A Town Called Valentine(34)

She’d become acclimated to the altitude at last, and found some wonderful hiking trails up behind the town hall. Running brought her such peace in this beautiful mountain country, leaving her feeling stronger than she had in a long time.

She didn’t see Nate at all, and told herself that was a good thing. Brooke occasionally mentioned how busy they were at the ranch, with the stress of haying season coming up in June. If they didn’t harvest a good crop, they’d have to purchase hay at the end of winter to feed the cattle, cutting into their profit.

Monica and Brooke were proving to be a welcome distraction, occasionally insisting she accompany them to a movie or out to eat. Brooke dragged them to Outlaws, the local honky-tonk bar, where Brooke fit right in with her cowboy boots and hat. She did a mean line dance, but Emily felt like she had two left feet though she gave it a try. Her ex didn’t like to dance, so they didn’t. Why had she been so stupid as to let that stop her? Because she’d let go of her high-school and college girlfriends, that was why. She’d been a fool.

At Outlaws, they were each drinking beer, turning down requests to dance until they could get their breath back. A Kenny Chesney song was blaring in the background. Even though Emily was only wearing jeans and a shirt over a camisole, she noticed more than one admiring glance, and as the evening went on, her spirits lifted. She watched the crowd, a mixture of young and old, and found herself focusing on the older men, gathered in a booth near the back, playing cards.

Could one of them be her father?

Angry with herself, she took another swig of beer and glanced at Monica, who was picking the label off her bottle absently.

“Is something wrong?” Emily asked.

Monica glanced up with a jerk. “Sorry. Guess I got distracted.”

Brooke studied her. “With what? Everything okay at the store?”

“Busy, and Mrs. Wilcox was sick again today, so I was alone.”

“Poor old lady,” Brooke murmured. “What about Karista?”

“She’s still in high school, remember? She’s only evenings and weekends. But that’s not the real problem.” Monica heaved a sigh. “My sister’s coming to visit.”

“Isn’t that a good thing?” Emily asked.

Her friend shrugged. “It should be. But sadly, Missy always manages to make sure I know she thinks I’m wasting my life.”

“She says that?” Emily was aghast.

“No, not in so many words. But I know. She thinks you can only feel ‘fulfilled’—her word—with an important job in a city.”

Brooke smiled without amusement. “You can only imagine what she thinks about me.”

“No, she really doesn’t think that way about other people,” Monica insisted. “It’s just me. I’m her sister—her twin. Somehow, she thinks we’re supposed to want the same things.”

Mention of Melissa had brought down the mood of the evening. Emily had always wanted a sister or brother, and it made her sad to see sisters not getting along.

“When is she coming?” Brooke asked.

“I don’t know the exact date. She’s in the Middle East right now. When it quiets down a bit, they’ll give her some free time.”

“It sounds like an exciting job,” Emily said, then realized she sounded too wistful when Brooke gave her a warning frown. “I mean—”

“Emily,” Monica interrupted with a smile. “I’m not that sensitive, whatever Brooke thinks. Of course Missy’s job is exciting. But it’s not exactly glamorous most of the time, especially when she’s covering earthquakes and tsunamis, and people are dying right in front of her. Sometimes she can’t get a lot of food because it might make her a target for starving, desperate people. But if it sounds interesting to you, then you should talk to her about it. She’d love that,” she added dryly.

“That’s the problem—I don’t know what sounds interesting to me.” Emily clenched her beer bottle in frustration. “I know going back to college is the right thing to do, but I didn’t enjoy it the first time, and I have no clue what to study. Although I think I’ll rule out international journalism.” She grinned at Monica. “Too much travel.”

“You don’t like to travel?” Brooke asked in surprise.

“I do, but I want to have a family, and that would be difficult.” She smiled shyly. “I’m going to adopt.”