Page 60 of The Perfect Distraction

Beth laughed. “He is very handsome.”

“And so is Joey. Looks just like his dad.”

“I see a bit of his mom in there too.”

“Have you met her?” Aunt Jenny asked.

“Not face to face, but I saw a picture of her in Joey’s room, and I’ve seen her out the window. She’s a pretty woman.”

“But not as pretty as you.”

“You’re my aunt. Of course you’re going to say that.”

“But it’s true.”

Bringing the conversation back around to the problem at hand, Beth said, “What’s going to happen when I leave here in August? I shouldn’t have allowed myself to get this close to them.”

“Have you talked to your sisters about this?”

“Just Becca. She says I should have fun and think of it as a distraction.”

“Sounds like something she’d say, but you’re not Becca. You wear your heart on your sleeve.”

“Sometimes, I wish I could be more like her. She doesn’t let herself get so invested that she gets hurt.”

“But she also hasn’t experienced true love. Try not to worry, sweetheart. Everything will work out as it should.”

Beth couldn’t say which was better, not having loved someone or loving someone and getting your heart ripped out. Right now, it sounded about even.

“How’s Uncle Brad?” she asked to change the subject. After getting an update on her uncle’s condition and promising they’d talk again soon, Beth hung up.

Instead of immediately going upstairs to bed, she stayed curled up on the chair in the sunroom, listening to the nighttime sounds through the windows. She heard crickets, frogs, and an occasional car going by, but for the most part, it was dark and quiet.

She’d given up on Colton calling back, but just then, his back-porch light flicked on, and he stepped outside. It was a balmy summer night, and he wore a pair of gym shorts without a shirt. With the light on, she saw him clearly, and even though he wouldn’t be able to see her, she sank further down in the chair.

She almost laughed aloud remembering the last time she’d spied on him like this. But was it really spying if she was there first? It was just a coincidence that he’d come outside while she was sitting there.

She watched him pace back and forth across the deck a few times, and then he ran his hands through his soft brown hair. She remembered what the strands felt like, and her hands itched to touch them again. It was difficult to see his expression, but based on his pacing, he seemed agitated about something. Maybe his conversation with Gretchen hadn’t gone well. Maybe they’d argued, or maybe it was something else entirely. Maybe, maybe, maybe!

And then she saw him reach into the pocket of his shorts and take out his phone. The next thing she knew, her phone lit up, and she quickly silenced it. It was bad enough that she’d been caught spying once, but twice would just be mortifying!

“Hello?” she answered quietly.

“Hey. Did I wake you?”

“No.”

“I thought about calling you back tomorrow, but I didn’t want to wait.”

“Oh? Is everything okay?”

“Yeah. Everything’s fine. I just wanted to talk to you, I guess.”

But she could tell by his voice that he was nervous.

“I’m glad you called, since our earlier conversation was cut short.” She hadn’t meant to go there, but it was too late. The Gretchen was out of the bag.

“That’s partly what I wanted to talk to you about.”