Page 80 of Opposites (Never) Attract
Funny. I presented all the time to investors, the partners. Some of the richest men and women in the country, and it never phased me.
Three new half-brothers whose ranch was on the line, and I was flustered.
Maybe I shouldn’t do the Mandarin slides for the town. I bit down on my thumbnail and cursed, realizing what I’d done. Time for a distraction.
“So, Mac not going to town meetings, is that also about…”
“Our sister?” Harmony asked. “Yes. Mac doesn’t attend anything if Amity is there, and of course, she’ll be there. She owns The Last Meal. Her future, like everyone else’s in the Gulch, is linked to this ranch.”
“He really holds a grudge, huh?”
“Oh, don’t be mistaken. The grudge goes both ways,” Harmony said. “Which wasn’t really an issue until I married Ethan. But, now we’re family, and I’m having a hard time convincing both Mac and Amity that they need to get over it. Hold on. I need to let Mom, Bliss and Amity know about tonight.”
I watched her type the message on her phone and hit send.
“Group chat, huh?”
She blinked like she didn’t understand the context of the question.
“You guys have a family group chat,” I said.
I wasn’t even sure what my point was, but the realization dawned on her face.
They had a group chat without me.
“Sun, you know the only reason you’re not included on this is because it would drive you nuts to be bombarded with family texts all day. We wouldn’t have wanted to bother you with nonsense stuff like who’s making what salad for the town BBQ.”
“No, of course not. I would have immediately left a family group chat. Especially over salad,” I said, with a fake smile. “Very busy during my work day. Very, very busy. With all the money and stuff.”
Stop talking! She’s going to think you’re upset because you were left off a family group chat.
Youareupset because you were left off a family group chat!
“Sun,” Harmony said gently, her hand on my wrist. “Please tell me you understand.”
I patted her hand and let logic take over for feelings. “I do get it. I think it’s just starting to dawn on me that as much as I thought I didn’t fit in here, part of that was because of me. I mean, I like salad. If someone was making a salad, I might say macaroni salad is my favorite. But I never did that. I never made it known that I might care about things like the town BBQ.”
“Okay. You asked for it. It’s happening,” Harmony said. She pulled out her phone, typed a message, and then my phone, which was still on the desk next to my laptop, dinged.
I picked it up and smiled.
Family Group Chat:
Harmony: Did anyone know Sunshine’s favorite salad is macaroni?
Mom: Of course, I did. She likes anything with mayonnaise.
Amity: Oooh, good know. I’ll drop off a batch tonight at Mom’s house. We always have extra at the café.
Bliss: Why are we talking about Sun’s obsession with mayonnaise?
Mom: I don’t know. Ask your sister, she started this group chat.
Harmony: We needed an all family group chat. I added Sun to ours.
Amity: Uh, Sunshine? Do you know what you signed up for?
Bliss: Ha! Sucker. I give her until midnight tonight before she opts out. The dinging, Sis…it never ends!
