She leaned back against the couch. “I know it’s not good for me. But I’m not certain my body would know how to function without it.”
“If you would like, I can help you do a sugar detox.”
“That’s sounds awful and unnatural.”
“Well . . . it will be hard at first, but I promise after a while you won’t crave sugar at all.”
She squinted. “That sounds like some kind of voodoo.”
“If I knew any voodoo, I wouldn’t be using it on you, Miss Emma.”
“Ooh, that’s good. Let’s work with that line of thinking. What would you do to Ryder if you could? And what I mean by that is, I’m totally willing to make it happen. I know Jenna and Aspen will be too. Jenna has already promised me she would be the first one there with a shovel if ever I needed to bury a body.”
I took a moment to think. What type of revenge would I seek against Ryder? Memaw always taught me that a Hobbs woman never sought revenge; instead, we never looked back. She said to give someone who has hurt us a second glance allows them to injure us twice.
With that thought in mind, I let out a deep breath. “I would want him to know that I’ve never looked back.” That was a lie, but he didn’t have to know that.
Emma took my hand and tilted her head as if she knew I was not being honest, but her smile said she understood. “Jenna will be disappointed that her services won’t be needed,” she teased. She patted my hand. “I would say the only thing you can do, then, is to use this summer to show him that you’ve moved on.”
I wished changing addresses counted.
~*~
By the time I left Emma’s, the sun was starting to set. I used to think there wasn’t anything prettier than a Georgia sunset, but there was something magnificent about how a Colorado sunset set the world around it on fire. From the way the pine trees appeared ablaze to the way the snowy mountain peaks looked as if they were dancing in flames. I took a minute to take it all in while I listened to Grady’s band play in the distance. It was the first performance of the summer season and from the sounds of the cheering crowd, it was well received. I could picture the swing dancing around the bonfire now.
I hoped a certain someone wasn’t partaking since I had to walk past the barn to get to the main house. Was he with her? I wasn’t even sure if the her was here. There I was looking back again. I wrapped my arms around myself trying to stay warm in the cool mountain air as well as lend myself some comfort. Seeing them together live in living color would only plunge the knife deeper into my heart. Was he really that cruel? How had I missed that?
I picked up my pace the closer I got to the barn on the dirt road. I should have changed my clothes before going to Emma’s. At the very least my heels. All I needed was a twisted ankle, or worse. I tried not to look in the direction of the large crowd as I scurried past the barn. My peripheral vision caught the firelight from the bonfire and swift movement from the dancing guests. It was all I was hoping to catch. The main house was in sight and the path had evened out, allowing me to walk faster.
“Shelby! Girl, are you trying to sneak away?”
Blast that Bobby Jay. I slowed down but still moved forward, refusing to turn around. For all I knew, he had his cheating cousin and her with him. Before I knew it, though, I was being picked up and swung around.
“Come on, girl, I thought we were friends.” Bobby Jay stopped spinning us around. His sincere blue eyes touched my own.
It took all I had not to get emotional. I swallowed the lump in my throat down. He was right; we were friends and I had missed him and the entire rowdy Prescott crew, minus one. I would keep telling myself that lie until it was true.
“I only want to catch up.” He flashed me a smile that played between disarming and I dare you.
It was probably a bad idea but . . . “All right, fine, but put me down first.”
He gave me one more good squeeze before setting me down. “Do you want to talk and dance?”
I braved looking in the direction of the bonfire. That was a mistake. It was as if I had caught a case of tunnel vision, including the nausea that accompanied it. All I could see was Marlowe and Macey cozying up to Ryder. Even from the distance, I could see him smile as those beautiful creatures pawed and played with him as if he were their new pet.