they can’t stay in a place like that
Evelyn
We don’t need a kid underfoot while we’re trying to get the farm back running.
Owen
bet I can find that video of you two making up dances to boy bands if I look really hard
Evelyn
Sleep with one eye open.
I’ll leave you two to your fighting.
Hold down the fort until I’m back.
Owen
you should really think about offering up the house
we’ve got the room
Evelyn
No, we don’t.
I swipe my messages closed and sigh. Owen is on the exact same wavelength as I am, which isn’t surprising. Of all my siblings, we’re the closest in age. Irish twins, they call it. He’s been my partner in crime for as long as I can remember, and sometimes I wonder if the twin thing I’ve always heard about works with Irish twins as well.
He doesn’t know the trouble I’ve gotten us into, though. Just that we get much-needed relief from the rest of my inheritance, if I follow through.
I glance toward the mostly closed bathroom door and shove my phone into my back pocket. I’ve dragged my feet against the idea, unwilling to bend to Dad’s stipulation. Partly because I hate the idea, but partly because I’m not willing to bring someone into my home or the business that I don’t love.
Chloe doesn’t apply to either of those things. If I have to bind my future to someone on paper to save the farm, there’s no one I’d trust more with my name—or my mess—than the womancrying quietly in the next room, probably unaware I can hear her.
I have to convince Chloe to marry me.
It’s an absolutely crazy idea, which means it’s the most dangerous since I let her go.
eight
CHLOE
He’s waitingoutside my bathroom door, and I’ve got no clue what I’m doing.
I don’t know how to manage my expectations and emotions—or my walls—when Aiden is here. I didn’t ask for help. He just showed up. And he’sstillso stinking in tune with me, even after years apart, that his arms were open before the second tear dropped.
My ex-husband, Trevor, would’ve just stared at me and asked if I needed chocolate. He also saw me at my worst—postpartum and emotional—and he left.
It’s not fair to compare them, butoh my gosh, I can’t help it.
I’m trying not to hyper-fixate on the fact that I practically stood him up for our coffee “not date” to talk.
I cover my face with my hands and exhale an audible sigh.
Fine.
Both Abby and my mother would point out that he can’t hold that one against me, since I was dealing with a literal business emergency. But on every other count, I’ve practically beenwaving around a sign that says “Go away” for the last two days, which would be perfectly acceptable if he deserved it.
