Chapter 7
Ari
Going to church in Autumn Ridge every Sunday is more about speed-dating than it is about religion.
At least for my mother.
An elbow hits my side. “That’s Archer Kade.”
“Ouch.” I rub my skin where my mom just assaulted me.
Her eyebrows waggle as her head nods to the man who just walked through the doors at the back of the chapel. “The stable boy who is ex rodeo.”
Stable boy? Clearly, my mom doesn’t know how to market a man, not that Archer Kade needs much help marketing himself. He’s handsome with brown hair and stubble, so rugged he should consider changing careers to a lumberjack model.
“He’s the one I told you about, remember? Moved here five years ago. Your same age.”
“Good for him.” I turn my eyes forward again, focusing on Sharon Price at the organ, playing prelude music.
It doesn’t matter how good-looking the match she has for me is; I’m not interested.
“Did you see I bought some mums for the front porch?”
I glance at my mother. She went from finding me a husband to fall plants in the blink of an eye.
“Yeah, I like the yellow ones.”
“I can never keep them alive. Am I watering them too much? Too little?” She shakes her head. “I need you to Google it for me.”
“You act like you don’t have access to the internet.”
“No, it’s more that I don’t have time to look.”
“You have two weeks off from work right now.”
“That’s all taken up with wedding stuff.”
She nudges me again. “Oh, look presentable.”
“I do look presentable.” I smooth my dress over my legs. It’s red with tiny royal-blue flowers. The perfect choice for September. Red just represents this time of year, like a bright-red apple that someone picks from a tree and gives to their new school teacher. You can’t convince me otherwise.
“Yes, but there are the Walkers.” My mother sits up taller, giving them a little wave as they file into a wooden pew on the other side of the aisle and sit down in front of Wade’s family.
Not that Wade’s here. I doubt he’s graced these pews with his presence since he graduated from high school and no longer had to come to church to please his parents.
“Bennett, Tate, Luke.” My mom ticks off each Walker boy as if she’s lining them up for me in her mind.
“Mom, I know who the Walkers are. Landrie’s marrying one. Remember?”
Right on cue, Landrie and Jaxon appear, opting to scoot into our row instead of sitting with his family.
“I’m just laying out your options. You’ve been gone for so long you might not know the choices in front of you.”
No wonder she insisted on getting to church fifteen minutes early.
I lean around her, meeting my dad’s gaze. “Are you hearing this?”
His broad shoulders lift and come back down as if he has no opinion on his wife’s antics. Dusty Langford has perfected the nonchalance of staying out of his all-female family fights.
“If you don’t intervene, Mom will have me sold by the end of church to the first available bachelor who hands her a twenty-dollar bill.”
It’s hard to see my dad’s grin from under his thick, graying beard, but it’s there. “I hope you fetch a lot more than twenty dollars.”
“Very funny,” I say without any real bite.
My mom pushes me back into my seat as another overdone smile spreads across her lips. This time, the smile is for the Harper family as they shuffle into the row in front of us. I know she’s about to force a conversation between Dom and me, so I start a conversation of my own.
“Hey, Rosie.” I lean forward, choosing to talk to Dom’s twin sister instead of him. “How did the Ednas like the game Friday night?”
Rosie laughs. “They were more interested in gathering gossip than watching the football game.” She turns to the woman beside her with shoulder-length auburn hair. “You remember my sister, Emma, right?”
I was never friends with Emma Harper. She was three years older, and where Rosie and I were on the cheer team, Emma was behind a book. But she was always really nice.
“Yeah, of course.” I nod with a smile. “Good to see you again.”
Emma twists her body to talk. “You took the English teacher position at the high school, right?”
“Just started last week.”
“I work at the library and do class visits and field trips all the time. Maybe we could set something up.”
“I would love that! I’m all for whatever we can do to introduce teens to reading.”
“Speaking of reading,” Emma says, “I host a book club once a month at the library. There’s one this Tuesday. You should come. Your mom comes sometimes.”
“I’ll be there.” I smile big. Book clubs and girlfriends are exactly what I need right now. None of this dating mumbo jumbo. “And do I have you to blame for my mom’s obsession with romance books?”
Emma laughs. “She did that all on her own.”
They turn forward again, so my mom leans in and whispers in my ear, “Why didn’t you talk to Dom?”
I lift my chin and ignore her, praying the pastor will start soon and save me from my mom’s matchmaking ways.
“Dom’s a great option.”
