Page 169 of The Maxwell Brothers

We all left at the same time, except Lexi and Tate—he was doing the conference on his laptop from here, and she’d wait for him to finish—and Mom and Dad, who decided to walk around the vineyard.

I checked my phone as soon as I was in the car. Kendra had replied.

Kendra: My phone was on mute. I’m at the Local Arts and Crafts Festival. I’m going to a dinner thing for work in one hour. Anyway, it’s super loud. I did see the picture.

Fuck. I needed to find her and explain everything. I didn't want her to think I was dicking around.

"Anyone know anything about the Local Arts and Crafts Festival?" I asked.

Reese perked up. "Oh yeah, they've got several bands and lots of booths selling handmade items and local crafts. It's in Millennium Park. Why?"

"Kendra’s there. That's why she couldn't pick up. I'm going to go there after you drop me off at home."

They were silent for a bit, and then Travis said, "You know, it would be much faster if we just drop you off there.”

“And we promise to stay in the car and not peek, or come with you unless you want us to," Reese said.

I burst out laughing. "You think I need chaperones?"

"Honestly, I'm not sure," Travis said.

"Oh fuck off," I said good-naturedly.

"So, should we go to the fair?" Reese asked, looking far too excited.

Itwassmart to go directly there. Especially since Kendra was leaving for her dinner soon.

"Hey, why not, man?” Travis asked. “We can vouch for you. You're a good guy and have a good head on those shoulders. You have good taste in women most of the time. Well, judging by Blair, actually, no."

"Travis, darling, I think you shouldn't talk at all," Reese noted.

"I have a better idea. Why don't both of you keep quiet?" I grumbled.

CHAPTER 15

KENDRA

"We can just growold together and buy cats," Emma said, trying on a hat from The Hat Booth.

"I do like cats," I said.

"Want to continue our ‘spill-it’ conversation?" she asked, looking at me from under the huge pink hat. It actually looked good on her.

I shook my head. "No. That pic took the wind out of my sails," I confessed.

This morning, I called my sister and had one of our spill-it sessions. Like a good sister, this afternoon, she texted me a picture from the game, asking me if I was sure Tyler was single. The question shocked me because, honestly, I didn't even think about asking. I didn't take a good look at the picture at first, but once I zoomed in a bit and saw how close they were, I zoomed right back out. But it was branded in my brain.

I wanted to be reasonable. It was before we even kissed. But I was really hoping she wasn't his girlfriend or something, because I absolutely didn't want to be participating in cheating in any way. My heart had already shriveled to the size of a peanut, though. I tried to cling to those happy moments duringour trip and last night, but a small voice kept taunting me:You don’t really think you can be this happy, do you?

“Do you want to talk to him?” she asked, taking a sip of her pumpkin spice latte. Every booth seemed to have at least a pumpkin on the counter. Some were plain, and some had the typical Halloween eyes and mouth carved out.

“He did text me saying he wants to explain.” Which I thought was good. It meant he cared. I knew he’d dated a bit; he’d said as much. But was it dated or dating—as in present tense? I was petrified at the thought that I might have been fooling around with someone who was in a relationship.

“That’s a good sign.”

“But let’s not talk about him anymore, okay? Let’s enjoy the fair.”

I loved going out with my sister. Emma talked me into coming to the festival after work. Well, in between work was more appropriate. I was having dinner with some past volunteers who wanted an update on a project we’d started together. I only had about half an hour left before I had to go to the restaurant, which was only a couple blocks away.