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I shook my head at him. “I just found out my brother has skin cancer. Please don’t tell me you thought that kiss was a mistake. I couldn’t take that too.”
A look full of emotion crossed Fletcher’s features, and he cupped my cheek with his hand, slowly kissing my forehead. “We can’t pursue this, Liv. Not now.”
Angry tears threatened to fall, but I didn’t want to let him see. I turned and left the hayloft before he could say anything else that would break my heart.
I’d barely reached the barn door when Fletcher said, “Liv, wait!”
I spun on him, light illuminating him through the open barn door. “What, Fletcher? Are you going to tell me that I repulse you? That you’d do anything to push me away? Because I see right through it! You want to be with me, and you’re too fucking scared to admit it.”
He stepped back like my words hurt him, but then he recovered, coming closer and kissing me again. It was everything…pain, hope, and all the feelings in between.
His voice was rough as he spoke against my lips. “I don’t regret it. Not for a second.”
My eyelids fluttered open to catch his heavy gaze.
But he backed up and started walking toward the house, three steps ahead of me. Dust billowed down the dirt road in the distance as Rhett’s truck raced away.
When I made it back to the house, all eyes were on us, like they could see the heat of Fletcher’s kiss on my skin, the guilt of being caught, and the sadness of Rhett’s diagnosis.
I was scared as hell and wanted to know that my brother would be okay. But I also didn’t want to ruin everyone’s night when Rhett clearly wanted to keep things to himself.
So I fought to keep a happy face. Sat through dinner with my parents, listening to them talk with Fletcher about his new house and Maya about her swimming lessons.
But after dinner, when I went to put away the plates, Henrietta said, “Come upstairs with me.”
There wasn’t a question in her voice, so I followed her up, finding our other sister-in-law, Farrah, already sitting in my old room. She stood up when she saw us, worry in her eyes.
“What’s going on, Liv? Is Rhett okay?”
I looked between the two women, sisters who’d joined my family by love, and knew they understood as much as anyone could.
“Did Rhett say why he left?” I asked finally.
Henrietta shook her head. “He got in his truck and drove out of here like a bat out of hell after giving some lame excuse about cattle getting out. He was pale as a ghost.”
I glanced between her and Farrah.
Farrah asked, “What happened in the barn? We saw him follow you and Fletcher, and then he took off.”
I realized I couldn’t tell them Rhett’s news before he could do it himself. So I bit my lip, blaming it on the second reason Rhett flew off the handle. “I kissed Fletcher.”
They both acted surprised. But more than that... they seemed worried.
“What?” I asked. I thought for sure Henrietta would be happy for me after how much I talked about him. “You think it was a bad idea?”
The glances they exchanged confirmed just that, putting me on the defensive. “Great, Rhett has an issue and now you do too,” I said, backing toward the door.
Henrietta held her hands out gently. “It’s a lot to take in, Liv. That’s all.”
Farrah nodded. “You live with him, you care for his child, and adding a relationship can get messy... And trust me when I say co-parenting with another woman is a huge challenge, even if she has good intentions.”
“Co-parenting?” I asked, shocked. “We just had one kiss, and I’m already his nanny.”
Henrietta said, “Did you discuss how a relationship would affect your job?”
My cheeks burned with embarrassment. Because I’d kissed Fletcher without ever asking how things might change. And instead of being happy like I thought I would when Fletcher showed me his feelings, I was on the verge of tears. I hadn’t anticipated such terrible news about my brother or having Fletcher back away when I finally got what I wanted. “I think I need to go home,” I said, reaching for the door.
“Wait,” Farrah said, “we were just worried about you. But if you’re happy, of course we’re happy too.”