Page 64 of The Back Forty
She nods. “You do.”
“She does have a glow,” Rae chimes in from the back counter where she’s chopping red bell peppers. “Did you switch to a new serum or finally try my nighttime retinol routine?”
“Nope.” I grab an apron from the hook on the wall and tie it too tightly around my waist, like it’ll hold in all the secrets threatening to spill out of me about what Lawson and I did this morning.
“Maybe it’s because your sister left,” Rae says, voice lilting with curiosity. “And you finally get your space back and to leave Lawson’s house.”
Rae's married to Cash Marshall, one of Lawson's younger brothers. And just like her husband, she doesn't know when to let something go because she enjoys ribbing people until they're full blown embarrassed.
“Yep, must be it,” I lie, smile painted on like that's exactly why I'm glowing and not because their brother-in-law and brother had his tongue buried inside of my pussy this morning while he said the filthiest things a man has ever said to me in my life. “Okay, put me to work before you two force me into a skincare confession.”
They both eye me like they know I’m full of shit but thankfully drop the grilling.
For the next three hours, I lose myself in the rhythm of the fair. The clatter of frying pans. The sizzle of bacon. The smell of butter, roasted garlic and cinnamon sugar from the next booth over. The air is cooler today, autumn’s biting at the edges of the season, and for a while, it feels good. Peaceful.
Lydia and Molly join us at some point. I scramble eggs, pour coffee, deep fry everything not nailed down. I smile at kids withsticky fingers and flirtatious, single dads whose eyes linger a little too long on the dip in my shirt.
I pretend I’m fine. That I’m not thinking about how I have to pack all my things tonight to move back in with Isla. That I’m not imagining what Lawson’s thinking about as he works. That I’m not terrified of facing my younger sister who I'm certain has already pieced everything together after our awkward run-in this morning.
When I pass a cup of black coffee across the booth’s open window to a man with warm green eyes and light brown hair, I catch my breath for half a second. He’s cute. NotLawsoncute. But someone I might’ve noticed once before everything that happened last night.
“Thanks,” he says with a kind smile.
“Hey, Rhett!” Regan waves as she leans against the open window. “How’s the business going?”
“It's coming,” he responds with a sigh. “I'm trying to expand over to Meadowbrook. Working on getting a new contract with the city which means hiring more people. Especially since I moved Declan to the business we opened in Charlotte.”
“Ah, well good for him,” Regan says with a smile.
I glance between them. “Declan was your ex, right?"
“Yeah,” Regan says, nodding and leaning closer with a whisper. “But don't let Hayes find out that you brought him up."
I smile because Regan's husband Hayes Walker is a former professional bull rider turned the Whitewood Creek's primary medical doctor. He’s quiet when you first meet him, but if you mess with his wife, there'll be hell to pay. I love the way he looks at her so possessively, like she's the beginning and end of hisworld. And now that they’re about to become parents, his love only burns brighter for her.
I try to focus on their conversation about Regan's property, the old Mayberry property she's transformed into a wedding venue and photography hot spot, but I'm distracted. Because I’m thinking about how tonight I’ll have to go back. To the house. To Lawson. To the conversation we never really finished. And to the truth I’m still too afraid to say out loud: That something happened between us and it’s changed our relationship permanently.
And it wasn’t just sex. It was something so much more that I've always wanted but know we can’t have.
Rhett smiles, the corners of his eyes crinkling in that easy, sun-warmed way. “How’s the pregnancy going? That's all Hayes seems to talk about when I get called to the hospital for plumbing issues.”
“It’s going really well,” Regan says. “I’m due soon. I can’t wait. Neither can he.”
His smile stretches wider. “Happy for you both.” He adjusts his hat and glances toward the fairground bathrooms with a sigh. “I gotta go check on these porta-potties. Someone tipped one over last night and they’ve been a risk ever since. Living the dream. See you around.”
"See ya, Rhett," I say with a wave and that's when my eyes lift and I notice him for the first time watching me.
Lawson.
Across the dusty sprawl of the fairgrounds, right at the edge of the petting zoo he and his brothers put together. He’s crouched down holding a chicken of all things, which has to be Cash’sdoing. There’s no way that Lawson voluntarily picked up that tiny dinosaur.
There’s a messy-haired kid giggling like it’s the funniest thing in the world, and Lawson’s saying something to him that makes the kid laugh harder, but his eyes are locked on mine.
My breath catches. He’s still. Focused. That same impossible-to-define look that says I’m either in deep shit or he’s thinking about this morning too. My cheeks flame and I whip my gaze back toward the griddle, hoping no one else caught the look that passed between us—because the heat behind his eyes could burn the place down.
“Hey Dani. You good?” Regan asks, turning to me with a skeptical glance.
“Yeah,” I say too quickly. “Just a little warm in here.”
