“Are you the plant lady?” one of the kids asked.
“Alfie,” Sebastian scolded him, “don’t just go around calling people Plant Lady.”
“But you said—”
Sebastian clapped a hand over his mouth.
The kid struggled out from under Sebastian’s grip.
“Can you help us with our biodomes?” Alfie asked me. He held out a big glass jar. “I bought this at a stall. We need to create a whole self-sufficient ecosystem.”
“Sounds complicated,” I told him, “but doable.”
“I already told you,” Sebastian said, exasperated, “we will buy a goldfish and some plants for your project.”
“I’ve been dabbling in aquaponics, but they are a rather delicate system and may not be the best option for a biodome,” I warned him. “We should think about simplifying—”
“You need to be worried about the wedding,” Sebastian cut me off. “Not a middle school science project.”
“And you need to stop being so rude!” I yelled.
“You’re the one who ruined my date,” he shot back.
“You wouldn’t have been happy with her,” I insisted, jabbing him in the chest.
He grabbed my hand with his much larger one.
I gulped.
12
Sebastian
Amy’s hand was warm and small in mine.
Too close!my mind screamed.
I let her go and stepped back.
“The parade is starting,” I mumbled, practically throwing myself onto the horse and riding off.
Small-town kookiness aside, the parade was fun. People were always excited to see a horse, and the townspeople and tourists waved and cheered as we rode by.
Despite the excitement and the anticipation of playing a charity polo match later that afternoon, there was still a strange feeling in my chest.
It’s the heat or the fact that this wedding is going to be a fucking disaster.
Or maybe it was how in love Hunter and Meg looked.
I had always thought love and relationships were similar to what I had experienced with my father. He would tell me he had met the woman of his dreams. Then he and his girlfrienddu jourwould become two totally different and unbearable people. I had always told myself I didn’t need love, if that was what it meant. I had my work, my brother, and my horses. That was enough for me, thanks.
But while Meg and Hunter were very much in love, they were still themselves, just happy and enjoying each other’s company.
“I would give Hunter the prize for World’s Sexiest Horseman,” Meg said dryly into the microphone at the end of the parade, “but that wouldn’t really be fair.”
“Besides, you’re probably going to give him another ride tonight!” one of the drunk seniors in the crowd shouted.
Meg just smirked.
