Page 63 of Stuck with my Mountain Daddies

It wasn’t just about the work.

It was about her, gone from the house, her mug still in the sink, her sweater still tossed over the arm of the couch like she hadn’t decided if she was staying or going. As if she could still change her mind.

But she wouldn’t. Not now.

She had her best friend back. A warm bed in town. A world that didn’t involve three brothers with too many feelings and no idea what to do with them.

Still, every time I passed the window, my eyes drifted to the driveway like she might suddenly reappear.

She didn’t.

So I kept my head down, my hands busy, and the ache in my chest locked away behind drywall and splinters.

Let Asher pace around the porch like a restless dog. Let Beckett make dinner for three instead of four.

Me? I had shit to do.

And maybe if I worked hard enough, for long enough, I could convince myself she hadn’t taken something with her when she left.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Riley

The snowin town had turned to slush over the last few weeks since I’d been hanging out at the inn, and the mid-December trees wore coats of frost instead of ice.

Here, everything moved slower… quieter than I was used to. Like the world was still holding its breath after the storm.

I hadn’t realized how much I’d needed the stillness until I had it.

Thank goodness Lucy had been able to work from home—well, work from here—since the storm. Nancy had insisted on giving us a good deal on the room at the inn, said it was the least she could do after everything the Wolfe family had done for her over the years.

Apparently, being beloved by Medford royalty came with perks.

Tonight, me and my bestie were on our second mug of peppermint cocoa and our third bad Christmas movie. The kind with terrible green screen snow and a plot so predictable you could write it in your sleep.

Lucy was curled up at the far end of the couch, a blanket over her knees, her laptop balanced against a throw pillow while she scrolled through campaign emails.

“Okay, but seriously,” she said, dragging her eyes off the screen, “if I have to come up with one more‘authentic, seasonal, female-focused’tagline for a candle company, I’m going to light one on fire and toss it into the ocean.”

I laughed. “I’d pay to see that.”

“You joke,” she said, pointing her spoon at me, “but it’s become a moral issue. Did you know that pine-scented wax might be the last straw for my sanity?”

“I mean, it is a bit aggressive.”

She groaned and dropped her head back dramatically. “That’s it. I’m switching careers. I’m going to start a goat farm. I’ll make soap. Or cheese. Or soap that smells like cheese. Whatever.”

“You’d be good at it,” I said, trying not to laugh too hard. “You could call it ‘Bleat & Greet.’”

She snorted. “Don’t encourage me.” But then her gaze softened. “Honestly, though. Work’s been steady. Busy, but steady. I can’t complain. What about you? Have you thought about what’s next?”

That was the question I’d been avoiding. The one that made my chest tighten every time I opened my laptop and saw my name was barely a footnote now. Just one more influencer scandal the world had already moved past.

Especially with everything else on my mind.

Everything I didn’t want to think about. Especially with Lucy sitting across from me.

Since I hadn’t seen Garrett, Beckett, or Asher since Lucy came back, we couldn’t exactlytalk.And maybe that was for the best.

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