“So what makes you think that—whenever you finally decide to tell him the truth—he’ll be okay with the fact that you’ve been lying to him about who you are and where you’re from this whole time?”
Suddenly a small clank sounded from within the old shed.
Richard’s wide eyes locked on Andie’s.
Her heart punched out a panicked beat as she turned her gaze toward the weathered wood.Please say it’s only a farm cat. Please, please, please.She’d never seen anyone go in or out of that shed before. At least she knew Trenton wasn’t there yet. It’d be another hour or two before he arrived.
Richard shot to his feet and grabbed his plate. “I told you this was a bad idea,” he said.
Andie gritted her teeth.Hewas the one who’d been blabbing so loudly, not her. And now he was going to blame his big mouth on her relationship with Trenton?
She grabbed her dish as well and followed him back toward the inn. “Real mature, Richard. Blame everyone else for your mistakes. And why don’t you blame us for your misery while you’re at it?”
Richard tugged open the door.
Andie stepped through first, glancing back over her shoulder as she continued. “You know, Emmitt and I are having a great time here. Maybe if you knew how to let go of all your anger and paranoia, you could do the same.”
“Thanks, Dr. Phill.”
Andie rolled her eyes. “This is the rest of your life right here. You better decide how you want to live it. Because time is going to go by whether you’re happy, angry, or just plain stuck.” With that, Andie tore back through the door she’d just come through and trailed down the patio steps. She might have left Richard back in the dining area inside, but his energy was still all around. His ornery, do-it-my-way bossiness that she wouldnottolerate any longer.
A recollection of what sent them inside shot to mind, and Andie darted a look at the old shed. She stood in place, holding very still as birds chirped and horses neighed. A few distant clanks sounded from the kitchen, but no noise came from the lifeless shed. At last, she sighed. Hopefully nobody had heard them.
Chapter 20
Trenton tuned in to the sounds of the river as he sank his hook. Each section of the river’s bend was different. At some parts, where the water went smooth and effortless, there was no more than a quiet hush. In the narrower stretch, where the water went slow and staggered, a burbling sound echoed over the rocks and land. But here, at he and Betty’s favorite fishing spot, the water swished and hushed as it pushed over the rocks at a hurried pace.
“It feels nice to be out here again,” Trenton said, closing his eyes and lifting his face to the sun.
“Sure does,” Betty agreed. “Thanks for making time for an old lady like me. I’ve been wanting to stock the freezer with some of these rainbow trout while I can. And you and Milt always seemed to bring on the best of luck.”
Trenton smiled. “Yeah, we really have had a lot of luck in these parts. I just hope it wasn’t Milt who was the fish-whisperer all this time. If so, we might both be out of luck.”
“Right you are,” Betty said with a laugh. “How right you are indeed.” She sighed then and let the sounds of nature pick up as they cast, retracted, and casted their lines once more.
But after a few moments, just as Trenton’s mind was wandering to his upcoming evening with Andie, Betty spoke up again. “There was a little more behind my invitation to come fishing with me today,” she admitted. “You’re like a son to me, and it’s made me happier than a cat in sun ray to watch you and Andie fall in love.”
Trenton shouldn’t be surprised by the woman’s bold use of the term, but he hadn’t had anyone come out and speak about their relationship in such a way. He shifted his weight on the rock and cleared his throat.
“Yeah, I wasn’t expecting to fall in love with some girl from the city, but…”
“That’s what I wanted to talk to you about. I don’t want to cause any trouble, mind you, and if I didn’t have your best interest at heart, I’d keep what I’m about to share all to myself. But…”
But what?Heated knots pressed against his chest as he pulled in a breath. The apologetic look on Betty’s face made his pulse spike. “What?” he asked, heart thumping an extra beat. “What is it?”
“I overheard Andie and Richard talking yesterday morning. They were confident they were all alone, and they would have been if I hadn’t been on a mission to find my old fishing gear in the shed.”
She rested a forearm over her lap and leaned in. Trenton followed the action as she continued.
“Admittedly, I didn’t hear all they had to say. I’m not one for eavesdropping, so their conversation was simple chatter to me at first. But then I heard Richard say—quite matter-of-factly—that Andie had been lying about who she is and where she’s from.”
Trenton shook his head. “No, you must have misunderstood.”
“That’s what I hoped,” Betty assured. “But I listened in real close when I heard them speaking your name. It was Richard, and he said that you didn’t even know her real name.”
His brow furrowed as he tried to take in the news, an ache forming there along his forehead. It felt like Trenton’s view was fading somehow, his surroundings threatening to dim out completely.
“I’m not telling you this because I think you should be angry with her,” Betty said. “I’m saying it because I want you to give her a chance to come clean about whatever it is. I don’t think they have bad intentions or anything like that. But secrets aren’t great building blocks in relationships.”
