“Your sister is one in a million,” she whispered to me.
“That’s a nice way of saying she’s a manipulative little schemer,” I said fondly.
“Maybe you should keep it down. They keep looking over here,” Cassidy said.
Shelby snickered next to me.
“Just smile and wave,” Scarlett said at full volume. “They have no idea what we’re sayin’.”
They waved and smiled, and we did the same in return.
“They’re all invested in you,” Shelby said. “I get the sense that the whole town feels responsible for making up for your father.”
“They seem to be fans of you, too,” I observed.
Shelby gave a sassy little shrug. “Yeah, I’m kind of hard to resist.”
I was starting to see that.
“I guess we can be friends now,” I said.
She put the top back on the tonic and took one of the cups from me. “To friendship.”
I clinked my cup against hers. “To friendship.”
14
Jonah
Bootleg Springs had trouble ending a party. We’d stayed out on the lake until the sun kissed the water in a blaze of pinks and reds.
And just before all the decks motored home, Scarlett and Devlin announced a bonfire at their new place. Bootleg apparently also didn’t mind a party at a hole in the ground.
Shelby rode with me, and we gave Bowie and Cassidy a lift. Something else neighbors and family did for each other when everyone lived five minutes from everyone else.
My car bounced down the dirt path that cut through the land leading us toward the lakefront.
I felt a burst of pride for my sister. Scarlett hadn’t had the advantage of college, and she hadn’t needed it. She’d taken over our father’s handyman business before she should have had to. By the time she graduated high school, she’d saved the flagging business and started saving for her first real estate rental. Now, she was building a home and planning a future with the man she loved.
It was probably time for me to start weighing my options, thinking about my future. It had been a year since Rene. A year since I’d arrived in Bootleg as a stranger. I was healing here. But that didn’t mean that I had to stay.
And even though when I’d said I was leaving it had been a lie, the words still struck a chord within me. A decision needed to be made. Stay or go.
Here, I had brothers and a sister. I had friends. Would those relationships survive if I left? Were they real if they didn’t?
I spared Shelby a glance. She was in the passenger seat, quiet. Her eyes looked heavy, shadowed.
My headlights caught the ghostly skeleton of construction. “Look at this,” I said.
Bowie and Cassidy reluctantly unlocked their lips in the back seat.
Under the light of the moon, we could see the beginning of a real house. The basement was poured, and the first floor was already partially framed. The bonfire was just getting started down on the shoreline. A dozen pickups and SUVs were already there. People were carting food and chairs and even a keg down to the fire. Music played through someone’s portable speakers.
When we parked, Shelby peeled off to talk to Hester Jenkins and Penny Waverly while Scarlett and Devlin gave the rest of us the grand tour.
“This here’s where we’re going to snuggle by the fire in the winter,” Scarlett said, pointing at the plywood. She grinned up at Devlin, who leaned in to wrap her up. Their future shined so bright. And again, I felt that sharp reminder that I was missing out on something. That I could have had something like this but it was taken away from me.
They’d positioned the house to take advantage of the lake views. What would be tall windows looked out in all directions, framing in trees and water and rolling hills. I could imagine them here. Could imagine Kitten Jedidiah skidding on the hardwood of the first floor in his reign of terror. I could see Christmas mornings here and birthday dinners.
Would I be here to see them?
Would Rene have liked it here? With her brunches and her cycling classes. Her art gallery visits. Would she have been happy here with me? With my family?
My throat felt tight.
While Gibson admired the quality of the construction, Jameson and Leah Mae asked a dozen questions about the floor plan. Bowie and Cassidy made out in a dark corner. Making up for lost time, I guessed.
I took the opportunity to slip out. I was happy for Scarlett and Devlin. Really happy. But I