“Don’t let Jamie’s magic you-know-what distract you. As your bestie, I have a responsibility to say that.”
Before she can say anything more, a soft rap at the door reveals my mom as soon as it opens. Her sandy blonde hair is pulled back into a loose ponytail to keep the hair off her neck while her white tank top and jeans are decorated with her favorite beige apron. It never ceases to amaze me how dedicated she’s always been to the farm and her clinic.
This is why I made a point a long time ago to get a degree in something that could also benefit our family. She was my greatest inspiration.
“Girls? Are you ready?” she asks in a sweet-as-honey kind of voice. Her smile stretches across her face, showing off the whites of her teeth. “The guests are arriving. I’ve sent your brother down to make sure they know where to go.”
“Thanks, Mom.” I hug her quickly, pressing our cheeks together.
“You’re so grown up, both of you,” she replies, glancing over at the two of us as she pulls away from me. “It feels like just yesterday that Heather and I were dropping the two of you off for kindergarten together. I’m so proud of you both!”
Our parents have been friends since they were in kindergarten. So to see her get this emotional over my best friend doesn’t surprise me. Phoebe has always been like another daughter to her. Like a sister to me. Built-in besties.
“We’ll be down in a minute. Don’t let Dad scare anyone away, please.”
My mother laughs at my comment, knowing full well what I mean. He’s never been quite okay with Maggie and I growing up so quickly. So, having strange boys on the farm that he doesn’t know doesn’t quite sit well with him.
But in the end, my mom always gets the last say in our house.
With Mom disappearing with soft laughter, Phoebe and I finish up our last touches to hair and makeup before we put on flats that will make it easier to dance in. The barn we’re using is the old barn at the far side of the property. The original barn my dad had built when I was a baby, and the start of his company. Over the years, with him growing the business, he built new structures and grew his enterprise. But one thing he could never bring himself to do was to tear down the old barn where it all started.
So instead, it became our party hangout or event location for the town if my parents were helping to host something.
“Wow,” my father’s thundering voice says as we reach the bottom of the stairs. His usually dark eyes are calm and watchful when he glances over at me and Phoebe. “You both look beautiful.”
Phoebe gives a little spin while I roll my eyes and step in to give him a small hug. “Thanks, Dad. We better get going.”
“I know, I know,” he replies, walking with us toward the door. “I just hate knowing that you’re going to be leaving the ranch soon. I wish you would reconsider and go to the college nearby. I don’t want to part with you yet.”
Phoebe's eyes meet mine for a moment, brow raised as her lips part. But I quickly shake my head before turning to my dad with a smile. “Yeah… Well, my education is important. I’ll be able to come back and help on the ranch in all kinds of ways.
He mumbles something I can’t hear as he holds the door open for us to walk through. “You girls go have fun… stay out of trouble, though.”
The moment we step outside, the cool Montana air hits me in the face. The setting sun casting orange glows across the sky as the sound of laughter and music drift toward us from the far end of the property. “Oh my god, there are so many people here,” Phoebe exclaims, a smile stretching across her face.
“I know… I wasn’t sure how many people were coming.”
Despite the amount of people here, there is only one person I’m ready to see.
As we make our way toward the old brown barn with a silver tin roof and yellow-strand lighting that stretches from the double doors out the makeshift patio, I contemplate how things are going to change. A pleasant shiver of heat tickles up and down my spine when I spot the place where Jamie and I had parked to make out last night. His hands running all over me, our mouths open, tongues stroking.
What we have is so much more than sex, though. It’s love.
And I don’t want to give it up just to go far away from home for college. I’ll miss Jamie, but also my family. My best friend, Phoebe. I love visiting my Aunt Kathy and Uncle Ricky in New York City, but as exciting as the big city can be, I’m always ready to come back home. Can I really survive at NYU for four years?
“Happy Birthday, Oakley!” A few girls from school shout as Phoebe and I approach the barn. Their smiles radiate across their faces as they compliment our dresses and tell me how awesome it is my parents allowed me to have this party.
More like my mom… My dad didn’t have much of a choice.
While the girls all chat amongst themselves, I take the time to scan the barn’s big open space. Strings of fairy lights and balloons in gold and black decorate the entire area, along with long tables that are set up at the barn’s far end, groaning under the weight of the platters of food. My mom, of course, went overboard, as she always does. Her motto has always been: “If you go home hungry—that’s your own fault.”
At the forefront of it all is a DJ, already pumping dance tunes while a few people line the outside of the makeshift dance floor in the middle of the barn.
But no matter how hard I look, I can’t find Jamie. My friends are all here, though. So’s Bo, sent by my parents to “keep an eye” on us all, but he’s probably going to be the one getting us in trouble.
“Staying out of trouble?” he asks, sliding up to me as he knuckles my arm like the annoying big brother he’s always been. His tall looming figure overshadows me as it always does. He got his over-six-foot height from our father while I got my petite nature from our mother.
“I always stay out of trouble,” I reply, rolling my eyes.
