“Well, I owe you one.”
She slides her fingers over her ear. “Clancy Ford’s grandson, right?”
“Yeah. Jackson Hunter. You know him?”
“Not personally. I read an article about him in the local newspaper. He’s great with horses.” She nudges me. “And he’s cute.”
“He is very cute,” I concede sadly.
Cute and unbelievably stubborn, unfortunately.
I left the hospital shortly after he got called into Sibella’s room last week. Didn’t want to intrude on their special family occasion.
Would I have been able to convince him to give us a chance if we’d continued talking? I doubt it. Words aren’t going to cut it. Well, at least not any words that come out of my mouth.
That’s why I’ve come up with another way to deliver my message. I just hope it’s not too late.
“I’m not going to stick my nose into your business. People do enough of that around here,” Candice says. “But I will say, don’t make the same mistake Wagner made after Colton.”
“Colton?”
“Yeah. Colton Randwick. After Wagner ended things with him.”
My brain short-circuits. Is Candice saying what I think she’s saying? My brother…with a dude? Wagner has always been tight-lipped about his personal life, but man, he could have opened up about that. I literally tell him everything.
“Yeah. That was rough, all right,” I play along to gather some more intel. “Remind me again how long they were together for?”
“Well, they weren’t ever together-together. Wagner made sure of that. He basically strung poor Colton along for the better part of a year.”
Did he now?
After months of Michael Jackson–inspired teasing, I finally get some dirt on my brother. Not that I’d ever use this against him, but it’s handy info to have in my back pocket nonetheless.
“Did you ever meet this Colton guy?”
“Of course I did, silly. He’s my brother’s best friend.”
“That’s right. I forgot.”
I forgot shit. This is all news to me.
“It’s through Colton I met Wagner and how we ended up in this arrangement.”
“Arrangement?”
She looks around to make sure the coast is clear. “Have to say, I amlovingyour commitment to keeping our secret. Wagner told me he confides in you about everything.”
I don’t have eyebrows anymore; they’ve skyrocketed off my face. “He did?”
Iwishhe did. It’s what I’ve wanted my whole life, for him to feel as close to me as I do to him. But the guy tells me nothing. As this conversation with Candice demonstrates perfectly. What secret is she talking about?
“Yeah, you know, we let people think we’re dating to keep all the small-town gossip at bay. That way, he can keep exploring his sexuality in private and at his own pace, and I can date Thiago in peace.”
“And Thiago is your…?”
“Pool boy. I know, I know.” She lets out a high-pitched titter. “Such a cliché. But I can’t risk ruining my gold-digging reputation by having the good people of Silverstone find out I’m in love with someone with no money.”
Wow. Wow.Wow. Too bad I’m not the gossiping kind because Candice is armed with an abundance of juicy news.
