Page 43 of Where She Belongs

Well, all except Serenity, who went on insisting they leave her alone with all their teasing. “You guys are getting to be too much,” she muttered.

Jane laughed and nudged her. “It’s all in good fun.”

Serenity shot Rylee a concerned look and even though Rylee was certain she looked like a ripe tomato, she gave her a reassuring nod. “It’s fine,” she whispered.

“Darn right, it’s fine. Tate likes her.” Hallie rested her elbows on the counter and then her chin in her hands. “Okay, so tell us all about him. You lived here when you were younger and you hung out with him and Jason?”

Rylee nodded. “That’s right. A lot of my memories are fuzzy, but some of them are coming back.” She smiled despite herself. “I actually had a huge crush on him when I was younger.” Her eyes darted to Faith then away, but Faith didn’t react. “I was just the annoying little girl who followed him around everywhere. I tagged along even when he told me to go home. I’m pretty sure he was thrilled when I moved.”

At that, Faith frowned. She tapped her chin for a moment and Rylee thought she might say something but then Hallie—the ever talkative one—jumped into the conversation again. “Well, clearly things have changed.”

“Hallie!” Wendy whispered, glancing at Serenity then Rylee.

“What? It’s all just gossip anyhow, right? Whatever we say can’t be used against us if we don’t have any evidence to back it up.” She turned to Rylee again, a broad smile filling her face. “I heard that Tate’s been helping you out. Right?”

“Well, yeah,” Rylee admitted. “He and Jason have been rebuilding the barn. And he built a chicken coop.” As she spoke her own smile materialized. “There was this one night… it was stormy and my power went out. Then I heard this loud crash in the basement. When I showed up at his place, he insisted that I stay put until morning when he could check it out.” By the time her story had finished, Rylee realized all eyes had turned her way and not a single one of her new friends were chatting. “What?” she murmured.

An eruption of giggles followed suit, and Rylee turned to Sammie, who seemed to be her new confidant. “What?” she repeated.

Sammie sighed and bumped her shoulder against Rylee’s. “I think it’s safe to say there’s more going on between the two of you, even if you’re not privy to it.” She laughed at Rylee’s blank expression. “Don’t worry. Tate’s harmless.”

That wasn’t what Rylee was worried about. She’d just had the rug pulled out from beneath her, because up until this point, she’d been holding back. She didn’t want to make Tate uncomfortable. And in truth, she knew it was a bad idea, solely because she didn’t plan to stay.

Right?

She couldn’t stay.

Or maybe she could?

Rylee groaned internally. Why did this feel like high school all over again? Someone squeezed her shoulder, but she didn’t look up to see who was offering her comfort.

“Come on, Faith. You have the inside scoop. He’s your brother after all.” Hallie prodded.

Unable to meet anyone’s eye, Rylee kept her attention on the veggie tray before her. Ears burning, cheeks too, she did her best to convince herself that none of what they said mattered. Because if Tate felt for her the way they were insisting, he would have said so. He would’ve demonstrated his affection or at least asked her out.

“I hate to say this, Rylee, but Hallie has a good point.”

At that, Rylee’s head snapped up, and she stared at Faith.

“He’s always been a private person. Girls don’t really hold his interest for long periods of time. So…” she let the sentence hang as she shrugged her shoulders.

With all eyes once again on Rylee, she forced a blank mask to her face. Then with extreme effort, she rolled her eyes and flashed all of them a dismissive smile. “That can’t be true.”

Hallie snapped her fingers. “Oh yeah. Don’t forget that he had a serious girlfriend for a while. How long did that last?”

“Oh yeah! I forgot about her. It was only for…” Faith hummed to herself, looking at the ceiling. “Two and a half weeks at most, though. And he was the one who broke it off.”

Hallie wagged her brows at Rylee. “See? He’s interested.”

“Okay, that’s all well and good to suspect…” she emphasized. “But he hasn’t even asked me out. Just because he’s being a good neighbor⁠—”

“Good neighbor.” Hallie scoffed. “If that’s what you want to call it.” She turned to Faith. “Did you ever figure out why he broke up with her?”

Faith shrugged. “Not a clue. Tate isn’t exactly Mr. Chatty, is he?”

“More than Jason,” Hallie tossed back.

The girls all laughed like they were in on a joke.