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“They’re fine.” She taps the side of the casserole dish. “Put this in the oven for a few minutes to warm it up.” She smiles at me, then says she has to get going.

As she leaves, the feeling that I missed something important nags me but no matter how hard I search my brain, I can’t think of what it might be.

And then after Logan arrives, hours pass and I forget about it until lunch.

I head for a shady spot against a tree to wolf down a sandwich.

Logan pours himself water from the cooler, wipes his brow and says, “Why did your ma go to town so early?”

“What?” I ask around a mouthful of thick bread.

“I passed her on the way here. She had your granny with her.”

“Well, I can’t think of—shit!” I drop the sandwich and scramble for my phone to dial the number for Kyra’s house. Praying to the clouds that Tempest went home for lunch and will miss the storm heading her way from my family, I wait for her to answer.

Nothing.

“What’s going on?” Logan asks.

I get to my feet. “I told my folks I’m dating Tempest, so they’d quit hounding me about blind dates.”

His eyes widen. “Does Tempest know?”

“I told her last night and she was of course, ecstatic.”

Logan laughs. “I’ll bet.”

“My mom and granny are probably going to corner her now. I can’t let them badger her since I’m the one who caused this.”

“Something tells me Tempest isn’t the one you should worry about. From what I’ve heard, she and her sisters can hold their own. But go on if you need to. I’ll keep working on this for you.” He gestures toward the partially cleared overgrowth.

“Thanks, man.” I take off in my truck, beelining toward town, trying my best to drive without speeding. I worry about my granny being under too much stress. I worry about Tempest bearing the brunt of this. I never should have lied about dating.

By the time I reach the pool hall, I’m sweating. I bound inside to find my granny sitting at a folding table across from Tempest.

My granny turns her head and glares at me and I know I’m caught. Tempest must have told her the truth.

I start with, “I can explain.”

But my granny continues to glower at me.

Then, to my shock, she reaches across the table to cover Tempest’s hands with hers. “I know our families have bad history between them and to be honest, you two dating is a bit of a bitter pill to swallow. But since you two care for each other, we’ll do our best to come around. As for that other situation, Maverick was raised better than that.”

“Thank you, Grandma,” Tempest says in a sweet tone that I’ve never heard before.

Granny stands and as she passes Tempest, she rests a hand on her shoulder. “I’ll see you tonight, you hear?”

Tempest nods. “Thank you, Granny.”

Granny? When did they get close enough for Tempest to call her that?

My granny doesn’t speak to me as she leaves, and the chill from her cold shoulder washes over me.

“What the hell just happened?” I ask.

I don’t like the way Tempest smiles at me.

“I decided to have fun with your lie and told them that, yes, we really are dating because you fell so madly in love with me you begged until I agreed to be with you.”