Page 109 of Roping Her In

Hailey couldn’t stop the smile from forming on her face. “I do love Jade.”

Elaine grinned at her, and they looked up the wide front staircase to the porch at Lila Mae’s house. She and Trap had moved in a couple of weeks ago, and Hailey had come after all of the large items had been placed to help Lila Mae hang drapes and unpack her kitchen.

“And you’ve worked with Lila Mae for years,” Elaine said. “And you’ve been working with me through the foundation forever.” She beamed at Hailey, who smiled and then rolled her eyes.

She glanced over to Clara Jean. “I bet if things don’t work out at the ranch, you could work for Clara Jean at Wilde and Organic.”

They laughed, but Clara Jean said, “I’d hire you in a second, Hailey. I always need a good manager at the grocery store.”

Hailey smiled and shook her head, though she supposed her life had interconnected with the Walkers on a level that it hadn’t with others. Inside, she found Camila, Joelle, and Marta already there, and she followed along with everyone as they took their food inside.

“Are those doughnuts?” Lila Mae asked, her eyes getting round. “Did you make these?”

Hailey took the praise well. “My momma’s really good in the kitchen,” she said. “She came down to help me, but yes, we made them.”

“I’m having dessert first,” Lila Mae called, which caused a few more twitters throughout the house.

They stood around an enormous island in a house that had been filled with all the finest things, but Hailey had kind of gotten used to it by now.

“So I heard Trap is going to build a house for Smiles up at Shiloh Ridge,” Camila said. She smiled at Hailey, who handled the weight of the women’s eyes easily.

“Yes,” Lila Mae said with a not-quite-happy sigh. “He is.”

“You don’t sound happy about it,” Joelle said.

“I am,” Lila Mae said. “It’s a really good job, and it pays really well, and it’s the type of master craftsmanship that Trap loves.”

“But?” Camila asked, and she seemed to genuinely want to know.

“It’s just a really long, stressful project.” Lila Mae gestured to her house with both arms. “Ask me how I know—and we’re having a baby boy in like, six weeks.”

Hailey laughed, along with several others. “Maybe it won’t be so bad,” she said. “Because Trap will be able to complain to you about all the picky things that Smiles does.”

“Yeah, no way he would’ve been able to do that with this house,” Clara Jean said.

Lila Mae rolled her eyes, but she smiled. “I wasn’t that picky.”

“Oh, noooo,” Elaine said. “We have to get the barn wood from that teardown project in Waco, Trap. The wood in Irving isn’t the same.”

Lila Mae blinked at her, and then she burst out laughing. “Fine, maybe I was a little picky.”

Hailey linked her arm through Lila Mae’s and leaned her head against her shoulder. “You’re allowed to be picky.”

Her friend looked at her. “If we’re talking about things that make us a little uncomfortable before we sit down and eat, I want to know about Jake.”

Hailey pulled her arm away and straightened, every muscle in her body suddenly tense. “There’s nothing to say,” she said, and oh, how she wished that wasn’t true.

“Did you break up?” Elaine asked.

“No,” Hailey said quickly. “We still talk, and I see him every weekend.” She sighed, not quite sure what to say that wouldn’t betray Jake. “Honestly, it feels like we’ve pushed pause while we try to figure out what we want.”

“Well, you want him, don’t you?” Camila asked.

Such a question a few days ago would have made her eyes fill with tears. Now, a deep, aching sadness filled her body instead, and Hailey honestly wasn’t sure which was worse.

“Yeah,” she said. “And maybe I should just give up the farm and take a vet tech job out at Three Rivers. Then we can be together.”

“But you won’t be happy with that,” Elaine said.