Chapter 26
EMERY
“Okay, that’s enough,” Eve says, sitting opposite me on her couch with Eli flanking her side.
“What?” I mumble with a mouth full of moo shu pork.
“I told you we shouldn’t ambush her while she’s eating,” Eli says, turning to my sister like there’s some pretend forcefield filtering out their discussion.
“It’s been two days of her moping around,” Eve groans. “Her vibe is really mucking up the place. Even the yellow walls can’t drown out the tragedy taking place on my pull-out couch.”
“Geez, guys. You don’t have to talk about me like I’m not right here,” I snap, placing the food carton on the coffee table.
“Sorry, sis,” Eli says, speaking for both of them. “We’re just concerned. This was supposed to be a fun sibling weekend, and I hate to say it but…you’re acting like a real—”
“Drag,” Eve says, finishing his sentence.
“Eve,” my brother warns, giving her his world-famous side eye. She shrugs nonchalantly and falls back onto the couch with a soft thud.
“We’re just worried about you, Ree,” Eli says after taking a deep breath, “and I think there’s something you’re not telling us.” He places extra emphasis on the last word, and it feels a lot like a hard poke begging me to tell Eve about my summer arrangement.
I sigh, letting more guilt drown out my aching heart.
I know it’s killing him to keep such a big secret from Eve.
After growing up in a tumultuous household, the three of us became a unit in adulthood.
We never kept things from each other, and we had monthly family meetings that involved hour-long dump fests, including everything from grievances to new crushes.
And even though they both knew about Knox, I had neglected to share one very important piece of information with my sister.
“Fine,” I say, ready to set all my cards out on the table. The last two days have been agonizing with the image of Knox’s face in my rearview mirror, haunting my every thought. Every time I tried to figure out what comes next for me, his beautiful smirk snuffed out any logical or sane thoughts.
Eve arches her perfectly maintained brow and hunches over. “This should be good.”
I bite my lip and bow my head. My pulse hums under my skin. My body is just as anxious to get the truth out.
“I was never actually dating Knox.”
Eve squints her eyes, and I swear if she could shoot laser beams out of her eyes, this would be the time for it. “You what?”
“Knox came to me when I first moved to Honey Grove and asked if I would be his fake girlfriend in exchange for him fixing my truck…” I go on to explain more, but the deeper I get into the explanation, the more Eve’s eyelid twitches.
“And of course this entire thing has bitten me in the ass, and now I think I’m in love with him.
But after what happened with us before, I’m scared to give up everything to be with him.
And of course, there’s the fact that the money from selling grandma’s shop could help me create a career that I want instead of trying to slap a coat of paint over a building that seems more like a money pit than a gold mine. ”
Eve doesn’t speak for a moment, but when there’s finally movement, she turns to Eli. “Why aren’t you more surprised?” she asks, but it doesn’t take long for everything to click into place. “You son of a bitch. I can’t believe you told him and not me. What the hell, Ree?”
My face turns an unflattering shade of circus freak red. “Eli is less…erhm dramatic.”
I know it’s the wrong thing to say before the words even leave my mouth. Eve’s face lights up in pure rage. “Dramatic? Me? I’m—what? Oh, come on,” she says, slapping her hands against her legs.
Eli clears his throat. “Nope. Not at all.”
“Oh, shut up,” she says, throwing icy daggers at him with her eyes. “Ree, the reason you didn’t tell me is because it was a bad idea and you didn’t want me to talk you out of it.”
I blink slowly and sink back into the soft couch cushion. “Yeah, I guess that’s a better way to put it,” I say, feeling my resolve deflate. “I’m sorry, Eve. As you can see, I haven’t been doing a great job at communicating.”
“It’s safe to say none of us are good at doing that,” Eli chuckles.
“Okay,” Eve says, taking a deep breath before turning on her big sister game face. “So let me get this straight. You hated the guy, agreed to be in a fake relationship with him and now you’re in love with him.”
“Sounds about right,” I mumble, staring straight at the ceiling. I was ready for the depression to take over and a possible reboot of my middle school emo phase.
“And you’re here because?”
“It’s hard for me to make rational decisions around him. I can’t plan my future around a man again. I need to make this decision for myself.”
I hear a strangled groan from my sister, and even with my eyes focused on her high, antique ceilings. I can feel the frustration coming off her in waves. I lift my head and raise a questioning brow. Eve mutters something under her breath, but I can barely hear it.
