Page 67 of Wild For You
Returning with a large plastic bag of kettle corn for the two of us, I grinned up at Andrew like I’d won the best prize at the entire fair. And really, between him and the yumminess I’d been consuming so far, I had.
“Don’t overdo it,” he whispered as he leaned toward me. “You don’t want a stomachache.”
“It would be worth it.”
Thankfully, Owen joined our small group and asked Andrew how the home building was going. Something I had been curious about as well, but I knew it wasn’t any of my business.
“I touch base with the contractor daily. He says things are progressing quickly, since I called in an additional teamthat Colton recommended. He assured me we could move in probably the first week of December.”
“We?”
My heart stopped as Owen caught Andrew’s slip-up.
“I was thinking of getting a dog. Someone to keep me company around the farm.” Andrew’s lie was easily believable, and Owen clearly bought it, as he asked what breed Andrew was looking for.
“I figured I’d just stop by the pound and find one up for adoption.”
“Cool. That’s a great idea. Aspen has been asking about a pet, but we travel so much….”
That was how the rest of the day went. Either Andrew or I was almost caught in our act but played it off as best we could.
I thought the sisters and their husbands bought it, but Nash kept sending me glances of both curiosity and warmth. Either he knew about me and Andrew, or Marisol spilled that she thought I was expecting.
Or it could be both. I nearly choked on a popcorn kernel as I shoved another handful from my plastic bag into my mouth.
“You okay?” Rory asked, as she grabbed our foot-long corn dogs from the vendor.
“Yes, sorry. Just went down the wrong way,” I said as I closed the popcorn bag and twisted the cap off of my bottle of water.
“Want to go on any rides? Talon is a big wuss and won’t ride anything.”
I took a hearty bite of my scalding-hot corn dog and ignored the pain in my mouth as I came up with a fib.
“Um… with all the food I’ve partaken in, that probably wouldn’t be the best idea.”
She laughed, because clearly I had eaten my weight and more in snacks since we arrived. Rory had barely made a dentin our popcorn bag, whereas I’d finished more than half the contents.
I was always a sucker for kettle corn.
“You’re probably right. Definitely the Ferris wheel before the night ends. You may have to sit with Andrew though. Or by yourself. I’m not sure which would be worse.”
“I’ll take my chances with your brother. He’s been nothing but nice to me since I’ve stayed with him.”
“He wasn’t so nice that first night. I gave him an earful.”
Rory was once a beloved schoolteacher here in Ashfield before she met Talon. Most people thought she was the sweetest, most innocent woman when first meeting her. I knew I had. But she was one of the most fun people I’d ever known. And I absolutely believed she told Andrew off about how he acted toward me when I first arrived.
As I nipped at my newly acquired corn dog and watched the people moving around me, Rory skipped over to her sisters to convince one of them to ride the carnival rides with her. Talon looked down on her with big, red hearts in his eyes, and his arms wrapped possessively around her waist.
I looked at them with envy. Even when I was with Caleb, I was his hidden secret. We couldn’t let the team know about us, nor his family. He met my mom once, and that had been a nightmare. I vowed that was never going to happen again. And now, with Andrew, we had to keep our relationship locked in a fireproof safe, all to spare us from the reaction of his sister.
Slowly, I backed away until I was tucked beneath the shade of a tree. I leaned against its trunk, ignoring the way the bark dug into my arm, and observed the family I craved as a kid. They stood around laughing as Rory still tried to get one of them to go on the rides with her.
At some point, I allowed the intrusive thoughts to take over. Would they even notice if I left? Would any of them care if I removed myself from their lives completely?
“What are you doing over here all by yourself?” the tall figure asked as he stood in front of me, casting a shadow over my body and blocking me from the view of the crowd.
“Just wanted a little shade,” I lied.
