Chapter Fourteen
T he next day, Sloane dropped Clara off at school on her way to the garage.
She’d finished work on the first vehicle scheduled for the day, wondering the whole time she worked on it why it had taken her so long to tell Jonas what Julieann thought of their engagement.
In the old days, they would have laughed over the socialite’s impression.
It was a pretend commitment, and Sloane didn’t care what the other woman thought. That’s what she kept telling herself.
She was pathetic. But just because she didn’t want to see confirmation in his eyes that he’d known all along that she’d been crushing on him practically from the first day he’d stood up for her, that didn’t make her a weakling.
It just meant she was a cautious woman when it came to pursuing the man she loved.
So, she loved Jonas. Surprise, surprise. He was everything and more that she wanted in the man she hoped to spend the rest of her life with.
You’re not his type. He likes his women sophisticated and on the fast track.
Not his type? What did that even mean? And how did a stranger see that when she couldn’t? Although she’d been his best friend long enough, she should have seen that glaring error in her thinking somewhere along the way.
If it was true that he liked a more sophisticated, fast-tracking woman more than a homegrown girl who preferred heavy metal, classic vehicles, and a garage full of tools over sitting behind an office desk, then it was true. She wasn’t Jonas Lohmen’s go-to woman.
So, why had he announced she was his fiancée in front of his family? He said it was to make Julieann go away. She had to believe him, didn’t she?
There had to be something unremarkable about her that had Jonas keeping her in the friend category. She wasn’t about to magically become stylish, and she’d never been a fast-climbing kind of gal. Those were things about herself she would never change.
“Your next customer’s here,” Dean said as she closed the hood of the Wrangler.
She moved the Wrangler out of the bay.
So much had happened. Signing up for Perfect Match. Dating. Getting the sister she’d always wanted—it had taken two seconds for Clara to burrow into her heart. Dealing with social services. Getting engaged, even if it was for a nefarious reason on Jonas’s part.
She pulled in the next car, a Ranger whose owner brought the truck in like clockwork for routine checkups.
She had everything she wanted, excluding a man she could grow old with. When she signed up for Perfect Match, she’d set out to find... well... her perfect mate. For so long, she thought that guy was Jonas. She was wrong on both counts.
Perfect Match was a bust. She would be old, old, old before she found a love match there, even though Jonas had left her a message requesting her to meet him for lunch.
That didn’t count, even though putting his profile on the dating app hadn’t been his idea.
It was embarrassing that his brothers thought they needed a push in the direction of matrimony, but Jonas didn’t.
Cleaning her hands, she grabbed her phone from her pocket and texted her pretend fiancée. “You have to tell your family you’re breaking off our engagement.”
“Not yet.” He responded so quickly, she was certain he must have been waiting to hear from her.
She dialed his number. When he answered, she demanded, “Why not?”
“It would be suspicious if we were only engaged for a couple of days... that we’d made a mistake.”
Sloane couldn’t believe Jonas. “Says who?”
“Are you planning to tell Clara we’re not engaged?”
That was not playing fair. Her sister had been so excited about them supposedly getting married, she’d talked about nothing else. Sloane didn’t know if she could break Clara’s happy bubble. Not without Jonas being there to back her up.
“I’ll tell her after you tell your family. And you have to be there too.”
“Let’s meet after work and we’ll talk to her together.” Before she could agree that would work, he said, “I’ve got to run. See you tonight.”
When she got home earlier than she expected, dead beat from chasing her thoughts and wondering what Jonas was really up to, her dad was in the kitchen with Clara, scrambling a recipe the teen wanted to make.
Dinner hash. She used to make it for Tracy, so Sloane made sure she had all the ingredients on hand.
“There you are.” Her dad gave her a long hug. “Clara tells me congratulations are in order—”
Sloane looked over Clara’s shoulder as she stirred the hamburger in the pan.
“I told Dad you and Jonas got engaged.” The kid practically did a two-step in her excitement.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you right away.” How did she get into this crazy mess? Jonas didn’t really want to marry her. “Things got a little out of hand.”
He pulled her into the living room. Sloane glanced over his shoulder to make sure her sister’s attention was adequately engaged with the meal she was preparing.
“I figured you’d tell me when you got a chance. I ran into Nathan and Izzy at the hardware store. They told me the good news.” Grinning, he cupped her hand in both of his. “So, the boy finally proposed. It took him long enough.”
