Page 84 of Untruly With You

“How are you feeling about the wedding tomorrow?” Laine asks.

I lift my good shoulder in a one-sided shrug.

“Not…jealous or anything?” Laine takes her hand back and folds her arms against the evening chill. Seeing my confusion, she explains, “When I went to see you at that hospital, Cassidy was there. She was pretty…emotional.”

“Seeing as how we’ve known each other our whole lives, and she’s about to be my sister-in-law,”—I say that title with more ease than ever before—“it makes sense.”

Laine’s brows knit. “Being back in West River hasn’t stirred any of those old feelings up?”

I have to hold myself back from laughing. “I guess, in one regard, I am jealous of my little brother.”

Laine’s expression drops, and I rush to explain.

“When Wells wants to, he can love so easily. And when he does, it’s a wholehearted love. Just look at this place.” I wave a hand out to the lavender fields. “Five years in the making. He was so sure about Cassidy—no matter the complications—and he sure as hell wasn’t giving her up.”

Laine’s mouth twists as if she can’t decide whether to smile or frown.

“I’m not like Wells,” I tell her. “Love hasn’t been easy for me since Duke died. I’ve been too afraid of my grief to allow myself to open up to any big emotions.”

Laine smiles out at the swishing purple fields. “Well, I feelallthe big emotions, all at once. You’ve trained yourself to not feel them at all. We balance each other out.”

“I hope you know I didn’t mean any of what I said when I asked you to leave.” I remember trying to explain this to Laine in the hospital, but on such heavy painkillers, I have no idea what Iactuallysaid. Now, I have the chance to say it again, say it right. “I hope you’re always impulsive and excited and joyful. Those are things Ilovethat about you. I just thought a little heartbreak now would be better than years of pent-up heartache—heartache you would face if you stayed with me and had to be here while everything goes downhill for my family.”

“You shouldn’t have pushed me away,” Laine says, her arms drawn tight across her chest, gaze averted away from me.

“I agree.” I’m unable to hide the pain in my voice.

She looks at me then, eyes searching for something in mine. The silence between us is palpable, thick like the air before a storm. I want to tell her everything—how the thought of her leaving feels like the ground will give way beneath me—but the words sit like stones in my throat, unmovable. I’m on the verge of shattering that silence, ready to say what’s been weighing on my heart, when distant laughter and the sound of footsteps slice through the quiet, pulling me back to reality.

Cassidy and Wells appear, hand in hand, strolling along the trail. Their smiles are infectious, but I can't help but feel a pang of envy at their happiness. Not because I want to be in Wells’ spot, of course, but because I want to hold Laine’s hand with that much confidence.

“Hey, you two,” Wells calls out.

Laine uncrosses her arms, her eyes glinting with amusement. “Isn’t it bad luck for you two to see each other the night before the wedding?”

Wells shrugs. “I think we’ve had more than our share of bad luck already.”

Cassidy looks at Wells with the brightness of the sun. “Plus, I’m going to have to share him with the guests tomorrow. This might be our last moment alone for a while.”

Wells glances between Laine and me, his expression shifting as he picks up on our tension. “But we can have that moment somewhere else if we’re…interrupting something.”

“We were just about to head back,” Laine says, eyes flicking to mine for just a moment.

She starts back up the trail toward home, and I feel my near-confession deflating within me. Wells grimaces and mouths, “Sorry,” to me, reading the sense of defeat in my posture.

38

SUTTON

“Why didn’t you tell her?”Frankie asks me in a whisper. “Last night would have been perfect.”

All day, our family has been busy getting the final things in line in the hours before the wedding. Frankie was ready before any of the other bridesmaids and snuck away to the guest room to scold me.

“I was about to,” I say as Frankie helps me slide my button-up over my injured shoulder. “Wells and Cassidy interrupted.”

Frankie groans. “Then you should have found another moment.”

“Iwantto,” I insist. “But I want it to be therightmoment.”

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