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She turned to look at me once more and shook her head sadly.
“I have no idea, and that’s the worst part. I was hoping maybe after I slept, a solution would come, but I can’t see a way where this all works out. Forrest is too stubborn for that.”
“Maybe, but you should talk to him and make it clear what this is between us. Make him understand it’s not something that’s bound to crash and burn. It’s love—true love, as sappy as that makes me sound.” I cracked a smile, hoping to make her grin too, but she only looked grim. “Tell him we’re together. He can either like it or not. That’s his choice.”
“You want me to choose between you and him?”
“Well, it’s not much of a choice, is it?”
She stared at me for a long second before she shook her head in disbelief, “it’s a big fucking choice, Deacon.”
dakota
The restof the day did not go as envisioned. After declaring our love for each other, I pictured us spending the day totally loved up and naked. Except after breakfast, I lied to Deacon and told him I had a shift today, so he left. It turns out he had a shift he had planned to bail on too.
I immediately felt bad for lying, but I was still so mad at him for suggesting there was even a possibility that I could choose between him and Forrest.
Maybe for him, there was. But Forrest was my best friend and had been for twenty-four years. He was the one Iwould’vegone to about all this if he wasn’t so deeply involved. Up until now, he had been there for every major problem in my life.
It was unfathomable that I might have to go on with a life without him. Especially considering if Deacon and I got married and started a family, Forrest would be a part of that family when we got together for Christmases and birthdays. It was impossible to avoid, and thinking it could be avoided by ‘picking’ one of them over the other was stupid.
I needed to find a way to make it work between the three of us, which meant I needed to talk to Forrest. He was working his side-gig right now, something he only did in the winter months when the farm was slower. But now that Ma was stepping down, we’d discussed what his next plans were, and he knew this was his last season working at the bar.
As I walked up to the bar, one of the old townies who made himself a permanent fixture on a bar stool stumbled out, pausing briefly to hold the door for me.
“Thanks, Frank.” He nodded his head as I went inside, my eyes surveying the room. It was only eleven in the morning. Only the drunks were here and Forrest, who was still getting everything set up for the day.
I felt like someone with their tail between their legs as I approached the bar top, climbing onto a chair and waiting until Forrest noticed me.
“Can I get a cup of coffee?”
“Why? You know this stuff is sludge. Go to Rhythm and Brews.” He turned his back on me as he returned to the till, counting out the bills before placing them all back inside.
“Rhythm and Brews lacks the company this place has.”
He glanced over his shoulder at me. “Yeah? You’re in the mood for handsy old men?”
I snorted, unable to stop the grin on my face. “You’re handsy all of a sudden? Since when?”
“I’m not old either, you tit.” He tossed a damp bar cloth at me, hitting me right in the face. This felt like headway, being called a tit, that had to mean he was settling down. Pushing the cash register closed, he turned and walked over to the coffee machine, pouring me a cup of what looked like tar before dumping creamer into it and carrying it over.
“Here’s your sludge.” He slid it across to me and then crossed his arms. “Why are you here?”
Catching the cup, I wrapped my hands around it and stared at him for a moment. “Deacon wants me to choose between the two of you.”
Forrest snorted and rolled his eyes, walking away immediately. “That’s exactly what I knew would happen.”
“Yeah? You’re all-seeing now?” My words stopped him dead in his tracks as he turned around to look at me, a storm brewing in his eyes.
“No, I’m not all-seeing, but I know my brothers. I know you. You being with one of them, with him, means we can’t be friends anymore.”
“Why not? That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard.”
“No, it’s not. Because you’ll go from being my friend to my sister-in-law, I can’t bitch at you about Deacon anymore because you’ll take itpersonally,and you can’t bitch to me about your relationship with him because he’s my brother. It just doesn’t work. And then, what happens if you don’t work out? Is that it? You stop coming around because you can’t stand the sight of him? Or maybe you try and make it work, but eventually, you get too uncomfortable, so you avoid all of us, or move out of town and go to Pleasant Lake since you work there already.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Slow down.” I slammed my hand on the table. “That is very dramatic for a guy who is normally pretty reserved. But also, you don’t know any of that will happen. Do you really think Deacon and I can’t make it work?”
“I don’t know, Kota. I don’t know what the answer is, but I see more bad endings than good.”
