Page 26 of Her Hometown Man
Mallory was clearly confused. “You kissed Case? And you’re sorry about what? I feel like you’re giving me random puzzle pieces here.”
“He’s your ex,” Gwen said. “You’re not supposed to date your sister’s ex.”
“We dated in high school. That was a long time ago.”
“They say you never forget your first.”
“Of course I can’t forget my first. He lives across the street.” After a few seconds, Mallory laughed so suddenly it startled Gwen. “Is that what’s going on here? Seriously, Gwen?”
“What?”
“You won’t go out with Case because I dated him when we were teenagers?” When Gwen didn’t say anything, she laughed again. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
Gwen didn’t think the conversation was all that funny. “Everybody knows your sisters’ exes are off-limits. That’s a thing.”
“It’s so not a thing.” It actually was, so Gwen just waited her sister out. “Okay, it’s kind of a thing, but not in this case. No, you couldn’t have gone with Case to, like, senior prom or anything after we broke up. But it’s beenyears, Gwen. A lot of years. I’ve been married. Had two kids. Divorced. I don’t live in high school anymore. Neither does he.”
“I find it hard to believe it wouldn’t be weird for anybody.”
“It honestly wouldn’t.” Mallory held up her hands. “Look, he’s almost like a brother to me. I sayalmostbecause the fact remains we did actually date all those years ago, and that would make it weird.”
Gwen chuckled, but she got the point. “So you wouldn’t care if I went out with Case, then?”
“I...” Her sister let that reply die away, looking decidedly uncomfortable. “I don’t think you shouldnotgo out with Case because I dated him in high school.”
“So what’s your real reason for why I shouldn’t go out with him?” Gwen pushed, because it was clear Mal had reservations.
“This is none of my business.”
“Like that’s ever stopped anybody in this family. Or in this town, for that matter. Just tell me.”
Mallory inhaled deeply before blowing out a sharp breath. “Fine. I think you’ll hurt him, and I don’t want that to happen because he’s a really good friend.”
Gwen sat back in her seat, eyes wide. “I’ll hurthim?”
She didn’t want to get into the history of the situation brewing between her and Case. The fact that she’d had a crush on him forever and he’d been interested in her for like five minutes meant that, of the two, Gwen was far more likely to be the one who walked away with a broken heart. Mallory didn’t need to know just how long she’d been dreaming of kissing him, though.
Maybe it would be silly if her attraction to Case was new. They were adults now and high school had been a long time ago. But Gwen had wanted Mallory’s ex since before he was even her sister’s boyfriend—and during and after—so that guilt was baked into her feelings about him at this point.
“Case is here a lot,” Mallory continued. “I know him really well, and he’s at a point in his life where he’s thinking about having a family. He needs to date women who might be the one, so he can get married and have kids. You’re not staying, Gwen. You’ve made it very clear you’re leaving the first minute you can withouttoomuch guilt, and that’s not fair to him.”
Gwen had gone into this conversation talking about hooking up, not marriage and babies. “Nobody’s planning a wedding, Mal. But for the sake of argument, he could move to Vermont. It’s not that different from New Hampshire, you know.”
Mallory snorted. “Except that his family and friends are all here. And the house he owns. And the business he owns. This is where his life is. And believe it or not, some peoplelikeStonefield and actually choose to live here.”
Gwen stood and picked up her notebook. “This is just becoming another condemnation of mechoosingto live in Vermont, and I’m not interested.”
“It’s really not,” Mal said quietly. “It’s the truth. You don’t want to stay here, and Case doesn’t want to leave. If we were all twenty years old, it wouldn’t be a big deal. Have a fun fling. But I’m just saying, that’s not where Case is in his life, so if you decide to go for it, just make sure you’re both on the same page. I wouldn’t know, since I have no clue what pageyou’reever on.”
“I’m definitely not on any page that has me spending the rest of my life in this town.”
“You never really talk about your personal life, you know. Just how the writing’s going and stuff like that.”
There was no admonishment in her sister’s tone. Gwen only heard a touch of sadness, which compelled her to be honest. “That is my personal life, Mal. I don’t really get out and meet people. There was one guy I saw a couple of times, but then Dad died and...that guy wasn’t my person. I don’t have one. Just the writing.”
Mallory gave her a small smile. “I get it. I don’t have a person, either. Just the kids. But the question here is if you’relookingfor a person and if that person could be Case because, like I said, same page and all that.”
Gwen opened her mouth to tell her sister she and Case were on the same page, but then she shut it again because she actually didn’t know if that was true. She didn’t even know what pageshewas on, never mind Case.
