Page 7 of Kiss and Tell

She’d seen shades of that person today, but only the dimmest variety. For the first hour or so, she’d actually been worried he was doing the show under protest for some reason. Or—dammit—what she’dreallybeen afraid of was that he didn’t likeher, and she was going to somehow ruin this chance for her whole family.

He’d become less standoffish as the day wore on, but he was by no means the man she’d been expecting to meet.

“What did you think of the farm?” Levi asked Joey.

“I love this place. I can’t imagine waking up every morning to that view. It’s just incredible.” There was no question Joey meant what he said, and it warmed Lucy’s heart because she knew what those words would mean to Levi.

“Quite a few of our now-locals were people who came to visit the town and never left.”

Lucy resisted the urge to groan aloud when Scottie Grover joined their group. She hadn’t realized he was here tonight. Scottie was one of the few people present who wasn’t a relative. His family fell into the category he’d just described, his parents moving to Gracemont when Scottie was in sixth grade, the two of them in the same classes. Back then, Scottie had been a shy boy with a nervous stammer, and the other kids made fun of him.

When Lucy had shared that with her grandmother, Grandma did what she’d always done. Taught Lucy how to be empathetic, explaining how scary it must be for Scottie to be in a new town where he knew no one. After putting herself in Scottie’s shoes, Lucy decided Grandma was right, so the next day at school, she’d introduced herself and offered her friendship.

For the rest of that year and most of junior high, she and Scottie had been friends. While Lucy was one of the more popular kids in their class, active in choir and a member of 4-H, Scottie had never warmed up to anyone else at school, opting to keep his circle small.

Small as in just him and her.

As such, he’d been clingy, insisting they didn’t need to sit with anyone else at lunch or invite other friends to the movies with them. By the time high school rolled around, Lucy found it difficult being his only friend. She liked doing things with the other kids, or her sisters and cousins, which always pissed Scottie off.

To add insult to injury, he was an only child. A veryspoiledonly child. So whenever they hung out together, they did whatever Scottie wanted to do because he’d never been taught how to compromise or share or take turns.

On the last day of ninth grade, the two of them had a major falling out when Lucy chose to kick off her summer holiday by going swimming at a girlfriend’s house instead of playing video games with Scottie. He hadn’t taken her rejection well, and when he’d called her selfish, that straw in the camel’s back broke for good, and she told him that maybe they should take a break from each other for a while.

Lucy didn’t know if it was their fight that prompted it, but Scottie left Gracemont a week later to spend the summer working on his uncle’s cattle ranch in Montana. When he returned just prior to the start of tenth grade, he’d sprouted six inches, lost the stammer, and gotten tan and buff from doing ranch work.

Needless to say, every sophomore girl in the school was suddenly very interested in Scottie, which was fine with Lucy. She’d had her fill. Unfortunately, he’d made her last few years of high school difficult because he still harbored a grudge, and he made sure she paid for it by acting like an arrogant, condescending ass every time their paths crossed, putting her down in front of others, treating her like she was stupid…ridiculous crap like that.

After graduation, Scottie went off to college, while she’d taken a few courses to earn her brewing certification before interning on the farm under Sam. She would have been fine if she’d never seen Scottie again, but he returned to Gracemont to join his family’s business.

Two years ago, he’d been elected mayor, and now he worked closely with her uncle, who served on the town council.

“I’m Mayor Grover,” Scottie said, extending his hand. Lucy resisted the urge to roll her eyes at his use of his title rather than his first name.

Joey shook his hand. “Joey Moretti.”

Knowing Scottie, he’d discovered celebrities were in town and invited himself to dinner, believing someone as important as him would be expected to make an appearance. He was just as egotistical and self-important as he’d been in high school, but he was no longer holding a grudge against her these days.

Because apparently, he’d moved on to something worse.

Much worse.

Nowadays, Scottie had rewritten their past like they’d been some kind of childhood sweethearts…who were on the verge of rekindling something that had never been.

For months, she’d been perplexed about why he was suddenly paying attention to her again, until that confusion was cleared up a few weeks ago at a baby shower. That was when his mother had loudly suggested Lucy had the potential to become the future “First Lady” of Gracemont, then started spouting a bunch of bullshit about how close she and Scottie had been growing up, and how she had always noticed a special bond between the two of them.

Until then, Lucy had seriously thought Scottie was just trying—in his cocky, annoying way—to become friends again. With the new information, she’d started looking at his recent attention in a different light, and not liking what she saw. The idea that he thought she would be interested in dating him sent bile to her throat.

Hell would freeze over first.

“How was your first day in Gracemont?” Scottie asked.

“Lucy’s been a very gracious and entertaining tour guide.” Joey had released her hand when Levi offered him an appetizer, and he hadn’t taken it back…dammit.

She was tempted to reach for it now, especially when Scottie stepped closer, looking down at her with that smug smile he thought passed for affection but came off like creepy possession.

“Lucy is the prettiest part of Gracemont,” Scottie said, as if her worth was solely wrapped up in her looks.

She gritted her teeth, annoyed by his misogynistic comment, as Joey tilted his head, looking from her to Scottie curiously. She prayed he didn’t think she was interested in a giant douchebag like Scottie.

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