Page 35 of Until You

Okay, this one might be poison. Kidding. It’s Mimz’s pot roast. You’re fine.

I kept the notes. All three of them. They’re in the drawer of my nightstand, which is a fact I will take to my grave.

“Oliver.” Leo’s voice pulls me back. “Seriously. What’s the deal with her?”

“There’s no deal.”

“There’s obviously a deal. You’ve been wound tighter than a fence wire since I got here, and every time she moves, you track her like a retriever.”

“Drop it, Leo.”

He raises both hands. “Dropped. For now.” He takes a long sip of his beer. “But for the record? She keeps looking at you too.”

I don’t look over to confirm that.

I want to.

I don’t.

The party fills in fast. Blankenships and Wests account for a good third of the crowd, but Saddle Creek shows up for its own. Half the town is here, or it feels like it. The Whitmores are clustered near the bar—Bram helping my Uncle Graham drag another table into position. Jared and Garrett, and their wives, are settled near the front. My other uncle, Heath, is telling a story to a captive audience at one of the back tables.

Various kids tear through the legs of adults like a school of fish navigating coral.

And in the center of all of it—Mimz and Pops.

They got back from the cruise yesterday, tanned and bickering and looking more alive than people half their age. Mimz had walked through the front door, seen Cora, and immediately pulled her into a hug so fierce I thought the girl might crack. Pops had shuffled in behind her, patted Cora on the head like she was a golden retriever, and said, “House still standing? Good girl.”

Then Mimz had seen me standing in the living room and her eyes had gone very bright and very knowing, and she’d said, “Oh, wonderful. You’re both here.” In a tone that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up.

I still haven’t unpacked that.

Tonight, Pops has one hand wrapped around Mimz’s, the other holding a beer, and she’s smiling at him like she always does.

The band kicks into something upbeat—fiddle and guitar—and that’s when Henry arrives.

With Gracie.

Holding her hand.

“So I guess it’s true, then?” Leo asks. “About them being married.”

“Apparently. Still seems strange to me they didn’t even tell people they were dating.”

Henry catches my eye across the crowd and gives me a look that says I know, just go with it. I give him a short nod. We’ll talk later.

Right now, I’ve got my own situation to manage.

Because Cora has moved. She’s sitting at a table now — the one Caroline and Damien have claimed—and there’s an empty seat beside her that I’m going to have to either take or visibly avoid, and both options feel loaded.

I finish my beer. Set the empty on the nearest flat surface.

“Going in?” Leo asks.

“Shut up.”

He salutes me with his bottle.

I ignore him as I make my way over and take the seat.