Page 52 of Midnight Surrounds Us

Yeah, sure, if Rye had gray hair, the boys might find it partially acceptable, but since his hair is golden brown and beautiful, he still has a full head of it, and there’s literally one decade between the boys and Rye, and Rye and me, yeah, I don’t think they’re gonna be on board.

Not a lot of people understood the closeness the boys and I had between us since their dad died. It was them and me against the world. It was the way things had to be for us to get through the loss we’d been dealt.

“It’s complicated,” I said. “Look, I won’t lie and say I’m not havin’ fun. I am, but I’m not sure it’s meant to last.”

It was the closest I could get to telling my friends about my fake relationship, which had to stay fake in my mind, but seemed to be anything but fake in Rye’s.

Everyone else, including Cal, sighed in disappointment. Except for Billie. She grumbled that she’d only come to book club to get the hot gossip, and I’d let her down, but I hoped my revenue-generating idea would distract her.

“Listen,” I said. “Since we’re on the subject, I have this idea for my shop. I wonder if y’all could help me refine it. It involves custom tote bags and cowboys.”

I told them my Bag a Cowboy idea, and everyone loved it. Carly and Juneau even said they’d talk to Buckey and my cousin Max to see if they knew any available cowboys in the area. Billie loved the idea, and she promised she’d get her husband, Jay, to rat on some of the guys and the one cowgirl working out at Cade Ranch. She was sure she could strong-arm a few of them.

Eventually, we got back to our new book, which was notRailed by the Cowboy, but a billionaire romance between a British real estate tycoon and a nerdy American who went to the UK to nanny for her sister’s college roommate’s boss.

When I got backto the shop, my phone pinged with a text.

I pulled it from my purse and saw that Micah had sent a message. I decided just to call him back. I was too tired to type and try to be funny with slang I didn’t understand and silly emoji.

But first, I called Billie and left a message when she didn’t answer her phone. “Hey, it’s Aubrey. I’ve been thinkin’. You were right about the online store idea. How do I go about settin’ that up?”

Now that Rye had single-handedly saved Your Local Bookie, I figured I’d better figure out some ways to keep it in the black. Besides e-commerce, I’d had an idea a while ago about outfitting a trailer or an old food truck to be a mobile bookstore. There were a lot of farmers markets in the area and festivals throughout the year I could sell at, maybe make the book genre match the event. It would take more thought, and I wasn’t surewhere to get a free trailer, but I knew one cowboy in particular who’d probably be willing to help me look.

“Anyway, call me when you get a chance. Thanks, Billie.” I figured if I didn’t hear back, she’d be barging into the store soon to commandeer my laptop. When she had a mission, she was pushy and unstoppable, and it was my favorite thing about her.

Micah answered when I called him next. “Hey, Ma. Get my text?”

“Yeah, but I didn’t read it. It’s easier to call, plus I get to hear your voice. What’s up?”

“Oh, nothin’. Just wanted to check in. See how you are.”

Why he bothered texting in the first place was a mystery to me because I could hear in his voice that he wanted to talk, which meant he’d hoped I would call instead of text anyway.

“I’m okay, sweetie. How are you and Benji doin’?”

“Benji’s Benji. And I’m okay, I guess. Um, I met a girl.”

“You did? That’s great, Micah,” I said. “What’s her name?”

“Izzy. Isabel, but Izzy.”

“That’s a pretty name. How’d you meet?”

“She’s goin’ to school at MSU. She grew up not too far from Bozeman. Her family runs a cattle ranch.”

“Well, she sounds great. I hope I can meet her when you’re ready.”

He hesitated. “Yeah.”

He’d always been the more emotional and quieter of my twins, but not this quiet.

“Micah, what’s wrong? You don’t sound like yourself.”

“I dunno, Ma. I mean, I guess I’ve just been thinkin’ a lot lately.”

“About what?”

“Do you think it’s wrong if I don’t do what Benji does? I mean, like, if we went in different directions in our lives?”

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