Mina looked like she could read my mind. “How’s it going with Amos?”
I exhaled slowly. “It’s the last night.”
“Of the thirty days?”
“Yeah.”
She was quiet for a moment, studying me. “Shelly. Youneedto tell him.”
“Mina.”
“Imeanit. Tell him how you feel. If you don’t. I will.”
I looked down at the bar top. “I’m scared.”
“Of what? That man took you to his mother’s Sunday dinner table. Youknowwhat that means.”
She was right. In a small town like Red Oak Mountain, itdidhave certain connotations attached to it.
Mina continued, “He’s never done that with any woman.Ever. And he wouldn’t have taken you there if he didn’t genuinely care about you.”
I thought about his poor mom. She was practically printing the wedding invitations.
Something she’d said had been rattling around in my head for weeks now.
At Red Oak Market, she’d said she knew all about me. Then at dinner, it had seemed true.
Amos had talked about me over the years. She even knew about the time my skirt got caught on the mechanical bull here at the Bear Den.
It had been ripped right off me, and Amos had stripped his shirt on the spot, wrapping it around me like a knight protecting his queen.
After that memorable incident, long skirts were banned on the bull.
Max set the two beers in front of me.
“Do you really think I should? What if it ruins everything between us?” I asked Mina.
But she wasn’t listening to me. She was looking over my shoulder.
She winced. “Don’t panic.”
I turned around, panic already fluttering inside me. Those were the magic words you say whenever youdowant someone to panic.
“Oh, you’ve got to be fucking kidding me? How can I compete with that!” I hissed.
Pink Shirt was here tonight, and she’d forgotten to put most of her clothes on.
She was wearing the tiniest short-shorts with a busty halter top that could hardly hold her ample curves.
The worst part? She was cutting through the crowd in a direct line toward Amos’s booth, her hips swaying with obvious purpose.
My heart dropped straight to the floor of the Bear Den and disintegrated on the spot.
Because this was how it ended. With Amos slipping back into who he really was… who he’dalwaysbeen.
“Go,” Mina said, nudging me hard. “Gorightnow.”
I didn’t want to.
