16. Laine
16
LAINE
“Are you sure Cassidy wants me to come?” I ask, twisting around in the passenger seat of Magnolia’s SUV to look back at Frankie.
“She specifically asked me to invite you,” Frankie says, shrugging. She looks as apprehensive as I feel.
“It’ll be fun,” Magnolia insists, nodding as if to convince herself of her words. “What’s not to love about cake testing?”
She has a point. If I’m going to be spending the morning with my best friend’s ex, then there might as well be dessert involved.
“I think Cassidy wants to spend more time getting to know you before the bachelorette party,” Frankie says.
An image of me with a genitalia-topped hat and pink feather boa pops into my mind, and I shudder. Further embarrassment in front of Cassidy is the last thing I need. “I doubt she wants me to go to her bachelorette party.”
“Sure she will!” Magnolia says, waving a hand dismissively. Changing the subject, she asks, “Is Sutton working at the ranch today?”
“He is.” I try to not sound disappointed .
After the argument yesterday, Wells and Cassidy left to go to town, probably so Wells wouldn’t have to see Sutton. Though, that wouldn’t have mattered much, seeing as how Sutton went upstairs at eight-thirty, took a shower, then his sleeping pill, and promptly fell asleep. It’s felt like ages since we had a good chance to talk, to hang out, to just be…Sutton and Laine.
Thankfully, Frankie and Magnolia kept me company last night. We stayed up until one in the morning as they taught me all of their favorite card games: crazy eights, rummy, hearts, and some I swear they made up on the spot.
The bakery, like most of the shops in West River, is a part of one long building with half-a-dozen other businesses. But unlike the others, the front of the bakery is painted baby pink. Lace curtains hang in the windows. It looks like it could be a set from Steel Magnolias .
Cassidy is already sitting at one of the tables inside. The ruffled floral dress she wears matches the bakery's charming aesthetic, and she has pulled her copper hair back in a loose bun. Somehow, she looks even more beautiful than she did yesterday. Her emerald eyes are on me instantly.
As we take our seats around the table, mine directly across from Cassidy’s, I notice how gracefully she moves, how at ease she seems. If she’s as nervous as I am, she doesn’t show it. I guess she shouldn’t be nervous. After all, she’s the one that dumped Sutton. She has the high ground.
“Thank you for coming, girls,” Cassidy says, tipping her head to the side.
“We wouldn’t miss it,” Magnolia responds. It’s hard to imagine that Magnolia could actually like the person who dated two of her sons—and broke one of their hearts—but her smile sells it.
“And I’m so sorry about yesterday, Lainey,” Cassidy says. “ It was all a big misunderstanding. I think Sutton and I just got…caught up in emotions.”
My stomach lurches, but I force myself to return Cassidy’s grin. Before I can say anything, Magnolia interjects.
“What happened yesterday?” Her eyes dart between Cassidy, Frankie, and me, her mouth downturned. I can see her mind reeling on about the worst-case scenario.
“Nothing!” Frankie and I say simultaneously, just like we did yesterday to Wells. And just like Wells, Magnolia doesn’t buy it.
Frankie’s attempt at a smile looks painful. “Cassidy and Sutton were just hugging, right?” She narrows her eyes at Cassidy.
For all that Frankie and I know, more than “just a hug” could have happened. But I can’t imagine that—Sutton wouldn’t cross that line.
“We were just…embracing each other,” Cassidy says.
Gross. Why couldn’t she have just said hug? Sure, it wasn’t the kind of hug I would give an ex. It was weirdly long, weirdly intense. But still, it was a hug.
I notice Cassidy's gaze flickering to me briefly, as if she's trying to gauge my reaction. It's clear that she's aware of the friction in the air between us, but we both refuse to let it show.
Cassidy leans in slightly. “I promise you, Lainey, I have absolutely no intention of coming between you and Sutton. I know things have been a little awkward, but I genuinely want us to be on good terms. After all, you’re a part of Sutton’s life now.”
Cassidy is a little too soap opera right now to feel genuine. I nod anyway.
When an employee brings out our first round of cake slices, she stops directly in front of me. Her round cheeks ball up with a grin .
