Chapter Sixteen
WILL
The sun blazes in the afternoon sky, casting sharp blades of light over the crooked road as we drive back into Carlton Landing. A palpable tension overrides our silence, both of us reeling. Or at least I am.
I grip the steering wheel, knuckles white. I should say something. Anything. But what?
She seems lost in thought. With the open and vulnerable expression from earlier gone, her indifferent mask is back in place.
The breeze rustles her hair as she faces the open passenger window. Her tropical scent drifts my way while her fingers tap a nervous beat to the song issuing from Hudson’s crappy speakers.
I turn up the volume, the only thing that seems capable of cutting through the thick nothing between us, and try not to let my mind wander back to the jewelry shop.
But I can’t seem to help it. The moment she squeezed my fingers.
When she turned my way, gaze dipping to my lips.
Her resigned expression. Her soft lips teasing mine.
And then another expression when we pulled apart. Surprise?
And was it a good surprise or a bad surprise?
I breathe in the coconut and flowers. I should put the whole thing out of my mind. It was all an act. Right?
Okay, I can admit it. I’m starting to like her, but we’re going in opposite directions after this wedding. What am I doing, letting these thoughts run through my head?
So, when my mind starts to replay the scene yet again, I paddle it out of dangerous waters. We’re nearing the crest of the hill. “Did you get to go out on the lookout when you came into town?”
“No.” Morgan leans forward in her seat, twisting a lock of dark hair around her finger. “I haven’t been out there yet.”
“Want to?”
She wobbles a smile onto those pliable heart-shaped lips. “Yeah. Let’s do it.”
I veer onto a gravel parking area and cut the engine. Morgan steps out and wanders past the four white Adirondack chairs and toward the edge. I follow, hands shoved in my pockets. The awkwardness hasn’t died. But maybe it’s easing.
The lake shimmers below, surrounded edge to edge by trees. A few houses peek above the forest farther down the shoreline, white, yellow, gray, and even shocking blue.
Morgan fills her lungs and then slowly lets it out. “Wow, it’s beautiful up here.”
“I’ve always loved it.” I grin, and she smiles back.
We step onto one of the boulders lining the grassy area and take in the Oklahoma landscape.
The sun highlights her profile, sending pink cheeks aglow. What’s she thinking?
She hops onto the next rock, and it teeters, rocking forward under her weight.
She stumbles, her arms flailing with her attempt to regain her balance.
My reflexes kick in, and I catch her hand and yank her back to me, wrapping my other arm around her waist. She crashes into my chest where her hand splays.
We’re back on sturdy ground, and she’s blinking up at me, her brown eyes wide.
Freckles play peekaboo behind the strands of hair caressing her face.
“You okay?” My breath moves the hair from her forehead. Hers warms my neck, the sensation oh-so-sweet.
“Y–yeah,” she stammers. “Thanks.”
She jitters back a bit and pushes the hair from her face. We stare at each other, and something shifts in the atmosphere. It feels like the exact opposite of putting her out of my mind.
Before either of us finds anything to say, a ridiculously upbeat love song blares from her pocket and grounds the sudden electricity. I step back as she wiggles her phone free. The word Leo flashes on her screen before she silences the sound and shoves it back into her pocket.
Then gravel crunches nearby.
“Will? Morgan?” Ava calls out from a golf cart, and Hudson parks next to my—well, his—truck. “What are you doing up here?”
I jam my hands back in my pockets and toe a pebble off the boulder. It clatters down, down, down the cliff. “Morgan hadn’t been out here yet, so we decided to take a look on our way back into town.”
They join us, and Hudson crosses his arms, bunching his green groom shirt. “My favorite spot in Carlton Landing.” He elbows Morgan. “So what do you think?”
Shading her eyes, one hand pinning down her glossy hair, she exhales a deep satisfied sound. “Same. New favorite spot. I’m surprised you’re not getting married up here.”
“We did think about that.” Ava saunters closer. “I think people do pretty often. But in the end, we wanted a church wedding. Plus, the Oklahoma wind is hard to predict.”
Hudson steps onto Morgan’s unsteady rock, and we both yell, “No!”
“What?” He pretends to ride a surfboard, rocking it back and forth with his body weight.
“Hudson! What are you doing? No broken legs the day before our wedding.” Ava holds out a hand, and he grabs it, jumps down, snugs her close, and plants a kiss on her forehead.
Morgan lets out a breath.
I shake my head. “Morgan nearly killed herself on that thing. She almost fell down the hill.”
Hudson releases Ava. “Nah, a tree would’ve stopped her fall.”
“Thanks, Hudson.” Morgan tucks wayward hair behind her ears. “That’s comforting.”
Ava pats him on the back, heads over to the chairs, and plops into one. We follow and do the same, leaning our heads back and relaxing in the sun.
Morgan tells them about the jewelers. Her gaze flicks to mine before she omits the part where we kiss. Our little secret, then.
Crossing her ankles, Ava stretches out. “I can’t believe they took your photo! Did you get to keep one?”
“No, I didn’t keep any,” Morgan says.
That’s true. She didn’t keep them. She shoved them in the glove box and probably intends to toss them when we get back to town.
“Did you pull it off, or did you break character?” Hudson bounces his knee.
“I think we sold it pretty well.” I rub my jaw. “The lady asked a lot of questions, though. Like how I proposed.”
