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I listen to her confession, each new revelation a fresh cut in my heart. I want to defend myself, but not more than I want to understand where she’s coming from.
“I know why you didn’t want to start anything,” she continues. “And I understand why you do now. But I don’t want to drudge up all those insecurities from my teenage years. I’m ending things before that can happen again.”
I understand her reasoning. Really, I do. But that doesn’t mean I have to agree with her or sit idly by while the best thing that might ever happen to me walks away.
“What if things are different now?” I begin. “What if those insecurities don’t need to resurface because we’re both older?”
She looks skeptical, so I continue, taking off my hat. “I’m sorry for hurting you all those years ago, Juliet. And now. But you’re not the only one who’s done some growing. The old Archer would’ve wallowed in self-pity after being rejected by you. He would’ve hung out in his trailer home with cardboard-covered windows and a thousand maple bars watching reruns of Mister Ed and Green Acres.”
She cracks a grin, and I take a step closer. “I’d never want to make you feel insignificant because you aren’t. Just like I’m not that punk kid anymore who can’t see the value of what’s in front of him. My life’s ambition was to torment the mayor, but now...” I swallow. Time to get on the bull. “Now it’s to get you to give me another chance.”
I hold my breath as I finish, her eyes searching mine in silence. Fear, worries, and insecurities flicker across her expression until she closes her eyes and releases a slow sigh. “Fine.”
My heart trips. “Fine...you’ll go out with me?”
“No.”
I deflate like an untied balloon. “Oh.”
She opens her eyes. “Fine, I’ll give you a chance.”
I wait with bated breath.
“I need you to do two things first,” she says. “First, help me figure out who my dad is dating.”
I stare. This is the last thing I expected but still fairly straightforward. I’ve heard rumors around Autumn Ridge. The Ednas—two gossiping elderly women—come to the stables regularly to visit with the horses, and they’re always talking loudly about the women in Mayor Monroe’s life. Never did I think this would come in handy.
“You got it,” I say. “And the second?”
“The second,” Juliet repeats. “Before I go on a date with you, you have to get my dad’s approval. I can’t agree to be with you if the two of you keep butting heads.”
Now this I expected. Sound logic—an olive branch I won’t turn my nose up to—but it makes me nervous all the same.
I hold out my hand. “You’ve got yourself a deal, ma’am.”
Chutes of warmth sail through me when she takes my hand, and the look in her eyes tells me she feels it, too.
“If you don’t want to do either, I won’t blame you,” Juliet says, taking a step back. “It all comes down to you.”
I can understand her reticence in trusting me, but I’m going to earn that trust if it’s the last thing I do. “You doing anything right now?”
“Are you seriously asking me out again?”
“No, I wanna show you something. At the library. It relates to your dad.”
She stares at me, narrowing her eyes. “At the library?”
“Yeah.”
“Is this another prank you’ve set up or something?”
“No, I told you I’m done with those. Someone else set this up.”
She waits another minute, then finally nods.
“Great,” I say. “Meet you there in twenty.”
Juliet
