Page 22 of Fall for You
Her sister’s fiancé was definitely sweet. He gave her a big hug that nearly lifted her off her feet. And when he backed up, she found herself basking in his good-natured grin.
“Hey, Ronnie. We’re so glad you can be here to help prepare for the wedding.”
“My pleasure.” It was hard not to keep smiling when he was grinning like that.
But Ronnie would be the first to admit she wasn’t exactly a smiley person by nature, and her cheeks were starting to ache.
“How are things with your family?” she asked when her dad shifted on the couch so she could visit with them.
She immediately wished she hadn’t asked.
Not that she didn’t care about Lewis’s family. It was just his extended family and the lengthy tale about his father’s dental issues that she hadn’t anticipated.
But she really should have.
Despite Dallas’s unnecessarily rude remarks about her being some sort of diva who never comes back to her small town, she managed to get back here plenty.
More than Dallas, of that she was certain.
So she’d spent plenty of time with Lewis. And his extended family. And she was actually already pretty well acquainted with his dad’s long-standing issues with his teeth.
So. There was that.
It took more effort than she’d counted on, but she managed to nod and murmur the correct responses…and the story eventually dribbled to a stop.
Phew.
Slumping back against the couch, Ronnie waited a polite beat, then decided it was okay to make her move.
And that’s when Margot pounced.
“We were just talking about our wedding.” She said this to Ronnie.
And while Ronnie itched to shoot back that this sounded like a personal conversation she didn’t need to be a part of, she couldn’t do that. Not with her father beside her, watching her with the sort of big puppy dog eyes that made her feel guilty without even trying.
Margot had inherited those eyes, along with their mother’s adorable dimples and brilliant smile.
So, really…
Margot was impossible to deny.
And so Ronnie found herself sitting there, an absent smile on her face as her mind recalled in excruciating detail every moment of her encounter with Dallas.
She fought a wince as she recalled her snappy responses. Had she been too harsh?
But then again…
“I thought you left us small-town folks behind.”
Who did he think he was, judging her like that? She’d never left her family behind. Or anyone else she’d truly cared about in this town.
She shifted on the couch, trying not to call attention to herself while also restoring circulation to her legs after sitting on this too-soft cushion for so long.
She always hated it when people acted like she’d changed just because she’d gone pro.
She hadn’t changed. The way people treated her had. But that wasn’t her fault, was it? She didn’t think she was better than anyone else. And she’d followed this path to help take care of her family, not to abandon them.
“Right, sis?” Margot asked suddenly.
