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I couldn’t help but smile at Brody.
“Oh, if they have pimento cheese sandwiches, will you grab me one? No, two! Wait, get me three!”
Brody and I both laughed.
“I better get four, just in case,” he said.
Sutton blushed but kissed her husband before he turned and headed off in the direction of the food.
“Something has been bugging me,” I said to Sutton as I glanced back at Harlee. She had moved on to someone else, clearly making her rounds.
“What’s that?”
“The other day when Harlee got so upset, I don’t think it was just over the whole she’s like a sister thing.”
Sutton looked at me with a concerned expression. “What makes you say that?”
“I don’t know. I mean, she’s never acted that way before. Or at least, she’s never verbalized it. We’ve always included her in everything we do, so I don’t think that’s what was actually bothering her.”
“Do you think it’s the gossip column? As you said, Ms. Seaside does keep pointing out how single she is.”
I watched Harlee carefully as she made her way around the room. It seemed like she was looking for someone…but who? She was trying not to make it noticeable, but I could tell she was searching.
“She’s looking for someone,” I said.
Sutton followed my gaze back to Harlee. “What do you mean? She’s walking around talking to everyone. That’s what a good hostess does, Palmer.”
I shook my head. “No, Sutton, she’s distracted. Look.”
After watching Harlee for a few moments, Sutton said, “She is! Who’s she looking for?”
And right at that moment, we had our answer.
Braxton walked into the room, and Harlee did a doubletake. She watched him walk over to the bar, not taking her eyes off of him until someone said something to her that made her turn and smile.
“Brax,” I whispered. “She was looking for Brax!”
Sutton glanced between Braxton and Harlee before looking at me. “Do you think something’s going on with them?”
I shook my head. “No, I think something already happened between them in the past.”
Sutton frowned. “That’s not news, Palmer.”
“No. I think something big happened. Not just sex.”
When I looked at my sister, she was staring at me with a blank expression.
“We know they had a one-night stand,” I said, “but maybe it meant something more. A couple months ago, I had a heart-to-heart with Brax. He all but admitted that he was in love with someone but had let her go. What if that someone was…”
We turned and looked across the room. At the same time, we both said, “Harlee.”
Sutton and I started to slowly walk around the room as we followed our friend. Every so often, she would glance over at Braxton, who was still standing at the bar drinking a beer.
“She’s moving closer to him!” Sutton whispered, grabbing my arm and giving me a shake.
“Yes, I see that. Will you please not rip my arm out of its socket with your weird pregnancy super-strength?”
Sutton looked down at her grip on me and let go. “Sorry.”
“She’s getting even closer,” I said as we made our way around some tables and casually pretended to be talking. But Harlee wasn’t paying any attention to us. Her focus was purely on Braxton now.
After giving Mrs. Pritcher a hug, Harlee excused herself and finished the short distance to where Braxton was still standing. She walked up to the bar and ordered a drink.
“He’s saying something to her,” Sutton said, hitting me on the arm.
“I swear if you weren’t pregnant right now, I would elbow you in the side. Stop hitting and grabbing me. I see the same thing you do.”
“She’s turning to leave!”
I narrowed my eyes and watched Harlee head toward an exit that led to a long hallway filled with meeting rooms and the restrooms. I swung my gaze back to Brax.
He finished off his beer, took a quick glance around the room, then went in the same direction.
Sutton and I both gasped.
“Oh. My. God,” I whispered. “They’re having a clandestine meeting!”
Sutton snorted. “Meeting? I think not. A hundred bucks says her hair doesn’t look so put together when she comes back.”
I covered my mouth to giggle.
“Brax and Harlee. Why do you think they’re keeping it a secret?” Sutton asked.
“Psh. Isn’t it obvious? They don’t want to be in the gossip column.”
Sutton thought about that for a few moments. “Do you think?”
I nodded. “Yep.”
“Here you are. I’ve been looking everywhere for you, Sutton.”
We both turned to see Brody standing there with two plates. One was piled high with sandwiches, the other with cookies, brownies—and were those pickles? Gross.
“Ohhh, thank you, baby!” Sutton said as she went for a sandwich and a pickle. She took one bite of the pimento sandwich and then a bite of the pickle. I swallowed hard to keep from gagging.
Brody leaned in and whispered, “It’s probably best not to watch her eat. Next it’ll be the brownie and the pickle together.”
