Her eyes swam with emotion. Conflict. Desire. Pain. Gratitude. “Thank you.” Her voice cracked.
And that was when I knew what would happen next. I saw it all, stretched out before me like some too-perfect plot point. I was going to kiss Evie, and it wouldn’t be because she was drunk or Morgan tripped her.
It would happen because we finally chose to let it happen.
She would lean in, and I’d close the distance, our lips would clash, and nothing would be the same ever again. Her walls would crumble. So would mine. We’d let each other in. My opinion on love would shift. Together, we’d claim the promise of happiness that had been made when she careened into my life.
I cupped her cheek. Her hooded gaze caressed my mouth.
The way she licked her lips said she saw the moment as clearly as I did—
The doorbell bing-bonged.
Evie and I sprang apart, blinking in the afterimage of what we almost let happen.
“I’m sorry,” she murmured, pulling away, finger moving from her freckle to her bottom lip. “I should…uh…I should get that.”
“Evie—”
She disengaged and raced out of the kitchen. A loud bang had me jumping out of my skin. She cursed, then laughed. “I’m okay! Stupid socks.”
I heard the creak of the door swinging open. “Alexander Prescott!” Izzy’s voice rang out. “I brought genius nuggets!”
Of course she did.
Obviously, this exact moment was the time my sister would choose to do something sweet. I couldn’t decide if I wanted to curse her name or bless her for interrupting.
I came around the corner to find Evie rubbing her hip. I gave her a rueful smile before turning to my sister, who held out a bag of jellybeans that rattled and clacked as she handed it to me. “Between these filling my belly and Evie turning every mediocre idea I have into something brilliant, this next book is gonna be a freaking unicorn.”
“All your books are unicorns.” Izzy’s gaze bounced from me to Evie and back again. She’d never been as good at reading people as I was, but you don’t grow up in a household like mine and not learn how to read the room.
Which she did. Quickly.
A grin tugged at the corner of my little sister’s lips.
I’d been busted. She saw how much I wanted the woman beside me, and if I knew Isabelle Prescott, I’d never live it down.
“How’d you even know I was here?” I asked, while mentally begging her to have mercy on me.
“Greta’s Facebook page. She checked you in with your laptop and messenger bag at nine o’clock sharp. She was disappointed to see you walking across the yard this morning because that meant you hadn’t stayed the night.” Izzy flipped through her phone to show me the post. “If you read the comments, sounds like most of Wildrose agrees.”
Chapter Nineteen
Evie
The day finished like it started, with me in the kind of mood Amelia would be proud of. She’d tell me I’d finally come into alignment with my spiritual mission, then pat me on the head and tell me to chase the feeling. I felt so joyful and filled with reasons to smile, I could see how she’d think that. It was the best kind of mood, and one hundred percent because Alex almost kissed me today.
If Izzy hadn’t arrived with a random jellybean delivery, our lips would have touched, and I would have melted, and my friendship with Alex would never be the same…
…and maybe things would have changed for the better…
…or maybe…
…everything would have blown up in my face like it did with Drew.
With a week’s worth of chemistry floating through my mind, I dashed to my room, double-checked the curtains were closed, and Facetimed Amelia, flopping onto the bed with a sigh of contentment. Her rapturous smile filled the screen, tendrils of smoke curling behind her head. “I was just thinking about you!”
I frowned. “Are you smoking?”
“What? Eww. No. Darian was here, so I did a sage smudge to clean up all the negativity he left behind. What’s up with you, other than the fact that you’re apparently one half of Wildrose Landing’s newest power couple and didn’t bother to tell me?”
Excuse me? How did she even know about that? Maybe Amelia’s spirit guides were a real thing—and stronger than I thought. “The reason I haven’t told you anything is because there’s nothing to say. Alex and I aren’t a couple.”
“Not according to Greta Macmillan’s Facebook page.” The camera bounced as she dropped onto her bed. “You should really return her casserole dish by the way.”
“How do you know about Greta Macmillan’s Facebook page?”
“She sent me a friend request the other day. Accepting was the best decision of my life.” Amelia propped a pillow behind her head. “Reading her posts about you are the highlight of my day. Especially the ones where she wonders if you and I are lovers. Poor thing was worried about me until she realized you’re much better off with Alex.”
“Am I, though?” Amelia was eccentric and extreme. Her over the top personality put people off, but once you got past that layer, her sweetness, her loyalty, and her genuine desire to lift up the people around her made it easy to forgive her woo-woo weirdness. At least for me, especially because she went out of her way to take care of me while gently—or maybe not so gently—pushing me out of my comfort zone.
“Well, spill it.” Amelia grinned. “There’s something on your mind. I can see it right there in the tension between your eyebrows. To what do I owe the pleasure of seeing your beautiful face?”
“Alex asked me why I’m afraid to write today.” I bit my lip, half wishing I’d just bit the bullet and filled him in on the whole story.
“And you told him everything and now you’re
