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CHAPTER 31
Isabella
Iyawned as headlights shone on the broken fence where Cheyenne had instructed me to turn left. I was meeting her, Nadia, and Reagan for a class called Farm Strong. As far as I understood from their explanation and the flyer I’d seen the night we were at Southern Comfort, it was basically a boot camp style class that involved farm work.
Working on a farm was on my list. My favorite book growing up had been Charlotte’s Web, and I’d always romanticized what it would be like to bale hay and feed pigs.
None of the women had seemed that excited about it after I’d suggested it, but I was happy that they agreed, albeit begrudgingly, to come.
When I made it down the dirt road and came out of the clearing, I was surprised to see how packed the parking lot was. Well, “parking lot” might be overstating. It was a large patch of dirt. But, still, I had to circle it to find a spot.
When I got out, I scanned the crowd that had gathered around several large tires. Most of the women were dressed like they were about to be in a Beachbody video. They all matched and most of them had their midriffs showing.
I glanced down at my sweats and hoodie with a T-shirt underneath and felt very…schlubby. But it was four in the morning and the temp was in the low fifties. I was cold, dammit! I felt like a lightweight, especially considering I was from Connecticut.
“You found it!”
I heard Cheyenne call out and I looked up. I was relieved when I saw that Cheyenne, Reagan, and Nadia were all dressed similarly to me, in sweats and T-shirts. Nadia had a knit cap on, and Reagan was wearing gloves.
“Hey!” I greeted the trio as I crossed the dirt clearing to them. As I was walking two more cars showed up. “I can’t believe it’s this packed.”
Nadia pulled her beanie down so that it was covering her eyes. “I can’t believe you got me out here at quarter to we-should-all-be-the-fuck-asleep a.m.”
“You only came for the eye candy, and you know it,” Reagan remarked.
“I am not here to see Harlan.”
I couldn’t help but pick up on Nadia’s defensive tone.
“Who said anything about Harlan?” Reagan lifted her hands up.
“But, speaking of eye candy,” Nadia peeked one eye out from beneath her cap. “Where’s yours? If I remember correctly, he was here the last time you took this class.”
“He’s asleep. He closed the bar last night and we were up late.” Reagan took her gloves off and started to pull her hair up in a ponytail.
“Holy shit!” Nadia screamed and I jumped. “Is that a ring?!”
“Yes!” Reagan smiled from ear to ear. “I’m engaged!”
There was a lot of squealing as Cheyenne and Nadia threw their arms around Reagan while they all three jumped up and down. I wanted to join in, but I didn’t think it was my place. I barely knew the woman, but I was genuinely happy for her.
“He finally wore you down! That’s amazing.” Nadia grabbed Reagan’s hand and we all stared at the diamond.
“It was your mom’s.” Reagan winced at Cheyenne. “I hope that’s okay.”
“It’s amazing! I’m gonna have a sister!” Cheyenne clapped her hands.
We were still celebrating when a man in a flannel shirt with the arms cut off, cowboy boots, and a baseball hat addressed the group. “All right, now, settle down. No more squealin’.”
“But there’s a reason for the squealin’!” Nadia exclaimed then put her hands up to her mouth like a bullhorn. “Billy Comfort is officially off the market.”
Nadia held up Reagan’s hand like she’d just gone twelve rounds in the ring and come out the champion.
There was a swell of applause, whistles, and cheers but I couldn’t help notice that there were also a few sour faces in the group of forty or so. And the faces that looked like they’d just sucked a lemon all belonged to young, beautiful women.
Mrs. B was right. Comfort men were quite the commodity around here.
As I scanned the crowd of well-wishers and lemon-suckers, I noticed a familiar face. The stunning woman I’d met at Jimmy’s the night before was standing in the middle of the group.
