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“You’re falling in love with him,” Aurora says. It’s not a question but a statement.
“What? No.”
“Yes.” She points at my face. “You are.”
“That’s crazy talk,” I scoff. I’m not in love with him. We had a magical, no not magical, fucking magic…. We had a few great days together, where we enjoyed each other’s company. Sure, I wasn’t ready for it to end, but all good things must come to an end.
“It’s not crazy talk. I know you. If you’re not in love with him, you’re close.”
“I care about him, but I cared about him before. He’s your brother-in-law,” I remind her.
“Aspen,” Grant says, waiting for my full attention. “I’ll talk to him. I’ll find out where his head is at, but I can promise you, my brother doesn’t play games. None of us ever have. That’s not how we roll. We’re all straight shooters. If he says he wants to spend time with you, then he means it.”
“But I can’t just have this ‘benefits’ relationship. I’m not cut out for it. I’ll catch feelings, and then when he’s done, I’ll be left,” I confess.
“Sis, maybe he’s catching feelings too?” Grant says softly.
“It was just a few days.”
“I get that. I do. But it only took one look for me to know that your sister was going to be significant in my life.”
“I’ve known Conrad for over a year. Nothing in that time between us. Friends. Nothing more, nothing less from either of us. Then he walks into that cabin, and something I can’t even describe happens, and here I am.” I shrug, defeated.
“Just don’t close yourself off yet,” Aurora pleads. “Let Grant talk to him and find out where his head is at.”
“You can’t tell him I told you. You can’t tell him any of this,” I beg.
“Hey.” Grant grabs my hand. “I promise I won’t tell him, but I do want to hear his side now that I’ve heard yours.”
“You two can’t possibly be okay with this?”
“Why not? There’s no law that says sisters can’t marry brothers from the same family,” Aurora counters.
“Incest is illegal, Rory,” I joke.
“Stop it. You know what I meant.”
“I mean, my mom and the rest of my family already dubbed you an honorary Riggins, so this way you’ll get the name to go with the title.” He smirks.
“Whoa, back up the cookie truck. No one is talking about marriage and changing names.”
“It’s worth it. You should try it,” Aurora tells me.
“You two”—I point at the two of them—“are in this love bubble and want everyone to have your happiness.”
“Is that so wrong? You’re my sister, and I love you. I want you to find a good man to spend your life with. How do we know that’s not Conrad?”
“How did this conversation go from possibly dating to marriage?”
“It’s the magic,” Grant says, deadpan.
He really does believe in all of this magic of finding love stuff. I don’t know what I believe. I know Conrad is constantly on my mind. I know I’ve spent more time replaying my time with him in the cabin than anything else this past week. I know every time he comes into the bakery, I question my decision and wonder if any time spent with him would be worth the heartache.
“Hey, Mom,” Grant says, pulling me out of my thoughts. “We’re home. Aspen is here.” He pauses. “We’ll be there. Okay. I’ll tell her.” Another pause. “My wife is perfect. We’ll be there, Mom. Love you,” he says, ending the call.
“Mom wanted to make sure we could make it to Sunday dinner.”
“Our first one as husband and wife.” My sister sounds so happy it brings tears to my eyes.
Grant leans in and presses his lips to hers. “Our first of many.” He pulls away and pins his gaze on me. “Mom also insisted you be there.”
“I don’t think that’s such a good idea,” I say as my phone rings. Grabbing it from the table, I see Lena Riggins’s name flash across my screen. “Hi, Lena,” I greet her, and both my sister and brother-in-law grin like fools. “I appreciate the invite.” I listen as she tells me that she’s not taking no for an answer. “Okay. Thank you. I’ll be there.” She tells me I better be, or she’s sending one of the boys to get me before ending the call.
“She knew you would try to decline.”
“How?”
“I told you. We could all see the tension between the two of you. Not to mention the dance and the way Conrad’s eyes would follow you no matter where you were in that cabin.” Aurora smiles at me.
“I think I’ve had enough of the love matchmaking for today. I’m beat. I’m going to head home and get some sleep.”
“Be safe. We love you.” Aurora stands to give me a hug, Grant doing the same.
