The Forever Girl Read online

  “Don’t you mean my bad attitude?”

  That got a low laugh, but he was smart enough not to comment. “I’ll leave you to it then, if that’s what you really want.”

  The truth was, she didn’t know what she wanted. Wait, no. That was another fib. Number three if she was keeping track. Because she knew exactly what she wanted—to collapse into a weepy heap—alone. She’d shed far too many tears in front of him already, and had promised herself no more, but she was one kind word away from not caring who saw her.

  Sensing that, Hog pushed the top of his head against her palm again with a soft whine. Comforted by the touch, she leaned into him.

  “Emma,” Simon said quietly. “You sure?”

  Hell no. She wasn’t sure about anything. But the old Emma had lived to please others, and Emma 2.0 didn’t want to do that. She was making changes. Her old life had been about perceptions and keeping up with the Joneses. She’d worked four jobs, none of the paying well but all of them adding to the image of a young woman at the top of her game: fit, able, and social-media worthy.

  But at the end of the day, when she’d been out of sight for a year, none of it had mattered, and every one of her wide circle of friends and acquaintances were . . . gone.

  Or boinking each other.

  She’d been given a reset, a second chance that she’d crawled out of hell for, and she was going to do things right this time.

  Simon was still waiting calmly for her to respond. She already knew he had patience in spades. He could be gentle steel, pushing her to the very ends of her endurance and beyond, waiting as long as it took for her to get it back together—which she always did. He’d proven that to her time and time again. He knew her limits more than she did, so resistance was futile.

  “I’m sure,” she said. “I’ve only got four boxes anyway, and one of them’s a case of Girl Scout cookies.”

  His approval of her toughness was in his smile. “I’m right downstairs if you change your mind.” He turned to the stairs.

  Her gaze inadvertently slid down his back, reminding her that the “Hard-Ass” nickname had two meanings. The man was fit as hell. She might be off relationships, all of them, but she wasn’t dead. Good to know. “Wait,” she said. “Why are you going to be downstairs?”

  “Taking care of my dad, who lives in 1A. I had to move in with him for a bit. I mentioned that, didn’t I?”

  “No, you most definitely did not.” She knew his dad, Dale, had suffered a stroke not too long ago and was completely dependent on Simon. She also knew they had a difficult relationship, but he felt sorry for his dad. And now she had the feeling he felt sorry for her as well. Which, for the record, she hated. “But really, go ahead, I’ll be fine. Thanks for getting me into the building.”

  “Glad I could help.”

  She tried and failed to not grind her back teeth because, oh, how she hated to be helped and he knew it. He just laughed softly at the look on her face and left. She blew out a sigh. He thought he understood, but he didn’t. Couldn’t. No one could.

  After all she’d been through, after watching her parents give up a year of their lives to sit at her bedside and worry, her biggest fear now was to be a burden. To that end, she’d just last week finally gotten her parents to fly back to San Diego, the place they’d retired to five years ago.

  Once upon a time, Emma’s plan had been to open her own dance studio. That seemed like a lifetime ago now.

  Her new plan? Live her life to the fullest for those who hadn’t made it out the other side as she had. And yeah, that was definitely guilt talking. But that’s what happened when you lived and others hadn’t gotten so lucky.

  She stepped into her new apartment. Other than a few pics Simon had shown her on his phone, she’d signed the lease sight unseen, so she was relieved to find it was even roomier than she’d thought. The kitchen, living room, and bedroom were filled with nooks and crannies typical of an old Victorian. It was furnished, which was a bonus because she hadn’t wanted anything from her old life. Leather couch and chair, a huge bed with navy and white bedding that looked so inviting she almost crawled into it on the spot.

  It was clean, masculine, but also warm and cozy. It felt perfect.

  Shutting the door behind her and Hog, she made it to the obviously well-loved brown leather couch, collapsing onto the cushions. Hog plopped heavily to the floor at her feet, both of them thrilled with the glorious silence. Some of her tension started to drain.

  Until someone knocked on her door.

  Hog jumped up and hid behind the couch.

  “It’s open,” Emma said wearily to the exes squared, wishing she could hide behind the couch too.

  The door opened, but it wasn’t the exes squared. It was two high school–aged boys, both tall, gangling, and clearly twins, wearing matching T-shirts that said RJ LAWN SERVICE.

  And they were carrying her entire life in four boxes.

  Hog peeked out from behind the couch, his hangdog face creased in worry.

  Emma managed to sit up. “Um, hi?”

  “We take care of the yard of this property,” one of them said. “I’m R.” He jabbed a thumb at the other kid. “He’s J. Simon just gave us twenty bucks to carry these boxes up here for you. Uh . . . is that a bear behind the couch?”

  “Nope, just an anxious dog named Hog. What do R and J stand for?”

  “Robert,” the first kid said, patting his chest with his hand. He pointed at his twin. “Jeremy. We hate our names, so we go by R and J.”

  Jeremy nodded but didn’t speak.

  They were so identical it was almost spooky, but then Emma realized that while R had two hazel eyes, J had one hazel, one green. He nudged R, whispering something in his brother’s ear.

