Page 73 of The Reason I Married Him
“Uh, because you were going through a lot.” Aubree nervously clutches her hands together. “I didn’t want to bother you with a small detail.”
She’s good. Look at her playing along. I’m proud already.
“When she arrived, I was caught off guard,” I continue. “I forgot just how beautiful she is and well, instead of talking business and about the farm, I got distracted.” I glance at Aubree who looks like she’s gained a touch more confidence.
“Very distracted,” she adds.
“And well, we started talking about everything else but the farm,” I say. “By the end of the night, I asked her if I could keep in touch. It was one of the first times I had a true conversation with someone who I felt heard me. She said yes, so after that day, I started texting her.”
“Very needy texts,” Aubree says, making me smile.
“Needy because I was crushing hard,” I add, loving this story already. “And then those texts turned into one phone call.” Hattie looks between us, still confused. “And those phone calls turned into FaceTimes. And with every call, every moment I saw her face, I started to fall for her. For her kind heart under that rusty exterior. I fell for her snappy, witty comments and her ball-busting ways. And I fell for the sound of her voice that often calmed me before I went to bed. I quickly realized that . . . well, I loved her, and that’s when I knew I had to come out here.”
Hattie blinks a few times.
Her hands fall from her hips.
And then she rubs her palm over her forehead in distress.
“But . . . you were pissed when he came into town, Aubree. You clearly hated the man. And Hayes told me he spoke to you in the grocery store, and you seemed like you didn’t know her at all.”
“Because she wasn’t ready to tell you guys. I lied in the grocery store, trying to make sure it seemed like we didn’t know each other,” I say, completely forgetting that conversation for a second. “She was afraid of how you might take the news, and with everything that’s been going on, with you taking over the store and Ryland taking care of Mac, she didn’t want to trouble you guys with this. Of course, I wasn’t happy about it and took matters into my own hands. She was rightfully pissed at me.”
“Let me get this straight,” Hattie says. The expression on her face makes me believe this is far too painful for her to even take in. “You two have secretly been talking for months, and Wyatt decided to take a chance and come into town, and you, Aubree, were mad about it?”
“Because I didn’t want to make a fuss about things,” she says.
Hattie puts her hands back on her hips as she addresses her sister. “Do you really think Ryland and I would make a fuss about you having someone special in your life? This is . . .” Her eyes start to well up, and guilt immediately starts to swarm me because . . . yeah . . . lies. “This is amazing, Aubree.”
Hattie swoops in and hugs Aubree, who awkwardly remains seated and stiff.
She gently pats her sister’s back before Hattie pulls away and cups Aubree’s cheeks. “Are you in love too?”
Ooo, bold question.
“Um, well,” Aubree starts.
“She hasn’t said it yet,” I cut in, so Aubree doesn’t have to finish that sentence. “And I’m not offended at all. I know it will come.”
Hattie pulls away. “Why don’t you love him?”
Okay, coming on a bit strong, Hattie.
“Hattie,” I say gently. “We all move at different paces?—”
“I love him,” Aubree says, but rather than sounding as though she’s in love, she sounds more annoyed, like she wants this over and done with.
And I’m not sure if Hattie doesn’t recognize it, if that’s how Aubree normally acts, or that Hattie is so gleeful that she surpasses Aubree’s tone and scoops her up either way.
“Ahhh, you’re in love. Oh my God.” They fall back on the bed, and Hattie straddle-hugs her sister, clinging to her like a koala.
Aubree offers me an annoyed side-eye that makes me lightly chuckle. There is no way Aubree is enjoying any of this, but I find small delight in it. There’s just something about an annoyed Aubree that amuses and comforts me at the same time. It’s odd.
When Hattie rises, she straightens out her shirt and apologizes. “God, sorry, that’s the first time Wyatt is probably hearing it, and you guys probably want to kiss or something . . .” Hattie squeezes her hands, looking back and forth between the two of us. Does she want us to kiss in front of her?
From Aubree’s body language, I’ll take a wild guess and say that won’t happen.
“Can we, uh, get some privacy?” I ask Hattie, thinking that’s probably the best choice for the situation.
