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“It’s okay.” Chloe grabs a beer from the cooler and hands it to Scooter.
“Thanks for the info. And the beer,” he says, taking it from her. “You’re my favorite second cousin.”
“Actually, I’m your first cousin, once removed.”
“Huh?” Scooter shields his eyes from the sun and frowns up at her.
“Never mind.” Chloe disappears inside.
“Tucker?”
I ignore Scooter and flip the burgers one last time. “I’m not talking about her with you.”
“Fine. You listen. I’ll talk.” He stands up and walks to me. “You’ve had a crush on that girl since the third grade, and then she fled this town faster than a nun from a whore house, your feelings be damned. She’s a superstar, Tuck. Famous beyond any of our imaginations.”
“I get that.”
“I don’t think you do. She can do anything, go anywhere, have anyone.”
“Are you trying to tell me I’m not good enough?”
“Hell, no.” Scooter shakes his head. “If anything, you’re too good for her.”
I wouldn’t go that far.
“Look, all I’m saying is watch out for that one. Your life is here, and well…hers isn’t.”
“I know that.”
“Good.” With a final nod of his head, Scooter walks inside, leaving me alone with Dean, who watches me carefully.
“You gonna warn me against her, too?”
“Nope.” Dean shakes his head. “It wouldn’t do any good. You’ve never cared what other people think. I learned a long time ago that you always do what you want to do.”
“But…” Because there’s always a but.
“But, I think you should tread lightly. She broke your heart once. I don’t put it past her to do it again.”
“She didn’t break my heart.” I was eighteen and in lust. I had no clue what love was at the time. And now, well, now I’m older and wiser and know better than to fall victim to whims evoked by a pretty girl.
“Whatever you have to tell yourself.” Dean claps a hand on my shoulder. “Just take it slow and don’t get too attached.”
When the back door shuts, my eyes drift to Rick’s house. Scarlett is standing in her dad’s kitchen near the sink. She glances up and catches me looking at her through the window.
Dean’s words echo in my head, and all I can think is: easier said than done. I’ve never had any sense when it comes to this girl.
She lifts a hand and waves, her smile slow and soft.
I am so screwed.
“Absolutely not.”
“What’s wrong with this one?” Chloe lifts her arms and looks at herself in the mirror. “It’s cute.”
“It’s too short.”
“You said that about the last three dresses.”
“Chloe, I’m not buying you a dress that short, end of story. Maybe you should try on a long one.”
“I don’t want to try on a long dress. Long dresses aren’t in this season. All of my friends are wearing short dresses.”
“If all of your friends jumped off a cliff, would you follow?”
Chloe rolls her eyes and stomps into the dressing room. I smile to myself and lean back in the chair to wait for Chloe.
“This one is it, Dad.”
Thank God, because I don’t know how much more of this I can take, and we’ve only been here for—I look at my watch—thirty minutes.
Chloe squeals and sashays out of the dressing room in a red, strapless dress. If she bends over, she’ll flash the entire world. “Where’s the other half?”
“Other half?”
“Of the dress. Chloe, this one is shorter than the last. And it’s strapless. No way. Try on the next one.”
“There isn’t a next one, Dad. This is the dress.”
“This is a dress, but it’s not the dress because I’m not paying for that scrap of material.”
“Ugh.” Chloe whirls around and growls. “Why are you being so difficult?”
“I could ask you the same thing,” I mumble.
“Daughters,” a woman says, dropping down beside me on the couch. “Can’t live with ‘em, can’t live without ‘em.”
“Oh, I bet I could live without her,” I joke.
The woman smiles and then laughs when she says, “I could probably live without mine, too. I’m Laura.” She holds out her hand, and I shake it.
“Tucker. That lovely girl that just rolled her eyes at me is my daughter, Chloe.”
“She’s beautiful.”
“Thank you. Which one of these prepubescent tween princesses belongs to you?”
Laura points to a set of twin girls fawning over the jewelry rack.
“Oh my God, you have two? How does that even work?”
“Well,” she says, crossing her legs, “it’s double the hair in my sink, double the mess, double the food, double the laundry, double the eye rolls and growls and tears.”
I shudder. “You deserve some sort of medal. The hair I could handle, the tears I could not.”
Chloe sulks out from behind a curtain, and Laura and I both look up.
“Yes!” I jump up and turn Chloe so she can look at herself in the mirror. “This one is my favorite.”
“It’s hideous.”
“No, it’s not.” The skirt is three-quarter-length, cutting off mid-calf, the straps are nice and thick with a high chest line, and there are rhinestones. Every girl loves rhinestones. “You said you didn’t have any more dresses to try on.”
