“The falling out really happened, but I guess after they died, our grandfathers formed a friendship.” Mickey filled in some more things he’d learned from his dad during a tense conversation this morning.
“So our grandparents retired to Florida together.”
Mickey’s mouth formed an O. “Shit. You’re right. I thought it was a coincidence they lived in the same town.”
“You’re sure Sage doesn’t know?” It was hard to imagine them not knowing, but Mickey didn’t, so I guess it wasn’t that unbelievable.
“I really don’t think so.”
This was a big secret to keep from them. Now I understood Mickey’s riddle.
“Should I have not told you?”
I gripped his hand. “You absolutely should have told me.” I wasn’t sure when my family would have told me, if ever. Would Sage have just kept the knowledge to themselves if they started a friendship with Mickey? If I lived in Boston, I couldn’t imagine why it would have ever come up. It made me nauseous to think of a different version of my life where I hadn’t come home and gotten to know Mickey, and instead, he and Sage became secret friends. I could’ve missed out on so much.
I wanted Mickey and Sage to be friends. I wanted to have dinner with my sibling and boyfriend and watch them hit it off.My boyfriend?The idea of calling Mickey my boyfriend sent tingles to my fingertips. I wanted that so badly.
I reached out and pulled him in for a hug. “Thank you for telling me, and I’m sorry you had a hard conversation with your dad.”
He pressed his lips against my neck. “Thanks. I didn’t realize how badly I needed a hug.” His attention darted to the closed door, and I wasn’t sure he even realized he’d done it.
That simple movement crushed my heart into a thousand pieces. The rivalry might not be real to our families, but it had a fucking real impact. I never consented to this ruse, but it sure as hell was affecting me.
“I’m sorry I’ve passed the burden on to you. The secrets keep getting bigger.”
My heart mended itself as I stared into Mickey’s eyes. Mickey had a lifetime of viewing me as the enemy, but he trusted me enough to tell me the biggest secret of our lives.
I’ve fallen so hard for this man.
“Where do we go from here?”
I cupped his cheeks and pressed my lips against his in a gentle kiss. “We’ll figure it out. Together.”
Even as I said it, doubt crept in through the cracks in my heart. Our families wouldn’t have fanned the feud fire for solong if they hadn’t deemed it necessary. I had to believe they could weather any scandal. The town cared about the food and supporting the local businesses more than the truth of some rivalry. I had to believe that. I didn’t want to have to choose between Mickey and keeping our families’ secret because if I did, I would choose Mickey.
TWENTY-NINE
AMOS
“Pretty sure the pot is clean.”
Sage’s voice startled me from zoning out. I had no idea how long I’d been standing there thinking about what Mickey told me yesterday. I hadn’t even heard Sage come home.
“Sorry.”
“Why are you apologizing? It hasn’t been that clean since I bought it. What are you thinking for dinner?” Sage opened the fridge. “We should do something with that ground turkey.”
“Pasta? Got any tomato sauce?” I moved to their pantry and scanned the tidy row of canned goods. There were several cans of diced tomatoes, and I remembered seeing a tube of tomato paste in the fridge.
“Sounds good. How about I make meatballs?” Sage pulled two small containers of fresh herbs from the fridge, along with ground turkey.
They turned on a playlist of 2000s hits, and we moved around the kitchen in a now-familiar routine. Sage had no idea how much comfort their presence brought me, even if it hurt to keep this secret from them. If my parents wanted Sage to know, they would have said something by now. Odds were that Mickey’s dad would tell them he’d told Mickey, so maybe Momand Dad would fast-track informing Sage. I hoped that would be the case because this was a tough secret to keep.
While I diced an onion, they formed meatballs and sang along to an alternative rock song we used to play way too loud when driving in their car.
“I’ve been meaning to ask, what’s going on with that job opportunity? Are you going to take it?”
Braxton had texted me last night to check in, and I still hadn’t decided. No, that wasn’t true. My heart had made a decision, and my brain kept second-guessing it, so I remained in a limbo of my own making.
