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She starts to say something, but then she clamps her lips shut.
“What?” I ask.
“Nothing.”
“Come on, what were you gonna say?” I put my napkin down and turn my stool toward hers, crossing my arms defensively.
She huffs a small laugh. “Look at you. Preparing for battle. Relax.”
Reluctantly, I unfold my arms. “I’m relaxed.”
“Yeah, relaxed like a guy being sent to the electric chair.”
“Just say what you were gonna say.”
She smooths the fabric of her shorts before crossing one tanned leg over the other. Swiveling to face me, she bites down on her lip as though still deciding whether I can handle the truth.
“I guess I’d just hope that someday your dreams and your life overlap. Same as what I hope for myself.”
She hops off the stool and grabs the bill from the plastic tray and carries it over to the cash register while I digest the simple profundity of her statement.
Between her surprising empathy and her zeal in demolishing a hamburger, she’s already different than I expected.
CHAPTER 7
Callie
“Remember the first time we came here, and you flirted with Fitz and got yourself knocked up?” I elbow Tessa as we walk through the door of the Hitching Post, one of the best bars in the area with a great dinner menu.
I can tell she’s rolling her eyes, even in the dim light of the place. When we sit at our table next to a dark wood paneled wall, she cocks her head at me, meaningfully.
“What?” I ask.
“Could you have said that louder?”
“Oh please, no one’s paying attention to us.”
She glances around and confirms that we’re indeed unnoticed. “All’s well that ends well, and I’m glad I let you all leave me here that night so I could hook up with my cowboy.”
“I’m glad too.” I pick up a sticky menu and study the list of bar snacks. We order pints of beer and potato skins and settle in at our table. Tessa looks around to see if she recognizes anyone, and I look more specifically for Luke since I overheard him say he was coming here when we were at the collectibles shop.
“Happy to do the same for you if your guy shows up,” Tessa says.
“Thanks, but I told you, it’s all for show.”
“Ha. Keep telling yourself that, and I’ll keep denying that I hooked up with Fitz.”
“You married him. It’s a little harder to deny.”
“Exactly.”
I look around the place once more, making out the faces of a few people in the darkest corners just to be sure. But there’s no sign of Luke. Maybe I misheard him, or he changed his plans.
“Even if he doesn’t show, I’m happy to be out with you,” I say, raising my beer glass to cheer my sister.
“Ditto.”
Tessa recognizes one of Fitz’s suppliers and goes over to say hello while I check my phone. I’ve been expecting a text from Luke to plan our photo shoot or to set a time to appear in public together, but he’s been silent. He said he has no free time between parenting and work. I guess he really means it.
