“Sorry, Abs. That title goes to Grace.”
Abi narrowed her eyes. “Fair. Bridesmaid then.”
“Grace?” I questioned, looking over to Kyla.
Taking a sip of her drink, Kyla nodded. “My best friend. She lives in Arizona.”
“And hasn’t visited since you first moved here,” Abi remarked, glancing over her shoulder at Kyla.
"She came out when Poppy was born." Kyla defended, her voice raising louder, almost echoing. As if she knew how loud she actually was, she bit her lip.
Abi gave a silent chuckle. "For two days. You know I think she's great, I just wish she'd come back. I'd like to think we'd be friends."
“She won’t. Something happened and she won’t tell me what.”
“How do you know something happened then?” I raised a brow, leaning back into the couch.
“Best friend intuition.” Kyla answered.
“She’ll be back,” Abi said certainly, "Especially if you renew your vows. I bet Rhett would be all over marrying you again.”
“We’ve talked about it. Maybe on an anniversary.”
“What’s your wedding going to be like, Abi?” I asked, shifting back to the bride. “Big ceremony, courthouse elopement?”
“Ceremony. In the stables. It’s only fitting.” She ran her hands down her stomach. “I love this, but…sorry, Kyla. It’s not the dress.”
“Agreed, next!” Kyla raised her glass in the air, and Abi disappeared behind the curtain. “Congrats on your rides this past weekend,” Kyla said to me, leaning in and bumping me with her elbow.
“Thanks, it was a great weekend.” I smiled, thinking back on all but the last ride. “One step closer to the NFR.”
“You should be proud. We all are—everyone watched. Wyatt made sure we knew exactly where to catch each ride.”
“Wyatt?” I gave a small laugh. “He was more into it than anyone, I think. Once he got the hat.”
“He needed that. He needed out of the bunkhouse, out of the stables. He needed to be reminded why he loves the rodeo.”
“Amen!” Abi called from behind the curtain. “Don’t get me wrong, I love my brother, and the help he’s doing around the stables has been fantastic, but he’s been”—Abi tossed one of the dresses over the curtain—“happier since you guys got back. Kyla’s right, he needed that. He’s been”—she scoffed—“not himself after what happened with Archie. I’m honestly starting to get nervous he’s never going to get back in the booth.”
“What happened with Archie?” I asked, furrowing my brow at the curtain.
“He just…messed up.” I heard Abi’s faint voice. “He needed to get back to rodeos. I think even being near his old friends and people who recognize him has been helping.”
“We ran into my mom in Colorado. She sure knew who he was.” I flinched, not exactly sure why I decided it was a good idea to bring her up. I raised my glass to my lips and widened my eyes. Maybe they didn’t hear me.
“Your mom was Miss Rodeo America, right?” Kyla asked, raising her own glass.
“Yeah, she’s the coach for Miss Rodeo Montana, and she let it slip that Wyatt and Kelly used to date. So yeah, Abi, he’s definitely around his old friends.”
“I wouldn’t call Kelly a friend, and I wouldn’t classify the week they were together as dating,” Abi answered. “An old flame, maybe, but my brother has plenty of those.”
“Like the entire rodeo royalty?” I asked, clamping my lips shut the second the words left my mouth. I glared at my glass of sparkling water, wondering if there was any trace of alcohol in this thing. Why the hell was I bringing up the questions I didn’t want to know the answers to? I couldn’t ask him, but I could gossip to his sister?My age is showing.I bit my lip and looked at Kyla.
“I know for a fact that it was Sam going after the royalty, not Wyatt.” Abi gave a slight grunt. “Wyatt wanted to have fun, sure, but he wasn’t about checking names off a list. I bet you he’s slept with fewer people than you think.”
“But he was with Kelly?” I mumbled, looking down at my drink again. “My mom seemed to think that mentioning her name to him would have him spinning.”
“There could have been more with her, but it didn’t last long. I think he caught her with a—hey—Kyla—can I get your help with this.”
