Page 2 of So in Love
“Nah, I’ll get a ride.”
Evan came toward them with their jackets.“Okay,” Alaina said.“Be good.”
Crystal rolled her eyes.“What trouble could I possibly get into here?It’sRibbon Ridge.”Crystal spent most of her time in Los Angeles, where she and Alaina had relocated after high school.
Alaina laughed and shot a look toward her confounded husband.“Yeah, what trouble could you possibly find?”She gave Crystal a meaningful stare tinged with amusement.“I amnota role model.”
Alaina had come to Ribbon Ridge three years ago to hide out from a tabloid story, met Evan Archer, fell head over heels in love, and got knocked up to boot.Trouble aplenty as far as Crystal was concerned.She didn’t have time or the inclination for love, and she sure as hell didn’t have time for procreating.She suppressed a shudder.
“No, you’re not.”Crystal turned to Evan.“Happy New Year.Kiss Alexa for me.”Her goddaughter had surely been asleep for hours, but Alaina and Evan would undoubtedly check in on her when they got home.They were the most doting parents Crystal had ever seen.Which was saying a lot because Crystal’s mom was pretty darn attentive.Or meddlesome.Whatever it was, she did it with love.
After Alaina and Evan left, Crystal went to talk to the friends she’d made on her frequent trips to Ribbon Ridge, Brooke Ellis and Kelsey McDade.They stood near the windows that overlooked the Archers’ expansive backyard.Lights shone on the patio below.
“Shame the pool’s covered,” Crystal said.
“It’s December,” Brooke said wryly.“In Oregon.”
“Actually, it’s January as of a few minutes ago, but your point stands,” Kelsey said.
“True,” Crystal said.“It’s moments like these that I miss my house in Los Feliz.”
Brooke sighed.“Iloveyour house in Los Feliz.”
They’d had a girls’ weekend there a few weekends ago.“You’re welcome any time.Especially in the winter.This is Drearyville.”Though it wasn’t as bad as where she grew up.
Kelsey shook her head.She’d been born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, and she loved the gray skies and rain.“You missed the snow last week.It was gorgeous.”
Crystal had to admit she would’ve liked to see that.Her tiny hometown in southern North Carolina didn’t get snow.“Maybe it’ll snow while I’m here this week.”
“Doubtful,” Brooke said.“It doesn’t snow very much, and what we had last week is more than we usually get all winter.Sorry to disappoint.”
“Fine.I guess I’ll just have to spend a weekend at Alaina’s house in Vail.”She winked at the other girls, who often ribbed her about her gold-star lifestyle.As assistant to Alaina Pierce, one of the most famous actresses in the world, Crystal had enough money and cachet to do just about anything or go just about anywhere she wanted.
Brooke groaned while Kelsey rolled her eyes.
Crystal held up a hand.“Hey!I’ve offered to take you both with me.”
“We have jobs,” Kelsey said.“In fact, some of us have two of them.”
Brooke nudged Kelsey with a smile.“Not for much longer.You’ll be full-time at the library in just a couple of weeks.”
Kelsey had opened Ribbon Ridge’s library last summer, and through grants had stretched the budget enough to allow her to work full-time, plus pay the part-time assistant she’d hired a few months back.
“Did you already give notice at the pub?”Crystal asked.
Kelsey had been waiting tables at the Archers’ pub in town for the past couple of years.“Yeah.It was bittersweet.And I’ll still help out in a pinch.”
“I think most of Ribbon Ridge does that,” Crystal said with a smile before sipping her beer.
Brooke nodded.“Although we’re doing our best to steal people to help at the winery from time to time.”Brooke worked with her fiancé, Cameron Westcott, at the winery he owned with his two brothers and the youngest, non-sextuplet Archer, Hayden.
Kelsey finished her champagne.“Speaking of the winery, the archaeology team says they’re going to finish up excavating Bird’s Nest Ranch next week.I’m still hopeful they’ll find something exciting.”
They were all pretty invested in discovering everything they could about the ranch.Their “project” had started when a brick had been unearthed on the property.Etched with the letters BNR and the year 1879, Crystal, Brooke, and Kelsey had worked to find out what BNR stood for: Bird’s Nest Ranch.
It had been built in 1879 by a couple, Hiram and Dorinda Olsen.They didn’t know a lot about the Olsens, just that Hiram had been ill by 1881 and died in August of that year.The farm wasn’t doing well, and sometime after that, Bird’s Nest Ranch had become a brothel.
The archaeologist had determined that the house had burned down around 1902.Dorinda’s death certificate indicated she’d died that same year, but they didn’t know for sure if she’d died in the fire.However she’d died, it seemed a tragic end for someone Crystal and the others had inexplicably grown to care about.She’d been a single woman in a relatively isolated town—they’d been rooting for her.
