Page 98 of Stuck with my Mountain Daddies

I dropped my phone on the couch beside me like it burned.

My chest ached with something I didn’t want to name. It wasn’t jealousy, not exactly.

It was loss.

Of the life I used to have. The girl I used to be.

Of the life I’d workedso damn hardto create for myself.

I didn’t cry. Not yet. But I felt the pressure building behind my ribs, a tidal wave gathering strength.

Lucy was out there glowing, Ava was out there winning, and I was in an inn in the middle of nowhere, confused with no clue what was next.

What am I doing?

The thought came quiet. Because I hadn’t just lost a job or a campaign or a spotlight. I’d lost the story of who I was supposed to be.

And I didn’t know who I was without it.

Eventually, I couldn’t sit still anymore.

The walls of the suite felt too close, too quiet. I shoved on my boots, threw my coat over my sweater, and slipped outside with nothing but my phone and the raw, restless ache in my chest.

The cold slapped me in the face like it had a personal grudge. I welcomed it.

Snow crunched underfoot as I made my way down the road, no destination in mind. Just moving. Trying to remember that I had a body, that I existed outside of a screen. My breath came in soft clouds, the kind that looked like secrets disappearing into the air.

I wandered toward Maple Avenue without thinking, drawn by the glow of Christmas lights and the faint sound of laughter in the distance. A few blocks down, past the bookstore, Page Turners, and the firehouse, I spotted movement near the playground behind The Brewed Bean.

There were three women bundled in scarves and knit hats, wrangling strollers and sippy cups while toddlers ran in lopsided circles through the snow.

It took me a second to recognize them.

Sadie, of course, my new friend from the matchmaker hot cocoa debacle. And Lila, mother to the menace that was Biscuit. And I remembered Lucy telling me that they were always with Aurora, who owned the bookstore.

All of them in their own little harems.

I almost turned around. But before I could, Sadie spotted me.

“Riley!” she called out, waving a mittened hand.

I blinked. “Uh, hi.”

“C’mere, you’ll freeze your face off out there alone,” Lila added, already turning toward the coffee shop. “We were about to grab caffeine and try to keep these gremlins from eating sidewalk salt.”

“Come with us,” Aurora said sweetly, lifting baby Evie into her arms as she herded us all toward the door. “I’d love to get to know you.”

Wow. That was unexpected.

I smiled as brightly as I could manage, trying to mask my nerves, and followed.

The bell above The Brewed Bean jingled as we stepped inside, warmth and the scent of espresso enveloping me. I stood awkwardly for a second, unsure what I was doing here, until Sadie shoved a peppermint mocha into my hands.

“This is your favorite, right?” She smirked. “I remember.”

They claimed a table near the back while the children were momentarily distracted by a basket of plush toys and drool-covered board books.

“So,” Aurora said as she unzipped her coat, eyes bright with curiosity, “IknowI know you from somewhere.”

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