Page 61 of Tethered

I indicate for her to take Riggs’s seat. “What would you need from me?”

“Well, we’d like to have a street market kind of vibe with food and crafts people want to sell. Lorna Sutton makes the most beautiful pieces of pottery, and Joan Evans makes award-winning jellies and jams. I hoped you might like to do a stall for your creams and tinctures. You can say no, of course?—”

“I’d love to.”

Her eyes widen in shock. “Really?”

“Sure. I’m a part of this town too, and I’m happy to give back. In fact, I can have Riggs do a food stall, too. Burgers, dogs, pulled pork, maybe some BBQ brisket, that kind of thing. What do you think?”

“Are you serious? That would be amazing. Most people have been nice and want to help, but times have been hard, and wanting to help isn’t quite the same as being able to.”

“That’s true. Is there anything else I can help with?”

“That’s sweet. Everyone was so worried about me approaching you, and I have no idea why. I wish everyone were as nice as you.”

I bite back a smile. If she had any idea what I was capable of, she wouldn’t think I was sweet. “Are people being mean to you?”

She blows out a slow breath, lifting her bangs. “Some of the old timers are just so stuck in their ways. They complain all the time about how everything has gone to hell around here, but they won’t do anything about it.”

“Well, if they fixed the place up, what would they have to complain about?”

She giggles, leaning back in her chair. “I guess that makes sense.”

She looks me over, then bites her lip, seeming unsure about what she wants to say. I wait her out.

“I heard people say that you make things. Things that you can’t get anywhere else.”

“Did they now? And these people, what kind of things did they say I made?”

She flushes, embarrassed, but she leans forward. “People aren’t gossiping or being mean about you. I didn’t mean for it to sound that way. I think there might even be a little bit of hero worship going on with some of us. It’s just so easy to get stuck in a rut and not be able to find your way out of it.”

“I understand that. Tell me, Sarah, are you stuck in a rut?”

She looks around nervously to make sure nobody is listening. “All my friends are getting married and having kids, but the truth is, a lot of them are really just settling. I look at them and know most of the couples can barely tolerate each other. Whendid love become optional in marriage? I don’t understand, and well, I can’t talk to them about it because they assume I think I’m better than them. I don’t. I just want more.”

“And you should. Nobody should settle for scraps. Definitely not pretty, kind, and smart women like you.” She flushes under my praise, making me wonder when the last time was that someone paid her a compliment. “It’s not always easy to buck the curve. Look at me. As if I didn’t cause enough of a stir for doing what I did and being who I am, I then decided to date three men.”

“Three incredibly hot men,” she points out, making me grin.

“Three incredibly hot men,” I agree. “Truth is, Sarah, you could do everything they expected of you, be the good girl, stay in your lane, and never make trouble, and they’d still find a way to make you feel bad. They need to because they’re so twisted up inside, they have to purge it somehow. You’ve gotta do what’s right for you. Who’s going to have your best interests at heart if you don’t?”

She contemplates my words for a moment before she continues. “There’s this guy…”

“I don’t do love potions. You can’t make someone fall in love with you, and even if you could, something like that shouldn’t be messed with. It always twists into something sinister.”

“Oh, that makes sense. But it’s actually the opposite I’m after. This guy, Tom, is convinced that we’re destined to be together, and he’s refusing to hear the wordno. My friends tell me to go for it, or I’ll end up alone, like that’s such a terrible thing.”

I sit up straight. “You said he isn’t taking no for an answer…” I trail off, letting her fill in the blanks.

“He hasn’t pushed it that far yet, but I can see it in his eyes that it’s getting harder for him to rein it in. He’s always turning up where I am, and offering to take me home, which everyoneelse jumps on because they’re all partnered up and it makes sense to them.”

I shake my head, frustrated that, in this day and age, people still don’t understand that no means fucking no.

“I can make you a cream that will repel him,” I offer.

“At this point, I’m willing to try anything.”

“Stop by the ranch tomorrow, and I’ll have something for you. In the meantime, it might be worth finding new friends. If you’re not getting out of the relationships what you’re putting in, then it’s probably reached the end of its tracks.”