Page 23 of Wild Mistake
“Hey.” I wave my hand at the only other person in the truck cab besides me whose last name isn’t Wilder. “Rainer, right?”
“Yes, ma’am. Good to see you again. It’s been awhile.” It has. I can picture him and Maeve in my mind, running around, covered in dirt, maybe ten years old while Mrs. Wilder kept an eye on them from her garden.
“Your parents come into the diner all the time,” I say. “They’re always bragging on you.” They’re always asking if I’d like to date their son, but I don’t mention that part.
“Yeah, they’re the best.” He grins. “Hopefully, good tippers too. If not, I apologize in advance.”
“They’re good.” I laugh, then turn to Aiden. “So, where are we going?”
“You didn’t tell her?” Maeve squawks from the back seat. “Jesus. My brothers have no manners.”
“Mind your own business.” Aiden glares at her in the rear view mirror. “Sarah enjoys surprises.”
I do. Or rather, I did. I’m not sure anyone has gone out of their way to surprise me with something good in more than a decade.
“I promise you’ll like where we’re going.” Aiden sneaks a glance away from the road to meet my gaze.
“It’s good. Otherwise we wouldn’t be here,” Jackson adds.
“Please.” Maeve shoves him playfully. “You’re just here to find your next victim.”
Jackson presses a hand to his chest. “It pains me, the way you speak about the gift I bring the world.”
“Your dick is not a gift!” Maeve shouts in playful exasperation.
I can’t help but laugh. I forgot how much the Wilder siblings razz each other. Growing up an only child, I never had this kind of lightheartedness and teasing. When Aiden and I first started dating it was intimidating, but eventually I felt included in the teasing. Being included in Wilder family gatherings always made me long for a big, boisterous family.
Laughter and conversation fill the twenty minute drive. I join in, joking and smiling along. When we pull in front of a familiar bar in the much larger town over, Show Low, a smile spreads across my lips. The lighted marquee tells me all I need to know about tonight’s festivities:
LINE DANCING TONIGHT
6 TO CLOSE
Aiden was always the king of surprises, and tonight he’s done it again.
10
AIDEN
I cutthe engine before turning to meet Sarah’s expression. I find exactly what I was hoping for.Excitement.“Be honest. How long has it been since you’ve been line dancing?”
“Oh, wow.” She smiles, unbuckling her seat belt. “Before I had kids.”
“Think you can still hack it?”
She rolls her eyes, but there’s a little hesitation as she reaches for the door. “I think some things are muscle memory.”
“I agree.” I wink. “Besides, we’re fast learners. There’s nothing we can’t pick up.”
“Come on!” Jackson shouts from the front of the truck. “It’s cold as fuck out here!”
We hop out of the truck and join the rest of the group.
“If you’d wear a jacket . . .” Maeve starts.
“It doesn’t go with my fit.” He turns, walking backward and leading the way through the full parking lot. “That’s what Ryan’s kids would say.”
Sarah laughs. “That’s what my boys would say, too.”