“What?” I ask.
Eli and Eve share a knowing look before one of them finally starts talking. “Ree, I get where you’re coming from, but I think you’re looking at this the wrong way,” Eli says with a calm and articulate tone.
“How so?” I question, stretching out my spine and peeling myself from the couch cushion.
“You’ve always loved Honey Grove—even before Knox.
Eve and I hated going there for holidays as kids, but you were always so excited to get out of the city.
And then when you found out you were inheriting Grandma’s shop, it was the first time I’ve seen you light up in a while.
And then, of course, that ass hat Patrick had to ruin it, but you still went anyway.
You have an undeniable connection to that place, regardless of who lives there.
So, before you try to pretend like you’re basing your decision off Knox and whatever spell that man has you under, take a step back and consider what you’d be giving up if you sold the shop and moved. ”
I stare at Eli, processing everything he said.
But it’s not that simple. Every time I think of Honey Grove, I see him.
The town I’ve come to love is so deeply intertwined with the man I love, and it’s hard to stay impartial.
But maybe that’s the answer. I just have to remove the big, dumb roadblock in my head lit up with bright red warning signs.
“This is ridiculous,” Eve says, no longer able to hold herself back from chiming in.
“I was there. I saw you two together. He’s nothing like the boy who broke your heart, and even if your relationship was supposedly fake, there was nothing fake about the way he looked at you.
That’s why I didn’t slash his tires when I met him. ”
I let out a weak laugh, picturing Eve trying to shove a sharp object into Knox’s tires. He wouldn’t even be mad, either. He’d just laugh it off and say he probably deserved it.
But he didn’t—not really. We were both dumb kids, and I was trying to force a budding relationship into something far too mature for two teenagers.
He also didn’t deserve to wait around for a woman who can’t recognize a good—no, a great thing when she sees it.
I’ve spent the last summer thinking he didn’t deserve me, but maybe it was me who didn’t deserve him.
“All I’m saying is give him a chance. Give your life in Honey Grove a chance.
I watched Patrick suck the life out of you for almost five years, and I’ve never seen you happier than you were this past summer.
Stop focusing on what could go wrong and start realizing what’s going right now. If you ask me, it’s a no-brainer.”
It really is a no-brainer. I want to stay in Honey Grove.
I want a future with Knox. What I don’t want is to start over again.
But she’s right. I can’t keep letting my anxiety win.
I wouldn't change those experiences, even though they burned me. It might hurt like hell when it’s over, but it won’t make it any less impactful.
I needed Knox to break my heart to grow up.
I needed Patrick to break my heart so I could move on.
Now I need to give in to those feelings again to move toward the future I’ve been chasing all these years.
Even if I don’t end up with Knox, I’ll never regret building a home in the one place I always come back to.
“God, I’m an ass,” I say, throwing my head in my hands. “What if he’s already come to his senses? I’ve done nothing but push him away. I swear he’s one head injury away from realizing what a jerk I am.”
Eve and Eli both chuckle lightly before going dead silent. I peek up from my hand prison to find a mischievous look painted on my sister’s face. “What?” I ask cautiously.
“I think this calls for a romantic gesture,” she says, bounding from her spot on the couch. “And I have the perfect idea!”
“No,” I say, pointing my finger at her. “I’m not doing one of your bullshit Hallmark movie moves. I bet you want me to track him down at the town jamboree and confess my feelings on stage in front of the entire town.”
“Ooo, that’s good. Is that happening right now?”
“Ugh,” I groan. “No, but even if it was, I’m not doing that.”
“I don’t think you understand the stakes here, Ree,” Eve explains, pacing back and forth. “You need to show him you’re just as committed to this relationship as he is, and knowing you, you’ve probably been a real emotionally unavailable jerk, so we have to dig deep.”
“Hey!” I say, turning to my brother for some back-up, but all the traitor does is shrug and say something along the lines of “let her cook,” whatever that means.
“Just trust me, Ree. I’ve been preparing for this for my whole life. I know what I’m talking about.”
“Fine,” I agree, giving in. “If I’m going to do this, then let’s do it right.”
After a very long drive and a few animated pep talks from Eve, I’m all set to confess my undying love. The only issue is now that I’m here, I can’t get out of the truck.