“Not exactly.” About to tell her dad the whole story, she was interrupted by a knock on the door. “That’s Jonas. He said he would stop by.” She opened the door. “Uh, hi.”
“Look who I found pulling up at the curb,” Jonas said, ushering in Nora.
“I’m here for a home visit.” Nora left her bag on the couch. “Is Clara here?”
Sloane led the way to the kitchen. “Did we have an appointment?”
“No. I just stopped by to see how you two are getting along.”
Surprise. Great. Sloane didn’t think she would tell Nora about Clara disappearing the other day. Her sister’s intentions had been innocent enough.
Clara put the lid on her skillet. “Jonas and my sister just got engaged,” she said, grinning from ear to ear.
Sloane wanted to slap her hand against her forehead.
“Congratulations,” her dad said to Jonas and held out his hand.
If she thought he would clear things up, she was greatly mistaken. Instead of telling a funny story about how their engagement had come about, after shaking her dad’s hand, Jonas slung his arm around Sloane’s shoulders. “Thanks. We’re very happy, aren’t we, sweet girl?”
Sweet girl? Since when?
He grabbed her hand and held on tight before she could pinch him again.
Nora added her congratulations. “I won’t stay long. Clara, could you show me your room?”
“Sure.”
Breathe.
True to her word, Nora left soon after.
Squeezing Sloane’s hand, Jonas wasn’t far behind. Stopping him at the door, she hissed, “I thought we were going to tell Clara the truth.”
“We will, but I promised Timmy I’d play him a game of checkers before he goes to bed. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Jonas dropped a kiss on her temple. He seemed to linger, but then was gone, leaving her feeling more bewildered than ever.
She and her dad cleaned up after dinner, while Clara disappeared into her room. Homework, she said. On a Friday night? Okay...
Her dad sat on the couch beside Sloane. “Are you happy?”
“Confused.” She couldn’t tell him that getting engaged to Jonas wasn’t her idea. At least, not the way it had happened.
He patted her hand. “That’s to be expected.
It’s a big change, getting engaged. Marrying someone is a whole new adventure.
” Adventure. That was one way to put it.
Anymore, anything having to do with Jonas was an experience.
“I’d better go, kiddo. I need to give Dorothy a call.
We’re going on a bike ride up the mountain tomorrow. ”
After all was quiet—even Clara was asleep—Sloane surfed the net, wondering if adventure, not love, was what she was craving. At least she could see what jumped out at her during her search.
Backpacking. For beginners. That was it. She’d always wanted to try. More research showed there were a lot of challenging places to hike around Strawberry Ridge.
Saving the page, she shut down her computer, got ready for bed, and climbed in, pulling the covers to her chin.
The next morning, after a restless night, she put the idea on the back of her mental shelf. If she presented it right, it might be a sport Jonas could add to the Triple L’s list of side hustles.
“Can I go to the ranch today?” Clara asked as Sloane put a bowl of oatmeal on the table and all the extra things her sister liked to add. “Timmy, Andee, and Reece will be there. Nathan wants to talk about how we can help at the rodeo.”
Sloane didn’t have a problem with her sister making friends with the Lohmen family. She should care. When she and Jonas broke off their engagement, Clara would be heartbroken. She was already growing too attached to Jonas.
“I’ll drop you off on my way to the shop.”
“Dad said he would take me.” From the moment Sloane’s dad had suggested it, Clara was on board.
Sloane had no complaints. They were her family. “I’ll pick you up after work, probably about one.” She watched Clara add raisins, brown sugar, and yogurt to her oatmeal before asking, “What would you say if I told you I’m thinking about taking a backpacking course for beginners?”
Her sister glanced up from her cereal. “I’d ask if I could go with you.”
“And I’d say—” Sloane teased, arching one brow. “I was hoping you’d ask.”
Grinning, Clara finished her oatmeal.
By the time Ron arrived to pick up Clara, Sloane was dressed, the kitchen was clean, and she was on the way out the door, too, happy that it was Saturday and her half day. She didn’t want to ruin her sister’s day, but she should probably corner Jonas so they could have that “talk.”
The sun was bright and the weather warm, but not too warm.
The town was getting dressed up for the rodeo, with banners hanging from the old-time lampposts.
More than the usual number of folks on foot wandered in and out of already busy shops.
The day promised to be a good one. Perhaps her talk with Jonas would be good too.