“I saw the video.” Nicole shrugged and turned to Everett. “If I didn’t know you so well, I’d have to agree.”
Everett was laughing now. “Fair enough.”
When Rosebud and the others showed up, Nicole got a kick out of sharing everything all over again.
Everett didn’t hear the rest of the conversation. Rosebud had walked to the edge of the booth and was digging through a box. He took a deep breath and headed her way, flexing his hands at his sides. The sooner he got this over with, the sooner things could get back to normal. At least he hoped that would be the case.
“Hey, Rosebud.” His voice was low, for her ears only.
She glanced up at him, a smile instantly on her lips. “Hi.” A blush stained her cheeks. “How did you sleep last night?”
Her smile had him swallowing against the tightness of his throat. “Fine. Fine.” He cleared his throat. “I wanted to talk to you about that.”
“Okay.” She took an unsteady breath, biting on her lower lip.
He shoved his hands into his pockets so he wouldn’t smooth the hair from her shoulder. “You’re my best friend, Rosebud, and nothing will change that.” He hoped like hell she’d believe what he was saying. He wasn’t. “The thing is, I don’t want to change that. You and me, best friends. That’s the way it should be, you know? Last night was...” Wonderful. Everything he always wanted. “A wake-up call. It made me realize what I want, and well, I’m hoping you’ll be okay if we stick with the status quo. Maybe, I don’t know, pretend that last night didn’t happen?” He tried to chuckle.
She stared at him for a long time, her smile fading away until her expression was unreadable. And it hurt. Something fierce. “Oh... Right...” She swallowed.
“But hey, today has been a good day.” He forced a smile. “You knocked Voigt down a peg and got two job offers doing what you love to do.” He did his best to sound upbeat. “Whether you take the job with Voigt...” he paused and frowned “...or Texas A&M...” he paused and smiled “...I’ll back your decision.”Stop talking. Stop talking, now.
The silence stretched on so long, his stomach had tied itself into a hundred tiny knots.
Finally, she said, “Thanks, Everett. I can always count on you to support me.” Her smile was small but warm. “And last night...forgotten.” She blinked rapidly. “I agree. I... I value our friendship too much to do something...we’d regret.”
Too late.But he did his best to keep on smiling as he asked, “We’re good?” He couldn’t do this. He couldn’t stay. He’d already told one lie. It wasn’t hard to tell another. “I’ve got to head back to Honey, but I wanted to make sure we were okay before I took off.”
She nodded. “We are. Like you said, nothing can change our friendship.” Her gaze wouldn’t meet his, and she was blinking rapidly. “You’ve always been honest with me, Everett. I appreciate that.” She took a deep breath. “I guess I’ll catch part of Amanda’s talk.” She walked across the expo hall and out the door.
Everett watched her go, the crippling pain in his chest familiar. He’d been here before and survived. He’d do it again.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
FORROSEMARY, the rest of the convention was a whirlwind.
She caught a few minutes of Amanda Sifuentes’s lecture and met to have coffee with her later that afternoon. The Texas A&M program was as impressive as she’d known it would be. Their research department had a state-of-the-art facility, extensive resources, and multiyear funding for their current projects. The application process was lengthy, but Amanda unofficially assured her multiple times that the team would be ecstatic to have her onboard.
But as grateful as she was about Amanda’s offer, she found it hard to get excited about the position.
Tansy and Dane’s presentation was a success. Over the course of the weekend, she’d been surprised by how many people said hello to her—people she didn’t know. But after the presentation, she realized the extent of the couple’s online presence.
The room was packed wall to wall. While there were beekeepers looking for information about agritourism ventures and how it would impact their current business, a large number of the audience was here for the Hill family and the “Viking” Dane Knudson. They wanted to hear about Honey Hill Farms’ Blue Ribbon Honey contest win, the Hills’ deal with Wholesome Foods, as well as silly bits of information like what Dane and Tansy did on dates, had the sisters all wanted to be beekeepers, what sex Astrid’s baby was, and a whole slew of too-personal questions that Tansy and Dane somehow managed to dodge while remaining charming and engaging. Once their presentation wrapped up, she posed with pictures along with her sisters and Dane.
“I told you. You could totally charge for pics and media appearances.” Nicole nodded at the line of people waiting.
Through it all, Rosemary managed to shove down the hurt and sadness that threatened to swallow her. It wasn’t the end of the world. Everett would always be in her life and her best friend. That had to be enough. She had to convince her heart that was enough. There was no other alternative.
Sunday afternoon was a relief. They returned to Honey Hill Farms to find Aunt Camellia and Van at home. Amid the feast Aunt Camellia prepared, the newlyweds announced their intent to live there, on Honey Hill Farms. Poppa Tom and Granna Hazel’s suite of rooms were only ever used when all the other bedrooms were full, which was a rarity in the sprawling old house. Why not renovate the space and give it to the newlyweds?
Everyone was thrilled, of course. They’d all been struggling with the idea of life on the farm without Camellia’s warmth making it complete. And though she remained as subdued as ever, Rosemary suspected Aunt Mags was the happiest about this new arrangement.
That evening, they gathered around the television for the video Kerrielynn had made so the aunts and Van could see some of their convention adventures.
Watching Everett read to Nova was especially difficult, but she did her best not to let it show. The problem was, the more she tried not to think about Everett, the more he seemed to pop up. In conversation, stories, or videos. Each and every time she heard his name, she was reliving that evening and her heart twisted itself into knots.
Painful or not, she appreciated Everett’s honesty.
For him, nothing had changed. But for her... It was going to take time for the hole in her heart to heal. Eventually, she’d stop thinking about how big and tall and gorgeous and completely out of reach Everett was. Eventually, their friendship would be all she needed.
