Page 38 of Steadfast

Bet he’s happy now.

Oakleigh made herself a mental note to remind Sawyer to thank her someday.

Taking her seat next to Crew on a tall barstool, Oakleigh folded her arms and laid her head on his shoulder. She closed her eyes, attempting to get into a worshipful mood.

“This is really nice, Oaks.” Mia’s voice chimed into her ears, causing Oakleigh to sit upright. “Her voice is great.”

“That’s Sawyer’s ex,” Oakleigh whispered back.

“She’s beautiful,” Mia observed.

“It’s too bad,” Oakleigh mused. “She made him somewhat likable.”

Mia gave her a sly smile, “Maybe I can make him likable too.”

Oakleigh crinkled her nose, releasing an involuntaryew.

“What?” Mia smirked. “He’s cute. If you get a cowboy, I should get one, too.”

Oakleigh accidentally burst out laughing louder than she intended in the quiet room. “We have an entire town full of cowboys. Pick one!

“Speaking of cowboys,” Mia nodded towards the door as Dallas swung it open with a loud jingle. He was running late asusual, wearing his Wrangler jeans and a hickory brown suede jacket. “It’s the beard for me,” Mia said, observing Dallas making his way through the crowded room to his seat in the front row.

“Oh no, that’s Dallas, he’s taken,” Oakleigh said. “You’ll see.” Panning through the dark, packed room, her eyes finally landed on Maeve. She was leaning on the back wall with her arms crossed. Oakleigh waited for Dallas to take her by the hand and lead her to the front row beside him, but the moment never came. Maeve stayed firmly planted against the wall, chewing on her lower lip as she stared at the ground.

“Ithinkhe’s still taken?” Oakleigh tilted her head, her stomach tying in a knot as she attempted to piece together the scene.

Is this why she’s been so weird lately?

“So maybe he is free?” Mia teased, interrupting Oakleigh’s thoughts with a sly grin.

“Mia, no!” Oakleigh gasped, playfully throwing her hand over Mia’s eyes. “He’s like old enough to be your dad!”

The two began to giggle together like old times. Even when Oakleigh put her hand over her mouth, she couldn’t seem to stifle the contagious laughter between them.

It felt good to laugh.

When they had subdued themselves, with the help of a stern glance from Maeve, Oakleigh pulled out her phone. She tapped the big red dot on her screen and began recording a short video. It was a good reminder to her followers of whythey had donated to her crowdfunding project in the first place.

With the backdrop of people singing, she panned over the packed room. Oakleigh turned the camera to herself, and Crew ducked onto the screen beside her. He gave a sparkling grin and kissed Oakleigh on the cheeks. She flipped the phone to Mia, who threw her hands on her hips and struck a pose, proudly showing off her red apron.

Oakleigh tapped the screen and posted the video to her social media.

Mia’s brow furrowed as a look of concern crossed her face. “You know you’re just fueling Shayna’s content, you sure you want to keep posting like this?”

“Why not?” Oakleigh shrugged as she slipped the phone back into her pocket. “Let’s give them something to talk about.”

Chapter 13

Clash

Maeve poured boiling, dark roast coffee into three travel mugs. She splashed milk into one until it was a light brown color, then scooped in four heaping spoonfuls of raw sugar. Using the milk frother that Oakleigh had insisted on buying for the house, she whirred the drink until it was perfectly blended. Moving onto the next, she pulled out the carton of oat milk from the refrigerator. Mia’s request had meant a special trip to the nearest supermarket one town over, but she didn’t mind.

Lastly, she poured steaming, rich coffee into her own mug.

Simple.

She placed a log in the dying embers of the fireplace and took a seat on the smooth leather sofa. Propping her feet on the coffee table, she took a moment to savor her first taste of coffee that morning. She clasped the drink with both hands, leaned back on the plush sofa, and closed her eyes.

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