For a moment, I feel like I’ve stepped into a life that doesn’t belong to me but to the girl who left Wildflower Canyon in shame and pain.
The chatter is easy, the laughter rolls like summer thunder, and nobody here seems haunted by the past.
Before I can tell Mav that a mocktail would be alright, Joy’s voice breaks through. “Sarah.” She’s carrying two mason jars, one of them fizzing bright with citrus and mint. “You’re not hiding, are you? Because I’ll drag you out to dance if I have to.”
I manage a smile, taking the drink she offers.
“Bailey made you what she calls Virgin Merry.”
“Thank you.”
Cold condensation beads against my fingersas I take a sip. The sweetness of muddled berries and lime hits my tongue. It’s sharp and refreshing. A splash of alcohol might loosen the knots coiled tight inside me, but with just about everybody in Wildflower Canyon here, it’s also the reason I won’t touch a drop.
“This is delicious.”
Mav nods at Joy as if silently saying, “You take over now,” before he heads back to the grill, where Aria is talking to Elena.
But there are outsiders too—the kind that don’t belong in dust and denim.
Some woman dressed in designer duds is all over Cade. He doesn’t seem interested. But I could be wrong.
There is Senator Otis Jessup and his ultra-botoxed wife, whose name I don’t remember. She’s wearing a dress that probably costs more than most ranch trucks.
I watch as Cade slips out of the circle of the wealthy—the ones who wear money like a badge and make sure everyone sees it. He walks toward Mav, who’s just as rich, maybe richer, but never feels the need to flaunt it.
I stroll past some people who ignore me.Locals. To them, I’m still the Jezebel who seduced Cade’s brother while I had Cade wrapped around my little finger.
Hardly!
I don’t have to strain to hear Cade’s voice when he corners Maverick by the smoker.
“What the hell aretheydoing here?”
“They?” Mav asks lazily as he brings his beer bottle close to his mouth. He takes a long pull.
“Madison and that snake Jessup.”
Mav shrugs, unbothered. “I play politics, Cade, so politics don’t play me.” His tone is flat steel.
“You know what they want,” Cade remarks, his hands in his pockets.
At thirty, he’s almost a decade younger than Mav, and it shows.
Mav is patient, while Cade is fire and passion. He looks up to Mav but also seems to like challenging him. I know that Mav helps Cade and vice versa—but I get the feeling that Mav is the adult in the relationship.
I stay where I am, in the shadows, hidden.
It gives me the opportunity to look around without worrying about someone saying something rude to me. I just don’t have the bandwidth for it.
It’s been a trying week—Cade’s silent sneers hitting me like shards of glass I can’t dodge while I’ve been caring for Bandit and letting Evie visit.
He doesn’t let her go into my house when she comes. And she’s only allowed to play with Bandit in the yard. She doesn’t notice the iciness between us—we both pretend we’re just acquaintances.
But seeing him every day has taken its toll on me. But for the fact that I knew Joy would’ve dragged me feet-first to the barbecue, I’d have stayed home.
But now Bandit has moved in with Evie, so I don’t have to endure Cade’s presence on a regular basis.
Noelle, who is in a sundress that’s too short for decency, brushes up against her boyfriend.
