He buried his face in her wet hair. “What if someday you have regrets?”

“I don’t think that day will ever come.” She snuggled down closer to his chest so she could listen to his steady heartbeat.

Cricket hit the “Snooze” button when the alarm went off. It was the day that she had to go to the doctor, and hopefully he’d give her a walking boot, and say that she could throw the crutches away. But the appointment wasn’t until ten o’clock, and she sure wasn’t looking forward to riding to Sweetwater and back with her moody brother.

When the alarm buzzed the second time, she put a pillow over her head and slapped it again. The third time, she threw the pillow across the room and turned it off. Jennie Sue had spent a long time with Rick at the creek the night before, so hopefully she’d gotten through to him on some level. If she hadn’t, Cricket hoped that she hadn’t mentioned the easement idea. That would be a huge sore spot.

“And I sure don’t want to be stuck in a truck with him all morning in that case,” Cricket mumbled as she headed toward the bathroom.

She was reaching for the knob when the door swung open, and there was Jennie Sue, wearing nothing but a towel around her body and a big smile on her face.

“Good mornin’, Cricket. When you get back from the doctor’s office, would you like for Rick to drop you at the bookstore? I could use the company,” she said.

Cricket was speechless until she heard her brother whistling in the bedroom down the hallway. In that moment, she didn’t care where Jennie Sue had slept the night before or what people would say about it. Rick only whistled or hummed when he was happy, and that was worth everything to her.

“I’d love to. Want me to bring some takeout Chinese from Sweetwater? I could pick it up after my appointment,” Cricket said.

“Sounds amazing.” Jennie Sue padded down the short hallway and closed Rick’s bedroom door behind her.

Brushing her teeth and putting her unruly hair into a ponytail wasn’t an easy feat while standing on one foot, but Cricket managed. When she finished, the aroma of coffee filled the whole house. She spent a little extra time getting dressed, halfway dreading the awkward moment when she made it to the kitchen. Would they be all lovey-dovey with each other, or would it be just winks and nudges? She finally headed that way, only to be surprised to find Rick alone when she arrived.

She looked around the kitchen. “Where’s Jennie Sue?”

“She stuffed a biscuit with bacon and said she’d eat it on the way to work,” he answered. “I hear you gave her verbal rights to cross our place to get to her land when she buys it.”

“Yep, I did.” She pulled out a chair and sat down. She absolutely loved this little house where they’d lived their whole lives. A cozy living room, small dining area, and kitchen built for two people at the most. Nothing like the huge place where Jennie Sue had grown up. Three bedrooms, one of which was still the same as the day her dad died, because she couldn’t bear to change what had been his and her mother’s. One bathroom that she and Rick had fought over in their teenage years. She’d sat in his bedroom for hours after he’d left for the military and wished that he’d stayed closer to home.

“So what are you thinkin’ about right now?” He set a plate of food in front of her. “You look like you’re seeing ghosts.”

“I think I just might be. We didn’t often have friends that slept over, Rick. I don’t know how to put it in words, but it doesn’t feel weird that Jennie Sue spent the night, that we are sharing our home with her,” Cricket said.

Rick turned around so quick that he almost dropped his plate of food. “Would you repeat that? I’ve been preparing myself for a lecture lasting from now until we get back from your appointment.”

Cricket frowned at him. “Brother, after the way you’ve acted the past few days, I wouldn’t fuss if you slept with the devil’s sister.”

He wiggled his dark brows. “Sleep?”

“I do not want or need to know details.” She covered her ears with her hands. “La-la-la. Changing the subject—I’m sure hoping that the doctor lets me throw away these crutches today. And when we’re finished, I’m buying Chinese takeout to bring to the bookstore to have lunch with Jennie Sue. Want to join us?”

“Love to, and since I don’t have a bookmobile trip today, I might just hang around for a while. Are you really going to take that job and be her partner in the store?” he asked as he sat down across the table from her.

“Yes, I am. I made up my mind last night. And Jennie Sue says we might start some programs, like a reading hour, a couple of times a week for children. I’d love that,” she answered.

“Think maybe I could read to them once in a while? It’d be a way to get them to visit the bookmobile, too.”

Cricket finished off the last of her biscuit. “I’m sure you could. If someone had told you a month ago that we’d be talkin’ about these things, would you have believed them?”

“Nope.” He set about eating his breakfast.

Lettie and Nadine were waiting by the bookstore door when Jennie Sue arrived that morning. Lettie had a covered pan of something that smelled like one of her famous breakfast casseroles, and Nadine carried a covered bowl of biscuits.

“You didn’t come home last night. You are wearing the same clothes you had on yesterday morning, although they do smell like they’ve been washed and dried, and you’ve got a smile on your face that suckin’ on a lemon couldn’t erase. Open the door and let’s hear all about it,” Nadine said.

Jennie Sue found the right key on her mother’s key chain to the door and stood to one side to let them enter first. “What happens on the farm stays on the farm, and I might not come home lots of times.”

“Did you sleep on the sofa because your good friend Cricket said you could have the easement? Or did you get lucky and sleep somewhere else?” Lettie wiggled her finger at Jennie Sue after she set the casserole on the table. “I’ll make some coffee and get plates.”

“Like I said, what happens on the farm . . .” Jennie Sue followed her.

“It was somewhere other than the sofa or she wouldn’t be grinnin’.” Nadine was right behind them.

“How many times have either of you stayed out all night?” Jennie Sue turned the conversation around.

“We’d have to take off our shoes to count, but it’s been years. We love living vicariously through you. So give us some details about something!” Lettie said.

“Well, Rick was whistling when I left, and when I was coming out of the bathroom with nothing but a towel around me, I ran into Cricket. And that’s all the details I’m tellin’.” Jennie Sue set three mugs by the coffeepot.

“Oh! My! God!” Nadine squealed. “I bet Cricket is givin’ him hell.”

“I don’t think so. She didn’t seem mad and even offered to bring takeout for us to share after her doctor’s appointment this morning. Coffee is done. Let’s go have breakfast.” Jennie Sue picked up three disposable plates and some plastic cutlery.

Lettie swept a hand through the air. “The Bloom News headline of the day will read, ‘Oil Heiress Loses Her Mind.’”

“And the picture would be one of you lookin’ like a drowned rat when you got back to the farmhouse from the creek.” Nadine filled three mugs.

Jennie Sue almost dropped the plates and forks. “How did you know that I got wet at the creek?”

“Didn’t until now.” Nadine picked up a couple of the mugs. “Never underestimate the powers of an old woman diggin’ around for details.”

All three of them went back to the front part of the store and took their seats again. Lettie took her place on the sofa and removed the cover from the food. Nadine pushed the mugs around to the right places. Jennie Sue set the plates on the small table.

“Do you love that boy?” Lettie asked.

Nadine dug into the food first. “She slept with him, didn’t she?”

Lettie tucked her chin against her chest and looked over the top of her glasses at her sister. “Did you ever spend the night with a guy you didn’t love?”