“Are you the famous Laine?” she asks, hands on her hips.
Clearing my throat, I say. “Famous? Not quite. But Laine? Yes.”
“There’s been quite a lot of chatter around town about you,” she explains. “I was wondering when I’d get to meet Sutton’s new girl.”
I laugh weakly. West River is a tiny town, and it must really be desperate for gossip if I’m the preeminent topic. “Well, now that we’ve met, you can tell everyone how charming and funny I am,” I joke with a wink. “And gorgeous too. And don’t forget humble.”
The woman laughs heartily, slapping my shoulder. Cassidy rolls her eyes to nobody in particular. We work our way through ten different combinations of cake and frostings. It’s my dream, trying all flavors without having to personally commit to any of them. If not for Cassidy’s occasional glare, I would be having the time of my life.
As we’re polishing off the final few samples, Cassidy leans her elbows on the table and props her chin in her hands, tilting toward me. “Lainey,” she says, a mischievous look on her face, “I’m sure all of this wedding talk has you thinking.”
Play dumb. “It has me thinking that cake testings should really be a more common occurrence.”
Cassidy smirks. She knows I’m being avoidant. “When do you think you and Sutton will get married?”
Fake relationship or not, her bluntness takes me off guard, and I inhale a mouthful of cake crumbs, coughing loudly into my fist to clear them from my throat. I try to laugh through it. “We’ve only been dating for a couple of months. And with him starting at Imagineer Books soon and me just starting at Wonderings , it’s not the best time for another big life change.”
“But when you know, you know, right? And I’m sure you already know if he’s the one.” Cassidy squints at me like she’s trying to pry directly into my thoughts. When I don’t respond right away, she gives me an exaggerated look of confusion. “Sutton really hasn’t talked about it? That’s so strange. When we were only fourteen, he started talking about spending our lives together. I guess every relationship is different. Life is funny that way.”
I give her a single, abrupt laugh. “And now you’re marrying his brother. Life is funny that way.”
Cassidy's gaze pierces through me. I mentally kick myself for letting my words slip out with no filter. Beside us, Frankie tries to hide her laughter with a palm over her mouth.
Magnolia jumps in with an attempt at diffusing the situation. “I think we should show Laine around West River.”
Yes, please. Get me out of here.
Frankie jumps up and holds a hand out to me. “Let’s do it.” Clearly, I’m not the only one wanting to get away from the awkwardness.
“You guys go ahead,” Cassidy says flippantly. “I have some things I need to do.
Frankie and I don’t object. Magnolia looks like she’s about to, but Frankie pulls her by the arm, a subtle pleading behind her eyes.
As soon as we’re outside and out of Cassidy’s line of vision, Frankie grumbles, “Ugh. She’s the worst.”
“Don’t say that,” Magnolia chides. “She’ll be your sister soon.”
“Don’t remind me,” Frankie says.
Magnolia’s mouth pops open. “Francesca!”
Frankie makes a face at her mother’s use of her real name. “Ever since the engagement, Cassidy’s just been so…” She makes a guttural, groaning sound. “And you should have seen the way she hugged Sutton yesterday, Mom. It was like watching a Venus fly trap with one of its victims.”
I shake my head, laughing. “You can’t just blame her. If Sutton didn’t want to hug her, he shouldn’t have. He’s not a helpless little fly.”
“Around her, he might as well be,” Frankie says.
I’m shocked to hear Frankie talking like this. Even when she was mad at Wells at dinner my first night here, she played it off with a joke.
As if reading my mind, Frankie adds, “I’m just protective of Sutton. That’s all.” She sighs. “Usually Cassidy isn’t so bad.”
“Cass is on edge from the wedding prep,” Magnolia says, looping her elbow with mine. “She makes Wells happy, and that’s what matters.”
Magnolia shifts the conversation. She asks me about my family, my hobbies, my work. We talk about school, and I tell her my side of the story of meeting Sutton for the first time. She smiles when I tell her that he spent a lot of time not only with me but also with my parents.
