in it for you and Kyla. Absolutely. I mean, if Whisper Creek magic got you to the altar, then it could pretty much work on anyone, right?”
“I’d like to be insulted by that comment, but I can’t be, because it’s completely true.”
Jess looked around her, taking in the acres of tulle and satin and lace, and then she looked in the mirror again. The dress she had on was the most gorgeous creation she’d ever seen, but somewhere, way back in time, she’d pictured herself in those acres of tulle and satin and lace. She’d pictured an aisle, a groom, a limo, a cake.
Pictured it until reality sliced that vision into tiny, scarred little pieces.
And now that reality was dead on her tail.
Jess swallowed, but tried to keep a smile pasted on her face. Hayley had no reason to disbelieve the story Jess had made up before she’d walked into her freshman dorm—that her parents lived overseas and therefore she rarely saw them. She certainly had no inkling of the things Jess had survived before her seventeenth birthday.
Until just a few days ago, Jess had been able to believe Star Smith was dead and buried, locked in court paperwork that no one would ever have reason to search out. But now Roxie and Luanne—and maybe Billy—were on her trail, and it was only a matter of time before Jess was exposed for the fraud she was.
Only a matter of time before her best friends found out she’d been lying to them since they’d met, and only a matter of time before she’d have to face her aunt and mother and her ugly, sordid past.
She took a deep breath, blowing it out carefully. Maybe staying at Whisper Creek for the summer wasn’t such a bad idea after all.
—
Later that afternoon, Jess was in the stable brushing Sky Dancer when she heard Cole and Decker come into the barn.
“So you’re off again today?” There was a tightness in Cole’s words that she hadn’t heard before.
“I’ve gotta meet with Mike to go over our plans for the city council meeting tomorrow.”
“And there’s no way you could have done that yesterday while you were up at Boulder Creek?”
“Um, no.” Decker sounded confused, like he wasn’t quite sure what he’d done to tick off his brother so early in the morning. “We had a bunch of other stuff to cover yesterday. I’ll be back in a couple of hours, though. I’ll take the evening trail ride out.”
“Fine.”
Jess could picture Cole’s jaw, all tight.
“What bug has crawled up your ass, Cole?”
“Nothing. Never mind.”
“Are you pissed that I’m leaving?”
“No. Just pissed that you said you’d be here, so instead of giving Jimmy the hours he was hoping for, I put you on the schedule. And now you’re headed out and I’m down one trail guide. Again.”
“I’m sorry this keeps happening. If I didn’t have to go, I wouldn’t.”
“I know.” Cole’s voice came closer, and Jess ducked down in the stall, feeling awkward about eavesdropping on their conversation, but feeling even more awkward about popping up in the middle of it.
Decker sighed. “We’ve got a lot going on up there right now, and I need to be available when they need me. I’m sorry that screws with things here.”
“I get it, Decker—but I don’t always have to like it. We’ve got a full roster of guests with a boatload of kids this week, and if I can’t depend on you to fill in where you say you will, it just causes a scramble, that’s all.”
“Look. I’ll try to finish up with Mike as soon as I can. I’m not trying to dump everything here on you.”
“I know.”
“Do you?”
“Yeah, I do. Still pisses me off, but I get it, okay? Go do what you need to do. I’ll hold down the fort here.”
Decker paused, and Jess imagined him taking off his Stetson and running it around his fingers. “Maybe it’s time we had a talk about dividing up who does what.”
“Maybe it is. But not right now. You have to go, and I have to find a trail guide. Your ass had better be back here by seven, saddled and ready.”
“Or?”
“Or I’m gonna put you on private lesson duty all next week.”
“No problem. I can do that.” Jess heard Decker’s feet move toward the door, then stop short. “Wait. Don’t we have that group of seventy-year-old women next week?”
“Yup.”
His feet stomped out. “I’ll be back by five.”
An hour later, Jess found Cole sorting through riding helmets in the tack