Betrayed.Betrayed by a mid-sixties hairstylist with a crush on Oscar Calloway. Megs shot daggers at the back of Colleen’s head as they all followed Oscar to pick up their baskets. The Sugar Mamas flanked him like sheep being herded by a border collie.
Tonight was already complicated enough, and Colleen had promised her introduction would be short-lived. Though, it had been Oscar who’d invited them. If he’d wanted tonight to be a publicity stunt, this would do it. The Sugar Mama’s, while not active on social media, were active in all the social circles in Sugar Creek. Word of their time with the famous author would spread like wildfire in the morning. Looking at Oscar’s grin, it seemed that was exactly what he was hoping for.
His photographer team was already taking videos, which, c’mon. That was going to look adorable on his social media pages. Megs was becoming more and more convinced that he was the one to leak their visit to the fall festival to the Star.
Megs hadn’t looked directly at Gideon yet, but she knew exactly where he was standing at alltimes. No surprise that Alli was right next to him.She was such an idiot.Meaning Megs, not Alli. Alli seemed very nice, even if Megs did resent her the teensiest bit.
Alli was free to care about Gideon. Kiss him, even. If she wanted to. Whereas Megs spent the last day of her life berating herself for wanting him. No, not just for wanting him.For kissing Gideon Adams in the back of his classroom.
How had that happened? She’d tried to leave after her presentation without talking to him, to keep their relationship strictly professional like he’d asked. But then he’d been standing next her. Then the lights had gone out. Then his arm was stretched over her like it had been in that tractor cab, and her frontal cortex had gone as dark as a black box theater. Nevermind lizard people, she’d been all lizard brain in that moment, and now she didn’t know how to make it right.
“Here we are. This will be our private fire pit for the night.” Oscar pointed to the circle of benches around the already crackling fire. Colleen and her friends approached the glow and held out their hands to the warmth.
"Oscar," Deb gushed, fluttering her eyelashes. "I've read every single one of your books. Twice!"
Annette chimed in, "I named my cat after your main character!"
Megs stifled a laugh and took up residence next to the fire pit. She’d get cider in a minute, once she was sure the Sugar Mamas weren’t going to gag and bind Oscar and take him home in one of their trunks.
Ruth nudged Rose, whispering loudly, "Remember that scene in his third book? I think it was chapter twenty-four . . . "
Rose giggled, "Oh, stop it, Ruth! You're making me blush!"
"Hey Megs, haven’t seen much of you lately.” Sean stopped next to her.
“Hey. I’ve been at all the events.”
He rubbed the stubble on his chiseled chin. “Yeah, you just don’t have much time for us common folks.”
Megs frowned. “What are you talking about?”
Sean nudged her shoulder and grinned. “I’m messing with you, I only meant it seems like you’ve joined the in-crowd.”
She blinked, not understanding.
“Oscar’sin-crowd, you know?” Sean pointed at Gideon, Alli, Randall and Cassie all standing near Oscar and the Sugar Mamas. “I don’t know why he’s keeping the rest of us around. It’s obvious he wants to throw one of his friends a bone.”
Megs chewed on her lower lip. “I don’t know if that is obvious, actually. Don’t you think it’s going to cause friction if he chooses one of his friends over the others?”
Sean pondered this. “Maybe.”
“I think Oscar just wanted to have some fun.”
Oscar put a hand on Rosie’s shoulder and she seemed to stand six inches taller. He grinned and laughed with them, making each woman feel like she was the Belle of the ball. Oscar was lonely.
The realization hit her as she watched him. Of course he was lonely. He was the only one of his friends to hit it big, and anyone he met now only saw him as a famous author. They didn’t know Oscar as Matt. They didn’t know him as the songwriter or the goofball who played card games at the pub before sets.
“Well, whatever. Have you tried the cider yet?”
Megs shook her head and sat down on the bench, hunching forward to catch more of the fire’s heat. “I’ll get some later.”
Sean motioned for Layla to join him, then made his way over to the booth. Megs listened to the ladies chatter away, mesmerized by the flicker of the flames in front of her. She was lonely, too. Not because she didn’t have people. She did. Her family, her friends. All of them were wonderful and mostly supportive when they weren’t judging her life choices. They loved her, and she knew it.
But there was a difference between being loved and being understood. That kind of love wasn’t nothing. But it wasn’t everything either. Maybe that’s what romance was. A love that transcended purely caring about someone and lived at a level of curiosity, want and need, and . . . whole-ness.I’m half happy.
Megs understood that more than she wanted to admit. She fit in just fine with other people, but it always felt like she was encased in a bubble. Like people could see her, but couldn’t get in no matter how hard she tried to invite them.
She looked up at Gideon across the fire. He had his arms crossed in front of him, and his lips were drawn into a line as he watched the fire and listened to whatever Alli was saying next to him. His eyes flicked up, and Megs quickly looked down.
