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It almost felt too good to be true. I’d learned a long time ago that vulnerability led only to failure—a hit you didn’t see coming.
I couldn’t let that happen.
When my phone buzzed and my sister’s name flashed across the screen, I smiled and connected it to my car’s Bluetooth. “Catfish Kate!”
“Jesus, Wyatt. Really?”
It was so easy to get a rise out of my little sister. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”
“Duke told me about Dad, and Lee has been nonstop about Aunt Tootie’s house.”
I paused, giving her space to finish, hopeful she had finally made a decision about coming back.
“So are you staying in Highfield House for a while?”
I smiled. Katie was coming home. “That’s the plan.”
I actually didn’t have a plan beyond the summer, but the longer Penny and I had stayed at the old farmhouse, the more it had felt like home. If Outtatowner really became home again, I’d have to sublet my apartment, move my things out of storage, figure out how to enroll Penny in the elementary school...
The tasks should have overwhelmed me, but instead, my body hummed with excitement.
“I haven’t made any concrete plans, but Penny and I are going to be staying a while,” I said, making the decision out loud. I smiled and couldn’t wait to let Pickle in on the news.
Kate huffed on the other end, her annoyance coming over the speaker loud and clear. “Awesome.”
“What’s up?”
“Don’t get me wrong—I think it’s great you’re back home, and I can’t wait to see you. It’s just that I was hoping to stay at Highfield House.” She exhaled again. “I guess I will stay with Aunt Tootie after all... like a loser.”
“You’re not a loser. You’re doing us all a favor by helping. You know she doesn’t listen to anyone but you.”
That got a laugh out of my little sister. “She doesn’t listen to me either. I just have a way of getting things done and helping her think it was her idea.”
“Exactly.”
Katie huffed a breath. “If the house is as bad as Lee says, I need to start calling contractors and getting them lined up if we want some of the work to happen before winter sets in.”
Guess Lee hadn’t told her the plan to have Beckett Miller do the work.
We’d all talked about how pissed Kate would be once she realized it was her ex-boyfriend’s older brother who’d been hired. I wasn’t about to be the one who broke the news to her.
“So when do you leave?”
“Soon. My friends are throwing me a goodbye party. I think the entire town is coming.” Her embarrassed laughter made me smile. My little sister had always been popular, but the kind of girl who never let it go to her head.
“It’s hard to believe you found a placesmallerthan Outtatowner.”
“Turns out Tipp was exactly what I needed, especially after what happened withhe who will never be named, but I do think I’m ready to be home.”
I exhaled as I turned down my driveway and looked at the farmhouse. My heart squeezed behind my ribs.
Same.
28
LARK
I watchedWyatt sit in his car and look at the farmhouse from the kitchen window of his home. Tootie had stolen Penny for an afternoon, reading to the animals at the Outtatowner animal rescue. I’d spent my solo afternoon cleaning the apartment I now used only for sleep and tidied up the farmhouse. It was amazing how many dishes and socks three college-aged boys could go through in a day or two.
