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“Oh,” I said knowingly.

“It’s nothing, really,” she said. “He’s just being nice, like always.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” I said. “Go on. Go see him. I’ll put this dress back and go in to help Mom some more.”

“I’ll be back in there to help in just a minute,” she said.

“Or not,” I teased. “No rush. You have fun.”

“Right,” she said. “Fun talking about corn feed. What a happening life I live.”

She was using the best sarcastic voice she had, but there was something else there too, something that maybe only her sister would be able to pick out. Excitement. Real, pure excitement. The same schoolgirl excitement that comes from finding out a crush is going to be your lab partner for the day, or finding yourself walking along the hall side by side with them as you both head to class.

As she headed out of the door, I watched her demeanor change. She tried to be cool, but within seconds, she was clenching her hands behind her back and swaying, her big eyes blinking heavily as she looked up admiringly at him. Touching his shoulder when she laughed at what I assumed was some dry, cornball joke.

I watched happily as she did everything in her power to flirt with Logan and was surprised when I saw signs that he wasflirting back. She might deny it, she might try to convince herself otherwise, but he lookedawfullyinterested in extending the conversation as long as he could.

Leaving them to their flirting, I went back into the living room, carrying the blue dress, and handed it to Mom. She looked at it for a moment, then handed it back.

“This is yours now,” she said.

“You don’t even know if it fit,” I said.

“Yes, I do,” she said. “It fits.”

“How do you know?”

“Because of the grin on your face,” she said. “You envisioned yourself wearing it with Jesse, didn’t you?”

I didn’t say anything, but the blush of my cheeks probably said all that needed to be said.

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Jesse

Things were almost perfect.

Almost.

The house was empty for the night, which took some doing. Luke and Amber went out of town to stay in a bed and breakfast, which was easy. Getting Collin out of the house was not. I ended up having to essentially bribe Logan to get him to take Collin over there and spend the night hanging out. Owen was easy, doing whatever secretive thing he was up to and deciding to spend the night there. He said he was going out of town too, but I had no idea where or why.

It didn’t matter. It just meant the house was empty.

“Hey, Jesse?”

“Yeah?”

Chef Rousey, the resident chef for the Bethel hotel in Arlington, came out of the kitchen wiping his hands with a paper towel.

“Looks like you’re good to go. I have the entrée in the oven to stay warm, and the pie is in the refrigerator. Is there anything else?”

“No, Chef, you’ve been great. Again, I appreciate you.”

“Hey, you paid me more than fairly,” he said. “Besides, she’s a great lady. I’m glad to help give her a good surprise.”

Chef Rousey left a few minutes later, and I went to work as I checked the time. She would probably be there in just a few minutes, and that didn’t leave me a lot of leeway to finish getting ready. Lighting a hundred or so candles was surprisingly time-consuming.

As far as Charlotte knew, she was coming over for dinner. She didn’t even know there wouldn’t be anyone else here. She just knew it was dinner. As far as she was concerned, some of the other boys would be here too, most likely Collin.