“Yes.” I raised my hands in the air. “Thank you for that memory.”
“One more,” Anna said. “We need to wrap this up and get to the ranch before we melt.”
Brooklyn kicked at the dirt. “I’m running out of good things to say.”
“Pfft,” Anna said. “The woman whose report cardalways said, ‘talks too much?’ Not a chance. C’mon now. You owe me one more.”
“Seddledowne.” Brooklyn’s voice had lost most of its snark. “Where you can watch your best friend fall in love with her future husband who will one day be an NFL quarterback.” She turned to me. “And your other best friend starts her life over and turns it into something really freaking amazing. And you get to cheer her on when she’s awarded a full ride scholarship.” Her voice had gone softer. “Where your friends go with you to college and become your roommates.” She looked at me, then Anna. “And then your sisters.” She shook her head. “Fine. I guess magical things happen, even in a podunk place like Seddledowne.”
Standing on that campus with so many happy memories, with the two best friends a girl could ever ask for, I thought my heart might burst from gratitude. Fine. The universe, or God, or whoever, didn’t totally suck.
“Moving to Seddledowne is the best thing that’s ever happened to me,” I said. “It brought you two into my life. I don’t think you’ll ever know how you saved me.”
They didn’t know exactly how much. But I would tell them.
Soon.
But first, I had to tell Ashton.
seventeen
TALLY
Tell all the truth but tell it slant.
— EMILY DICKINSON
“Hey,” I said softly, giving Ashton a full smile. “I promise I’m not trying to be weird. And I want to be with you. But I have to talk to my mom about something.” We’d been a couple all of twenty minutes and I was already ditching him.
I hated how wounded he seemed. “Are you sure you can’t ride with me?”
Mom pulled up in her car and waved to us.
“This is really important.” My hand fisted around the bottom of his untucked dress shirt. “I’ll head straight home, change, and meet you at the lake, and I will not leave you for the rest of the day. I promise.”
“Okay.” His forehead furrowed. “Will you tell me what this is all about?”
“Yes,” I said without missing a beat. “Absolutely.” Telling Ashton was the whole reason I needed to talk to Mom.
Anna and Blue drove by in Stella. Theo and Charlie waved from their backseat. I’d confused everyone with the traveling arrangements I’d made in the last few minutes. But I needed to do thisnowso Ashton and I could start on the right foot.
I smiled at Ash. “We’ll be right behind you.”
“All right.” He returned the smile, but I could still see the hurt in his expression.
I pulled him close for a kiss, making sure he knew we were good.
Once we were on the road with Mom at the wheel, her gaze flicked to me. “Why aren't you riding with him?” She nodded toward Ashton’s white truck right in front of us.
“Because.” I turned to face her. “I wanted to tell you…that I’m going to tell Ash.”
“Good.” She squeezed my hand. “I’m so glad you’re with someone you want to share that with.”
“I am. But Mom? I want to shareeverythingwith him.”
Her gaze snapped to mine and the car swerved slightly. “What do you mean,everything?”
I blew my breath out slowly. “Everything, Mom.”
