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“Sure.” Sally turns around and unzips it.

I smile when I see that it’s a Carhartt. Sally can be fancy, but she’s country too.

I fucking love it.

I feel Patsy’s eyes on us as I help Sally take off the jacket. There’s no awkwardness now, no hesitation. My fingers brush Sally’s neck, and I see her bite her lip as she rolls back her shoulders. I pull off the Carhartt and hang it on a nearby hook.

“Such a gentleman,” Patsy says.

Sally looks up at me, her eyes dancing. “When he wants to be.”

“Here, Patsy, let me get yours too.”

“I can do that,” John B grunts.

“I know.” Patsy grins. “But cowboys do it?—”

“Please don’t finish that thought,” Sally says.

“Please do,” I say with a snicker.

I hang up Patsy’s jacket and pick up the groceries.

That’s when she claps her hands, turns to Sally and me, and says, “So how long have y’all been more than friends?”

Sally’s eyes go wide. I nearly drop the groceries.

“Seriously, Mom, you can’t—God, you can’t just blurt things like that.” Sally cuts me a glance. “We’re, um…we’ve?—”

“Been official for all of three minutes now.” I drape my free arm across Sally’s shoulders and step forward, pressing my body against hers. “John B and I were just talkin’ about it. Sally and I wanted to make sure we were all on the same page before we shared the news with anybody else.”

“I knew it!” Patsy throws her arms in the air. “I knew it, I knew it, Iknewit! Y’all have been acting mighty strange lately. And I coulda sworn I saw a hickey on Sally’s neck the other?—”

“It wasn’t a hickey,” Sally replies.

John B sighs. “I beg you, don’t elaborate.”

“Beard burn?” Patsy asks.

Sally’s face is red as a beet, but she’s smiling. “Yes.”

“Oh, y’all, I’m so happy for you!” Patsy goes up on her toes and pulls us in for an awkward group hug. “I’ve only been waiting for this to happen for twenty years.”

Sally scrunches her brow. “Twenty years?”

“Your second-grade teacher couldn’t get over how inseparable the two of you were.” Patsy falls back on her heels. “Apparently, Wyatt was always talking about you bein’ his girlfriend back then.”

“You didn’t!” Sally gasps.

I chuckle. “I did. I hoped the rumor would get back around to you and you’d say yes, but I guess that never happened.”

“Timing is everything,” Patsy singsongs. “The universewanted you to get together now, and here we are! So when can we go on a double date?”

“Never,” Sally teases.

I gently elbow her. “Aw, c’mon, Sunshine. That would be fun.”

I glance at John B, who’s watching us with a strange look on his face. He’s glowering, but there’s also this softness in his eyes when he looks at Sally.