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Brynn sighed. “Do you ever think the universe has tried to tell us over and over again that we’re trouble together?”

“I sometimes wonder if it’s ridiculously frustrated at us for not following its signs.”

Brynn folded her arms. “Or that.”

Aster lifted her book in suggestion. “Shall we?”

Brynn picked up hers. “Let’s.”

After a few minutes. “You really think the restaurant is going to be okay.”

“I know so. Now stop it and read your space story.”

Aster grinned into her book, feeling more at ease than she had in a very long while.

* * *

Tyler and Sage had purchased a new home shortly before the wedding, one that wouldn’t be hers or his but all theirs. The quaint white one-story with the green shutters seemed absolutely perfect.Brynn marveled at the combination of styles and how easily they flowed together in the space. Country chic was the best way to describe it. Sunflowers, but only a few. A photo of a wagon wheel, but held in a bright silver frame. She’d never seen a place that represented a couple more than this one. She handed over the plant she’d brought them in offering as the tour came to a close.

Tyler, her brown hair pulled into a ponytail, wore large overalls that made her look comfy and adorably pregnant. “Sit, please.” She gestured to the table. “I feel like it’s been weeks since we’ve had a non-work-related chat session. Tell me everything. I’m starved for content and gossip.” She grinned, and it reminded Brynn that Tyler didn’t age. In fact, she still looked like that bright-eyed twenty-year-old she met at school.

“Well, I finally got my kitchen painted.”

Tyler frowned and sat back, disappointed. “No. That’s not what I meant at all. I need the good stuff. Juicy. What can you tell me about you-know-who?”

“Ah. I see.” Brynn smiled because there had been a new development. “We’re reading again.”

Another frown. “You’re reading? Define.”

“It was our thing, back in the day. Remember? We would read together. First on the bench in the center of town. Then at each other’s houses, mainly hers. That led to kissing. That led to long-distance letters.”

“Like in the old-fashioned movies.”

“And eventually the best sex of my life. And now we’re reading again. Are you following now?”

Tyler’s eyes went wide. “Reading. Got it now. It’s your foreplay.” She wrinkled her nose. “You should have just said that. Don’t skip the good words.”

“Should have just said what?” Sage joined them, ball cap flipped around, tuft of blond hair poking out the front.

“Brynn and Aster are back to their old ways. It’s getting hot and literary.”

He squinted. “That’s good, right? That’s what we want.”

“Don’t let on that we talk about them,” Tyler said.

“I already know,” Brynn countered. “And is it weird for me to talk about your sister in front of you?”

“No.” Sage balked. Grabbed an apple. “I’m a grown-ass man who rides a tractor. I can hear a little gossip about my sister.” He took a seat at the kitchen table, reporting for duty. Looked around as if waiting for the gossip session to commence.

Tyler took the reins. “Well, I hear Aster kisses like a dream and can use her tongue like no one’s business.”

Sage stood again. “Probably a light bulb that needs changing somewhere around here.”

Brynn laughed as he fled like a felon. “You’re cruel. He was trying.”

“What?” Tyler asked. “Now I’ll have fresh light bulbs everywhere. Back on topic. So is this reading some sort of preamble? Do I need to congratulate you on a big step?”

“It’s some kind of step. Jury is out on what kind.” She shook her head, trying to understand it all herself. “It’s been like a breath of fresh air just being around her again. I don’t want to screw it up, and I don’t want her to, either. I’m almost afraid to move. Like the house of cards might come tumbling with the slightest shift. And yet…”