“Did Flynn tell you that I was …”
“He actually did. He was such a grown-up.”
Perry had a wicked little grin on her face. “It was nice to see the two of you this morning.”
“Oh. It was nice to see you too.”
Austin came in, with baby Emma strapped to his chest. “Can I get you something to drink, Jessie?”
“Oh that’s … that’s very nice. Just a beer.”
“Coming right up.”
She had the sense that this wasn’t at all the way Flynn’s home life had been when he was a kid. That this was an entirely different version of this house. Of their family life.
He had talked about his father being disorganized. It was difficult to imagine Austin being anything of the kind. The house was incredibly neat, always well ordered. A simple, meticulously kept cabin with enough room to host family gatherings like this. Nothing fancy, which was funny, because she knew that Austin could afford whatever he wanted now. He could’ve added on or done all kinds of things after the success of his best-selling book, but he hadn’t done that. The house was still the same homey, welcoming space.
Austin disappeared, then returned a moment later with a bottle of beer in his hand and Flynn behind him. “Hi,” Flynn said.
She waved at him, and she could feel herself blushing.
“I still need him,” Austin said.
They disappeared back into the kitchen again, and all of the women fixed Jessie with a look. “Yes?” Jessie asked.
“You wouldn’t happen to be for-real dating my brother now, would you?” Cassidy asked.
She laughed, a nervous sound. “I … No. I don’t think so. I …”
“You like him,” Perry said.
Well, Jessie could hardly deny that.
“What’s not to like?”
“I didn’t think that you and Flynn would ever say such nice things about each other. But he’s been saying a lot of nice things about you,” Millie said.
She was being ambushed in a very soft, loving manner, and she didn’t quite know what to do about it. She realized that this was one thing her life had been absolutely missing for a very long time. She didn’t have many woman friends. That was the problem with her bravado and the facade she kept up. She could slip behind that facade. She could push them away with it. She could absolutely tell them and herself that nothing was going on with Flynn. Or it was just sex, or something shocking.
She decided to try honesty.
“Well, he’s … I’ve gotten to know him. So of course I like him more now than I did.”
“Well, we like you for him,” Millie said, smiling broadly.
“You … like me for him?”
“Yes. Flynn is hard to pin down,” Perry said.
“Very,” said Cassidy. “But he’s also the best. Like absolutely, really the best. Just the greatest older brother. He has always taken care of me and picked on me in equal measure. And I really like that he’s finally … found someone.”
That made Jessie’s heart flutter in a sort of panicky way. Had he found someone? Had she? She had honestly never thought about the concept. Finding someone.
Falling in love or whatever else.
She’d never even had sex. Why would she have entertained the idea of a lasting romantic relationship? It would simply be beyond her. It always had seemed that way.
“We also love you for the town,” Millie said. “And we’re very excited about the possibility of your being our next mayor. We’ll do any canvassing you want.”
