Chapter 9
Juliet
Archer’s here. I didn’t even have the thought to look for him.
“Did you know he was coming tonight?” Dad asks in an undertone, ducking his head to smooth the napkin on his lap.
“Nope.”
Dad’s frown grows. Does he really dislike Archer that much?
Lisa asks him a question with batting eyelashes, and he pulls up his mayoral smile in response, leaving me to wonder alone about Archer’s unexpected presence. Did he come tonight to prove he wasn’t afraid of my dad? Something tells me it wasn’t to support the mayor.
Archer leans to the side, and I catch sight of the woman next to him. Sadie Stevenson, his date.
I’m thrown back to high school. My friends and I are watching a movie. Eating popcorn and enjoying ourselves. Then I find Archer, holding hands with a blonde bombshell. Mature, regal, beautiful.
My teenage heart had been embarrassingly crushed. It’s teetering on the verge now.
It’s always the same with me. Ludicrous fantasies. No thought grounded in reality. Archer doesn’t even know me. Why would he ever need to prove he wasn’t afraid of Dad?
Letting go of the stranglehold that crush had on me for two years is exactly what I need so this kind of stuff doesn’t affect me anymore. Then I wouldn’t have to worry about his date or why he chose to come to this birthday celebration.
As if the cowboy could hear my thoughts, his dark eyes flash toward mine, and we lock onto each other for a tense moment, neither moving, neither blinking until I look away with a tight stomach.
“Why do you think he came?” Dad whispers to me, his conversation with Lisa over.
“Everyone was invited, right?” I soothe, swallowing my bite of mashed potatoes. “Maybe he wants to join in the festivities. And look, he has a date so you don’t have to worry about that either.”
“Sadie Stevenson,” Dad says. “She’s still at Keller’s.”
That’s the thing about being the mayor of a small town and his daughter. We know almost everyone in town.
“She’s really nice,” I say to combat any jealousy I might feel.
She always said hi to me in the hallways in school, even though she was a senior when I was a freshman.
“Shame she’s with him, then,” Dad mumbles.
I stare. I’ve never heard Dad say something so ungenerous.
He closes his eyes, and sighs. “That was uncalled for.”
“Okay, what is it between you two?” I whisper.
“Nothing. I just don’t approve of him or what he’s brought to Autumn Ridge.”
“Which is...” I prompt.
But Lisa has another question for him.
I sigh, and Luke seems to hear. “What’s wrong?”
His genuine care makes me want to like him even more. “Nothing.”
He gives me a look. “Want me to turn Detective Walker on you?”
“Fine. I just...” I look around the table, ensuring everyone else is in their own conversations before I continue. “Yesterday, I got a ride home from Archer Kade.”
“Okay?” he prods, drawing out the word. “What’s wrong with that?”
“Nothing. There was just something super weird between him and my dad. Usually guys are afraid of him, but Archer was, like...annoyed. I can’t figure out why.”
I look a moment too long in Archer’s direction, and he catches me staring again.
His silver bolo tie glints in the light of the room—same as his belt buckle as he stands for a brief moment, shaking a passerby’s hand.
Both metals contrast with his black shirt and dark suit.
The only thing that would make the image better would be his cowboy hat, but I guess he’s not going for full Texas-black-tie.
Luke chewed through a bite of his filet mignon. “Well, why don’t you use those detective skills of yours to figure out what’s going on between them?”
“That won’t work on Dad.”
“Then ask Archer straight-up.”
“Yeah, I can’t do that.”
“I could. I see him often enough for hay drop-offs and pick-ups.”
“No,” I state firmly.
“Why not?
“Because I don’t want him thinking I like him.” I cringe at how immature my words make me sound.
“Why would he think that?”
“Because I may or may not have told him that I definitely had a crush on him in high school.”
Luke gives me a look of approval. “Nice. Guys love that.”
“Yeah, but then I told him it was over. Because it is,” I quickly add.
“Okay, so what’s the problem?”
“Well, I don’t want him to think I still like him.”
“Which you don’t?”
“Which I don’t,” I repeat. “And now he’s here with a date, and I’m not.”
Luke chewed through another large bite of food, then finally spoke.
“Okay, I get it. You came here thinking you wouldn’t see him, but now that you are—and he’s with a date—you’re afraid of looking like a loser, and that would be the worst because if you look like a loser, you look desperate, and if you’re desperate, you probably still have a crush on him because you can’t get any other guy. ”
“Ouch. But bang on.”
“Right. Say no more.” He leans back with a stretch, then drapes his right arm around the back of my chair.
“What are you doing?”
“Being your date for the night. And making you look like less of a loser.”
“Okay, we can drop that word now, I think.”
“Sorry. I’ll make you look less...despondent.”
“Look at you with the big words.”
He smirks. “Who needs college when you’ve barely scraped out a high school degree but have loads of farm smarts?” He scoots his chair a little closer to mine. “There. Now he can actually see me sitting next to you. Yup, there he goes. He’s watching you.”
I make to look at Archer again, but Luke stops me. “No, duh. You can’t look at him anymore. You have to look at me, and I’ll tell you if he’s looking at you.”
“Right. Got it.”
“Yup. He’s looking at us hard. Wanna kiss?”
“Luke.”
“I’m kidding! Only kidding. Your dad might like me but not if I use you in that way.”
He’s right about that.
Luke looks at me a little longer, and I shift on the seat awkwardly. “Okay, so what’s the purpose of this?”
“To make him jealous. And to let him know you’re not a lose—” He stops. “That you’re a catch.”
“But he has his own date.”
“Meh. He and Sadie have been working together at the stables for years. If something romantic was going to happen between them, it would have happened already.”
“You know what I’ve decided? We need to open up a detective agency. With your deduction skills and my interrogation skills, I think we could make a good go of it.”
“Deal. But first, you need to focus. Look like you’re having a good time with me.”
I glue on a smile. “You think this’ll work?”
“I know it will.”