Main Street in West River is only a half-mile long. There are exactly two crosswalks in town, one on either end of Main. We pass an old-fashioned candy store, a western-wear shop, two restaurants and one cafe, a jewelry store, and even the radio station. Frankie waves to the man working at the microphone on the other side of the window. He must be at least eighty years old. He waves back enthusiastically.
The longer we walk, the more I notice people’s eyes on me. Though West River only has two thousand residents, there are still dozens of people walking along Main Street. And every single one stares at me. I never felt like I drew any double-takes in the city, but here, it’s like I’m an animal in a zoo, being watched—sometimes with apprehension, sometimes with delight, but always unabashedly.
I whistle. “What, is there no cable in West River?”
“Not a lot happens in a town this size. I wouldn’t be surprised if you show up on the front page of the paper,” Magnolia quips, giving me a very Sutton-esque half-smile.
Frankie bumps my shoulder. “Haven’t you been listening to the radio? I’ve been giving Laine Rodriguez updates at the top of every hour.”
Sutton is still working when we get back to the ranch, and both Frankie and Magnolia have some work to do, so I take advantage of the alone time by walking along a tree-hugged trail beyond the front clearing. It’s beautiful, undeniably, but it’s also too quiet. There aren’t any sounds of clogged traffic, construction, or overlapping conversations like there always are in the city. It’s eerie.
In the silence, my mind races. First, I scan the pines and ponder the question of how close a bear would have to be to me before I would see it. Pretty dang close, I think.
Then, I think about Sutton.
I think about his hug with Cassidy, realizing I would rather run into a bear than run into the two of them together again. I think about his breathing, soft and steady as he slept beside me. Mostly, I spend my time trying to not dwell on the mental image of Sutton chopping wood, sans shirt. Because friends don’t think about friends shirtless.
When my efforts to stop thinking about Sutton prove fruitless, I pop my headphones in and pull up a playlist on my phone. In my pre-trip prep, I spent hours listening to country and folk music. Now, it’s my guilty pleasure. And John Denver’s voice cranked up to max volume is just what I need to get my mind off things.
Once the sun descends in the sky, I turn back to the house. I was careful to stay close to the tree line when hiking, just to be sure I didn’t get lost .
Inside the house, the living room is vacant, so I continue upstairs, throwing my bag on the bed. I almost take my headphones out, but worried more errant thoughts will cascade through the silence, I keep them in, deciding I’ll wait until the last second before my shower to take them off and hope the roar of the water will be distraction enough at that point.
But when I open the door to the bathroom, I collide with a solid wall on the other side. I let out a surprised yelp as I stumble back, yanking my headphones from my ears.
Sutton stands there, his post-shower towel barely clinging to his hips, his damp curls kissing his forehead. His deep eyes widen, and there's a flash of red across his cheeks.
A jumbled, “Whoops,” is the best I can croak out. My gaze involuntarily drifts over the planes of Sutton’s body and the “S” tattoo on his ribs. Water droplets cling to the definition of his torso.
He stammers. “I should have knocked.”
“You were the one coming out,” I remind him.
“Right. I guess you should have, then,” he says, one corner of his mouth twitching.
Before I can think of something witty to say, I hear a voice behind me. “Would you—Oh! Sorry.” Magnolia is covering her face with one hand, but I can still see her blushing. “The door was open, so I… Sorry to intrude.” Her laugh is laced with embarrassment. “I was just coming to see if you two want to play rummy with Frankie and me. But if you’re busy—”
“I’m in,” I interject. Magnolia’s and Sutton’s blushing must be contagious, because my own face warms. I follow directly behind Magnolia, not wanting to spend one more awkward second in that room.
Sutton joins us soon after, and we play card games for hours. I’m especially grateful for Magnolia and Frankie’s teachings yesterday, because it means I’m able to beat Sutton more often than not. But no matter how many times I win, he is relentless with his playful trash talk. He must have had a good day at the ranch, because he’s smiling more and more. He even plays up the “fake dating” card, shooting me flirty looks, tracing circles on my knee, and staring at my mouth whenever I talk.
And when Sutton finally does win, on our eighth or ninth game (I’ve lost count), he leans over and kisses me triumphantly. It leaves me breathless, but he sends me a wink after he draws back, reminding me this is all a farce.
I try not to feel disappointed.