“Of course you can,” she says, wiping her hands on the white apron around her waist. “So good to see you, dear,” she says, grabbing my arms and kissing my cheek. My heart speeds up, and my hands start to get clammy. “You look pretty,” she says, and my tongue gets heavy while a lump forms in my throat. I take another gulp of the tea instead, and Ethan shows me the apple pie that he made with Charlotte. “He even put an E on it so he would know it was his.”

“I did it all by myself,” he says so proud. “I’m going to go play.”

“Not too far,” I say. “I think it might be time to eat soon.” He just turns and runs away.

“You did a good job,” Charlotte says from beside me. “He’s amazing.”

“Thank you,” I say, and she turns and walks away. I walk to a seat and sit down, almost as if I’m hiding.

Billy finds me with my empty glass of sweet tea. “I got you another glass,” he says, taking my empty one.

“Thank you,” I say, and he walks away. I sit in the chair all by myself and just people watch. I scan the crowd for Beau and find him talking to Casey and Jacob with a beer in his hand. I finish another glass of tea when I hear someone call my name and look over to see that it’s Kallie.

“I’ve been looking for you,” she says, sitting down on the empty chair beside me. She’s wearing a tank top and jean shorts, and has left her blond hair loose. “It’s a nice night out.”

“It is,” I say. I go to take another sip of the tea and find it’s empty. “How are you feeling?”

“Better,” she tells me. “It was harsh. I think it’s the chicken we ate from the rest stop.” Billy comes over and hands us both some sweet tea. “Dad,” Kallie starts. “You are going to have us rolling out of here.”

“I’m celebrating,” Billy says. “My son finally got his head out of his ass and found himself a gem.”

I can’t help the laugh that comes out of my mouth. Casey is or was the most eligible bachelor in the town. Well, it was a toss-up between him and Beau. Jacob made it clear to everyone that he was not interested in the least, so no one really bothered with him. “Well, I, for one, am going to miss him bringing in the women.” I smile at Billy. “He was good for business.”

“I bet he was,” he says, turning and walking over to fill empty glasses of tea.

“There you guys are.” I hear another female voice and look over at Olivia. “I have been dodging your father and his sweet tea the whole night.”