Page 96 of Mountain Dreams

“Only two more weeks until Dakota comes home,” she reminded him.

“Yep,” Cody said, sounding less enthused.

“Hey. Aren’t you looking forward to spending more time with your sister?”

“Yes, though it’s not the same as how you are with your sisters. I spent most of my childhood tormenting Dakota, and she spent most of hers trying to get back at me.”

She laughed. “I could see that.”

He smiled, but suddenly his smile disappeared. She followed the direction of his gaze and froze. Wyatt and Sadie had just exited the restaurant and were heading straight toward them.

Cody gave her hand a reassuring squeeze as they stood their ground, waiting to see what would happen. There was no way they’d forfeit their place in line because of an unwanted encounter with Wyatt.

Wyatt hadn’t spotted them yet since he was looking at Sadie instead. She was tall, with long, thin legs that Maddie could only dream about. Her family wasn’t swimming in tall genes, and she’d come to accept her diminutive stature.

Sadie flipped back her hair, and that was when Wyatt looked over and noticed them. He paused for a moment, and Sadie followed the direction of his gaze, her mouth turning down at the sight of them. While Wyatt and Sadie could have turned and gone the opposite way, they didn’t, and Maddie braced herself as they came closer.

“Hey,” Wyatt said, stopping beside them.

“Hey,” Cody and Maddie said at the same time.

“Sadie, this is my friend Cody, and you already met Maddie.”

“Hi,” Sadie muttered.

“Man, this place is busy, but boy, is it worth it,” Wyatt said, patting his stomach.

As he was talking, it struck Maddie that she felt nothing, no remorse, anger, or sadness. There was no sense of missing him whatsoever and no jealousy toward Sadie other than her long legs. The realization was liberating, and while she was anxious for them to leave, it made it much easier to endure the awkwardness.

“How’s business?” Wyatt asked Cody.

“Great. How’s yours?”

Maddie could tell Cody had only asked to be polite, but what else could he do in the situation? In her opinion, Wyatt should be grateful Cody was still talking to him at all.

“I’m selling it,” Wyatt said, surprising them both. The auto shop had been his pride and joy, or so she’d thought.

“We’re moving to Florida,” Sadie inserted.

Maddie was flabbergasted, not only at the news but because Sadie had spoken a full sentence.

“What about your family?” Maddie asked Wyatt.

“Dad’s ready to retire, and my brother has no desire to own the place. Now they’ll have somewhere warm to come and visit.”

“My dad owns a custom car shop in Tampa, so Wyatt’s going to work there,” Sadie supplied, almost gloating.

If she only knew she has nothing to fear from me, thought Maddie. She was fine with Wyatt moving away, and now all she cared about was getting inside the restaurant and eating pancakes.

“Good luck with everything,” Cody said, sounding more relaxed than he had a few minutes ago. From the sound of it, he was fine with Wyatt moving too.

“Yeah, you too,” Wyatt said, looking from Cody to Maddie and back again.

“See ya,” Sadie said as she tugged on Wyatt’s hand.

They’d only gone a few steps when Wyatt turned around. “I almost forgot. Happy birthday, Maddie.”

“Thank you,” she replied, somewhat surprised he’d remembered. Birthdays had never been a big deal to him, unlike with Cody, who’d planned the whole day around it.