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“Kat and I didn’t want to make a big thing out of it until we knew it was serious. You know how the gossip blog is. But since I’m taking your sister to the charity gala, I decided now was a good time to go public.”
Damn, he was good at lying. The thought made my stomach turn sour. If he could lie this easily to his friend, how much easier would it be to lie to me? We weren’t even really friends.
“You’re taking Kat to the gala?”
“Yes, but please don’t say anything to anyone. We wanted to surprise my parents.”
She frowned but nodded. “Okay. As long as you’re happy.”
“We are,” he said with a smile. He grabbed my hand again, and this time, it felt like I had angry bees instead of butterflies flitting in my stomach.
Rebecca walked away, and I pulled my hand free and placed it in my lap.
“This is pretty cool,” Sid said, looking around. He grabbed his card and looked it over. “I’ve never felt so important before.”
“What the hell was that?” I blurted out.
“What?”
“Why did you tell my sister we were dating?”
“Isn’t that what you suggested when you said you had the perfect place for us to go? You said we could look like a couple.”
Shit. I had said that. “I meant to be seen together so when it came out at the gala in front of my sister, she could connect the dots. I didn’t want to draw the lines for her.”
He sighed. “How was I supposed to know that?”
“What if someone else heard?” I asked.
Sid looked around and shrugged. “No one else is here.”
“You know what I mean.”
“I don’t think I do.”
“Never mind,” I huffed. I took a sip of my wine and stared out into the restaurant. It was quiet. There wasn’t even music playing in the background, which made the tension between us swell.
“Have you brought Shiloh to the farm yet?” I asked, trying to change the subject. He looked surprised.
“Rebecca mentioned that you were going to see how she did around the animals so you could bring her with you when you taught classes.”
“Oh. No, I haven’t had a chance yet. I really want to, but I’m not sure how she would do with the horses, and I haven’t had the time to acclimate her.”
I nodded in understanding. “I could help. I’ll be with the twins most days anyway. Maybe you could bring her, and we could work together on it. If it doesn’t work, she could always keep me company. I’m sure Frank and Mindy wouldn’t mind.”
“Really? You’d do that?” he asked.
I shrugged. “Sure, why not?”
“I don’t know. It just doesn’t seem like your thing,” he said.
“What does that mean?” I asked defensively.
He stroked his beard. “I don’t know.”
I leaned forward. “I think you do. What do you think is ‘my thing’?”
He lifted a brow and stared at me. I returned his stare and willed him to tell me. It wouldn’t surprise me if he thought the same things about me as everyone else. I had hoped I’d be able to break free of the shackles of my past by living here, but two years later, people still judged me.
