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“I dunno. I guess I figured you’d be going out again with that guy. That he’d taken you out and given you the time of your life.”
Reaching up, she pushed her hand into his hair and subsequently, his hat tumbled to the grass at his feet. “Last night was the worst night of my life.”
“It was?”
“Don’t go sounding so hopeful,” she chided. “I was with someone I didn’t love. I wasn’t in the arms of someone I wanted to spend the rest of my life with.”
Elijah frowned. “You were in his arms?”
She gave him a gentle slug on his arm. “It’s a figure of speech. All I could think about was how much I wanted to be there with you. So no, I won’t be going on any more dates with guys who aren’t…you.”
He grasped her at her waist and pulled her close. “You better not.” Still, his insecurities seemed to be dancing behind the scenes. “So… you didn’t… kiss him?”
The corner of one side of her mouth lifted into a silly-looking grin. “No. I didn’t kiss him. And he didn’t kiss me. I gave him a hug at the end of the night and thanked him for the date, but I didn’t give him my number and I’m not going to see him again—much to the frustration of your sister, I might add.”
Elijah kissed the tip of her nose. “She’ll get over it.”
“I’m not so sure. She really seems to think that since I’m back and interested in dating, this is the only way we can really get to spend time together. I don’t know how I’m going to avoid it unless I tell her about us.”
He grimaced. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea yet.”
“Why not?”
There was no sure answer he could give her. It was a gut feeling that was pulling him away from this confrontation in particular. “I don’t know. I just feel like she’s not going to take it well yet. Maybe we give it a few more weeks? Let the harvest settle down or something?”
“I don’t like lying to her, Elijah. I really think we should tell her.”
He studied her for a few moments, then nodded. “We should tell her together.”
She shook her head. “I think maybe I should ease into it first. Let me tell her a little bit about it and then we’ll go from there. Can you let me do that? Please?”
Once more, he tried to come up with some reason for her to wait. He wanted to be there, to support her, come to her rescue in case Annabel lost her cool. But he couldn’t. “Fine. Just… give me a heads-up when you do it so I can be prepared.”
“Deal.” She stood on her toes and kissed him deeply. When she pulled back, she patted his cheek. “I love you. I’ll see you later tonight, okay?”
“Yeah. See you tonight.”
22
Scarlett
Scarlett wasn’t sure she was ready to tell Annabel about Elijah just yet. During the whole drive to Colorado Springs, while Annabel tried to convince her that their double date last night needed to have an encore, Scarlett struggled with telling her best friend about her deepest, darkest secret.
She glanced toward her friend out of the corner of her eye a handful of times, just letting her chat about Derek and everything she liked about him. It was a little strange to hear Annabel talk about someone like this. There was only one other person Scarlett could recall that had this kind of influence on Annabel—at least that was how it was when she had been living in Copper Creek.
They’d been high school sweethearts if she remembered correctly, but at the moment she couldn’t recall his name.
“And he said that he wants to move back to the city to be closer to his family after he’s done interning at the country club. And maybe if we’re still together, then I’ll find a place there, too.”
That caught Scarlett off guard, and she swung her head around to stare at her friend. “I thought you hated the city.”
“I don’thatethe city.”
“Yes, you do. You’ve said so a thousand times. You think it’s dirty and crowded and only good for shopping, if that.”
Annabel sliced a dismissive hand through the air with a laugh. “Don’t be ridiculous. It’s not like it’s happening tomorrow. I’m up to do something different.”
There was something off about what Annabel was saying, but Scarlett couldn’t put her finger on it. It was as if Annabel was adapting.
