Page 32 of The Farmer Has a Wife

She growled again.

“Oh. My. God,” Indi said from behind her. “You’re jealous.”

“Am not,” Danni said quickly and far too forcefully.

“Are to,” Indi said. “Look at your face. It’s doing that thing.”

“What thing?”

“That thing where it looks like you’ve swallowed a whole lemon,” said Indi.

Danni rolled her shoulders back. “I’m not jealous.” She darted a look over to where the tall woman still stood. Eleanor, however, had moved on to a small toy stall. Her heart beat freer in her chest again. “I don’t care who Eleanor talks to. It’s none of my business who she talks to.”

“Mmm-hmm,” Indi said. “Sure. That’s why you’re staring at that poor woman like you want to punch her even though you’ve never actually met her.”

Danni made a huffing noise and looked away. She didn’t care. She didn’t.

Eleanor might be her wife, but she was a paper wife. There was nothing to be jealous of, since she and Eleanor didn’t have a relationship at all. Which meant that nothing mattered, none of this. And she didn’t care.

Except that she sort of did and it niggled in her stomach and made her beer taste sour.

There was a clash of slightly out of tune chords and Indi squealed. Tommy’s band had taken to the stage, or rather the rickety wooden platform that barely deserved the title. The crowd cheered as the chords morphed into something thatmight be considered a song.

Indi grabbed Danni’s hand. “Come on!”

“Nope. No way.”

“Yes way. You owe me, remember? Dress? Country club?”

Danni groaned, but the rhythm was starting to get to her and others were beginning to dance too. “Fine. But if I step on your foot, it’s your fault for dragging me into this.”

Indi laughed as she spun Danni out onto the makeshift dance floor.

???

They danced wildly, ridiculous and carefree. Indi dipped Danni dramatically, making them both laugh as Danni barely managed to keep her balance. They weren’t graceful. But they were young, and they were having fun, and their happiness was almost contagious.

Eleanor took a sip of her lemonade and watched them. It was envy she was feeling, not jealousy, she told herself. Definitely not jealousy. Even though the feeling burned in her chest in a way that made her feel a little sick.

She envied how easy it was for Danni to let go. To laugh. To be utterly ridiculous without worrying about looking foolish. It must be nice, she thought. She also knew that she herself had never been able to do that, would never be able to do that. She was far too aware of how people perceived her.

But that wasn’t the only thing bothering her.

It was the way that Danni’s eyes crinkled when she laughed. The way her hair bounced as she moved. The way that she looked so completely at ease in the world in a way that Eleanor knew she never did.

And, most frustratingly of all, it was the way Indi was dancing with her. The way Indi’s hand skimmed Danni’s waist, the easy way they clasped hands, the way their bodies brushed together that made Eleanor lose her breath again and again.

No. Not jealous. Just envious.

There was nothing to be jealous about.

Though they’d not discussed it, Danni could see who she pleased, Eleanor thought. Then she chastised herself for not foreseeing this and putting it onto their list of boundaries. Okay, Indi was Danni’s friend, there was almost certainly nothing going on. But they should have made a rule, just to keep things clean and clear. A rule where they could, should, would even, be able to… dance with other people.

Her mouth felt dry despite the lemonade.

“Having fun?”

Eleanor jumped. She’d been so busy thinking that she hadn’t seen Indi and Danni leave the dance floor.

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