Page 37 of Untruly With You

He stammers. “I should have knocked.”

“You were the one coming out,” I remind him.

“Right. I guess you should have, then,” he says, one corner of his mouth twitching.

Before I can think of something witty to say, I hear a voice behind me. “Would you—Oh! Sorry.” Magnolia is covering her face with one hand, but I can still see her blushing. “The door was open, so I… Sorry to intrude.” Her laugh is laced with embarrassment. “I was just coming to see if you two want to play rummy with Frankie and me. But if you’re busy—”

“I’m in,” I interject. Magnolia’s and Sutton’s blushing must be contagious, because my own face warms. I follow directly behind Magnolia, not wanting to spend one more awkward second in that room.

Sutton joins us soon after, and we play card games for hours. I’m especially grateful for Magnolia and Frankie’s teachings yesterday, because it means I’m able to beat Suttonmore often than not. But no matter how many times I win, he is relentless with his playful trash talk. He must have had a good day at the ranch, because he’s smiling more and more. He even plays up the “fake dating” card, shooting me flirty looks, tracing circles on my knee, and staring at my mouth whenever I talk.

And when Sutton finally does win, on our eighth or ninth game (I’ve lost count), he leans over and kisses me triumphantly. It leaves me breathless, but he sends me a wink after he draws back, reminding me this is all a farce.

I try not to feel disappointed.

17

SUTTON

“She’s pretty great, huh?”Mom asks, joining me in the barn. We look out the open sliding door to see Laine. She’s been busy all day, first interviewing the cook and then taking pictures for herWonderingsarticles.

“Yeah,” I exhale, looking back at Duke’s horse before Laine can distract me from the question.

Mom wipes some dirt off her overalls. Even though she’s been working in the garden all afternoon, she still did her makeup and hair. Despite growing up on a ranch, she’s always loved to dress up.

“Your dad’s coming home tonight,” Mom reminds me, trying to act nonchalant about it.

“Yeah. Too bad, though. I was just starting to feel comfortable here,” I say, not entirely sarcastically.

“Your father has been going through a lot lately,” Mom says, her voice as gentle as ever. “Give him some grace.”

“And what exactly is he going through that could justify the way he acted our first night here? Did some cattle get out of the fence? Did a cowboy show up to work drunk? Let meguess, property taxes are rising again. You’d think by now he’d be better at handling the stress of the ranch.”

The corners of Mom’s mouth pinch. “Even with your father’s attitude, is it good to be home?” She steps closer, eyes brimming with hope.

I smile, determined to get the smile back on her face. “Itisgood to be back. Don’t get me wrong, there’s so much about New York that I love. But I didn’t realize how much I missed it here. I forgot all the things that make Silver Ridge special.”

“And it’s even more special when you have someone to share it with,” Mom says, smiling mostly to herself.

“Ihadsomeone I shared it with before,” I remind her, chuckling. “Cass practically lived here during high school.”

“But that was different, don’t you think? Different from you and Laine?” Mom asks, her brows furrowing. “You didn’t…truly love her, did you?”

“I think I did,” I murmur. Mom’s shoulders droop, like she’s a deflated balloon. “It was different, though. Cass and I knew each other our entire lives. We were in the same classes, the same friend group. It was easy to be with her. Like, I loved her by default. But I never felt…”—I pause, searching for the right way to express it—“enlivenedwith her. It wasn’t soul deep. I loved her as a best friend, as someone who was always there with me and for me.” At the sight of Mom’s furrowed brows, I add, “But don’t worry, I don’t have any lingering feelings for her—whatsoever.”

“That’s good. I was a touch worried about the—Oh, how did Cassidy put it…the ‘embrace.’” Mom has to fight off a laugh.

“It was nothing. I thought it would be weirdnotto hug her. But when I did, she started crying, and I didn’t want to make her feel bad. Wells just got the wrong idea.”

“I see,” Mom hums. “You might want to make the termsof the ‘embrace’ clear to Laine, though. She seemed a little uneasy about it.”

“I doubt that very much,” I say, rolling my eyes. Of course, only I would know why Mom’s assumption is ridiculous.

“Honest!” She laughs. “She obviously didn’t want to make a big deal out of it, but I could see a touch of jealousy. It was sweet, really.”

Jealous. I roll the word around in my mind, imagining, even if only for a moment, what it would be like if Mom was right.

“You know,” she says, “I was going to make a run to Missoula to get some things for the wedding. Maybe you and Laine should go. You’ve hardly had time, just the two of you, since you got here.”

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