“Don’t ‘mother’ me, Norah. I’m not the one who got caught with her skirt up and standards down. Poor Ruthie, bless her cheap little heart, sold herself shortandoverbaked the crust.”
Norah shot her mother a look that was half mortified, half amused. “Please stop.”
I, on the other hand, wascompletelyamused as I watched the two of them—locked in their familiar battle of sass and affection—and something inside me warmed. This wasn’t just a kitchen or a pie contest. This was small-town life in all its messy, real glory. And I was really starting to fall in love with it.
“What’s all this about a fair?” I asked, curious but at the same time—as hilarious as Lindy was—trying to save Norah the embarrassment by changing the subject.
Norah wiped her hands on her jeans and leaned against the counter. “It’s our town’s Fourth of July celebration. Biggest event of the summer. There’s the rodeo, a band, food, craft vendors, fireworks…and of course, the pie contest. Everyone looks forward to it.”
Lindy nodded. “It’s friendly competition…mostly.”
“Mostly,” Norah echoed with a warning glance at her mom before turning her attention back to me. “Think you’ll be around for it?”
I gave a small, tired laugh. “Yeah, I’ll be around. Willy’s still working on my car.”
It turned out driving on a flat for an extended amount of time did more damage than I thought. Last time I talked to Willy, he said the new tire finally came in, but I’d messed up the rim pretty bad. He had to order a new one from a specialty parts retailer and, since I drove on it for too long, now it’s out of balance, too. So…yeah. I was stuck here for a while longer.
I didn’t like being trapped, even if it was temporary. I didn’t plan on staying in this town longer than I had to. But the weird thing was, it wasn’t as terrible as I expected.
The people were…nice—like genuinely nice. The pace was slower. It was quiet. Safe.
And then there was Zane.
We hadn’t really talked since that kiss. It had become this unspoken thing sitting between us. We’d kind of danced aroundeach other since then, like we were both pretending it hadn’t happened.
I liked it, though. And, damn it, I likedhim.
But I couldn’t get close to him—not when I wasn’t staying. It wouldn’t be fair. Not after what he had already been through with someone who walked away. And I wasn’t looking to hurt anyone, especially not him.
So I was here. Waiting on a car that was taking too long to fix. Trying not to settle in too much. And doing my best not to fall any harder for someone I probably shouldn’t have kissed in the first place.
“Well, it’s settled then!” Norah chirped.
I blinked, my mind still tangled in thoughts of Zane and rim damage and everything else I wasn’t saying out loud. “Sorry… What’s settled?”
“You’re coming to the fair with us,” she said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “You can cheer me and the boys on during the rodeo.”
I tried to react in a way that showed how thankful I was for the inclusion, but something about the way she said it made my chest feel tight. “I don’t know…”
Norah tilted her head. “Why not?”
I glanced around the kitchen—at the pie on the rack, at the easy way she and Lindy moved around each other, filling the room with inside jokes and long-time comfort. This wastheirrhythm.Theirtradition. And I was just…borrowing time in their orbit.
“It just seems like a family thing,” I said hesitantly. “I don’t want to intrude.”
Lindy snorted. “Honey, if we didn’t want you here, you’d have known it the second you walked through that door.”
I laughed under my breath as I twisted my finger around the ends of my hair.
Norah stepped closer, picking up a slice of a peach that Lindy had just cut. “You’re not intruding, Andi.” She bit into the peach slice. “I know you didn’t exactly plan to end up here, but…maybe it’s okay to let things happen that weren’t on the schedule.” She shrugged. “Have some fun through the mishaps.”
I looked down at the scuffed toes of my boots, the sting of those words sharper than she probably meant them to be in this casual conversation. Because, yeah, none of this was part of the plan. Not the detour. Not the breakdown. Definitely not the way this town was starting to feel like something I might miss when I was gone.
Still, when Norah smiled and nudged my shoulder with hers, it was hard not to smile back.
“Maybe you can even enter the pie contest,” she taunted playfully. “Give my mom anhonestrun for her money.”
Lindy gave a bark of laughter. “You hear that? My daughter’s a comedian.”
