Chapter 8
WYNTER
“Don’t take me home,” Wynter said as they got off the freeway.
Marcus’s head snapped around to stare at her, but she didn’t meet his gaze. “What? Why? Where do you need to go?”
“I’m planning on meeting a friend in town.
” Wynter needed a break from Marcus after the interaction between him and Jake.
It had been major déjà vu seeing him stand up for her, but she wasn’t a kid anymore and had grown a backbone.
She didn’t need anyone’s help. More than that, she’d found ways to never have to lean on people again.
“Who? What friends?”
She whipped her gaze to him. “I’m sorry? Did you actually just say that?”
He winced and grabbed at the back of his neck. “I didn’t mean it like that. I just… You never really hung out with people when we were in high school. I didn’t realize you knew very many people in town. Especially since you’ve been gone for so long.”
“Not that it’s any of your business, but we connected at Cornell. Small world, huh?”
“Who?”
“Rose Taylor and Morgan Meyers. I don’t know if you know them, but they’re locals. I guess they have deep roots in Copper Creek.”
Marcus glanced at her, and she could almost read the questions he had brewing. Questions like how could she befriend other people and leave him in the dust? How could she move on and start a different life when he’d been such a big part of it?
She blew out a breath. “Look, it’s not a big deal. I just want to get out of the house for a little while. Can you drop me off in town? There’s a café that has recently opened up. That’s where they want to meet.”
“Yeah, okay.” Marcus was quiet as he navigated the snow-covered roads. He was practically throttling the steering wheel, but Wynter refused to draw attention to his attitude.
When he pulled up to the café, it dawned on her that she hadn’t given him the name or the location. Had he been here before? She nearly asked him about it, but then snapped her mouth shut. “Let Grams know I’ll be home by supper.”
He nodded, and she climbed out.
Wynter didn’t risk looking back toward the truck until she was sure Marcus was focused elsewhere. She caught sight of the taillights right before the vehicle disappeared around the corner.
Straightening her shoulders, Wynter entered the café and immediately caught sight of her friends.
Rose Taylor was dressed in an emerald-green turtleneck sweater and skinny jeans.
Her curly red hair was pulled back with a large barrette, and it cascaded down her back.
She held a mug of what appeared to be coffee or hot chocolate to her lips, and she was laughing at something Morgan was saying.
The latter sported a blonde bob. Her flannel button-down top did nothing to hide her beautiful curves.
These two women couldn’t be more different. And when they’d all met at college, they’d even hated one another. Now, it appeared they were as close as could be.
Rose caught sight of Wynter first, and she waved a hand through the air. “Snowflake! You’re here!”
Wynter rolled her eyes but smiled all the same. Rose hadn’t been her favorite person, either. The girl was tough as nails and didn’t take crap from anyone. It was hard to get in her good graces, but once you were, you were there for life.
Morgan turned in that moment, her blue eyes lighting up with excitement. She squealed and jumped up from her chair to throw her arms around Wynter. “You’re here! When did you get in town?”
“A couple of days ago,” Wynter confessed.
Both girls gave her looks of surprise.
“And you’re just now asking to hang out? How dare you?” Rose admonished. “You swore you’d call the second you got in.”
Wynter tossed them each a sheepish smile before she slipped her purse onto the back of her chair. “Well, I’m here now. Things at home have been… chaotic.”
“Everything okay with your grandma?” Morgan asked, pushing a mug toward her. There was a leaf spread out in cream atop the latte.
Wynter smiled her appreciation to a friend she never thought she’d have. “Grams is fine. It’s the grumpy cowboy invading my space that’s the problem.”
Rose looked like a cat that had snatched the canary. She was always interested in good gossip. But Morgan looked every bit concerned as a best friend should be. “Who?” they asked in unison.
Wynter sipped her latte, then put it on the table. “Marcus Palmer.”
“Ah, that explains everything,” Rose murmured. “The one who got away, huh?”
Stiffening, Wynter gave her friend a hard look. “Don’t even go there.”
“What?” she asked, her tone dripping with innocence she most definitely didn’t have. “You told us all about the two of you when we were in college. Bumping into him was bound to happen.” She gestured toward the café. “You realize that his brother and sister-in-law own this place, right?”
Wynter’s eyes widened and she hissed, “I thought you said your cousin owned this place.”
“Jason? No, he just runs it. Anyway, what’s going on? He’s not bothering you, is he?”
“I thought the two of you were best friends,” Morgan prodded.
Rose gave them each a knowing look. “Best friends who crossed the line.” Then she turned to Morgan. “You remember the way she acted when she came home after Christmas that first year? There’s no way she doesn’t have a crush on him.”
