23
Olivia
Amelia’s name lights up my phone just as I’m fumbling for the kettle. No coffee date today. She’s stuck at school for some early staff meeting, and the tone of her text saidpray for me, so we settle for a call while I stand in my kitchen in socks and a bad ponytail.
“Spill,” Amelia says by way of hello, voice bright through the speaker. “You’ve been MIA lately. I assume you are busy with work, babysitting, and mud-wrangling at the farm?”
“Correct. Mud and mayhem,” I say, grinning into the receiver. “Teddy actually came out to visit the farm. We rode Blue. And I introduced his grumpy dad to the elite sport of goat-feeding.”
Amelia gasps. “Oh, please tell me he screamed like I did when Kevin charged.”
“Shockingly, no. He held his ground. Mostly. There may have been a light jog involved. But he kept the bucket upright theentireway. Unlike someone else…”
“You traitor!” she cries. “You’re supposed to be onmyside.”
“I am. But facts are facts. You, my love, dropped the bucket halfway through and triggered a full-blown frenzy.”
“I was wearing new sneakers! Not my fault Kevin’s got a personal vendetta. Oh, God,” she says between laughs, “I have to tell Brad—”
“Ah, no, you will not,” I cut in quickly, pointing a finger at no one. “I won’t hear the end of it for the next decade.”
“But—”
“No buts, Amelia Brown. This is strictly girl talk. Private channel. Encrypted. No brother-sharing clause allowed.”
We fall into the kind of giggles that make me feel sixteen again. Before the wedding plans. Before adulting became a full-time job. Just us, being us. Two best friends stuck in our own little time warp, laughing about chaos and questionable decisions. But my laughter catches somewhere in my throat. Because I leave out the rest. The kiss. The way my hands didn’t tremble when they were in his. Not because I don’t trust her—I’d hand over every secret I have to Amelia—but because she’s engaged to my brother. And something aboutthisfeels different. So, for now, I let it live in the silence between laughs.
“So,” she says, “how’s the rest of your week been?”
“Teddy had a rough patch—fever, clingy, the works. He’s better now.” I swirl the teabag in my mug. “And I had a movie night.” Immediately, I cringe.Mistake. “Anyway, how’s wedding prep going? We’ve got, what, a few weeks left?”
Yeah. Nice try, Liv.
A movie night?” Amelia echoes, suspiciously casual. “With who?”
“Uh… me?” I stall, immediately regretting the phrasing. “And technically the TV.”
“Mmhm.” She’s not buying it. “Just you and the TV.”
“Okay, and technically, Sebastian was there because it was his TV.” I wince. “We watched an episode ofThe Rookie.”
“Olivia.”
“Fine. Two episodes,” I confess quickly.
There’s a beat of silence before, “You binged the whole season, didn’t you?”
“Not the whole season,” I say, installing outrage I don’t feel. “Just… a healthy chunk. He made tea. It was civilised.”
“He made tea,” she repeats. “In your world, that’s practically foreplay.”
“Amelia!” I choke on a laugh.
She softens. “Don’t act like you don’t like him.”
I glance down into the steeping tea. The swirl of amber and shadow.
“You like them. Both of them.”
