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“What? You never like to go line dancing.” Sadie looked at him. “What is your problem?”
“I don’t have a problem, Sadie. What? You don’t want me to go line dancing with you now, just so you can pick up some men.”
“I’m not trying to pick up any men, Wyatt. I’m just—”
I decided it was time to change the subject before things got heated. “Well, guys, while I don’t mean to interrupt, but I was wondering if you could, perhaps, tell me more about, um …”
“About what?” Wyatt looked relieved.
“The cabin where Austin is.”
“The cabin?” Wyatt looked surprised now. “Austin? I thought you were going to ask us questions about Beau, seeing as he’s at the bar right now.”
“Oh, well … I was going to ask you questions about Beau later.”
“Huh,” Sadie said, looking at me through narrowed eyes. “So you want to know about Austin and the log cabin, huh?”
“Well, just more about the ranch and everything. I mean, I don’t really care about Austin, in particular.” I paused, feeling the weight of Sadie’s gaze on me. I had a feeling she could tell that I was more interested in Austin than Beau, but if she was going to be my friend, maybe it would be good to have her as an ally so that I could get more information about the family out of her.
Chapter Twenty-Two
“Lucy, oh, wow. You look beautiful!” Olivia ran towards me with a squeal, her long brown hair flying behind her. My heart leaped when I saw her, and I could feel tears of happiness welling up in my eyes. Olivia felt like home. She felt like a piece of my heart. And I realized how much I missed seeing her every day. While being in the city without my mother made me sad, I had a lot of fond memories as well. There were so many places that Olivia and my mom and I had all gone together.
“Oh, Olivia, I’ve missed you so much.” I hugged her close and then held her face in my hands and studied her eyes. “You okay?” I asked her softly. There was a tinge of sadness there. I hadn’t noticed it before.
“Yes.” She nodded. “I’ve just missed you. It’s been really lonely in the city without you, Lucy.”
“I know.” It suddenly struck me how selfish I’d been. I was Olivia’s best friend. We’d done everything together and I just left the city without even thinking about her. “I’m sorry,” I whispered “I—”
“So you must be the infamous Olivia!” Beau interrupted. “Nice to meet you.” He gave her a warm smile and I stepped back so he could shake her hand. I noticed Olivia’s face brightening as she studied him.
“Hi, you must be Lucy’s fiancé.” Olivia giggled, and I glared at her. “Sorry. I couldn’t stop myself.” She shot me an apologetic look.
“No worries.” Beau chuckled. “I’m still single, to be honest.” Beau was studying her face and looking her up and down. “How about you?”
“I’m single.” She blushed and looked away. There was an awkward silence for a moment. And then she cleared her throat. “I just brought one suitcase with me, Lucy. I hope I have enough stuff.”
“You don’t need many clothes on the ranch.” Beau grabbed her suitcase. “Let’s head out. My parents have the car outside, so they’ll give us a ride home. My brother Wyatt and his best friend stayed here at the ranch, getting a barbecue ready. My mom wanted you to feel at home when you got to Horseshoe Ranch.”
“That sounds really amazing.” Olivia beamed. “That was so nice of your parents.”
“Oh, they’re happy to put you up and treat you like family,” Beau said with a smile and started walking a few steps in front of us. Olivia pointed at his back before whispering to me.
“Oh my gosh, Lucy. He’s gorgeous. How do you keep your hands off of him?”
I made a face and laughed. “He’s definitely handsome,” I whispered back.
“So how’s it going between you guys?” She was speaking too nonchalantly, and it made me wonder exactly what she was thinking about him.
“You mean, is it still weird and awkward?” I replied. “Yes. It’s still weird. Though we have good banter. I think we would get on. And his family is absolutely lovely.”
“And what about Austin?” she asked, still keeping her voice low.
“He’s been at the log cabin.” I shrugged looking away. “I haven’t seen him in days.”
I tried to pretend that it didn’t matter. I tried to pretend that I didn’t care. That I hadn’t been counting the hours since he’d been gone. I missed him. I missed chatting with him. I missed arguing with him. I missed just being around him, and I missed kissing him more than anything. Not that I would tell anyone that.
“He’s still at the log cabin?”
