Page 130 of Don't Go Faking My Heart

And she's there the day after that and the day after that for the next week.

I don't know how she's getting anything done for Jane & Co., because she's spending every waking hour with me. She's there when I arrange shipments, create a reel, or write up a post. She's in the dugout when I help with Lottie's tee ball game. She helps me lay sod to fix Chick Hank's lawn. She makes bread with me at Patty's, and she delivers it with me to the Canasta club.

"You're the only person I'd ever trust with him," Duke says to Ash beneath his breath at the game.

"There ain't a finer boy in the state," Chick Hanks tells Ash when we lay sod. "Yet somehow, you make him even better."

"Stay the course," Patty mutters to her when we bake bread.

"I've never seen Rusty happier than he is with you," Mrs. Beaty says at the Canasta club.

The town is conspiring to kill me.

After a week, I'm almost ready to throw in the towel and move to Canada. At 5:15 a.m. the following Monday, I brace myself to see Ash bounce into the warehouse. Every morning, seeing her makes the world go from grayscale to technicolor. And every morning, I have to keep myself from brightening at her presence.

She doesn't show.

At 5:30 a.m., she still isn't there.

By six, I'm torn between being worried and relieved that I won't have to hold myself back for another ten to fourteen hours today.

At seven, I get a text.

ASH

Sorry to miss you this morning. We have an emer-jane-cy.

My heartbeat ratchets up.

RUSTY

How can I help?

Nothing you can do. :( A Lucy Jane superfan used some kind of spy technology to figure out who Lou really is.

I pull up my news app, and the second story is about Lou. The second one. The mystery surrounding her identity has amplified her already impressive fame. The article shows exactly how the fan determined Lou's identity. The first Sugar Maple collab reel showed her reflection in the glass at Jorge's Fudge for a single frame, and some enterprising young pseudo-stalker was able to connect it to the About Us section on the Jane & Co. website.

And now everyone knows that Lucy Jane is actually Lou Williams, attorney and daughter of the famous Winona Williams.

I'm so sorry. Give Lou a hug for me.

Come by later and give it yourself. And one for me, too. <3

I should have watched the reels more carefully.

…

Those three dots remain for far too long. Then finally, a text appears.

I'm trying to think of the Southern way to say this. Are you out of your mind? No, that's the Yankee way. Okay, how about this: do you really think you're such a special sinner that you're accountable for a mistake no one could have planned for? You didn't sign off on the reel, babe, and even if you did, no one is to blame for a fan figuring out what everyone will know in September when the tour starts, anyway. Get over yourself.

…said lovingly because I'm super in love with you and we're not fighting but I also don't think you stretching to make this about how you're unworthy is remotely helpful, let alone accurate. So again, this time with extra smooches: get over yourself. <3 LOVE YOU!

How does she always know what to say to make me think twice? Am I such a special sinner? For the millionth time, I wish I could talk to Tag. I could really go for some parental wisdom right about now.

I get everything done early at work, and because he's the only guy I know determined to stay single forever, I head to the bar to see Patty.

I normally go round to the kitchen, but without thinking, I walk in through the front doors and run into none other than the Canasta club.

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