Page 62 of The Story We Wrote

Thirty

Aspen

It’d been a hell of a week since seeing my parents with Boone. I found out that Parker never had intentions of showing up that day, and it was all a plan orchestrated by Boone and him to get me there. Boone knew he was going to show up first and talk with my parents. He also knew I heard everything he said. That night, we went back to my place and I let him show me just how much he cared about me.

Today, I was at the farm stand by myself, because Jill was working with the library manager to get whatever she had planned for the charity ready. The annual block party was next weekend. I was still in the dark about what Jill needed from me. That made me a little uneasy. Regardless, I’d push through to make it happen.

The daily lull in traffic hit, which gave me time to restock and call Penny. After everything with Boone happened, I called her and told her about him and me.

I swear, anyone in a fifty-mile radius could hear her squealing with joy. I hadn’t seen her since, so I thought whatbetter way to celebrate than to have my friends and Boone’s friends plan a night at The Tequila Cowboy.

Putting the phone between my ear and shoulder, I listened to the phone as it rang. Finally, the dialing cut off, and Penny’s voice filled the air.

“Hello!” she sang. “Switch to FaceTime. I wanna see your beautiful face!” I placed down the box of honey I was carrying to the display and propped the phone up on the table. Instantly, Penny’s face filled the screen and her bright smile made me smile too.

“How’s the library going? Are you ready for the block party?” I asked while stocking the shelves.

Penny huffed. She was sitting at her desk in the library. The muted color walls behind her were decorated with pictures and cute quotes like “libraries are for everyone” and “reality is overrated.”

“I’m dying here. I’m preparing expense reports and crunching numbers to prove what we need for the Fall. There’s no way we’ll get there without the help of the ranch and the block party. Everything is riding on it.” I could tell she was stressed out, her hair was in a messy bun, pieces framing her face.

“Whatever Mrs. Cassidy has planned, she’s excited about it,” I said, trying to reassure my best friend that everything would be okay. “I’m going to do everything in my power to hustle everyone for money.”

Penny let out a laugh. “You? Hustle? I can’t wait to see that.” She took a deep breath and leaned back in her desk chair. Standing from the crouched position, I grabbed my phone and the empty box and walked to the counter.

“What I think you need is a night out,” I said, grabbing a bunch of wildflowers I picked this morning to fill the buckets. “I was thinking, what if we all went out to The Tequila Cowboy?You, me, Boone, Rhodes, Logan, Mac, and we can even see if Theo is up to it.”

Penny groaned, taking her glasses from her face and placing them on her desk. “I would love that. Speaking of Mac, since the night at the bonfire, we actually speak whenever he comes into the library. Not only is he insanely hot, he’s so funny.”

“Well, use this as another chance to see him! I’ll make sure he’s working when we go this time.” I picked apart the flowers to organize them. Taking the same colors and placing them together.

“Please, and thank you,” Penny said. “I think Theo and Rhodes hit it off too. They were non-stop talking at the bonfire. How cute would that be? It’s straight from a romance novel.”

“Ugh,” I groaned. “I love the ‘not his baby’ trope. Talk about swoon.” I fanned myself with the flowers in my hand.

Placing the last few stems in their designated pile, I picked up the bunches and walked them over to the “make your own bouquet” display. “Knox Eden could respectfully get it every time,” Penny chimed in from the counter. “If that man claimed my baby as his and cooked for me like that, I’d have another baby that was his.”

Barking out a laugh, I came back to my phone and propped it up against the register on the counter. I leaned down to be in the frame and said, “The things I’d do to be in one of her romance novels. Those men are chefskiss.”

“It sounds like you have one of them to me,” Penny said, wagging her eyebrows.

“I guess I kinda do,” I admitted, grinning at her. Boone was my very own fictional boyfriend. Not only was he attractive, but able to share how he felt, loved his family, and genuinely knew how to impress a woman.

“Have you spoken to your parents since the Boone thing went down?” Penny asked.

I shook my head. “Nope. I’ve been giving my dad time to cool off. I texted my mom and asked them to come to the block party to help support the stand.”

“And?” Penny replied, tilting her head towards the camera.

“They said they would come, but who knows? Town functions aren’t their thing,” I confessed.

My parents very rarely took part in anything Faircloud had to offer. While I loved this town and its events, it felt like my parents hated it for that exact reason. Growing up, I’d have to beg them to do things like trunk or treats, block parties, or library get-togethers. I wanted to be a part of the community and they wanted to avoid it at all costs.

“I can’t imagine they wouldn’t show up to support you.”

Rolling my eyes, I looked at Penny. “I could count the number of times my parents came to The Coffee Cup on one hand and I worked there for years.” My mom stopped in honestly maybe three times and my dad once during the time I was there. Their disapproval was loud and clear.

“I think whatever Boone said to them changed something. That man can captivate an entire room with his looks let alone his words. The fact your dad didn’t throw him out says a lot,” Penny replied, giving me a sad smile.

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