59. Reese

Jonah’s gesture at the Harvest Festival was just about the biggest thing to happen in Silver Bend since Bo’s mom and dad shocked everyone by getting divorced.

It’s all anyone will talk about. Even people who missed the festival are in possession of the finer details. What he was wearing, or not wearing. What I had on and what my silly, sweet face did.

They mistook my horror for shyness.

So cute, they say.

If one more person asks me if Jonah proposed, I’ll punch them in the neck.

I’ve been avoiding friends and family because I don’t want to talk about it. I can’t talk about it.

How would I explain myself? Oh yes, Grandma, Jonah originally dumped me because he was disappointed I wasn’t a virgin, but hooray, he changed his mind.

If there’s one holiday where you cannot avoid family and friends, it’s Thanksgiving.

I almost didn’t go when Andy invited me to ‘Friendsgiving’ at Bo’s place. But Andy is hard to say no to. They’re hosting dinner the day before actual Thanksgiving.

Pulling up to Bo’s house brings back a cascade of nostalgia. It used to belong to his grandma, and she used to babysit me on occasion. Looking up at the moss-covered shake shingle roof, I can still smell his grandmother’s cookies baking in the oven.

I knock lightly on the door before tiptoeing into the house.

Andy took care of most of the meal. There’s a turkey roasting in the oven and the stove has multiple pots bubbling away. I feel a little inadequate with a plastic bag full of dinner rolls. She’s bustling around, blonde hair in a messy bun, red apron tied around her curvy waist.

“Where’s everybody else?”

I set the rolls on the counter.

“Bo and Skyler are on the deck. Dusty and Marnie are on their way.”

She nods at the rolls. “Would you put those on a cookie sheet so we can heat them up?”

“Josh and Erin are going to be late.”

I arrange the bread on the baking sheet. “They had some sort of diaper emergency that made them turn around and go back home.”

“No worries.”

Andy takes the sheet from me and shoves it into the oven. She gives me a sly look. “I heard about the Harvest Festival.”

“Is it bad form to slap tape over the hostess’s mouth?”

Her eyebrows fly up and she laughs. “That bad, huh?”

I slump onto a stool. “It was mortifying.”

“Kind of makes you feel for the women who get proposed to on a jumbotron at a football game.”

“I can see why they’d say yes. Everybody staring…”

I shake my head. “Anyway, he didn’t propose.”

Andy smiles hopefully. “But he might?”

“God, I hope not.”

Dusty and Marnie arrive with their dog, a chocolate lab. He’s got a handkerchief around his neck.

Bo and Skyler open the patio door and slip inside. Bo immediately frowns at the dog. “Please tell me you did not bring a dog into my house.”

“This isn’t just a dog.”

Marnie says, even-keeled as always. “It’s Ed. And he is a perfect gentleman.”

Bo glowers at Ed. “Well, he can be a perfect gentleman outside.”

I smile shyly at Marnie. I always knew it would take a special woman to win over the blue-eyed blonde-haired dreamboat that is Dusty Larson. She met the standard and exceeded it. She’s got dark hair and a deep tan and the cutest freckles on her cheeks. In short, she’s captivating. I tear my gaze away from her, but then it lands on Skyler.

He’s holding himself a safe distance away. He’s been ominously quiet since the Harvest Festival ‘ordeal’. In fairness, I didn’t reach out to him, either. But that was more driven by shame than anything else. It’s hard to play cool, calm, and collected when your ex just put on a very public, very dramatic display of affection.

He sees me coming and sheers off towards the dining room. If he thinks running’s going to stop me, I’ve got bad news. Tenacious is my middle name.

I find him poking random notes into the upright piano on the opposite wall. “Hey.”

He doesn’t bother turning around. “Hey.”

I try to pitch my voice into something light and playful. “Are you avoiding me?”

He turns around, expression flat. “No.”

I step closer, frustrated by the tension that’s growing between us. “Aren’t you going to ask how things turned out? With Jonah?”

His eyebrows knit together, dark eyes sharpen behind his glasses. “Did you think I would?”

His tone is too harsh. Anxiety swirls in my stomach. “I mean… I thought you’d be interested…”

“If you want to play games, leave me out of it.”

“I’m not playing games.”

“Trying to get me to guess, as if this is fun for me.”

He shakes his head. “If you have something to tell me, just tell me.”

He closes the distance between us, standing close enough that I can smell the soap he uses, the sunshine in his hair.

“Has anything changed?”

His breath feathers across my neck, his low voice sending a shiver down my spine.

He’s not just asking about Jonah.

He’s pointing out that the roadblock between us is still there. I’m still moving and he’s staying.

Nothing has changed. Not one bit. Which makes me clinging onto him look almost a little bit cruel.