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“Thatch! Finally, you answer your phone.” Lyric had only met Thatch’s mom once when his parents had visited last summer, but she recognized her friendly, boisterous tone.
“Sorry. I’ve been a little busy this week.” He turned onto the highway. “By the way, you’re on speaker. Lyric is in the car with me.”
She sat up a little straighter. Uh-oh—
“Lyric!” Nancy Hearst squealed a little. “How are you, darlin’? Where are you off to? It’s only the two of you in the car?”
The questions came at her rapid-fire. “Uh, yes.” She shot Thatch a silent desperate plea for help. Even if the rest of town thought they were dating, they didn’t need to get his parents involved too.
“We’re headed to Aiden and Kyra’s house for a barbecue,” Thatch said casually.
“So you’recarpooling?”
Lyric detected a big grin in the woman’s voice.
“Did you need something, Mom?” Thatch didn’t answer the question. “I sent you the confirmation for your house rental while you’re in town.”
“Oh, yes. I got that. I was only calling to say thanks.”
Thatch hoovered his finger over the end button. “Okay, then I’ll talk to you—”
“But how fun that I have Lyric on the phone too,” Nancy interrupted. “How are you, honey? Still teaching yoga? Maybe I could do a session with you while I’m in town for the Rodeo Days. And then I’ll take you out to lunch!”
“Oh, boy,” Thatch muttered under his breath.
“That would be nice.” At the man’s questioning glare, she raised her hands. What was she supposed to say? His mom seemed great.
“And maybe we could all go to dinner together too!” Apparently, once Nancy got going with the planning, it was hard to stop her. “It would be like a triple date with you and Lyric, Dad and me, and Liam and Sienna!”
Thatch’s expression darkened. “We have to go, Mom. I’ll call you later.”
“Oh, all right,” she relented.
“Love ya.” He clicked the off button and stopped the truck before turning into Aiden and Kyra’s driveway. “This is getting out of control. I don’t want my parents thinking we’re dating.”
“I don’t want them to think we’re dating either.” Though she did like his mom. Nancy Hearst was a sweetheart. “I didn’t tell her we were dating,” Lyric reminded him. “She came to that conclusion all by herself.”
“She’s going to come to all kinds of conclusions if she knows we’re spending time together, and that’ll make my life a lot more complicated.” He sighed heavily. “This fake relationship needs to be over before my family gets into town. I’m not going to bring them into the middle of it.”
“I’m more than fine with that,” she said with a huff. “All I want is for us to hang out with Franco and Elina a few times so we can make sure she’s safe. Then we can be done.” And it wouldn’t be a moment too soon for her. In one day, Thatch had dredged up more emotions in her than she’d experienced since her divorce had been finalized. He was complicating her life too. The faster they ended this, the better off she’d be.
“Good.” Thatch steered the truck the rest of the way into the driveway and cut the engine.
“Good.” Lyric hopped out and got the salad from the back. She beat Thatch up to the front door by a good ten paces.
Kyra greeted them with hugs, all smiles and positive energy.
“Hi!” Lyric returned her hug. “We brought a salad.” She handed over the ceramic bowl.
“Oh, great.” Her friend held the door open for them and guided them into the kitchen. It felt strange walking through the house Lyric had once known so well. She’d grown up here with Kenny and her mom after they’d moved from Florida. She couldn’t have been more thrilled when Kenny had left Kyra the house after his death and they reconnected. It was nice having something so close to a sister in town.
“How about a glass of wine?” Her friend waved a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc in front of her.
“Perfect.” Thankfully, she hadn’t had to look at Thatch once. Maybe this wholepretending in front of her friendsthing would be easier than she’d thought. They’d both be so distracted and busy chatting, they would hardly have to interact at all.
“So, what’ve you two been up to today?” Aiden walked in from the patio wearing an apron, a grilling spatula in his hand.
“Oh, you know…” She looked to Thatch to fill them in, since he likely wouldn’t want to admit that he’d been bronc riding.