“What did you say?”
“I told them your story.”
“Nice.” Hudson gives me a fist bump. “And thanks for doing that. I forgot they close at two.”
“No problem.” Lacing her fingers behind her head, Morgan closes her eyes against the bright sun. “So, how was the boating trip?”
Ava taps on the smooth wood armrests. “It was fun but crowded. We just got back and wanted some space.”
“Never thought we’d run into you two up here.” Hudson waggles his eyebrows.
“Hudson, stop bugging them.” Groaning, Ava slaps his arm. “Leave them alone.”
“Fine.” He reaches over to clap me on the shoulder. “Ready to head down for the bocce ball tournament?”
That sounds fun. Morgan squints open one eye. Her head rocking my way, she nods as if giving me permission, but her tired face prompts me to say, “Thanks, but I’ll help Morgan with the lights on the pavilion.”
Her eyes go wide, and after a beat, I tense. Oops.
Ava frowns. “What do you mean?”
Morgan cringes, and her shoulders inch up by her ears. “It’s—part of the surprise?”
“Ava, were you helping Evelyn decorate for the reception? You don’t need to do that. We’re paying her to take care of everything.”
Mouth hanging open, Morgan can’t seem to find her voice. Finally, she squirms. “It’s fine. Evelyn didn’t—”
She doesn’t have to finish the lie because Ava’s phone rings, and she holds up a finger. “Hold that thought.” She slides that finger across the screen. “Hey, Mom.”
“Okay, honey.” Over speakerphone, Fran’s irritating voice is even more grating. “Cat’s out of the bag. Uncle Byron found out and told everybody.”
“Told everybody what?”
“That Evelyn left.”
“She left?” Ava jolts upright, her voice rising an octave. “When?”
“Now, don’t freak out like your dad. Everything will be just fine. Morgan and that boy have been working on things all day.”
My brows push up into my hair. That boy?
Ava stands and begins to pace in front of the chairs. “All day?”
“Evelyn left last night. She didn’t feel well.”
“Last night?” Ava rakes through her spa-fresh hair. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because of this right here. I didn’t want any drama.” Someone starts talking to Fran in the background. “I have to go, honey. We’ll talk more in a bit.”
The call ends.
There’s silence except for the wind and birdcalls. Ava’s frozen, clutching her phone. “Is she serious? Have you been working all day?”
Morgan nods. “But it’s okay. I wanted to help.”
Ava shoves her phone into her back pocket. “Wait. Is this why you didn’t go on the boat?”
“Maaay–be?”
Ava palms her cheeks. “I’m so sorry. I can’t believe this. I can’t believe she put you to work without even telling me.” She spins to me. “And you too!”
Morgan stands. “Your mom asked me to do it. Will volunteered to help me.”
Hudson gives me a knowing smirk. “Nice.”
“Not the time, Hudson,” Ava snaps, pacing again.
“And Evelyn didn’t abandon you.” Standing, I brush debris off my blue-stained shorts. “She left in an ambulance last night.”
We fill her in. Then she insists on hearing how we became Fran’s minions.
When we finish, she grips each of our shoulders. “I'm so sorry. But don’t worry. Hudson and I are going to help now. You won’t have to be stuck together anymore.”
That doesn’t sit as well as it should. Sure, it’ll be nice to have help with the never-ending list. Still, it grates to think of someone actively preventing me from being stuck with Morgan.
As I try to gauge her reaction, she just smiles and nods. Is she… relieved? That doesn’t sit well, either.
“Thanks, Ava,” she says. “And I didn’t mind. I want your big day to be perfect.”
Ava seems near tears now, so Hudson rubs his hands together. “Okay, I’ll tell Matt the bocce ball tournament is off. What do we need to do first?”
“Sounds like the pavilion needs work. Maybe we finish that first?” Ava says.
He nods. “All right. Let’s get going.”
Ava grabs Morgan’s hand and tugs her away. “You can ride with me in the golf cart.”
They trot off.
Hudson twitches his fingers for the keys. “Guess you’re with me.”
I hand them over as Morgan and Ava drive away. Great. He’s watching me with a stupid I-see-what’s-happening-here smirk.
“What?”
“Oh, nothing. I am just thinking about how you and Morgan seem different since this morning. Something going on you want to share with your dear cousin?”
I rake a hand through my hair. “Don’t start. Nothing’s going on.”
But he grins, clapping me on the back. “Sure, there’s not.
All I’m saying is maybe it’s time to stop pining for that other girl who keeps stringing you along—what’s her name?
Scarlet? Instead, look at what’s right in front of you.
And I’ll remind you again that Morgan doesn’t live that far from OU. ”
I shake my head as we slide into the truck cab. “She seemed pretty happy to get away from me. Plus, I don’t do setups, remember?”
But I hadn’t thought of Scarlet all day.
He shrugs, still smirking. Know-it-all. “Does Morgan seem like the other girls you’ve been set up with?”
I don’t answer as their cart disappears down the road. No, Morgan’s not like them at all. But she still hates me—and gets phone calls from some guy named Leo.
With a huff, I roll up the window. “What do you know about Leo?”
Did I honestly ask that?
Hudson’s smug laugh makes me want to toss him in the lake. “Now, why would my uninterested cousin want to know about him?”