“I love you too.” She leans in, brushing her nose against mine. I’m about to go in for a kiss when the moment is broken.
"Okay,” Ham says loudly, leaning against the trailer. “As touching as that was, I’m still a little lost about everything. Where exactly are you two disappearing to?”
Lottie turns toward Ham. I don’t want to let her go, so I hook my thumb through the loop on the back of her jeans. She smiles, glancing back at me, then looks to Ham again.
“Mapleton,” she says. “Dad offered to let me stay at the lake house rent-free, since no one’s there to keep an eye on it anyway. The second he offered, I knew it was right. It’s home—more than DC ever was.”
He nods, thoughtful. “And are you going to live off a money tree?”
“I haven’t the slightest idea.” She shrugs a little too whimsically for a conversation about finances. “I have lots of savings since I saved so much living at home. That will buy me time to figure something out. Whatever it is, I know it’s going to be something normal, so I blend in. I’m so tired of being the senator’s daughter.”
“And you?” Ham turns to me next. “Your tournament is over. You play in Minnesota. How are you planning to make this work?”
I lift one shoulder in a shrug that’s carefully casual. “I don’t have a plan, but I know it’s going to work. It has to.”
I don’t say more. I press my bottom lip in, sealing off any more details. I have something I’m working on in secret but don’t want to risk ruining everything. My attention shifts to Lottie as she coaxes Toast toward the horse trailer, and I can’t help but smile.
“Help me get these goats in the trailer.” She looks back at me, the fading sunlight catching the side of her face in a way that leaves me breathless. “We should probably hit the road soon if we want to beat rush hour.”
“Do you need to say goodbye to your parents?” I step forward, falling into pace beside her as we scramble to herd thegoats toward the ramp. I’ve got some unfinished business with Crunch, so I square up to him like I know what I’m doing—which is my first mistake. He spots the trailer immediately and drops to the ground like he’d rather die than get in it.
“I said goodbye this morning. Don’t worry, it was amicable.” She nabs Toast by his collar and leads him into the trailer without any problems. “Besides, I’ll see my mom in about a month when she comes to Mapleton. I guess that’s one of the good things about choosing Mapleton. I get to move away from my parents, but since that’s also their home, I’ll see them enough.”
“And since my parents still live there,” I chime in, “I can visit a lot too.” Stepping forward, I grab Crunch’s collar, and try to pull him up, but, surprise, he won’t budge. “Look,” I say as I widen my stance and prepare to carry a heavy load. “You don’t scare me.” I lean forward. Since he’s anchoring himself to the ground, it makes it easy for me to scoop him up, all two hundred pounds, and waddle my way to the trailer. With a grunt and a huff, I get him in there, with Cinnamon trotting along after. She must have seen the others leave and decided she didn’t want to get left behind. I back out of the trailer and shut the door, panting like I just finished working out.
“All right.” I turn back to Lottie, wiping my hands on my pants. “I’m ready when you are.”
Lottie turns to Ham. “Are you sure you’re okay driving the goats all by yourself?”
“Please, it will feel like a vacation driving alone. I’m looking forward to it.”
“Okay.” Lottie looks to me, then back at Ham. “Let’s do this.” Ham turns and climbs into his truck, already hitched to the goat trailer, while Lottie and I head for the U-Haul. I slide into the driver’s seat and take a minute to adjust the mirror and bucklemy seat belt. When I start the engine, I notice she’s staring at me. “What?”
“Are you sure you can drive this?”
“I just won a national hockey tournament against the best guys in the country. I’m pretty sure I can handle a U-Haul, even if it’s pulling your Land Rover.” Of course, I fail to mention that I’ve never driven anything bigger than a standard SUV, but she doesn’t need to know that.
“Okay, then.” She relaxes into her seat, and I wait for Ham to pull out first, clearing the way. Then I shift into gear and ease forward. I’m quiet as I concentrate on getting a feel for the road, and Lottie pulls out her phone. “Oh, Brett sent me a message. Wonder what he wants?”
“Bow Tie Brett?” I struggle not to sound jealous. She doesn’t work for her mom anymore. He doesn’t need to be messaging her personal phone. “What does he want?”
“It looks like a video.” She clicks on it as her eyes widen. “Oh, great, it’s a video of my mom’s press conference from this morning. I can just imagine—” Her voice trails off as her mom’s voice starts to play, and I’ll admit I hold my breath so I can hear it better. The woman scares me.
“Senator Halloway, you’ve previously expressed disdain for the hockey players, but it turns out Tyson Lane, one of the players who is originally from one of your voting districts, led his team to winning the tournament. Have you changed your opinion of him at all?”
My jaw drops as I grip the steering wheel until my knuckles turn white.
“Thank you for the question. I would like to address this issue. As you said, Tyson Lane is from Mapleton, but he’s more than that—He’s a fine young man, who’s dating my daughter. He’s my future son-in-law. I couldn’t be prouder of him.”
I slam my gaze to Lottie’s. My ears have finally lost all function, because it sounded like she said she was proud of me, and I know that can’t be right. There's no way I actually earned her respect. “What did she say?”
“I need to hear that again too.” She presses the back button and replays the video. We listen in silence, making sure we heard what we thought we heard. When it’s over, Lottie places her phone in her lap and sighs. “Now that you’re a national hero this week, she’s using you for votes. I’m so sorry.”
I smile and drop a hand from the wheel, feeling more confident driving the U-Haul now. “I’m not sorry, and remember, you aren’t apologizing for her anymore.”
Silence lingers, both of us seemingly lost in thought at Lottie’s Mom’s declaration.
Lottie shifts in her seat and takes a drink from her water bottle. “It doesn’t bother you,” she says, breaking the silence, “that she basically lied and said we were engaged? We aren’t. Oh—wait. Brett just texted. Look at that. My mom’s rumors are already getting out of hand. He wants me to confirm if I’m your fiancée or not. What the—can you believe my mom is at it again?”
