Katherine Garbera - Summer in Manhattan

A division of HarperCollins Publishers

www.harpercollins.co.uk

Harper Impulse

an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd

1 London Bridge Street

London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk

First published in Great Britain by Harper Impulse 2017

Copyright © Katherine Garbera 2017

Cover images © Shutterstock.com

Cover design © Books Covered 2017

Katherine Garbera asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, 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 hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

Source ISBN: 9780008142544

Ebook Edition © July 2017 ISBN: 9780008194765

Version: 2017-07-11

Table of Contents

Cover

Title Page Summer in Manhattan KATHERINE GARBERA A division of HarperCollins Publishers www.harpercollins.co.uk

Copyright Harper Impulse an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF www.harpercollins.co.uk First published in Great Britain by Harper Impulse 2017 Copyright © Katherine Garbera 2017 Cover images © Shutterstock.com Cover design © Books Covered 2017 Katherine Garbera asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work. A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library. This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, 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 hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins. Source ISBN: 9780008142544 Ebook Edition © July 2017 ISBN: 9780008194765 Version: 2017-07-11

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Epilogue

Also by Katherine Garbera

About HarperImpulse

About the Publisher

Sunny, summery, perfect.

That was all Cici Johnson thought as she walked out the front door of her building on New York’s Upper East Side. She’d been living in the City for more than five years. She’d gone into business with her two best friends, Hayley and Iona, and they were the toast of the town thanks to Valentine’s Day and their new chocolate making classes. But like Hayley said, give a girl chocolate and she’s happy for one day, teach a girl to make her own and she’ll be happy forever.

Or something like that.

But then Hayley was in the flush of new love so everything seemed so great and optimistic for her. She wasn’t on skid row with her relationship, which was the way Cici seemed to be.

Numbers were her game and always had been. For most of her life, she didn’t realize that everyone didn’t see numbers in their head the way that she did. In fact, she’d rather deal with a spreadsheet or analyze statistics any day than have to try to figure out people.

Bad ass number cruncher, she thought, as she pulled her horn-rimmed glasses from her bag and put them on. As if being a math nerd wasn’t enough, she was also pretty much blind without her glasses on.

“Looking good, Cici,” Hayley said with a wave as Cici approached Sant Ambroeus, an upscale Italian espresso bar and restaurant. When they’d been in the planning stages of the Candied Apple & Cafe they’d spent a lot of time here drinking espresso and eating cornetti, a fancy word for Italian croissants. These days, Cici was cutting back on her caffeine intake but she had found she loved the smell of it and her friends were indulging.

“Hey, girl. I guess that week in Jamaica didn’t kill you,” Cici said with a laugh.

“Not in the least. And you and Io didn’t have any problems at the Candied Apple & Cafe,” Hayley replied, pulling her close for a hug. Her friend looked tanned and completely relaxed. As much as she hated to admit it, it seemed like finding a guy and falling in love had been good for Hayley.

Hayley had cut her hair on her last birthday and decided it was time to be someone new. To stop trying to please everyone and just do what felt right to her. And it had worked. Cici wondered if she could do that too. Cut her hair and change her life?

“Where’s Io?”

“Running late,” Cici said. “I think she’s still trying to get a decent rent for the new place she wants to open near Town Hall.”

“She’s such a property diva. She should have her own show,” Hayley said as they went inside and were seated.

“Cappuccino,” Hayley said.

“Green tea,” Cici asked for as she eyed the espresso machine in the back longingly.

Their waiter, Alfonso, put his hand on Cici’s shoulder. “Stay strong bella.”

“Ha,” Cici said, sitting back in her chair. She put her hand on her stomach. She was ten weeks pregnant. Not a big deal. But she’d been hiding it from her friends and family since she’d…well, she’d done something dumb.

Well, it was only dumb when you factored in that she’d slept with one man to get back at another. A man she liked, in fact. A man who was very much in her life all the time, since he was the best friend of Hayley’s fiancé. Yeah, it was as awkward as you might have guessed.

“Before Io gets here…”

“What? Is something wrong?”

“No not at all. I was hoping you’d come and stay at my place while you’re pregnant. I know your folks are travelling this summer and I wanted you to have someone close. Plus, Garrett wants me to move into his place. And Dad will rent mine out.”

“I don’t know,” Cici replied. She was already in the process of moving closer to the city. She’d sublet her place in Queens and had her eye on a very ritzy Upper East Side apartment.

“The rent would be really low. It’s price-fixed since Dad owns the place and he paid it off before my mom died.”

If she moved into Hayley’s brownstone, she’d have a greater chance of running into Hoop and she’d done a good job of avoiding him for the last few weeks. Did she really want to ruin that?