He shakes his head. “I’m good. Slade should be back out from the house soon to help.” He looks over at the tent and tips his chin. “Go hang out with Grace and have a drink. I’ll see you later tonight.”
“Just promise to tell me if your hero complex has written a check your mortal abilities can’t cash, OK?”
He groans. “Remind me to keep you and Sly away from each other. I don’t need you two rubbing off on each other anymore.”
I snicker to myself and extend a pinky. “Do we have a deal?”
He nods and loops his pinky into mine. “Fine. Deal. Now go have some fun. You’re a VIP guest that the bride insisted be here.” He waves at me and grins. “Bye, Shadow.”
I pop up on my toes and give him a kiss. The look he givesme when I break the quick kiss nearly makes me tell him I love him on the spot, but I want to tell him when we have more time to talk. So I collect myself and smirk back at him. “Bye, dork.”
I wiggle my fingers and slowly walk away from him, feeling his lingering gaze the entire walk back to the tent. After grabbing a drink from the bar, I spot Grace’s rainbow streaked hair at one of the dinner tables and head that way.
“How was Taos?” I ask, sitting down at the table next to her. I have to admit that while Grace and I knew each other growing up, we were never super close. The more time I’ve spent with her lately though, the more and more I like her.
“Oh, it was great. We stopped into an art museum and a few galleries, then had lunch at a cute bistro.” It’s easy to see the fingerprints of her upbringing in small mountain towns all over her personality and appreciation for them. “How about you? Get into anything fun here?”
I nearly choke on a sip of my wine and I feel a flush creep up my neck thinking about what Sutton and I were doing just a few hours ago. “Nothing really. Just got settled into our room at the motel and took a nap. Sutton had to get here pretty early for prep.”
She tilts her head and points a knowing smirk my way before her line of sight lands on the food truck. I follow it to see Slade carrying a crate of produce. Sitting in a folding chair with a beer watching the two of them is her husband, TJ, providing words that I’m sure are less than encouraging. I have to admit the entire scene is both charming and comical. After watching them bicker, Grace turns to me with a pleased grin. “It’s a tale as old as time…”
Confused as to where she’s going with this musing, I take another drink from my wine glass.
She nods to herself and continues. “The sarcastic, quirkylocal girl falls in love with the handsome man from out of town.”
For the second time since I’ve sat down, I nearly spit out my drink. “Falls in love?”
Her laugh is light and airy. “I watched you two on the plane. I know what I saw.”
I groan. “Am I that obvious?”
“Not as obvious as your boyfriend, but pretty close. I think your scowl game has lost some of its luster.”
I laugh. “I’ll get back to work on that. Speaking of men from out of town…” I look back at the food truck and see TJ gesturing what looks like instructions to Slade and Sutton.
She beams with pride as she watches her husband and the Sterling brothers. She sucks in a deep breath and sighs. “Those men are something though. You lucked out, girl. Sutton’s such a sweetheart. A little too eager for me, but an absolute sweetheart.”
“Why do you say that?” I try not to sound too protective, but I know by the smirk she gives me that I completely gave myself away.
“TJ and I have spent so many nights at Gloria’s, even before you started working at the bar. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen him make someone’s day just by being himself and remembering little details.”
I know exactly what she means. The way he remembers details about me, even ones I’ve never noticed, always makes the butterflies in my stomach take on a mind of their own.
“So,” I say, looking around the tent, feeling more at ease here by the minute. “This is your first time to Sterling Springs too?”
“Mmhmm,” she says, setting her wine glass down. "It's exactly what I expected though. My best friend Josie and I always visit small towns on our road trips. I feel like she’d love this place.”
Right as she says that, Sly walks by our table and his head jerks to us. I swear if looks could kill, the one on his face is downright lethal. His intense gaze lingers on us before one of his brother’s calls to him from the food truck. He blinks and that intense look disappears as he turns to head toward them.
“What was that about?” I ask, quirking a brow as he walks on by.
She shakes her head. “No freaking clue.”
“He did not,”I bark out in shock.
Sly finishes his beer and nods. “I can’t believe Grandma let him back in the kitchen after that,” he says with a gruff laugh. “You’d think after nearly burning down her kitchen, she would’ve given up on teaching him to cook.”
Sutton throws his head back next to me and groans like Sly is testing his patience, but I catch the tinge of red on his cheeks. My heart warms knowing that even a story from his teenage years can still make him blush from embarrassment. “For the last time, I only burned one dish towel and her favorite apron. I still contend she really shouldn’t have tried to teach a teenager to cook a dish that involves flaming alcohol.”