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The three of us exit the car, Juni and I linking arms as we push through the double doors of the diner, Ivy heading into the post office.
“You don’t seem concerned,” she says quietly as we drift past empty tables, finally finding the one we like best. We sit at the same table every time. She smirks. “Except for the canvases.”
“I don’t want him to date,” I admit in reference to the destruction I’d done when Tiffani showed up. “But I know I’m his soulmate, Juniper. I know it. I know it without a doubt.”
She flips open the laminated menu, eyeing me despite the fact her face is tipped down to the table. “I believe you.”
That. That right there is everything in the whole world and why I will stick by my sisters until the end.
Someone else might’ve tried to tell me I’m silly, that I can’t love a man I don’t know, that I’m too young, that what I’m doing is weird.
But Juni and Ivy don’t invalidate me. They don’t make me believe I don’t understand my own inner workings. They trust that I understand myself, and I do.
And anyway, at this point, Hudson Gray is no stranger.
He just doesn’t know how well I really know him. But once he finds out, he’ll understand why I’ve done all that I’ve done. He’ll see that I’ve done everything from a place of love and desire.
He will see me and my efforts the same way my sisters do, I just know it. Because a true soulmate loves and accepts you no matter what.
I’m just about to launch into everything I discoveredabout Tiffani when long, dark hair shines in my periphery. Juni and I turn our heads and immediately, my nostrils flare and my skin grows hot.
“Oh no,” Juni breathes, immediately understanding the situation. I slide out of the booth and get to my feet, Juni already at my side looping her arm through mine.
A moment later, we’re at their table, smiling.
“Hi, Hudson,” I beam, and I swear to God, whether he’s on a second date with this bitch or not, something flashes behind his eyes when he sees me. Surprise mixed with lust, maybe? A rush of needy warmth slips out of me as I take in his stubbled jaw and confusing reaction.
“Hi there, Dahlia.” He twists his gaze to my sister. “Hello. Juniper.”
Slowly, my eyes go to her. Tiffani. I catch her sizing us up, but when she sees me looking at her, she smiles off the judgment, outstretching a hand to me over her plate of mixed fruit.
Mixed fucking fruit. C’mon. He’s a goddamn dairy farmer. I look at his plate, finding it piled high with eggs, bacon, biscuits and gravy. A real plate of food for a man who works with his hands all day. My nipples harden, imagining all that it takes to power a man so large and powerful.
Tiffani with her plate of cantaloupe can’t handle a man like Hudson.
“Hi, I’m Tiffani, I just moved here,” she says, her words nice but not overly so. It’s almost like she doesn’t want us to interrupt her date. A man dressed in work boots and an old Carhartt hoodie passes by, saying hello to Hudson with a clap on the shoulder.
I love how much this town loves him and how much we need him here.
Tiffani with her social media profiles and phony degree and ulterior motives is the piece that doesn’t belong.
He’ll see that. He has to.
And yet, he’s onanotherdate.
Juni shakes Tiffani’s hand, and then I do, too, but I feel Hudson’s eyes on me, and I know… despite the fact he’s on another date, I know I’m getting closer.
I can feel him finally drifting toward me.
I just need to stay the course.
“It was nice meeting you, Tiffani,” I add, splitting a smile between her and Hudson. “But Ivy’s just picking up her fake skin from the post office, then we’re headed back home.”
Tiffani’s nose wrinkles, but her Botoxed forehead stays unoffended as she says, “Fake skin?”
Juniper points out the diner window, to the leased but empty shop across the street. Hudson and Tiffani both follow her finger, looking at the window as she uses her other hand to swipe Hudson’s fork from the table, sliding it up her sleeve.
I love my sister. She’s kind of a criminal, but I love her anyway. And if minor theft is her worst offense, that’s not so bad.
