Chapter 24
MADDIE
I’m staring out of the window of Chapters and Crumbs, watching the town pass me by on Thursday morning. As has been the case for too long, I’m distracted by a certain six-foot-four cowboy, and how I gave in and had sex with him last night. Again.
Last night was the last time. Wyatt is off-limits, and even if he wasn’t, he’s not the right guy for me. Everybody in town knows he has a different woman for every day of the week and I want nothing to do with that.
God forbid anybody in town finds out what we did, especially Deacon. I don’t think he’d ever forgive me. It’s a betrayal of the highest order.
“If you keep messing with that croissant, there’ll be nothing left for you to eat,” Chloe teases, sliding into the seat in front of me.
I look down at the flaky crumbs and squashed pastry on the floral plate in front of me.
Sighing heavily, I sweep up the ones that made it onto the polished wooden table before brushing off my hands over the plate.
I’m so distracted by Wyatt that I’ve ruined my breakfast and wasted one of Autumn’s delicious pastries.
As if I couldn’t be any worse of a person.
Chloe drops her bag to the floor with a thud. “I hope you don’t mind me joining you, but I saw you sitting here and figured now would be as good as any time to talk about the photos.”
“Huh?” I ask, blinking as I rack my brain for what she’s talking about. Photos? Did I book her for a shoot? I rub at my forehead as if that will somehow fix my scattered brain.
“Are you okay?” she asks, concern filling her features as she stares at me.
There’s no way I can tell Chloe about Wyatt or how I’m torn on hating him for his character and lack of morals, but my body craves the way he makes me feel. That would be like handing over ammunition.
Chloe is engaged to Wyatt’s brother, Kade, so there’s no telling what she might go back to him with, even if she is also my friend.
Wyatt doesn’t need to know that I’m this conflicted over him. I’ll deal with this—how he’s got me all knotted up inside—by myself.
“I’m fine,” I choke out, sitting a little taller.
She studies me for a moment before saying, “Okay. Well, do you still want me to come and take pictures of the Great Barn?”
“Oh, yes.” I wrap my hands around my coffee mug to give them something to do. “Do you think you can come by on Wednesday?”
Chloe nods, her eyes fixed on me. There’s a hint of worry swirling in the green depths that she doesn’t bother to hide. “Sure, would nine work for you? The light will be good, and it shouldn’t take me too long.”
“Yes. That works,” I reply, mentally berating myself for letting Wyatt distract me so much.
This needs to stop. I’m constantly thinking about him even though I know I shouldn’t be.
Pinching the bridge of my nose, I pull out my phone and send a text to Mona to make sure it’s in the diary. All the while, I feel Chloe watching my every move as if I might slip up and give her something to work with.
When Autumn approaches the table, one hand on her stomach as she carries a tray in the other, my shoulders drop with relief.
Chloe stands, rushing to grab it before pulling out a chair. “I told you I’d come and get it.”
“I’m not an invalid, you know. Besides, I don’t want to miss out on any gossip.” Autumn looks between us expectantly and for the first time all day, I feel a lightness in my chest. When neither of us says a word, she adds, “Well? What’s the gossip?”
Holding my hands up, I chuckle. “Sorry, no gossip over here. We were just talking about Chloe coming over to take some pictures of the Great Barn now that the renovations are finished.”
Autumn narrows her eyes as she runs a hand over her protruding stomach. “Right. Maybe you want to share why you’ve desecrated the croissant then?”
I turn to Chloe with what I hope is a pleading look on my face, begging her to go along with my change in subject as I say, “How’s the gallery coming along?”
For a moment, I think she’s going to side with Autumn and gang up on me for an answer. But then her face practically splits in two from the size of her grin. Phew.
“Amazing. They’re currently decorating it and putting up the dividers so I can showcase my pictures. Gracie is planning an opening for me, so that will be fun, and I expect you both to be there,” she gushes, nearly vibrating with her excitement.
“Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Autumn murmurs, smothering a yawn. “So long as it’s not too late, I’m in bed by seven these days.”
We chuckle because that’s nothing new for Autumn.
“Count me in. I can leave Mona in charge for an evening.”
Chloe goes into detail about the theme of her opening, telling us her plans to change out what is stocked every three months and that she wants to reach out to her photographer friends back in Seattle to showcase their work too. I can tell that she’s passionate about what she does.
Kade bought the gallery space for her a few months back.
When he surprised her with it, he’d filled it with candles and hung the photo she took of his favorite spot at Heartlands on the wall before asking her to marry him.
It’s the sort of thing you read about in romance books or watch in movies.
The sort of thing that makes your heart flutter and makes you believe in true love.
I’m happy for Chloe, I really am, but I don’t think what her and Kade have is anything that will ever find me. Especially if I keep sleeping with men like Wyatt.
“Speaking of Wyatt, has he been in this week?” Chloe asks, leaning back in her chair, completely oblivious to the panic that’s creeping its way up my throat.
Did I say his name out loud?
Shit.
What is wrong with me?
“No. Why?” Autumn asks.
I drop my attention to the plate in front of me, afraid that if I look at them, they’ll know my secret. What if they figure out that Wyatt and I had sex? Will they think less of me? God, I hate this. I feel like I’m deceiving them with every second that ticks by.
“Have you seen him, Maddie?” Chloe asks, cutting into my spiraling thoughts.
I lift my head so fast I’m surprised I don’t give myself whiplash. My eyes are too wide, and I can’t control my features, and my voice comes out far too high and laced with my panic when I say, “No, why would I?” I clear my throat, aiming for nonchalance when I add, “I barely see him as it is.”
They haven’t figured it out.
Thank God.
They do share a look, though.
One I can’t quite decipher, before Chloe says, “Okay, well…” She leans in, like she’s about to drop some top-secret gossip. “He’s got a hickey. And he refuses to say where it came from.”
Autumn shudders, a look of disgust on her face when she says, “I can only imagine the kind of buckle bunny that gave him that. He’s going to end up in a single white female situation if he’s not careful and then God help us all.”
I tune out the conversation as heat fans across my chest. The last thing I need to hear is what my friends think of the woman who gave Wyatt that hickey.
For years Wyatt and I have butted heads, pushing and provoking each other until it became second nature.
Somewhere along the line, that tension turned into something else.
Explosive, can’t-get-him-out-of-my-head kind of chemistry.
And in a town like this? That’s the kind of mistake that doesn’t stay a secret for long.
Which means that whatever is going on between us has to stop.