Not yours.
“Aunt Kathryn wants nothing to do with you.”
She never had.
Julia’s eyes were irate. Her skinny arms and hands pressed against her side. If she’d been a violent woman, Dani would’ve braced for a slap. She was wary, waiting for it, but Julia started crying again. She didn’t sniffle this time, or make a sound. The tears slid down and Julia didn’t react. Dani wondered if her sister even knew they were there. And in that moment, she felt farther away from her sister than when she’d been on the other side of the ocean.
There was a river of secrets, lies, and alliances between them. One stood on one side, the other across from her.
Dani saw it all, and felt an undercurrent of exhaustion sweep underneath her. It pulled her down. “I asked to talk tonight because I don’t want to be your enemy.”
Julia’s eyes twitched. Her lips pressed together. She said nothing.
“But maybe that was wishful thinking?”
The crowd clapped in the background. Whatever act had been performing, must’ve been a hit, and the crowd roared again in approval. Her lip curved in a sad smile. Maybe that was her cue to walk away.
Dani raked a hand through her hair. “Look, you have my word.”
Julia turned back to her.
“I do not want Jake. I can’t promise that we won’t talk, but I can promise that we won’t be friends. We won’t hang out together. We won’t be anything. All we’ll be is two people who grew up together, and two people connected through you.” And Erica, the silent ghost still haunting them. Dani didn’t mention her. “And for what it’s worth, I did tell someone.”
Julia didn’t ask, but her eyes sharpened.
“I told Kathryn I was leaving. It was her choice not to share that information.”
The show went off without a hitch.
A few acts stumbled, but Kate and Aiden covered for them, a smart joke delivered with tongue-in-cheek. The last act finished with a bang, a literal bang of the cymbals. One of the lemon meringue pie winners marched onto the stage banging a pair of cymbals together. Kate asked her to stay as the rest of the winners were announced, and each time the cymbals led the applause.
When the last winner was called up to the stage, Dani wanted to avoid any conversation so she moved through the animal barns. She hadn’t had the time to visit the night prior amidst the beer and angry outbursts.
Heading into the beef barn, she saw Jake at the opposite doorway. He stood, leaning against the doorway, hands shoved in his pockets. He was in plain clothes, and he looked good. As she walked to him, slowly, Dani saw why each O’Hara had fallen for him.
It wasn’t just his outside. His heart was on his sleeve, and he gave it wholeheartedly.
The straw crunched underneath her feet as she stopped before him. The fans whirred in the background, shooting streams of air through the barn. Even though it had been chilly and raining earlier that day, the barn’s insides were overheated from machinery and too many bodies.
Just behind Jake, a tiny Jersey calf laid her head down. Her long, oval, doe-like eyes closed, and her gleaming rubbery nose nestled against her mother’s leg.
“What’d you say to Julia?”
She fought back a grin. He wasn’t wasting time. “I said a little about some stuff and nothing about a lot.”
“You’re not going to tell me?” Jake sighed. “Julia’s in a mood. We were supposed to go to Mae’s Grill tonight, but now she wants to go home. She wants to get the house cleaned for Kathryn tomorrow. She’s visiting from the nursing home.”
“Julia and I are fine.”
“Then how come she’s been twitching like she’s got Tourette’s?” Jake rubbed a hand over his jaw.
“Julia’s guilt has nothing to do with me.”
“What does that mean?”
“You can think on it.”
“Are you going to be at Mae’s Grill?”
“Probably. Maybe not. I haven’t planned my evening.”
“That group of yours will be there.”
Dani heard the tone. He wasn’t talking in a general sense. He was talking about someone in particular. She didn’t hold back her grin now. “If you’re talking about Jonah, then I wouldn’t know. I haven’t talked to him tonight.”
“Not yet.”
“Maybe. Maybe not.” She leaned forward. “It’s really none of your business. Your job is to make Julia happy. Go. Make her happy.”
“Way she’s going, she’s just going to work herself into a frenzy.”
“Well, you’ll do what you do and you’ll calm her down. That’s your role, right?” She suddenly had no idea why she was even talking to him. There was no reason. “Did you have something to say to me? I came in here to avoid talking to people.”
He didn’t answer. He just looked at her.
She nodded, moving around him. “Go find Julia, Jake.”
The talent contest was done, and others must’ve had the same idea as her. The other barns filled up, and she grew tired of trying to push her way through another to see the poultry. She surrendered and headed for the beer gardens. It wasn’t long before someone spotted her.
“Hey!” Kate waved her arms. “Dani!”
Aiden laughed, then groaned, touching her forehead. “Ooh—I shouldn’t have had those drinks in between the acts.”
“It added entertainment. I liked it.” Bubba curled an arm around his wife.