Page 21 of Unyielding
I smiled shyly. “Okay, you were right. Thank you, Fi.”
“Now for that rat’s nest on your head,” she said, pushing me toward the bathroom. “Can I do a twist or something?”
“I’m in your hands. You clearly know more about this stuff than I do.”
“Clearly,” she said with a huff and then tapped me on the arm. “But that’s only because I worked corporate. If I spent all my time on the ranch, I’d only ever wear jeans too.”
I stared at my sister’s face in the mirror while Fiona got to work. It hit me that I was the only sibling going to the party alone, and the realization stung. I’d pushed the concern off when Fiona and Zoe brought it up in the bar, but I was feeling it now. Josh andZoe were so cute together that it was ridiculous, and Fiona and Eli had the kind of relationship that made me wish that I’d found my forever person too. I hadn’t felt the inclination to date, and it wasn’t like Poplar Springs had a ton of options for me.
Declan.
I frowned. No. For all I knew, he would show up with Becca.
“Why do you look miserable all of a sudden?” Fiona asked as she sprayed something on my hair and then smoothed the brush over it. “Everything okay with you?”
“I’m fine,” I lied, avoiding my sister’s eyes in the mirror.
But I was far from fine.
“Liar.” My head snapped up and she gave me a surprisingly gentle smile. “You avoid eye contact when you’re lying or dealing with an emotional situation.”
“That’s not true.” Was it?
“At Mom and Dad’s funeral, you kept looking at people’s ears or chin when they were talking to you.”
“Well, that’s normal. I was grieving. We all were.”
“You did the same thing when someone spilled melted butter on your dress before the spring dance and it made the color run on your sash.”
“It was embarrassing. The red dye ran all over my dress making it look like I was bleeding.”
“Then there was the time Dad caught you out in the barn with one of the ranch hands and you lied and said he was helping you move the hay bales. Or the time you decided to see what it waslike to vape and you ended up turning green and throwing up. You told the teacher that you thought you had food poisoning and she sent you to the nurse’s office.”
“How did you know about those?”
Fiona chuckled. “The heater vent. Mom and Dad were laughing about your ‘tells’ in their bedroom and I could hear them in my room.”
“Oh. So how come I didn’t get in trouble?”
Fiona shrugged. “Dad was ready to ground you—at least for the vaping—but Mom said that you’d learned your lesson when you got so sick and she didn’t see the point in adding to it.”
“Wow. That’s just… How come I never knew any of this?” My sister shrugged again.
I had no idea what to think of that. The fact that my family seemed to know me better than I thought had me desperately missing our parents. Then there was the fact that Fiona knew about all these incidents but never thought to share what she heard. Or warn me that I had a damn tell when it came to lying.
“I’m lonely,” I blurted out and Fiona paused what she was doing with my hair. I didn’t want her to feel sorry for me, so I pushed through. “Normally, I can ignore the feelings or push them down. It’s not like it’s a big deal.”
“Oh, Shan. I didn’t know.”
I shook my head and felt the loneliness wash lightly over me as Fiona gently ran her hand over my hair. The calming sensation made me realize that it had been ages since I’d felt a nurturing touch.
“I’ll admit that I can talk a big game about being perfectly content alone, but the truth is, I wish I had someone in my life. Someone who would look out for me, care for me… woo me.”
“When was the last time you went out on a date?”
I snorted in amusement. “Two years ago? Aurora introduced me to someone at the community picnic and I agreed to meet him at the Squeaky Wheel for drinks.”
“This does not sound good. What happened?”
