I frowned. “What’d you tell her?”
Sam quirked his eyebrow at me. “What, you didn’t want me to tell her you got ripping drunk last night and now you’re hung over?” He smirked. “Don’t worry. I told her you had a little stomach bug.”
“Thanks. Not that she won’t hear what happened from someone else, since no one in Burton knows how to keep their mouth shut.”
“Which isn’t a problem if you know how to behave.” Sam shot me the big-brother glare, but it didn’t carry much heat. I stuck out my tongue at him.
“On that note, I’m out of here.” Meghan wriggled away from my brother and came over to give me a hug. “Feel better, sweetie. Call me tonight and let me know how it goes with Flynn.”
“What? How what goes with Flynn?” Panic sliced through me.What had I forgotten from last night?
“He’s coming over to drop off Bridget later this afternoon, right?”
Crud, he was.I’d blocked that out.“Yeah, so?”
“So I thought he might say something about last night. Maybe you two could start to do something radical, like be honest with each other about how you feel.” She patted my shoulder. “Just something to think about.” She offered her hand to Sam. “Walk me out?”
I put my head back down and concentrating on wishing this day were over. I might’ve fallen asleep again for a minute, but I jumped awake when the door slammed.
“God, Sam, you scared the life out of me.”
“Sorry.” He didn’t sound very contrite as he pulled out a chair to sit across from me. “Do you want to talk about last night?” The way he spoke, I knew he’d rather plow the south forty naked than have this discussion. I toyed with the idea of dragging him through a chick-talk about my feelings and what seeing Flynn dance with that bleach-blonde bimbette had done to me, but in the end, I decided he deserved a break.
“Nah, I’m good. I talked to Meghan. And it really doesn’t matter anyway. I just want to forget it all.” My eyes fell on the counter, where sat the bright blue folder Rilla Grant had given me the day before. That seemed like a good way to change the subject. “Hey, Sam, do you know the Grants?”
He frowned, rubbing the back of his neck. “The ones who have the farm out on 72? Yeah. Well, I know Emmett a little. He was part of the Guild for a while, until they got too liberal for him.”
I raised my eyebrow. “Since when is the Guild liberal?” They were a group of farmers and town businessmen who met to support each other and the community. After our parents had been killed, the Guild had taken Sam under their collective wing and helped us keep the farm. My brother never forgot how much we owed these men.
“Since they decided to meet on a Sunday afternoon once a few years back. Mitch Jones’ daughter had her wedding on the Saturday when we usually got together, and so we voted to postpone to the next day. Emmett left the Guild right then.”
“Sheesh. That seems a little extreme.”
Sam shrugged. “Well, to each his own, and I respect his wishes. I think he was heading toward leaving before that anyway. The whole family is kind of stand-offish. I guess Emmett’s wife ran off when their daughter was a baby, and he closed ranks after that.”
“Hmmm. That fits with what Cassie told me, too. Rilla Grant came by the stand yesterday. She’s starting up an advertising business, and she wanted to know if we might be interested in being one of her first clients. She gave me that info.” I nodded to the folder.
“Advertising? For what, the stand?” Sam snorted. “Since when do we need to advertise?”
I rolled my eyes. “I don’t know, Sam. But moving with the times wouldn’t kill us. We don’t do anything to promote our business. I’m not saying we go full-throttle or spend a ton of money, but I looked over what Rilla gave me. She’s got some good ideas. Wouldn’t hurt to talk to her, at least.”
“I’ll take a look.” Sam reached for the papers, but before he opened the folder, he gazed at me. “You’re right, Ali. Sometimes things need to change. I spend a lot of time and energy working to keep everything going just like it was before. The same old, same old is comfortable. But sometimes we need to shake things up.”
“Okay.” I was a little unclear about where he was going with this. “You’re not firing me, are you?” I laughed. Sam and I were co-owners of everything: this house, the farm and the stand. Since I’d moved home with Bridget, after Craig left, we’d made every decision together.
He didn’t join in my laughter. “I’m just saying, even though things have worked well for us like they are, it doesn’t mean change is a terrible thing. I never want you to feel like you’re stuck here.”
Now it was getting clearer. “You talked to Meghan, too, didn’t you?”
He scowled, looking uncomfortable. “A little. I asked her the other day if she knew what’d happened between you and Flynn, back after graduation, I mean. We talked about the choices you made then. At the time, I never asked you. I didn’t know until you told me about it last summer. Back then, I was afraid to say anything, because you were so upset. And after it just seemed like it didn’t matter. It was over.” He heaved a sigh. “I’m sorry, Ali. Sorry I didn’t ask, and that I wasn’t a better big brother back then.”
I reached across to lay my hand on his arm. “Don’t, Sam. There wasn’t anything you could’ve said that would’ve changed anything. No matter how much you pushed. Okay? Stop feeling guilty.”
“You were going to leave with Flynn, and you didn’t because of me. Because of the farm. You gave up what you wanted to do to stay here for me.”
I took a deep breath. “That was part of it, or at least it was the reason I used. Yes, I’d told Flynn I’d go away with him. He was just chafing here, you know that. As much as he loved his family, Burton was too small to hold him, I think. But that morning before graduation, you were so excited. You laid out all the plans you’d been making, how if we worked together, I could go to college right here and work the stand, and we could keep the farm going. You’d figured out all the timelines and the budget, and how it was going to happen.” I smiled, remembering. “I was so impressed, and it felt like Mom and Dad would’ve been proud. It felt like what they’d have wanted us to do.”
“And that’s why you told Flynn you weren’t leaving.” Sam leaned back in his chair, dropping his head against the top of it.
