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I bite back a laugh, appreciating my mother’s attempt at humor in the tense moment. Clearly she and her counterpart are not as upset about this discovery as the men are.
“Bre, is this what I think it is?” Mom asks.
“Oh, dear Lord, I hope so.”
Wait, what?
“Did I just hear my mother right?” Sixten whispers.
I shrug, wondering the same thing myself. Are our mothers on our side? No way. Then again…it hits me that I’ve never really known how my mother feels about this whole feud thing. It’s always been my father that rants and raves about it. Misty Silver has never done much more than quietly roll her eyes. I’ve just always figured that was because she was tired of hearing about it, not because she disagreed.
“What the—”
“Put a sock in it, Roy! Enough about this damn fight. It’s been almost thirty years. We get it!” Breanna says.
“Actually, we don’t,” I comment, gesturing between Sixten and myself. Maybe now we can get some answers.
“The Sharpes can’t be trusted; that’s all you need to know,” Dad states, his face still twisted in anger.
“Like you weren’t planning on doing the same thing,” Roy mutters.
“Knock it off, would you? It’s not like she went out with either of you! Elaine is not standing here now, in this moment, is she? So would you two finally get over yourselves?” Mom exclaims. “If for no other reason than our children. And potential grandchildren.”
Grandchildren? Way to put the cart before the horse, Mom…
“Oh, grands would be wonderful, wouldn’t they?” Breanna coos, grabbing Mom’s hand.
“Are our moms friends?” I ask out loud, still trying to process this whole scene.
“Wait, who’s Elaine?” Sixten asks.
“Smythe,” the moms answer at the same time.
“The sheriff’s wife?”
“Yup. When she moved to Hickory Hills, all the guys went wild. Both of your fathers instantly took a liking to her. But as best friends, they agreed they wouldn’t ask her out—it was only fair,” Mom explains.
“Until Roy here thought too highly of himself and asked her out anyway. Only to find out George had asked first,” Breanna continues.
“So this whole thing, all these years, has been over the fact that you both liked the same girl thirty years ago. A girl that neither of you married, or even went out with?” Sixten asks.
I blink hard, my mind trying to catch up. There’s no way that is all this was about. No. I don’t believe it. All my life, all I’ve heard was about how the Sharpes couldn’t be trusted, and I needed to stay away. Not to involve myself with people like them. And it was all over a girl?
“No!” Dad exclaims. “We had an agreement. He reneged on that. Went behind my back and proved he couldn’t be trusted.”
“And just how did you find out?” Roy counters. “When you did the same fucking thing.”
“I need to sit down,” I whisper, head still spinning.
This isn’t happening. My whole world feels out of control. I’ve spent two years hiding my relationship, thinking that I would have to choose between my family and the man I love. All because these two men wanted to ask out the same girl. The whole thing is so stupid it almost doesn’t even seem possible.
“No,” I say, popping back up. “I need to leave. I…I need to think…”
“Ames.” Sixten reaches for me as I walk away, but I shrug him off. I need space. I can’t put into words why, but I do.
“No, Six,” I start, trying to find my words. Why is this so hard? I love him—more than anything. I know that. But everything we’ve been doing—the sneaking around, the secrets, the trying to figure out how to make it work—has all been because of something stupid. I’ve wasted so much time feeling guilty over my love for him, for no real reason. “I need to go. I love you; I do. But…I need to go.”
Pushing past the two sets of parents, I run down the stairs and out of the barn. I have no idea where I’m headed—home is the last place I want to be—but I’ll figure it out when I get there.
