Joan nodded, and then her eyes fell on the book in Anna’s lap. “Are you readingTexas Sunrise?”
Anna nodded. “I just picked it up at the airport. Believe it or not, I have to read it for work.”
“Oh, you’re in for a treat!” Joan said. “It’s one of my all-time favorites.” She looked like she was in her mid-fifties, salt-and-pepper hair cut short and curled. She had what looked like reading glasses hanging around her neck, resting against her purple sweater. Anna could tell she was a real reader. “Tell me, what kind of job do you have where you get to read romance novels for work?”
“I’m a location scout for movies.” Anna held up the book to illustrate. “This one’s going to be a beauty.”
Joan gasped. “Texas Sunriseis getting a movie?” Her whole face lit up when she asked. She was clearly the exact type of fanTexas Sunrise’sproduction company was counting on. “I can’t wait!” Anna could tell her row neighbor was resisting the urge to graband hug her. “Who’s going to star in it? Wait. Don’t tell me. I want to be surprised.”
“I’ll leave you comfortably in the dark, then.” Anna smiled as she cracked open her book and began to read.
Usually, whenever Anna sat in a window seat, she took the time to watch the takeoff and the landscape as it grew smaller and smaller below them. But the book had such a wonderful hook, she couldn’t seem to look away from the page. She kept covering her mouth and laughing to herself with every funny line she came across. Sometimes Joan would look over, and Anna would point out the line that had tickled her funny bone. Then Joan would read it and laugh along with her. Anna had begun the flight alone, but before it was over, the woman beside her was like a close friend.
This was another area where Anna excelled. She could make friends anywhere with anyone. It waskeepingfriends that was the problem. The struggle was so real that Anna couldn’t name a friend she had currently, despite having made many over the years. People standing next to her in line, stopping to chat with her at the park, even delivering pizza to her front door—they all seemed to love her, but no one really stuck around. If Anna was ever in a crisis, she had no idea who she would turn to.
Partway through their flight, Joan handed Anna a little scrap of paper. “My number,” she explained, “in case you ever need an extra on set or anything.” Her tone was unserious, but Anna could tell she kind of meant it.
“Of course.” Anna took the scrap of paper with a wink, knowing she would probably never reach out. In her experience, people didn’t stick around. Well,shedidn’t really stick around was probably the more accurate way to say it. Either way, mostpeople only wanted a friend who could be there for them in person, and that was never going to be Anna. No, it was better to keep fostering her pseudo, long-distance relationships than to put the work into a close friendship, only to lose the person when she inevitably moved away.
Anna used her receipt as a bookmark and took a picture of the book with her phone. Then she sent it to her cousin with the text,Getting in some light reading during my flight.
After a few minutes, Ellie responded,OMG! You’re finally reading it! Tell me when you’re done so I can finally gush about it without spoiling.
Anna smiled to herself. Now,thiswas the kind of relationship she could manage—one without meetups or brunches, one without obligations she couldn’t fulfill. Everything was done over text, and every obligation was fulfilled easily. Just a photo here and an emoji there with nothing too heavy or serious. Ellie was good for that kind of interaction. Truth be told, everyone in the Lafferty family managed their relationships pretty much the same way. It was just natural. And no matter how badly Anna might have wanted to try for something more, she knew she was unlikely to succeed.
CHAPTER 2
CHARLIE
It had only been six months since Charlie Greene had inherited his father’s ranch, and he was already overwhelmed. Lord knew, he shouldn’t have been. He’d grown up there, spent summers working with the animals, and knew the land by heart. But after Charlie moved into his own place as an adult, his father had started having health problems, and Charlie had taken his father’s word for it that everything was going smoothly. Turned out it wasn’t—not even close.
Now, Charlie was left with an inheritance that was on its last legs, and it was up to him to save it. The trouble, of course, was that Charlie had also inherited his father’s bad habit of never asking anyone for help. At some point, he was going to have to get someone else involved. But he was determined to avoid it as long as he could, mostly by doing everything he could himself.
Charlie pushed a brand-new wheelbarrow through the only hardware store in Denson Oaks. He used it like a shopping cart, adding a shovel, a rake, or whatever else he noticed on the shelves that he thought he might need later. When he was satisfied, he took it all up to the front counter to purchase.Labor is the majority of the cost,he kept telling himself, though he could almost see his bank account shrinking every time the scanner beeped at a barcode.
“Been a while since I’ve seen you around,” the owner, who was also the cashier, said. He was an older man Charlie knew from childhood. Of course, he’d been a bit younger then. Now, he looked like he should have retired ten years ago, but no one in a small town like this quit working when they should. They were all every bit as stubborn as Charlie. In other words, he fit right in. That never seemed to translate to the interactions he had in town, though.
Charlie answered the shop owner. “I moved out of town for a bit.” It was partially true. He’d movedjustoutside of town, but stuck around more or less. He just didn’t go out much.
“So, you working on the ranch again?” the owner asked.
Charlie nodded.
“How’s your pops? Been a while since I’ve seen him around.”
“Uh…” Charlie frowned at the question. How was he supposed to answer that? “He… passed away… six months ago.”
The smile dropped from the owner’s face immediately. “Oh, I’m so sorry to hear that,” he said. “He was a good man.”
“Yeah.” Charlie cleared his throat. “I mean thanks. I mean he’d thank you if he could, I’m sure. It’s got nothing to do with me.” What Charlie meant to communicate was that he didn’t assume the owner’s high praise automatically extended tohim, that he wasn’t going to ride his father’s coattails or use his father’s reputation to bolster his own. In his head, that seemed like the right thing to say. But the way it came out, as always, wasn’t at allthe way he’d meant it to come out. And this was why he avoided spending time in town if he could.
“Right.” The owner looked unsure how to respond. “That’ll be two hundred and seventy-five dollars.”
“Seems high,” Charlie said, mostly to himself.
“Well, the price of stock has gone up, you know. I’d have kept it down if I could.” The owner was defensive, understandably.
“No, I get it.” Charlie pulled out his wallet to pay. “It was just… an observation.”
