AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Why wouldn’t I? In fact, I’d gone on a date with a tourist before. Two, even. Not that it went anywhere, but still.
“Honey, we all know you wouldn’t leave Charlotte Oaks,” Momma said gently, and with a small smile.
But it was the too-sweet kind. Thebless-your-heartkind.
“Youdidchoose the closest nursin’ school to home, Kota Jo,” my dad added, clearly hoping the nickname he hadn’t used in years would soften the blow.
Momma chuckled to herself as she started clearing plates. “Let’s get this table cleaned up so we can have some of Georgie’s pumpkin pie. Anyway, Kota, it’s not realistic to expect this man who has a business set up clear across the country to relocate to our little town, is it? So, y’all are just tryin’ to pull one over on the busybodies so Tucker can solve his case. It’s a smart move. Georgie, didn’t I tell you that’s what they were doin’ when Bernice called and told me about the two of them?”
Georgia nodded. “Sure did, and it is smart. The leads in the high school play got into a fight on openin’ night, and all the parents jumped in on it. It only just happened an hour ago, but I think you two not bein’ a match waitin’ to happen means the book club will turn to mendin’ fences between those folks instead.”
“I…” Trailing off, I bit my lip.
I had no idea what to say to that. I was glad our plan worked, even if my family could see right through it. At least the book club—and the rest of the gossips—would leave Tucker alone.
But as forwhymy family saw through it? I wasn’t sure how I felt about all that.
Sensing something from me—though was wasn’t quite sure exactly what vibes I was giving off—Georgia tilted her head. “Are we wrong about it bein’ fake?”
I opened my mouth to say they weren’t wrong, I just didn’t like their explanation.
But then I felt Tucker’s arm around my shoulders, and I looked up at him instead.
“You are, actually,” he said, shrugging one of his broad shoulders as he smiled—actually, honest-to-goodnesssmiled—at me. “Really wrong, aren’t they?”
There was silence at the table for a whole minute until someone cleared their throat, and I finally looked away from those twin flames in Tucker’s eyes.
Daddy leaned back in his chair. “You two are really datin’?”
“Well, this supper would’ve gone a bit differently if we’d known that, huh, Grant?” Judd muttered with a laugh, but I had no idea what he meant by that.
Tucker seemed to get it, though, because he angled toward my dad—still keeping his arm around me—and lifted his chin. “I’m sincerely interested in your daughter, sir. And if you’re worried about me putting her in danger based on my job or why I’m in town, you don’t need to be. She’s safe with me.”
16?/?
tucker
"So, are we gonna talk about this?" Dakota’s voice pierced through the comfortable silence as we walked through the corn maze. She kept her tone casual, but I could sense the weight behind her words.
I glanced at her, noticing how she had veered off toward a row I could already tell was a dead end. With a slight grin tugging at the corner of my lips, I reached out and gently grabbed her shoulders, turning her around. "Talk about what?"
She rolled her eyes, brushing off my feigned ignorance. "You know what."
I didn’t respond right away, letting the quiet of the maze settle between us again. The rustling of the corn stalks in the cool evening breeze filled the space, and the muted sound of voices drifted from somewhere outside the maze where they were judging scarecrows. Overhead, the stars peeked out, dotting the night sky with a kind of stillness that calmed me more now than it ever had before.
But this wasn’t about the maze. Or the stars. Or even the night.
Dakota wanted answers.
"Fine," she said after a beat, her voice tinged with playful frustration. "Don’t tell me why you did it."
I knew exactly what she meant, but I played dumb anyway. "Why I told your parents our relationship was real?"
"No," she quipped, a teasing glint in her eyes. "Why you decided to havetwoslices of pumpkin pie when I could tell you were already full from supper."
I chuckled, my chest rumbling with the sound. The way she could flip the mood with a joke—it never failed to catch me off guard. "I’m a growing boy."
"Right, right. Like you could grow anymore." Her eyes sparkled with amusement for a moment, but the curiosity underneath hadn’t faded. She shifted, brushing a hand against her arm as though trying to shake off the chill of the night—or maybe the tension between us.
