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“Ellie,” Vera turned slightly toward Ellie, “how about you? How’s school? And prom! We didn’t hear much about it from you since you stayed at Blake’s. Did you have a good time?”

“Yeah, it was great.”

“Were you part of the big group dance like Brayden was?”

“Group dance?” Ellie furrowed her brow and looked at Brayden. “What did I miss?”

“Miss?” Isla asked. “I thought you went to prom.”

“Well, I did.”

Suddenly, Ellie panicked. It seemed as if Brayden hadn’t told them what happened, and Ellie was thankful for that. But Ellie also didn’t tell them exactlywhyshe’d spent the night at Blake’s. Especially since her house was on the same property as the Mackenzie farmhouse. Ellie swallowed the lump in her throat and powered through the conversation.

“I left early though.”

“To go to Blake’s?”

“Well,” Ellie shifted uncomfortably in her seat, “not exactly.”

Vera and Isla exchanged glances before turning their attention to Ellie.

“What aren’t you telling us?”

“She left with Sadie.”

Ellie shot Brayden a glare from across the table. He wasn’t trying to get her in trouble; she knew him better than that. But he still seemed oblivious to the fact that Ellie didn’t want to talk about what happened at prom. Brayden had to know; he was there, and he apparently saw her leave with Sadie.

Which was the thing her parents were now fixated on.

“You left withSadie,huh?” Vera’s voice had a singsong tone, and Ellie recognized it instantly. It was the voice she used when she thought she was getting good intel or knew she knew something someone else didn’t. She looked to Isla, whose face seemed to indicate she felt the same way. “My, my. That’s interesting.”

“How—how is that interesting?” Ellie heard her voice go higher, clearly indicating she was nervous. “That’s so not interesting.”

“It’s just that we noticed how you two kept looking at each other when we saw her family at the bar.”

“Oh, geez,” Ellie groaned, covering her face with her hands. Across the table, Everleigh and Brayden laughed. “She’s just afriend. Gosh. That’s all.”

“So,” Isla locked eyes with her, “you and Sadie aren’t…”

Her voice trailed off, but she didn’t need to finish it for Ellie to know what she was thinking.

“Mom, no. I’m not dating Sadie.”

“Yet,” Brayden chimed in, gaining another glare from Ellie.

“What does that mean?” Ellie snipped.

“Nothing,” Brayden chuckled, annoying her as only a brother could. “It’s just if I wasn’t dating Bridget, I’d date Sadie after seeing that picture.”

Ellie swiftly kicked him in the shin. He dramatically recoiled, glaring back at Ellie from across the table.

“What picture?” Vera asked.

“Nothing,” Ellie and Brayden said in unison, their eyes still locked with each other.

“If it’s nothing then why are you kicking your brother?”

Ellie couldn’t think of a response fast enough.