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“Really? What car did I drive?”
“You didn’t have a car until you left for college and if I remember correctly it was a used Chevy Cavalier. In high school, you drove to school with your sister Sweetie in Mustang Sally that she got for her sixteenth birthday. Our senior year you drove to school with Liberty and Belle in the car they got for their sixteenth birthdays.” He cocked his head. “I often wondered why you didn’t get a car for your sixteenth.”
“I didn’t want one. I thought it was silly for Daddy and Mama to spend the money on a car when I never went anywhere and I was fine driving to school with my sisters.”
He studied her. “You’ve always been practical. Which probably explains why you were the one who started the campaign to get Wilder High students to start recycling their cans and water bottles. The one who organized the prom dress swap every year . . . even though you never went. Why was that? Your sisters went.”
“I don’t dance.”
His eyes twinkled. “You wanted to last night.”
She covered her face with her hands. “Please don’t remind me of what I did last night.”
“Why? I thought you were cute.”
She lowered her hands and looked at him. “Proof you don’t know me. I’ve never been cute in my life.”
“Now there you’re wrong. You’re cute every time you wrinkle your nose to get your glasses to slip back up.” To her total embarrassment, her nose did exactly what he’d just said. He laughed and reached out to tap it. “Cute. And you were cute when you dressed up like the Cat in the Hat in fourth grade.”
“That was all Liberty’s idea. She wanted her and Belle to go as Thing One and Thing Two and she begged me to go as the Cat. And I wasn’t cute. I looked like a skinny drowned alley cat.”
“You were pretty skinny back then. You still are.” His gaze lowered to her breasts. “In some places.” Before she could get over the fact that Rome was checking her out, his gaze lifted and he continued with the crazy questioning. “What’s my favorite muffin at Nothin’ But Muffins? You always order Wild Blueberry Hill.”
She was shocked he knew what muffin she ordered. She wanted to pretend like she didn’t know his, but she knew. Wascally Wabbit Carrot with cream cheese glaze. He licked the glaze off first before he carefully peeled off the wrapper and ate the muffin in four neat bites. In high school, he always ordered two muffins with three bottles of 2 percent milk.
“Okay.” She held up her hands in defeat. “We know each other, but that doesn’t explain why you’re here.”
He paused before he spoke. “Maybe it’s nice to hang out with someone who understands what I’ve been through.”
She couldn’t argue with that. He was right. It would be nice to hang out with someone who understood what she was going through. Someone who knew what it felt like to have your heart broken in two and not know how to put it back together. But Rome Remington? He was the last person in the world she would have thought would want to be her friend.
“It’s supposed to be a clear night tomorrow,” he said. “I thought I’d do a little stargazing. You want to join me? Noelle told me last night that all your sisters are heading home tomorrow. I figure you might be a little lonely.”
It was true. Noelle was heading back to Dallas this afternoon. Hallie planned to leave for Austin in the morning . And Liberty and Belle would leave for Houston soon after. Sweetie was living in Wilder now, but she and Decker were in Nashville honeymooning and packing up Sweetie’s apartment. Still, Cloe wouldn’t be lonely. She’d have Mama, Daddy, and Mimi to keep her company. Although they usually were in bed by eight.
“Where are you planning on stargazing?” she asked.
“I’m thinking Cooper Springs?” A smile split Rome’s face. “But we’ll need to get permission from the landowner first.”
Cooper Springs? The last time she’d been at Cooper Springs was when she’d gone skinny-dipping with her sisters as part of the Holiday Secret Sisterhood’s full-moon ritual that had been started when they were just kids. Rome and Decker had shown up. Thankfully, it had been night and Rome had been a gentleman and swam off as soon as he realized the sisters were naked.
Which proved he could be trusted.
“What time do you want to meet?” she asked.
“How about around ten?”
She nodded. “I’ll bring your tuxedo jacket.”
“No hurry. It’s not rented.” He tugged on his hat. “I guess I’ll see you tomorrow night.”
Once he was gone, Cloe stood there for a moment trying to figure out what had just happened. Had she just agreed to become Rome’s friend?
It looked like she had.
She shook her head as she turned to the kitchen to see if they had left any boxes of dishes. She startled when she saw Mimi standing on the stairs. She looked like she had just woken up from a nap. Her puff of white hair was smashed on one side and deep pillow creases marred one cheek. But her eyes were alert and twinkling.
“So I guess that wasn’t Decker’s tuxedo jacket after all.”
