. “Well, let’s see. Maybe you could teach another online class?” Her voice was hopeful, but Sloane cut her off with a decisive head shake.
    “Nope. They take months to organize, and that’s time I don’t have.” Sloane threaded her spoon around the bright pops of carrot and zucchini in her bowl without taking a bite. “Believe me, I’ve thought of everything.”
    “Everything?”
    “Including trying to sell my eggs to a fertility clinic.” Of course her mother had been right. The age cutoff for that was twenty-frickin’-seven. Her eggs really were too old for making babies.
    Carly laughed. “I hate to see you leave. I knew you wouldn’t stay forever—hell, I didn’t think I’d be here this long.” Carly’s lips twisted into a wistful smile, reminding Sloane that the original plan had been to stay in Pine Mountain for a year, tops. Until Carly went and fell in love with a local contractor, her new job, and the tiny Blue Ridge town.
    “Ah, true love,” Sloane said without sarcasm. “Maybe I should write you into a short story. I could probably sell it in four seconds flat.”
    Carly’s smile held the tiniest threat. “Don’t even think about it. Anyway, are you sure about leaving? Maybe you could just write the book from here.”
    “Only if I want to kill my career in one swift move. Let’s face it, I have to knock this book out of the park, and I haven’t had a decent