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Things like a family. A child. A small-town life.
My phone buzzed in my purse, and I grabbed it. It was a message from Harmony.
Harmony: Heard you are staying in town! Yay! We need another girl’s night.
Shit. Did it surprise me that she already knew my plans? No. But I figured I should probably let Remi know what was going on.
Nerves fluttered in my belly as I lowered down to sit on the edge of the bed. I stared down at the screen and hesitated. It’s not that I was ashamed of hooking up with Kane; it was the opposite. If it were up to me, I’d post it on my Instagram stories. I’d take an ad out in the Wishing Well Gazette. I’d put it up on the bulletin board at the community center. I didn’t care what anyone in town thought about me hooking up with Kane last night…but that was only because they weren’t Remi. I knew my brother would not approve of what had happened.
Remi was more than my older sibling. He was the only father figure I’d ever had. I didn’t want to upset him or disappoint him. And I definitely didn’t want to cause any issues between him and Kane. They might not be as close as they were when they were growing up, but I knew how much both Kane and Wyatt Briggs meant to my brother. They were like family to him—the brothers he’d never had. I would never forgive myself if I caused a fallout between them.
People always used to say that Remi was more protective of me than all eight of the Briggs brothers combined were of Harmony. They said it as a joke, but it was only funny because there was truth in it.
Even though logically, I knew that there was no way Remi could know what happened between Kane and me. And even if he did, it was none of his business. I still found myself nervous as I pressed his name and lifted the phone to my ear. I also found myself relieved when it went to voicemail after six rings.
Once the beep sounded, I did my best to sound as casual as possible. “Hey, Bubbas. Just wanted to let you know that there’s been a change of plans. I’m not going on the cruise after all.” I didn’t want to admit that I’d gotten fired from a job. “It turns out they decided to go another way with casting. I was going to try and pick up some shifts at the Cow or Pig Pen, but when I was visiting Miss Dottie, I ran into Kane at Sunset Acres. It turns out he needs someone to stay with Harper since he’s going back on nights and someone to help with his grandad, who got released today. So I’m going to be doing that for the summer. Anyway, just wanted to keep you in the loop. Hope you’re doing great! Tell Misty I said hi. Love you.”
I hung up the phone and wondered if I’d said too much or not enough. When I was nervous, I tended to overshare to the point that it sounded like I was lying. Which I wasn’t. Everything I’d said was the truth. So why did it feel like I was doing something wrong?
Probably because you played DJ diddles in front of your brother’s best friend last night, a voice that sounded a lot like Harmony said in my head. It wasn’t wrong.
It didn’t help that Kane seemed…different. It’s not that I’d expected him to throw his arms around me or kiss me when I showed up; I wasn’t that delusional. But he seemed tense, upset, and on edge. Maybe he was just dealing with a lot with his grandad and the schedule change. Or maybe he didn’t want me in his house and had only offered me the job because he felt guilty.
Knowing that the longer I stayed upstairs in my room, the crazier I’d make myself overthinking the situation, I stood and forced myself to head downstairs. When I got to the landing, I heard Harper giggling in the kitchen. The television was blasting from the front room, and I saw Mr. Kingston had fallen asleep on the couch.
I came around the corner and found Harper standing on a wooden step stool at the sink, rinsing off lettuce. Kane was at the stove, browning meat beside a pot of boiling water.
“We’re having psghettie,” Harper enthused when she saw me.
“Spaghetti,” Kane corrected her.
Harper’s nose scrunched. “That’s what I said.”
Kane smiled at his daughter before turning his attention back to the stove, still not looking in my direction. My mouth watered again, and it had nothing to do with the delicious aroma of garlic and onions. I tried my best not to stare at the broadness of his shoulders, the chiseled lines of his upper arms, or the swell of his ass in his denim jeans, but I was only human.
I’d always thought Kane Kingston was sexy, but seeing him like this, in his home, being a father and a caregiver, tipped the scales into an entirely different stratosphere of sex appeal.
“What can I do to--?” The doorbell rang, interrupting my question. I was halfway to the door as I called out. “I’ll get it.”
I opened the door and found Liza McKenny on the porch. She was holding a casserole dish, and she did not look happy to see me. In school, Liza had always had a crush on my brother. She was the head cheerleader and used to show up on our doorstep after school and on weekends in her cheer uniform…which I always found strange since the football games were on Friday nights.
“Ruby?” She said my name as if she couldn’t believe what she was seeing. “Is Kane home?”
“Um, yeah, I’ll go—” I turned around and faceplanted into Kane’s chest. He reached out to steady me, and a thrill rushed through me as I felt his fingers on my bare skin.
“Sorry,” I breathed as I took a step back. His hands dropped to his sides, and I walked around him.
On my way back to the kitchen, I stopped when I heard Liza say, “I heard that your grandad got released, and I thought I would bring you something for dinner.”
“You didn’t have to do that.”
“It’s no problem. And if you need any help with Harper or anything, you have my number.”
The girls had made it clear that Kane was Wishing Well’s most eligible bachelor, but hearing about it and witnessing the proof were two different things. I had no right to be jealous, but that didn’t stop me from feeling like I’d been punched in the gut as I listened to Liza offering her help for anything Kane needed.
“Thanks; have a good night.”
When Kane started closing the door, I rushed back into the kitchen. I didn’t want him to know that I’d been eavesdropping. I grabbed the prescriptions on the counter and pretended to read them as Kane walked back in carrying a casserole dish.
