Page 12

SAWYER

Armadillos.

Anton Hayes is afraid of armadillos.

Of all the things I didn’t see coming, this is right up there. Actually, this might top the list. Unless Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny personally invite me to a destination wedding on some remote Greek island. Even then, an armadillo phobia might still tie for first place.

Either way, it’s hard to fight the giddy feeling bubbling up inside me thinking about it. Which I haven’t been able to stop doing since he told me.

“Whatcha smilin’ about?” Dolly asks, hip checking me.

Busted…

“Huh?” I ask, half to buy time, and half because it knocks me out of my own head and back into the moment.

Miss Belle was not kidding when she said the entire town turned out for Dolly’s pancake breakfast. Based on what I’ve learned about Hickory Hills since I arrived, I actually wouldn’t be surprised to find out that most of Knox County was there this morning.

Downtown Hickory Hills is about as picturesque as it gets, making me feel like I stepped onto a movie set with its main street of shops that leads to the town square, home to the library, Hickory Hills Baptist church, the fire station, and a large obelisk monument that is elevated by a knee-high grassy wall.

They are all decorated for the Fourth of July, with red, white, and blue ribbons, banners, streamers, with posters everywhere, setting the perfect scene.

All morning, the square was packed full of people, many of whom brought their own lawn chairs to sit on, the din of conversation so loud even out in the open, it almost drowned out the music playing from the speakers set up on the church’s front steps.

Three types of pancakes, multiple gallons of syrup, and I don’t even know how much bacon later, Dolly had successfully fed more people than Jesus did with the loaves and fishes.

Watching it all is enough to make anyone feel at home.

Or make you feel a little homesick. Because I know that back in Hurricane Shoals, similar decorations have been hung along the beach, and in town, all the local shops and businesses are gearing up for the major party that is coming this evening.

“You’re smiling like the cat that ate the canary,” Dolly says, looping her arm through mine as we walk across Newton Field, the town’s rec area, toward a large, open field already filled with people. “What do you know that I don’t?”

I shake my head. There is no way I know something that Dolly McLain doesn’t.

That was glaringly obvious all morning as she introduced me to person after person after person.

None of whom I’m going to remember. As owner of the local diner, it makes sense that she would be up on all the local goings-on.

“Nothing…” I lie, feeling my cheeks heat.

Other than that Anton Hayes doesn’t like armadillos…

Although, she might know that too. Dolly is the childhood best friend turned girlfriend of one of Anton’s brothers, Hux. There’s a chance she’s in on that distress code.

Squinting her eyes at me, Dolly purses her lips to the side, like she’s trying to decide whether she believes me or not.

“You don’t lie very well, you know that?”

“I have been told that once or twice. Or a hundred times,” I admit. “Eliza is always telling me it’s better to just not say anything.”

“That’s debatable.”

We stop short of a clearing where smaller groups of people are milling around, all deep in different conversations. A long, thick rope with a bright orange flag tied around it lies on the ground, completely unaware that soon enough it will be the object of everyone’s attention.

Very specifically, a group of exceptionally good-looking men who are off to one side. All of whom look like the covers of my college roommate’s romance novels sprang to life and walked onto this field. Half of them aren’t wearing shirts, the already warm summer sun kissing their skin perfectly.

“Welcome to tug…” Dolly whispers conspiratorially.

“From left to right, Ezra, Atlas, Z—short for Zachary—and then Landon Noble. They are who most people in town refer to as the boy cousins, because their dad, Rod, the town butcher and cattle farmer, had all boys, where his brother, Ken, had two girls, Kenzie and Moira.”

“The girl cousins?” I guess.

“To some, but that never caught on quite like the boy cousins did. Usually it’s the Noble girls,” she explains. “On their team, they have Jake Wright, manager of Wright’s grocery, and then Noel Keller, who is half of Keller Landscaping and Nursery, with his all but identical twin…”

She twists, dragging her pointed fingers across the group. I follow with my eyes, letting them linger longer than they should on the men she just introduced. When she stops, pointing to a gentleman who does in fact look exactly like the one ten feet from him, my head starts to spin.

“Nash Keller, the other half of that family business. Nash used to tug for the Noble team, but now that he’s engaged to Willa, he’s Team Hayes,” she continues. “You met Hux this morning, and I know you know Anton, but the rest of them as they are lined up there are Milo, Ewan, Gus, and Jace.”

