Page 2 of Faking It With the Small-Town Bad Boy

need?”

“I’m short nine thousand,” she gusts. “I saved up three thousand in

waitressing tips—and another four in babysitting and selling those

old dress samples I made. I don’t have time to come up with nine

thousand dollars, Leah! I’ll be trapped in Rally forever!”

I try not to ask why being stuck in the Ozarks of Arkansas is

equivalent to an end-of-the-world reaction ebbing through my little

sister right now, but I don’t even want to hear the answer.

Truthfully, I’ll end up in Rally for the rest of my days, and I’m fine

with that reality in more than one way. Dad’s shop needs a strong

lead mechanic to fill his shoes, and our old farmhouse was built by

our grandfather’s hands.

I stay here for the sense of family that surrounds me, even in their

passing. But to hear my sister, the only living relative in the vicinity,

is going to be leaving me next—it does more than sting. For a

moment, I contemplate telling her to go to the community college in

Little Rock, but I know I would only hurt her more. Being the big

sister is a role I take proudly, and helping her achieve her dreams is

why I keep pushing forward through this unfair, tumultuous life.

“There’s some more money left in Dad’s inheritance,” I sigh,

watching her body language shift. “I can loan you the nine thousand

from that, okay? But I’ll need that money back one day. It was going

to upgrade his shop here, but I can somehow refurbish the one he

already has with scraps and bartering.”

Her eyes clear up quickly, and her lips part in awe. “You’d do that for

me? Dad’s shop means the world to you, Leah.”

“You mean more.”

She throws herself into my arms, and I blink back tears of

insufferable grief. I just lost my dad four months ago, and the

breakup that came with my high school sweetheart didn’t help. The

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