“I don’t need options,” I whisper back. “I’m not interested in dating right now.” The flat line of my lips shows my seriousness.
She sighs, personally saddened by my lack of interest in the future she has laid out for me.
It’s not that the men in Autumn Ridge aren’t great guys.
I’m sure they are. I just can’t trust anyone with my heart right now—including myself.
I didn’t miss Andy’s red flags. I looked at them and thought How attractive!
Because of that, I need some time to be single, if only to work on my critical-thinking skills so I don’t make the same mistakes again.
Pastor Bruce Vasser stands, signaling to Sharon that he’s ready to start the worship service. She switches to the song's final musical chord progression as a warning to quiet down.
“I’d like to welcome everybody this beautiful sabbath morning…” the pastor begins.
The wood door in the back slams shut like the breeze outside caught it at just the wrong time.
Pastor Bruce falters.
All eyes turn.
Wade smiles big, even bowing a little before confidently walking to where his family sits.
His gaze catches mine as he passes, and with the utmost confidence, he winks at me.
Only Wade Stevenson could get away with winking at someone in church.
And it’s annoying in the most charming way.
Wade
“WHAT’S for dinner?” I ask my sister, Sadie, as we wait in the shade of a tree for our parents to finish talking.
Technically, I don’t have to wait for a ride home from my parents. I drove my truck to church, but I’m hoping to talk to Ari once she finally makes her way outside the chapel.
“Roast and mashed potatoes. Ryan, Lily, and Mia are coming too.” Sadie doesn’t look up when she answers. She’s zeroed in on her hair, flipping a few strands up to her eyes, looking for split ends. She’s like a mini version of my mom with the same red hair.
“Mmm, a Sunday favorite. What about dessert? What have you made for me today?”
“Apple pie.”
“I guess that will do.” I lean my shoulder against the tree and cross my legs, looking back at the chapel doors.
Who the heck is Ari talking to for so long? There’s a split second of panic when I think about her mom wanting to find her a husband, but the feeling disappears when I realize most of the single men have already left.
Patty Keller exits the church, giving Linda Tolman an earful.
“I swear I can smell Keller’s Bakehouse on her from here like a permanent perfume that’s embedded in her skin from years of baking pies.”
Sadie’s head snaps up, looking across the lawn to Patty. “I work at Keller’s Bakehouse too. Do I smell like that?”
“Nah, you’re just an assistant baker. But just in case…” I pretend to take a big sniff of my sister then pause to assess. “On second thought, you do smell like a cinnamon pastry.”
“Yeah, well, you smell like dirty gym socks and teen acne.”
“I wasn’t aware acne had a scent.”
Patty nods politely at Sadie as they pass, as any good boss would do, but she doesn’t stop talking to Linda. “I heard her fiancé in Florida took all her money and left her at the altar.”
The mention of Florida grabs my attention.
There’s only one person in Autumn Ridge with ties to Florida, and that’s Ari.
“That’s what happens when you live your life the way she has.” Linda tsks. “There’s always one black sheep in every family. At least Barb has Landrie.”
“And what a gem Landrie is,” Patty gushes. “Thank goodness for her.”
“Amen!” Linda says a little too boisterously, but we did just come from church, so I guess she’s still feelin’ it.
My brows drop as I contemplate, Is this just typical Autumn Ridge gossip, or did Ari really get left at the altar?
Anger hits fast—at some guy I’ve never met who was stupid enough to hurt her.
Then the emotion fluctuates to Patty Keller and Linda Tolman.
I hate how they reduced Ari to a failed relationship.
There’s so much more to her than that. She’s probably the best teacher at the high school.
They should be talking about how lucky we are to have her here.
“Don’t look so confused,” Sadie interrupts my flash of irritation. “It doesn’t take a genius to figure out who the black sheep is in our family.”
I push aside my Ari thoughts and glance back at my sister.
“I don’t think Rusty, our family dog, would appreciate you talking about him like that.
” Fake seriousness covers my entire expression.
“Imagine being an Irish setter, and somebody refers to you as a black sheep. They’re not even in the same animal family. It’s so offensive.”
Sadie shakes her head as she tries to hide her laugh.
Ari finally walks out of the church with Landrie and the Ednas—oh, they’re to blame for her taking so long.
It all makes sense now. She stands out in her red dress and white sneakers.
Heck, she stands out in anything. But it’s really her smile that does the heavy lifting.
Big, animated, full of natural joy. I could stare at it all day, every day, and never get bored.