I nod, pretending like I’m following along. Anton’s brothers at least look somewhat familiar since Miss Belle showed me pictures so I could start to learn who is who, but standing here now, for the life of me, I don’t think I remember any of them. Except Anton. I’m going to need flashcards.

“Wait,” I say, doing the math in my head. “That’s not an equal number.”

“Dustin’s coming.”

I startle, the voice from behind us sounding vaguely familiar, like a whisper from the past, the simple answer cutting through the air like an arrow. I turn, taken aback even more to find that the voice one hundred percent matches the woman, the familiarity clicking in my brain.

A tall, stunning blonde, who looks so much like her mama it’s uncanny, smiles at me, like she’s Miss America receiving her crown. Which, I guess she was. Well, Miss Georgia, not Miss America. Close enough.

There was no doubt that Miss Belle’s daughter would stand out, even before she showed off all the photos to me the other night, including ones of Willa when she won her Miss Georgia title, but shit, Willa Hayes is even more stunning in person.

It is seriously not fair that some women are this pretty, while the rest of us look like sewer rats.

“Dustin Wild? ”

“Round here he’s Dustin Wild er , but yes,” Willa says. “He and Kenzie snuck off and lost track of time.”

I stare at her, fully aware I’m being rude, but I can’t help it. I’m more than a little dumbfounded that she so nonchalantly dropped the bomb that a country megastar is going to be joining in tug-o-war in a moment.

“Is that what the smile is from? You saw Dustin go through the pancake line this morning?” Dolly asks.

“He what?”

Dolly nods, holding back a laugh. Yeah, I absolutely missed Dustin Wild going through the pancake line.

“Did we just stumble upon your celebrity crush?” Willa gushes.

“I…err…ummm…no?”

I stumble through my answer, immediately wishing it had been more succinct. Or at least not ended with a question mark. Because Dustin Wild is not my celebrity crush.

This is where being a people person would come in helpful. Because I don’t know what to do next. So I’m just going to stand here, frozen, in the middle of the massive crowd, waiting on one of these two women to make a move.

Thankfully, Willa does.

“Sorry, hi! I’m Willa Hayes, shoulda led with that, since we haven’t actually met yet. Miss Belle has mentioned you a bunch and said I needed to come introduce myself. You are Sawyer, right?”

“That’s me!” I exclaim, relieved at the change of subject. “I’m the random human your mother invited in off the street to live with her.”

“That’s a very Miss Belle thing to do,” Willa says, shrugging like it’s not a big deal. “Case in point, I’m sure Auggie didn’t blink when he got home from his fishing trip and found out they had a house guest.”

I nod, because she’s right. August Hayes, Owner, President, and CEO of Hayes Industries rolled into his home two nights ago after being gone for more than a week, looking for a shower and time with his wife, and found me.

And he didn’t blink. He did shower, but right after that he threw steaks on the grill and promptly started asking me about, well…

me. My background, my job, my focus within soil research, all of it.

We sat out on their back porch for hours talking, like I was their own daughter.

For as much of a mom as Miss Belle is, Auggie Hayes is every inch a dad. I don’t know that they will ever know how much of a hole they’ve filled during these last few days by simply being who they are.

“Do all y’all do that?” I ask, my curiosity getting the best of me. “Call your parents by their first names?”

“Weird family quirk. We’ve done it for forever, so it makes sense to us, but I can see where from the outside it’s probably a bit weird.”

It’s a lot weird, but I keep that to myself. I have no room to talk when it comes to families.

“I think this is my new favorite event,” Brenna, the town pharmacist and Milo’s girlfriend, who I met during breakfast, says. “It’s like the muscular descendants of Greek gods decided to all line up and show off.”

I laugh. She’s not wrong. There isn’t a bad-looking one among them. The longer I look, though, the more I’m drawn to a certain spot. The spot where a tall, light-haired pain in my ass with eyes like the summer sky is standing. Mr. Too good-looking for his own good fruit-stand guy.

“Speaking of,”—Brenna drops her voice to a whisper, leaning in to Dolly—“we still on for this afternoon?”

“Of course! Just have to figure out where Margeaux went, because she made it clear we are not to leave her behind.”

“What are you two up to?” Willa asks.

“Nothing!” they both exclaim in unison .

And I’m the bad liar…ha…

“Right, because that doesn’t sound like trouble,” Willa snarks.

“You have absolutely no room to talk,” Dolly claps back.