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“Why does the man you fell in love with have to be related to that oaf?” I asked as I jammed my truck into drive, spitting gravel as I sped away from the ranch I’d grown up on. Every time I came back here my heart ached because I knew there’d be this moment when I’d have to drive away again.
Because it wasn’t mine anymore. Dad had made sure of that with his gambling and terrible management, driving us into debt so that when he’d died, I’d had no choice but to sell.
Even with the insurance money from the tornado, I’d only finally been able to pay off some more creditors who’d came out of the woodwork at the news of my so-called “big payday.”
Charlie sighed and I felt bad. I knew she was stressed to the max and she didn’t need my petty bullshit with her fiancé’s twin added to it.
“Sorry,” I hurried to say. “Don’t worry, we’ll play nice.”
“I didn’t realize about the ceilings anyway. He shouldn’t have gotten mad at you. I’ll tell Reece to talk to him.”
I waved a hand, eyes on the narrow gravel road leading out of the ranch to the main road. It was dark and deer roamed all about these parts after nightfall. “No, seriously. You’ve got enough on your plate.”
“So do you. I know it was a big ask for you to take on all the wedding planning.”
I shook my head. “Come on. We both know you did me a favor throwing this gig my way.”
“Well, if Mom wants to buy my love by spending sixty thousand dollars on a wedding, it only makes sense to send some of that my best friend’s way.”
I rolled my eyes, glad for the dark. From everything Charlie had told me about her mother, the woman sounded like a piece of work, but it was true enough about the money. And I’d lived in the area long enough to know a lot of vendors, so I was mostly confident I could do the job. Since I’d paid off all Dad’s debt, I was back in good standing with the community at least. People accepted that Dad was a fuck-up, but they’d finally stopped taking it out on me.
And with the money from this and the little bit I’d been able to squirrel aside from the house insurance money, hopefully I’d be able to put a down-payment on a place of my own and really start over.
First, we all just had to survive this wedding.
“So is the carpet for sure ruined?” I asked as we finally pulled onto the backroads that would take us back to Austin and the little apartment we shared there. Charlie didn’t know it yet, but I’d be leaving just a few weeks from now too. I hadn’t renewed the lease after all.
I’d had a job offer in Fort Worth; a job actually related to my degree that actually paid real money. But I hadn’t had the heart to tell Charlie yet. Not before her wedding. I’d tell her when she got back from her honeymoon, I told myself.
Charlie hesitated then answered. “Yeah, the guys were pulling the carpet up right as I was leaving. It was ruined.”
Dammit!
“But it was probably gonna get screwed up one way or the other. It was really those dumb contractors’ fault for putting down carpet before painting, anyway. Everyone knows that you work from the top down.”
“Starting with the ceiling, apparently,” I said sourly.
Charlie threw her hands up. “Well, what are we supposed to know about finishing up house construction! I knew painting needed to happen so I offered and said we could help. No one told me to start with the ceilings.”
My fingers tightened on the wheel as she continued, “Reece said he thinks they can put down some planking that looks like hardwood instead of carpet anyway. So it will turn out better in the long run.”
“And how long will that take? It’s Sunday and your parents get in on Thursday. We need to get it decorated and make it comfortable for them. There still isn’t even a toilet installed in the ensuite. From what you’ve told me, they aren’t going to be comfortable running out to the bunkhouse to take a shit.”
Charlie busted out laughing and then clapped a hand over her mouth. “Jesus, it’s not funny. But the thought of my mom running into Buck in the middle of the night—” She started laughing again. “Reece said he lives up to his name and the dude sleeps buck naked.”
We both cringed in unison. Then I looked over at her and grinned. “Well, it would definitely make her appreciate that Reece was the cowboy you chose to fall in love with. At least he’s cute.”
But that only had her eyebrow lifting. “Oh yeah? So that means you still think Jeremiah’s cute too?”
I made a gagging noise. “Ugh, no, God. I regret ever telling you that I ever—” I shook my head, then shook my whole body. “No. Absolutely not. Never.”
When Charlie was silent, I looked over at her again. She just had one eyebrow lifted.
“Don’t look at me like that. Yes, when we all lived together, I might have briefly had a proximity-to-male-hormone-induced madness that made me briefly consider—and I do mean only briefly consider—taking him as a lover. But it was only ever to get the itch out of my system. And I assure you, continued exposure to him has cured me of it.”
She was still quiet until I glared at her and she lifted her hands. “Okay, okay. If you say so.”
“Good. Because I do.”