  R nodded. “Right.” He looked at Emma. “So does Hog eat people?”

  They all eyed Hog. Emma could see he’d been mistaken for a bear because only his huge head was peeking out from behind the couch, along with a line of drool hanging down from his massive jowls. He was panting slightly, his big milk chocolate eyes filled with concern.

  “He eats everything but people,” Emma said fondly. “Also, he’s a big scaredy-cat. I’m kind of his emotional support person. It’s okay,” she said to Hog. “They’re friendlies.”

  Hog gave a tentative wag of his tail and came out, waiting to receive all the love. Both guys were happy to give him what he wanted. In two seconds, Hog was on his back, tongue lolling in happiness while he received all the pets.

  “So what happened to the couple who was supposed to carry my boxes up?” Emma asked the boys.

  R grinned. “Simon told them we had this and that they should go because the sprinklers were going to come on and ruin the new wash job on their Lexus. The guy said he could move the car and park on the street instead, but Simon said the street cleaners would be coming through soon so he could just go.”

  Not sure how she felt about Simon being her own personal superhero for the day, she searched her pockets, hoping she had some money to tip the teens. But then she remembered—she was flat broke. “Thanks so much for the assist, I really appreciate it.” She went to stand up. “Let me just find my wallet—”

  “Simon told us if we took a tip from you, he’d fire us,” R said.

  And then they were gone, and she was once again blessedly alone. If she could’ve done a happy dance, she would’ve. Instead, she settled for flopping onto the couch again. Hog joined her and they both promptly caved to the exhaustion and took a nap, and this time Hog wasn’t the only drooler.

  Praise for Jill Shalvis

  “Believable, realistic characters are at the heart of this novel. Shalvis will immediately grab the reader’s attention with a strong heroine and caring connection between two wounded souls.”

  —Publishers Weekly on Almost Just Friends

  “Fans of the TV drama series This Is Us as well as love stories ripe with secrets waiting to be spilled will devour Shalvis’s latest in the series.”


  —Library Journal on Almost Just Friends

  “Sisterhood takes center stage in this utterly absorbing novel. Jill Shalvis balances her trademark sunny optimism and humor with unforgettable real-life drama. A book to savor—and share.”

  —Susan Wiggs, New York Times bestselling author, on The Lemon Sisters

  “Jill Shalvis’s books are funny, warm, charming and unforgettable.”

  —RaeAnne Thayne, New York Times bestselling author, on The Lemon Sisters

  “The love story you need to read this summer isn’t what you expect: it’s about the love between sisters. Jill Shalvis has written something totally different for your beach read this year—and you’re going to love it.”

  —Bustle on Lost and Found Sisters

  “Readers will be utterly charmed by Shalvis’s latest, and will be eager to visit Wildstone again.”

  —Bookish on Lost and Found Sisters

  “I love everything about this book, the family dynamics, the humor and the amazing romance. Just amazing!”

  —Lori Foster, New York Times bestselling author, on Lost and Found Sisters

  “Shalvis’s rich cast of characters adds just the right dose of color and sage advice, while she spins yet another sexy contemporary tale that showcases her indelible wit and eye for sweet, compulsively readable romance.”

  —Entertainment Weekly

  “Romance . . . you can lose yourself in.”

  —USA Today

  “Hot, sweet, fun, and romantic! Pure pleasure!”

  —Robyn Carr, New York Times bestselling author

  “Jill Shalvis will make you laugh and fall in love.”

  —Rachel Gibson, New York Times bestselling author

  Also by Jill Shalvis

  WILDSTONE NOVELS

  Mistletoe in Paradise (novella)

  The Summer Deal • Almost Just Friends

  The Lemon Sisters • Rainy Day Friends

  The Good Luck Sister (novella)

  Lost and Found Sisters

  HEARTBREAKER BAY NOVELS

  Wrapped Up in You • Playing for Keeps

  Hot Winter Nights • About That Kiss

  Chasing Christmas Eve • Accidentally on Purpose

  The Trouble with Mistletoe

  Sweet Little Lies

  LUCKY HARBOR NOVELS

  One in a Million • He’s So Fine

  It’s in His Kiss • Once in a Lifetime

  Always on My Mind • It Had to Be You

  Forever and a Day • At Last

  Lucky in Love • Head Over Heels

  The Sweetest Thing • Simply Irresistible

  ANIMAL MAGNETISM NOVELS

  All I Want • Still the One

  Then Came You • Rumor Has It

  Rescue My Heart • Animal Attraction

  Animal Magnetism

  Copyright

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  P.S.TM is a trademark of HarperCollins Publishers.

  THE FOREVER GIRL. Copyright © 2021 by Jill Shalvis. Excerpt from LOVE FOR BEGINNERS copyright © 2021 by Jill Shalvis. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

  Cover design by Nadine Badalaty

  Cover photographs © Shutterstock; © iStock/Getty Images

  Title page illustration © Digital_Clipart / Shutterstock

  FIRST EDITION

  Digital Edition JANUARY 2021 ISBN: 978-0-06-289786-2

  Version 10272020

  Print ISBN: 978-0-06-289785-5

  Print ISBN: 978-0-06-305939-9 (library edition)

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