Page 28 of Dallas

“You did?”

“Yeah. I blame Colt for that.”

“So, you knew Colt back then.”

“Sure did. He was one of my first friends when I came to town. He’s a great guy.”

“Stella?”

“Oh, we met her when we got into the rodeo.”

“Did she date either of you?”

He frowns. “No. Why would you ask that?”

“I’m just trying to figure out how two bull riders ended up befriending a barrel racer. It seems like an unlikely crossover.”

“I don’t think so. Stella is an adrenaline junkie, so she loves getting as close as possible to the more extreme sports. Plus, she’s just cool. A lot of nights we hang out, play poker after the events.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. For obvious reasons, things went a little differently this last time.”

“Well, I’d love to play with you guys sometime.”

“That can definitely be arranged since Colt is back in town, too.”

There’s something so aggressively normal about all of this. It’s all very Friday Night Lights. Very quaint and homely in a way that I’ve never experienced, even living in small towns over the years.

“Where did you go to high school?” he asks.

His mention of my past sours my stomach and casts a pall over this beautiful, small-town fantasy I’m in.

“Oh. Portland. It’s so weird, because Portland is a pretty big city, but it felt too small for me. I moved to Sisters because at least it wasactuallysmall, and I didn’t know people there.”

“Why Sisters specifically?”

“Honestly? I found the apartment there, and I just went. I didn’t really think about it. I’ve been living there for the last two years.”

He pulls the truck up against the curb, right in front of a cute little store with a sparkling jewelry display in the front. I know that this is Sammy’s shop.

“I feel weird. Like maybe I should call the store first.”

“You don’t need to feel weird. Not only is Daisy calling ahead, but my mom knows her.”

In my life, that isn’t a positive. If my mom knows somebody, that means they’re a person I don’t want to know, and if they are a person I want to know, then I don’t want to use her as a reference. It’s such an interesting thing to have his network. Especially working the way that it does.

But I’m grateful for it.

I get out of the truck and step onto the sidewalk. The breeze is warm, and the town is bustling. There are little groups of people wandering down the sidewalks, popping into different shops, laden with bags. I spot a bookstore across the street, a toy store, and a bridal shop. There’s an Italian restaurant and a saloon at the end of the block.

“When you turn twenty-one, I’ll take you to the saloon.”

“My birthday is in a couple of weeks.”

“Really?”

I look down. “Yes.”

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