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Archer

Just wanted to check in. See how you’re doing. Or if you need me to drop off any maple bars to make your ankle and arm feel better.

I don’t understand. Is he trying to see me again? Even after he dropped me?

I slide my phone into my back pocket again without sending a response. Dad’s probably right. If I had gotten over my crush when he advised me to, I wouldn’t be limping down Main Street right now.

Anyway, that’s enough about the cowboy. I’m going to find out what my life looks like in Autumn Ridge without pining after him if it’s the last thing I do.

Luckily, I’ve got this eternal list from Rosie to keep me company for the next couple of weeks because without it, I just might be tempted to text Archer back—and that’s one thing I’m never going to do again.

Archer

“How’s my sister, Archer?” Aunt May says as she spoons out some of the mashed potatoes from the bowl I pass to her. “That girl needs to get her rearend up here to visit me.”

I reach for the green beans as James passes them toward me. We haven’t had one of these small family meals since James left. It’s great to be back together.

“Mom’s doing great,” I reply. “Busy with the restaurant, but I know she’s loving it as much as my dad is.”

Aunt May sighs wistfully. “I never reckoned a sister of mine would find any joy in that sort of business, but what do I know?”

I hide my smile. Aunt May has never been one to keep her opinion to herself. When Dad first announced he was starting up a barbecue restaurant in Texas, everyone thought he was crazy—including Aunt May.

“Isn’t Texas already overrun with barbecue everything? Why don’t you try some good ole southern Cajun food instead?”

With Mom’s support, though, they’ve been successfully running it over the last fifteen years with no end in sight.

“Anyway,” Aunt May continues, “you tell her she’s welcome to visit any time. She’s always been my favorite sister.”

“She’s your only sister, Ma,” James says across from me at the table, piling slabs of roast on his plate.

Aunt May waves a passive hand. “Pish. I could not like her all the same. Sometimes, it’d be easier being away from her if that were the case.” She accepts the beans I hand to her. “I’m happy to hear she’s doing well.”

She asks me next about the stables, as well as the prep for Landrie Langford’s wedding three weeks away—since one of the locations Landrie chose for the ceremony would technically be in the woods Aunt May owns.

“She still hasn’t made up her mind about where exactly she wants the ceremony held,” I say. “And she’s made it very clear that there should be no visible manure as she’s being led down the aisle.”

“So you’re going to have to walk behind her with a pooper scooper?” James jokes.

“I just might have to so I can avoid the wrath from both her and her mother.”

“Good luck with that.”

“James,” Aunt May interrupts, “are you sure Sadie didn’t want to join us tonight?”

James shoots her an amused glance at the abrupt change in conversation. “Yes, Ma. You know how busy she’s keeping—and she has the early shift at the bakery tomorrow.”

“But you made sure she knew you wanted her to come?”

James leans back in his seat, swallowing a bite of food. “She knows she’s welcome here, Ma. She’s just busy.”

She pulls her lips in with a sigh. “All right. It’s just, she’s such a sweet girl—and as pretty as a peach. She really has livened up things around here.”

“Am I not exciting enough?” James lightly jokes.

“You’re not exactly sunshine and daisies, son,” she says with a patronizing look.

I take a swig of water, but James catches my hidden smile.