AllFreeNovel
Share Us
CHAPTER 28
Cheyenne
“Don’t you look beautiful!” Miss Shaw exclaimed as she wrapped her arms around me.
“Me? Look at you!” I exclaimed as I hugged her back. “You look amazing!”
“Well, thank you!” Miss Shaw spun in a circle. She was not afraid of color, that was for sure. Today she was wearing a lime green dress with pink roses on it and banana yellow heels. “You know I thought that Harlan Mitchell was crazy when he started Farm Strong, but I’ve lost twenty-five pounds.”
I’d gained five pounds since starting the classes, but that had been my goal. I’d always been slender, and I’d wanted to build up my booty. Which I had and from the way Cash had treated it last night, my work had not gone unappreciated.
“So how was your trip with Mr. Malone?”
“It was good.” I gave the same non-descript answer to her that I’d given to everyone who’d asked me including my brother Billy who’d asked me several times. He hadn’t phrased it quite as tactfully as Miss Shaw had though.
“You two have been sniffin’ around each other for so long, I’m glad ya’ll finally did something about it.”
My only response was a smile. I wasn’t sure what to say to that. We’d had sex, but it’s not like we were a couple. In fact, he hadn’t said two words to me since he dropped me off at Mrs. B’s.
Yes, he’d kissed me in the truck, but that might have just been because I was crying. It might have been a pity kiss.
He was definitely keeping his distance now.
I glanced over at him, he was standing talking to Mark Lyons and Tim Mathews, two guys he’d gone to high school with. I had a feeling they were probably talking about football since that was all Mark talked about and Cash had been all-state his senior year.
“Don’t worry. Your road trip is safe with me. Mums the word.”
I seriously doubted that. I’d bet good money that everyone at the wedding knew that Cash and I had been away together. Mallory Belfort certainly knew. If looks could kill I’d be rolling out of here in a body bag tonight.
“Glad to see you’re pacing yourself, dear, we don’t want a repeat of the last Comfort wedding,” Miss Shaw remarked. She patted my hand which held a glass that was half-filled with water, before heading off to get into some other poor, unsuspecting soul’s business.
I was still embarrassed about how I’d behaved at Billy and Reagan’s wedding and there was no way that was going to be a repeat tonight. I was sticking to water and soda pop.
“Would you like to dance?”
I heard a man’s voice behind me, turned and saw Tim Mathews with his hand extended to me.
I glanced around the crowded space playing my favorite game of Where’s Cash? He wasn’t quite as easy to spot as Waldo.
Tim must have thought I was nervously looking for my brother because he added, “Don’t worry. I know I’m risking life and limb but I’ll take the chance.”
I chuckled. People made such a big deal about how overprotective Billy was but I was fairly certain it was mostly for show. He played the role of protective older brother but I doubted that he’d actually care if I was dating someone. Well, someone other than Cash. He did seem to have a genuine problem with that situation which made zero sense to me.
Cash was his best friend. Who better to date your sister than your best friend? I was thrilled that one of my best friends had married my brother today.
“Sure.” I placed my hand in Tim’s.
As we headed out on the dance floor and joined all the other couples in a slow dance, I couldn’t help but wish that it was Cash’s hands that were resting on my waist and his neck that my arms were around.
“Sam missed you this week,” Tim said, referring to his son that took my classes at the Boys and Girls Club.
“He’s really talented.” I wasn’t just saying that. He had a great eye and he was what my grandmother would call a true artist. He could create things just from his imagination.
“He’s been doing so much better in school since he started taking your classes.”
“Really? Oh, that’s great.”
Hearing things like that only made me want to open my center even more. Sam was diagnosed with autism at three and he sometimes had trouble in school with behavioral issues. But Jill, Sam’s mom, had told me the same thing as Tim, art had given Sam an outlet and he’d been finding ways to express himself.
