Birdie had spared no expense on the food. I wondered how long she’d spent slaving over the vats of Sloppy Joe mix, macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes; bowls of pasta salads; fruit and veggie trays; and seemingly endless trays of desserts. Behind the long buffet tables, one of the ranch hands expertly flipped burgers and rotated hot dogs.
The barn was decorated within an inch of its life, streams, balloons, and banners in the school’s colors of orange and brown hanging from the rafters and walls. Long tables had been set up in the middle of the grand space, spilling out under a tent outside, all of it lined with heaters to keep away the late November chill. I was grateful Lane convinced me to wear a beanie and mittens. We’d reached that point in the fall where snow could fly any day, and without the extra layers, I would’ve had popsicles for fingers.
As I filled a plate with food, trailing behind Aspen and Reagan in the buffet line, I couldn’t help surreptitiously searching the crowd for Lane, but I didn’t see him.
It seemed likeeveryonefrom town was here, though. Players and parents and extended families, of course, but also the entire sheriff’s department, my fire department colleagues—even the ones on shift; I saw the rigs out in the yard, which served as a makeshift parking lot—school staff, and small business owners like Bonnie from the diner and Benny from the Swallow.
Aspen, Reagan, and I set up at the end of a table where we managed to locate three seats together. We ate in amicable silence, all three of us content to bask in the cacophony around us.
That was, of course, until they turned their attention on me perfectly in sync, almost like they’d planned it beforehand.
I paused with a forkful of mac and cheese halfway to my mouth, my brows drawing together.
“What? Do I have something on my face?”
Reagan shook her head, though a small smile appeared on her lips, like she was in on a secret that eluded me.
I didn’t know Reagan Lindsey all that well. When she first arrived in town last spring, I’d been avoiding anything to do with the Lawless family at all costs, and she was wrapped tight in their embrace from the moment she got here thanks to her previous relationship with Finn.
Now, they were happily living together and deeply in love, but I hadn’t been given much opportunity to spend time with her.
Aspen, on the other hand, I knew quite well since she was married to Crew and made frequent stops at the firehouse when we were on shift. She was a badass in the body of a little pixie, an incredibly efficient private investigator, and a best-selling author.
Thanks to their relationships with two of the Lawless brothers, it made sense the two of them had grown close.
And now, they were looking at me like they wanted me to join their little club.
“How’s living with Lane?” Aspen asked.
Ahh, so that’s what this is about.
“Fine,” I said noncommittally, although it wasn’t a lie. Itwasfine, and coming home to somewhere I felt safe after my own had been violated was a luxury.
Reagan groaned. “C’mon, Sutton. You have to give us more than that. Especially after the”—she leaned closer, dropping her voice to a whisper—“love confession.”
I laughed at her unnecessary attempt at stealth. “There’s nothing more to say. He works, I work. Sometimes when our schedules align, we’ll have dinner together. Mostly, we keep to ourselves.”
“Ugh, you’re no fun,” Aspen grumbled.
“Why? Do you guyswantsomething to happen between us?”
Honestly,Iwanted that, but I was afraid to go after it.
They shared a look I couldn’t quite decipher, then both leaned forward conspiratorially, like they didn’t want to be overheard. An impossibility given the crowd gathered, but I mirrored them.
“We kind of hate Addie.”
I snorted, which lodged a noodle in my throat that I had to launch into a coughing fit to expel. Once I’d gathered myself, I croaked out, “You don’t even know her.”
“We know enough,” Aspen said. “She’s been a big help on some squirrely cases, I’m not denying that. But there’s something about her that just rubs me the wrong way.”
In Aspen’s line of work, reading people was a big piece of what made her so damn good at her job. If she had reservations about Addie, maybe there was a reason to be wary of her.
Truthfully, I wasn’t Addie’s biggest fan either, but for reasons that weren’t exactly altruistic.
I wanted Lane, but so did she.
“So I’m the lesser of two evils.”