“Had,” Wynter insisted. “I had a crush on him. Not anymore.”
“Pfft,” Rose said with a wave of her hand. “You definitely have feelings for him if you’re this riled up after only being here for a few days. And who knows? What if he has feelings for you too?”
Wynter groaned. “Please don’t even go there. I don’t think I can take it.” She pressed her fingers into her temples and rubbed them in circles. “Besides, even if I did have feelings. And even if he returned them. None of it would matter because I’m not staying.”
Morgan pouted. “Why not? This is a great place to settle down and raise a family.”
Wynter gave them each a hard look. “You know my opinion on having a family.”
Both of them rolled their eyes. They each had five siblings. Big families seemed to be a thing around here, and Wynter had been the odd kid out. Not only did she not have siblings, but she hadn’t been raised by loving parents.
“Why can’t you at least consider it?” Morgan pleaded. “I’d love to have my two best friends in the same place for once.”
Wynter was quiet for a long moment. The truth was, she didn’t have an answer to Morgan’s question that her friend would accept.
She could say the job was better in California, but honestly, the pay for what she was doing was competitive.
She could say that she preferred the heat, but that couldn’t be further from the truth, and they knew it.
Honestly, after seeing the way Marcus behaved with Jake, it stirred up those latent feelings she’d been working so hard at smothering.
She liked that he cared enough about her to stand in Jake’s way.
Even though her base instincts reminded her that people don’t stick around, the fantasy of it all had her knees growing weak and her heart racing.
“Oh my gosh!” Morgan whispered. “You want to stay.”
“What? No, I don’t!” Wynter squeaked.
“Morgan is right. We can see it written all over your face. So what is it? You don’t want to stay because Marcus is being a tool?”
“No, it’s nothing like that,” Wynter admitted weakly.
Rose grinned, and it was like a lightbulb turned on in her head. “It’s because he isn’t being a tool.” She shared a knowing look with Morgan. “Yeah, those Palmers are something else, aren’t they?” Rose fanned herself with her hand, drawing a groan of exasperation from Wynter.
“I think one of my brothers was friends with Marcus in high school,” Morgan mused. “I could ask him if Marcus has said anything—”
“Absolutely not!” Wynter all but screeched.
Morgan grinned and shrugged one shoulder. “Just saying.”
“Can we stop talking about Marcus? I need an excuse to get out of the house this weekend because at this rate, I’m beginning to wonder if my grandma is in on this whole thing and trying to make us fall in love.”
Rose perked up even more at that. “Oooh. Really? I love a good matchmaking story. This is great.”
“No, it isn’t great. It’s a headache, and it’s driving me crazy. She made me go to the city with him because she wanted a specific kind of tea. Then Marcus had to go and buy a whole bunch of it so she wouldn’t need to replenish her stash for a few months.”
“Aww, that’s so sweet,” Morgan crooned.
Wynter glowered at her friend.
“She’s not wrong,” Rose piped up.
Then Wynter glowered at Rose for good measure, who only raised her hands in defeat.
“Just saying.”
Wynter took a sip from her cup before saying anything. “Please, just… let’s come up with something fun to do.” She glanced from one to the other. “I don’t even care if we have to go a couple towns over, so your siblings don’t catch you hanging out together.”
The rivalry between the two families was no joke. Wynter had laughed when she’d first heard about it, but then her laughter had died down when she’d realized that Rose and Morgan were entirely serious.
Morgan made a face. “I can’t this weekend.”
Rose shrugged. “I’m sure I could get Lily or Jasmine to tag along.” Her expression brightened. “Christmas Karaoke!”
Morgan grimaced again. “Yeah, pass. I don’t need to make a fool of myself.”
“Party pooper,” Rose exclaimed.
This time Morgan smirked.
“I’m game,” Wynter agreed. “Sounds fun. As long as I can get some space from you-know-who.”
Unfortunately, Rose was the queen of sabotage.
About an hour later, she was dropping Wynter off at her grandmother’s house at the same time as Marcus was heading out.
Rather than a quick hello, Rose rolled down her window and blurted, “Hey, there! You must be the Marcus I’ve been hearing all about. ”
Marcus froze, and his uncertain gaze drifted to Wynter. She was too busy staring daggers at Rose.
“That’s me,” Marcus said, shoving his hands into his coat pockets as he walked over. “And you are?”
Rose held out her hand through the open window. “Rose Taylor.”
He nodded slowly as they shook hands. “Nice to meet you.”
“You too! Say, are you busy this weekend?”
“Rose!” Wynter hissed, but it was too late.
And that was how Marcus had been invited to Christmas karaoke night.