“Well?” Trey asked. “Do you have a buyer?”
“They sold,” I said in confusion.
“That’s what you wanted.”
“Not the furniture. My bags. All these messages...” I scrolled. “They want to buy my bags.”
“Good.”
I laughed. “I guess. I’ll have to connect them to the online store.” He turned the car onto the highway, away from the farm. I leaned forward. “Where are we going?”
“I thought we’d grab something to eat.” A slanting smile. “Celebrate your sales strategy.”
The electricity was back, charging the air, creating an invisible current between us.
Keep it light, I reminded myself.Casual.
If we had dinner, I might start imagining this was a date. I’d fool myself into thinking this could turn into a relationship.
And then he’d break my heart again.
I put my phone away. “This isn’t Paris, Trey. You don’t have to buy me dinner before we have sex.”
He slid me a dark, wicked look. “How about McDonald’s? That would be quick.”
I rolled my eyes.
“Or we can do drive-through,” he suggested, straight-faced. “If you’re in a hurry.”
I let out an unsteady laugh.
“I thought we’d go to The Taproom,” he said. “Okay?”
A public restaurant. Eric’s restaurant. “Whatever you want. It’s your money,” I said.
He was being polite, I reminded myself. It didn’t mean anything. But I couldn’t stop smiling.
The Taproom was packed.
The hostess smiled apologetically. “Sorry, Trey.” She didn’tlook at me. Naturally. If you were female and breathing, you focused on Trey. “Would you like to wait at the bar for a table?”
That round face, the long brown hair... “Kitty? Kitty Bryant?” My old classmate, my former best friend, who’d dumped me for Jenny Snow.
“Oh my God, Amy March! I heard you were back.”
We hugged, the menus wedged between us. As if the intervening years had never passed. As if my high school humiliation had never happened. “It’s good to see you,” I said sincerely.
“You, too.” She released me, looking me up and down. “You look just the same. I love your hair. And your purse.”
“Um... Thanks.” Color-blocked canvas with my label,baggage, stitched into the seams of the side.
“Are you joining Meg and John for dinner?”
I glanced over her shoulder at the crowded dining room. “Are they here?”
“It’s Saturday night. Everybody’s here,” Kitty said cheerfully. “Booth in the back. Want me to take you?”
Meg was my favorite sister. John and Trey used to work together at the dealership. But was I ready for my nosy, loving family to get all up into my business? Was Trey?
