Whispers on the Mountain: The Hart Family of Moonshine Ridge

Chapter 6

”The best way to get over one man is to get under another, right?”

My boss, Callie, winks at me as she watches me check my phone for the billionth time today.

”Go out, have fun, forget all about that idiot.”

I”m still ignoring August”s texts. Without opening them, I can only read the first few words of each one. They mostly start with ”Please don”t...” and ”I can”t....” and they all came in after I gave up waiting on him to come home last night.

Message received, loud and clear. I don”t need to open his messages and give him the satisfaction of seeing that they”ve been read just so I can fill in the blanks that undoubtedly end each sentence: ”please don”t...come back to my house,” and ”I can”t...be the man you want.”

So I scroll past those and tap on the conversation with Brian.

”Sounds great, doll, I”ll pick you up at seven. Can”t wait!”

His enthusiasm makes me smile. I tap the heart reaction on his last text with a smile.

”He”s picking me up at seven,” I tell Callie. She been ready to leave for the last five minutes, but she”s been waiting on an update about whether or not Brian and I are on for tonight.

”Good. You deserve a man who actually wants to be with you, sweetheart.” She waddles back to me to give me a hug. ”Lock this place up early so you have time to get dressed up. I want to hear all about it next week.”

I watch my eight-months-pregnant boss make her way out the door, returning her wave as she drives past the flower shop windows on her way out of the parking lot.

Callie is much more enthusiastic about my date with Brian than I am, but she”s right; there”s no point in sitting around moping over Augustus.

He”s been very clear from the beginning that he”s not interested in going any farther than we”ve already been...and that maybe he even regrets that.

So I texted Brian when I got back to my cottage last night.

He”s one of the locals here in Slow River. We met at O”Hare”s last summer when I first moved down to Slow River for my apprenticeship with Callie. He seems like a nice enough guy, he”s okay to look at, he”s way closer to my own age, and, most importantly-- he”s been trying to get me to go out with him for months.

Who knows? Maybe tonight will be the start of something good. If things with Brian look promising, I might even extend the lease on my apartment and stay on with Callie instead of moving back to Moonshine Ridge at the end of the month.

My phone chimes with another text from Augustus. Just seeing his name pop up on my screen has my fingers itching to cancel plans with Brian. Then I see the words, ”Please understand that...” and my brain fills in the rest of that without opening the message.

I”m sure it finishes with something awful like, ”please understand that...” what? Maybe that ”...I”m not interested in seeing you again?” Or maybe he wants to reiterate his opinion about my age or my inexperience or tell me again about how he”s ”not the right man” for me.

While I”m preparing to close up the shop, my phone starts ringing. When I see Augustus” name on the screen, I cancel the call without answering.

The shop”s landline rings while I”m sweeping and I don”t even check the caller ID before answering.

”Slow River Florist, how can I help you?”

”Oh, thank God.Fiore, why aren”t you answering your phone? Are you okay?”

Shit. I should have texted him back.

Augustus”s rich voice pours into my ear over the line.

”Why are you calling my work?”

”You aren”t reading your messages; you aren”t answering your calls. You left my house in tears last night and your brother said you went back to work early. I”ve been worried about you.”

”How the fuck would you know I was crying last night, August?”

On the other end of the line is a weary sigh.

”I have security cameras on the porch, fiore, I saw you...I”ve been trying to get in touch with you so we could talk.”

”You saw me sitting on your porch last night. You knew I was waiting for you. Did you get my messages? Were you ignoring me so you didn”t have to see me?”

I”m pissed. There”s no reason for him to be blowing me up just to confirm what I already knew; he was avoiding me on purpose.

”Fiore, when will you be done at the flower shop tonight? I think we should talk about things between us.”

”We don”t need to talk, Augustus. You”ve been perfectly clear about how you feel about me. I understand that you aren”t interested in seeing me again. Don”t worry, I won”t come back up or bug you again. I have to go. I have a date.”

* * *

Augustus

Zephyr says ”date”and doesn”t wait for a reaction before the line goes dead.

If she was only trying to get a rise out me, she”d have waited before hanging up so she could head my pained inhale. She would have heard my protests. She would have given me a chance to tell her how wrong she is about my reasons for turning her away... She wouldn”t have me following her like a stalker as she leaves her apartment with a boy who doesn”t even have the good manners to hold her door open for her as she climbs into the passenger side of his bright yellow muscle car.

It”s easy to keep them in sight as I follow them to one of the steak houses in town.

Slow River is a ranching town, bigger than Moonshine Ridge but small enough that most of the businesses are still local independents.

The yellow car pulls into a space in front of the Branding Iron; a western-themed place with wagon wheels planted with the azaleas around the exterior of the building.

I”d been on my way down the mountain when I called the flower shop that Zephyr works at. Her brother had told me she”d come back down to her place in the valley early. That”s why he”d been at her house today, taking care of plants that Zephyr had left instructions for.

By the time I reached the florist, she was pulling out of the parking lot-- despite there being another hour before the listed business hours said they closed. If I”d been any later, I”d have been left sitting there, desperately trying to convince her to answer her phone.

As it is, I was able to follow her to her apartment building, but couldn”t see which unit she went to. Leaving me waiting across the street, dialing her number repeatedly as my calls went straight to voicemail again and again, until the yellow car pulled up to the building and my fiore emerged from beyond the gate in a dress that would have had me rushing to toss her over my shoulder if I had been able to catch my breath before her date whisked her away.

Sitting in my own vehicle, several rows from where they might notice me, I know I”m fooling myself if I think there”s any reason for me to still be here other than the jealousy raging through my veins.

The boy still doesn”t open the door for his date. He stands near the tail lights and waits for her to join him.

He seems impatient for her to hurry, but the scene unfolds in my eyes in slow motion. First, one silver high heel meets the ground, then a second, as Zephyr turns sideways in the seat to pull herself from the interior.

Since this boy obviously learned his manners from the livestock in the pastures of the Slow River Valley ranches, he doesn”t offer her a hand to help her as she stands.

Her hand grips the side of the car for balance and then she”s in full sight of me. Those golden tresses falling in waves down her back, the emerald green dress hugging her body like paint, showing curves that have memories of her spread and panting on my table burning in my mind.

She closes the door herself and when she arrives beside him, he takes off walking ahead of her, making no effort to wait for her smaller steps in the sexy high heels that slow her pace, but make the view of shapely legs all the way up to the high hem clinging to her thighs well worth the wait.

This boy is an idiot. He hasn”t taken notice of her yet. He”s barely even glanced at the goddess accompanying him this evening.

I”m prepared to accept my punishment for being so stupid as to think I could resist the draw I feel toward Zephyr. I have the key in the ignition, ready to return to my lonely mountain refuge knowing I blew my last chance with fiore, when I see her date finally hold a door open for her-- I”m out of the car and sprinting toward the restaurant with murder on my mind.