“It doesn’t matter. Not when you only have eyes for Joey Mac.”
“Who told you that?”
“No one had to tell me. Everyone in town knows . . . including Joey Mac.”
Cheyenne wanted to die right then and there. “How do you know he knows I like him? Did he tell you?”
“Joey and I aren’t really friends. But I overheard him talking.”
“What did he say?”
Nathan hesitated for a second before he answered. “Billy Rhines said he was thinkingabout asking you out and Joey told him not to waste his time. Your heart belonged to him.”
It was the truth. Her heart did belong to Joey Mac. But she also felt a little uncomfortable with the possessive way he’d warned Billy off. Still, Joey Mac was possessive of her! Although what difference did it make? Her father would never let her go on a date with Joey. Or even to a party.
Unless she didn’t tell her daddy.
But how could she sneak out to the party when her father kept such close tabs on her? She couldn’t even spend the night at a friend’s house without him talking to their parents first. She was surprised he’d even let her come to rehearsals alone.
Alone.
She looked down at her script and smiled. Maybe being Mary would have its benefits.
“What are you thinking about?”
She glanced up to see Nathan watching her. His brown eyes weren’t as pretty as Joey’s, but they were nice. And so was his face. Not in the Joey kind of take your breath away, but she had to admit that Nathan was cute with his brown wavy hair and freckles. He had a wholesome face. The kind parents trusted. Which is probably why her father had hired him. And if her father trusted him, that might work in her favor.
“I was just thinking that maybe you could start driving me to rehearsals. That way my dad doesn’t have to drive me every night.” Then on the night of Joey’s party, it would be that much easier to slip away without anyone being the wiser. Exceptfor Nathan. But he didn’t look like a tattletale.
“You want me to bring you to rehearsals?” Nathan studied her for long moment, and she worried he’d read right through her deception. But finally he nodded. “Okay. I guess I could do that.” He fidgeted in his chair as his gaze skittered away from her. “I could even take you home tonight if you want.”
“That would be awesome! I’ll text my dad to make sure it’s okay.”
But after sending the text, reality set in. There was no way her father was going to let her ride home with a boy. No matter how much he trusted Nathan. Cheyenne was destined to end up like poor Miss Applegate.
Old and alone.
When her phone pinged with an incoming text, she knew it would be a big fat NO. She lifted her phone prepared to reply with lots of angry emojis. But then she read her father’s answer and all she could do was stare at the words in stunned disbelief.
I think that’s a great idea. Have fun!
Chapter Nine
“Okay,what’s going on with you?” Emma asked as she adjusted the twinkle lights on the stacked book tree in one corner of the To the Moon Bookstore. “You haven’t stopped smiling since you got here.”
Jolene tried to dim her smile, but it was impossible. She had a lot to smile about. Or maybe just one thing: a secret affair with a hot mechanic who fine tuned her body the same way he fined tuned an engine. Last night, he had revved her up so much that she actually purred.
But it wasn’t just the great sex that had her bubbling over with happiness.
She liked being with Cal.
She had always thought of him as a quiet, serious man. But in the last couple weeks, she’d discovered a man who laughed easily and loved to talk. After their passion cooled, he’d pull her into his arms and they’d chat for hours. She’d tell him about her day at the bank and how frustrating it was to have to deal with her stubborn father and he’d tell her about his day at the garage and how frustrating it was to have to deal witha teenage daughter. They talked about their late mothers and the strict rules they grew up with. They talked about their childhoods and growing up in Simple. They talked about cars and books.
When they ran out of things to talk about, they played a game called This or That. They would ask each other all kinds of questions. Dog or cat? Waffles or pancakes? Sunrise or sunset? Summer or winter? Nine times out of ten, they answered differently. Which confirmed what opposites they were. Cal preferred dogs, pancakes, and summer. Jolene preferred cats, waffles, and winter. Cal liked sunsets while she loved sunrises more . . . at least she had until one evening when she’d arrived at the pink house early and found Cal upstairs watching the sun set from a bedroom window.
It had been beautiful. Or maybe what had been beautiful was when Cal had pulled her into his arms and they’d watched the sun sink below the horizon together. His chin had rested on her head and his heart had thumped softly against her back and his workman’s hands had rubbed up and down her arms.
For that one beautiful moment, she had pretended that what they had wasn’t just a fleeting affair.
