Page 96 of Someday You Learn

“Why not?”

She sighs. “It’s so hard to get the shadows right. I feel like my mind just can’t pay tribute to the lines of the body the way they deserve to be seen.”

“Funny. You were paying tribute to the lines onmybody just fine.”

She smacks my chest and then lays her head back down on it. “That was cheesy.”

“Sorry if I’m lacking sophistication right now. I’m exhausted.”

Trailing her fingers through the short hair on my chest, she hums. “Was the practice crazy today?”

“Yeah. Your father and Beth were gone, so everyone had to step up a bit. I swear, when Beth retires, the whole place might burn to the ground.”

“Do you think she might when my father does?”

I think back to the conversation I overheard between the two of them, still not sure of what I heard, so I keep it to myselffor now. “I don’t know, honestly. I know she’s worked there for almost thirty years so I can’t imagine her staying for much longer.”

“My father had to reschedule our lunch date for next week. Something about an appointment that he was able to get because of a cancellation.”

“An appointment for what?” I ask, my nerves activating from this information.

“I don’t know. He didn’t say and I didn’t ask. Sounds like someone else I know,” she teases, but my pulse spikes. I still haven’t told Cashlynn about my therapy appointments. It’s only been two weeks, and I know I have a ton of shit to work through. I want to wait until there’s something more productive to tell her, or at least until I’m sure this is going to stick.

“But he’s good about going to his regular checkups and stuff, so it’s probably something like that. If it was something serious, I’m sure he’d tell me,” she continues, pulling me from my thoughts.

I nod, but don’t say anything in response. Instead, I decide to change the subject. “What’s your favorite color?”

She chuckles, looking up at me again. “Where did that come from?”

“I’m just trying to learn more about you, and that’s one of the basic questions I think I should know the answer to.”

She rolls her eyes, but she’s smiling. “That question is impossible to answer because it changes for me. I go through moods.” She glances down at my now clean chest, dancing her fingers along my skin again. “But after tonight? I think blue isdefinitelymy favorite right now.”

I roll on top of her, cupping her jaw in my hand, and get lost in her amber eyes—a place I would be happy staying lost indefinitely. “Yeah, I think blue just moved to the top of the list for me too.”

Chapter seventeen

Cashlynn

“Hi, Dad.” I lean down and kiss my father’s cheek before sliding into my side of the booth. I suggested we meet at Catch & Release for our rescheduled lunch date, partly because I’ve been craving their onion rings. I’m not sure what Dallas puts in his batter, but they’re out of this world.

“Hey, June Bug. How are things?”

I push my hair back from my face and set my purse on the seat beside me. “Things are great!” I say a little too enthusiastically.

His eyebrows rise. “That good, huh?”

“I mean, I’m slipping into the small-town life pretty seamlessly, I think. I really love it here.”And my fake fiancé is now treating me like his real one, so my giddiness is beyond my control most days.“I can see why you were eager to stay when you found out grandpa left you the practice all those years ago.”

My father nods. “Yes, well, part of that was a sense of obligation, but I’ve been very happy here for the past eleven years.”

“I think I’m gonna be happy here for at least that long too,” I say, growing more optimistic about the idea every day. Every day I can more clearly see a real future here—and that future is quickly including Parker in hopefully a real engagement. But that’s a conversation for us way down the road. Right now, we’re living in the honeymoon phase, which includes endless amounts of sex—a detail I amnotcomplaining about.

“So, things are going well with Parker then?”

“Yes, why wouldn’t they be?” I ask, a little too defensively.

“I don’t know.” He shrugs but there’s concern in his eyes. “I was wondering if you two had driven each other crazy yet. Last time we talked, you were unplugging the coffee machine.”

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