Page 91 of Here With Me

“Yes, he gave me a walk-through of it this mornin’. It’s perfect for him.”

“He was such a sweetheart to our Noah. We were so sad when they broke up. I coulda sworn they’d get back together, get married, and eventually have kids.”

Kill menow.

“Not me,” Tripp blurts out, and for once, I want to give him a high five for rudely interrupting.

“Tripp,” Momma scolds. She’s worried he’ll offend Fisher by speaking negatively about his son, but she couldn’t be more wrong in that assumption.

“She’s too good for him,” he defends, but what he’s not saying is how much my brothers didn’t like Jase out of respect for his father being here.

“Noah’s too good for anyone,” my dad speaks up assertively.

I roll my eyes and sigh. “Noah’s right here, and she can make her own decisions on who she does or doesn’t date.”

“You’re still young, sweetie. Jase seems to be growin’ up and maturin’, so ya never know. Y’all might find your way back to each other.”

My mother’s words make me want to throw up.

They're fixated on him because he was my only long-term boyfriend in high school. If only they knew Jase and I weren’t as serious as they thought. Once he graduated, we only hung out on the weekends, and even then, it felt more like two friends hanging out. Not a couple crazy in love.

“We’re just friends, Momma,” I remind her. “That’s all we’re gonna be.”

“There’s a new ranch hand at the retreat who’s twenty-five and single. I’ll have to introduce y’all. He works with the horses,” she says as if that’s a requirement for me to like someone.

I liked Fisher before I even knew he was a farrier, and even though we met at a rodeo, I didn’t even know why he was there at the time. I just knew there was a spark between us that I wanted to explore before the event was over.

“When did this become the Noah Dating Show? Y’all act like I’m nearin’ my deathbed or somethin’.”

“Don’t listen to them, sweetie.” Gramma Grace takes her seat next to Fisher.

Lord help him.

“You’re too young to settle down anyway. Go travel the world, live your life, and only get married when you find a suitor who can handle your adventurous side. Otherwise, you’re just wastin’ your time onboys.”

“Asuitor, huh?” I muse, pouring myself a glass of sweet tea before sitting across from her and Fisher. “In that case, maybe I’ll find myself an older gentleman who knows how to treat a lady,” I drawl out in a deep country accent.

“That’s what I did...” Gramma Grace says as she lays her napkin over her lap. “You think I married the first man who proposed? Tsk. I made your grandfather work for it.”

Oh my God.

My jaw drops.

“Gramma...so scandalous,” I tease.

“Mama, you sure ya wanna share that story with your grandchildren?”

“Yes!” Tripp and I say simultaneously. I’m surprised she hasn’t told us already, but I’m eager to hear about it. Just as she’s about to start, the front door whips open, and my other two brothers walk in.

“Finally. We’re starvin’,” my dad scolds, gesturing for them to find a seat.

“Don’t look at me.” Landen shakes his head, then points at Wilder.

No one’s even shocked.

“Gramma was just about to tell us how she met Grandpa,” I say as the boys grab a beer and take a chair on each side of me.

“I thought they were high school sweethearts or somethin’...” Tripp says, reaching for the food, but I quickly elbow him to wait for grace.