Page 47 of Opposites (Never) Attract
I didn’t want to talk about anything.
But that wasn’t going to happen here, and it definitely wasn’t going to happen in my mother’s house.
“How about some dinner?” Harmony suggested, her voice soft. “You must be starved.”
“I had some BBQ,” I said. And I wasn’t hungry for anything other than sleep. “I guess I should go home. Mom’s probably freaking out.”
“Mom can stew in it,” Harmony said, curtly. “I’m not happy that she kept this secret from you, Sunny. From all of us. You deserved to know the truth.”
“Would it have made a difference?” I asked. “If she’d told me when I was eighteen? I’ve been trying to imagine all day how sad it would have made Dad. And it’s not like I would have attempted to have a relationship with Mr. McGraw.”
“Still, you should have known. The boys should haveknown too. What if one of them wanted to date you back in high school?”
“Right,” I laughed. No one wanted to date me in high school, and certainly not the most popular boys in town.
“Well, it could have happened,” she grumbled. “If you won’t let me feed you, at least have a glass of wine with me?”
I shook my head. I should just pull the Bandaid off and go home to talk to Mom. “Is there a car here that I can use?”
“I’m sure there is, but you don’t need to go home tonight. I asked Mrs. Walker to make sure one of the guest rooms was ready so you could stay here.”
The relief was palpable. No more talking, no more explanations or excuses about how and why decisions were made. Eventually, I was going to forgive my mother. Because she was the only mother I had.
But Harmony was right. I didn’t have to do that today.
“Then a glass of wine sounds nice,” I said. I followed my sister into the kitchen and took a seat on one of the stools pressed against the quartz covered island.
The kitchen was small but beautiful, with white tiles and sleek countertops. Top of the line stainless steel appliances, a massive eight burner range with hood, and a butler’s pantry.
It was a fancy kitchen that also came with Mrs. Walker, the housekeeper and cook, who had worked for the McGraws for decades.
It’s crazy to think of Harmony as someone with a housekeeper.
“Do you like living here?” I asked my sister.
She pulled out a chilled bottle of wine from the fridge.
“I’m ridiculously happy with Ethan.” She poured the wine into a stemmed glass and set it in front of me.
“Yes, I get it. You’re fabulously in love, yada yada. I asked if you are happy living here. In this house. With all this stuff and Mrs. Walker, who makes up guest rooms.” I circled my finger in the air to encapsulate everything surrounding us.
“It’s fancy,” she said, taking the seat next to me with a glass of water in her hand. “And not really me, of course. But we can’t fire Mrs. Walker, she’s been with the family for ages and she’s practically raising Carter’s kids. Also, it’s really nice to come home from the store and have dinner made. Having that kind of extra time and mental energy makes me think I could actually run for city office.”
“Of course, you can run for city office. The Gulch needs you to run for office.”
“I’m not sure about that,” Harmony said, because she couldn’t take a compliment to save her life. “But I have to say, one of the best things about falling in love is that it really doesn’t matter where you are, it only matters who you’re with.” She shrugged, like love just simplified everything, when I’d never seen the truth of that statement before. “Ethan told me you recommended the boys sell some land?”
“Selling off some of the land, wouldn’t mean you had to leave your house,” I explained, in case she was worried about that. “It would just downsize the operation. Maybe you wouldn’t need as many hands during calving season. That kind of thing.”
“Do you know anything about calving season?”
I snorted. “I do not. Other than baby animals are born. So, there would be less of them. Is that so horrible?”
“Sun,” she said, and gently laid her hand on my forearm. My sister was a toucher, I’d forgotten that. It made me realize how little I was touched in New York City. No oneat work would casually lay their hand on me, and I didn’t have friends that did that kind of thing. It was extremely uncomfortable and…kind of nice at the same time.
“I know you’re probably not going to believe this, but honestly, truly, if you want to go back to New York, you can,” Harmony said. She squeezed my arm, and like she understood she was already pushing me to my limit, she let go of me and wrapped her hands around her glass of water. “Did I imagine my big sister coming home to save the day? Sure, I did. Because I believe you can do anything. I always have. But I don’t want you to think I need you here to save us so I can have this fancy house. Ethan and I could move into a trailer and be happy. And that’s the truth.”
“Yes, but what about the store? The bar? The café? I think they’d make it, but I don’t know. If I leave and the ranch doesn’t make it, everyone loses. If I do take a chance and blow this, everyone could still lose. The odds are shit, Harmony.”
