Maybe she already was.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Maybe she wasa glutton for punishment.
Yep, that had to be it.
This was the second time in less than a week that Wendy had shown up at the Sagebrush property. And it was the second time in less than a week that she’d had one person in mind that she wanted to see.
Maybe she had finally lost her mind. She actually wanted to spend time with the man who she’d considered her enemy mere months ago.
She laughed to herself as she climbed out of her car and shut the door. Of course, she wasn’t going to tell anyone her real reason to be here, but she had a plan. And that was why she was headed toward Hallie’s house.
Wendy knocked on the door and waited. When no one answered, she pulled out her phone to call her friend. But at that moment, Hallie materialized.
“Hey, what are you doing here?”
Wendy spun around. “Hey! I just wanted to say hi.”
Hallie didn’t bother hiding her smirk. That infuriating brow lifted, and she placed one hand on her hip as she bumped it out. “Really? You just wanted to say hi?”
Heat bloomed beneath her skin. She could feel it spreading faster than a wildfire. There was no point in making excuses. Hallie had seen her speaking with Tripp at the bonfire. Folding her arms, Wendy laughed. “Am I not allowed to come say hi to my friend?”
“Of course not,” Hallie insisted. “But we both know why you’re here. Has Tripp seen you yet?”
“No…” Wendy drawled. “Why would he want to?—”
“Oh, enough. You wanted to come say hi to someone else. And that’s totally fine.” She glanced over her shoulder toward the other side of the property where the barns were located. “I’m pretty sure he’s here somewhere. He didn’t have to go anywhere today.” Her smile turned wicked. “But if you don’t want to see him…”
“Fine. I wanted to see him. But I wanted to see how you were doing, too.” Wendy admitted. “You know… withJacob?”
Hallie’s hand dropped to her side and her expression shifted to be less readable.
Wendy laughed out loud. “You can’t stand there and tell me that nothing is going on when I saw you with him at the bonfire. Fair is fair. Spill. Are you two finally going to take this somewhere?”
“There’s nothing here to take,” Hallie insisted with a shrug. “He’s busy with work. Traveling a lot. He doesn’t want to deal with a relationship.”
“He said that?” Wendy asked skeptically.
Hallie shrugged again.
Wendy frowned. She headed down the steps of the porch and wrapped her arms around her friend. It was what Hallie wasn’t saying that screamed the loudest. “He’s an idiot,” she muttered.
“It’s fine,” Hallie murmured, but she didn’t pull away from Wendy’s hug. “It’s totally fine.” This time her voice cracked.
Her heart broke for her friend. She’d had a crush on Jacob for years. The worst part was that Jacob was such a nice guy, it was hard to hate him. There was nothing Wendy could say to Hallie to make her feel better.
Relationships were scary.
And risking a broken heart was the bravest thing anyone could do.
They pulled away from one another and Hallie brushed her fingers beneath her eyes. She let out a sad laugh then gave Wendy a light shove. “Your turn. Tell me about you and my cousin.”
“There isn’t anything between Tripp and me,” Wendy insisted.
“Uh huh. Sure. Not even…going slow?”
“Nope. We’ve agreed to be friends.”
