The Sweetest Goodbye (Roadmap to Your Heart, Book 3.5)

by Christina Lee

  “My cousin’s getting married at Shady Pines,” she said, letting more of her southern twang slip through.

  Cassie had grown up in the small town of Roscoe. Shady Pines was the name of her family’s game preserve. Guess the property was large enough to host a family wedding.

  “Is this some big shindig with moonshine and kissing cousins?” I was more than curious about her upbringing, having only heard random stories here and there.

  “Very funny,” she said, her lip twisting into a reluctant grin. “This might be the way to squash those crazy ideas in your head once and for all.”

  “What do you mean?” She’d been trying to convince me of the preserve’s charm and apparently pictures didn’t do it justice.

  “I wondered if you’d be my date.” Her gaze was deadly serious.

  “Date?” I nearly choked on my wine. “What’s the catch?”

  “If I bring somebody they’ll lay off how right Jerry and I are for each other,” she said, using air quotes. “My father has been persistent—even Grammy can’t rein him in.”

  “Jerry?” I scrunched up my nose. “Why is this the first time I’m hearing about this guy?”

  She threw her arm dramatically across her forehead. “Because I rarely think about him unless I need to visit my family.”

  My eyebrow quirked. “They’re trying to set you two up?”

  “Been trying for years,” she said, her hands turning into fists. “His family’s property aligns with ours and our businesses intersect at times. They have some insane notion that if we finally got back together, we could expand.”

  “Holy shit, it’s like that reality show—Swamp something or another—but Florida style,” I said. “So I take it you’re not very fond of Jerry?”

  “Can barely stand him anymore,” she said. “We tried dating once and it was decent for awhile. He’s handsome but also has traditional ideals about men and women. Believe me, I have enough alpha males in my own family.”

  The thought of all of that testosterone might fuel my imagination for several months. But it also explained why Cassie dated plenty of brainy geeks in this campus town, the type of guy who was in direct contrast to the men she’d grown up with.

  And showing up with me? It was as if she was intentionally trying to prove a point.

  “You do realize I’m gay, right?” I asked and she chuckled. “Your family doesn’t know your roommate likes boys?”

  “No, I never mentioned that.” She cringed. “Actually I never even mentioned that you were a guy at all.”

  My mouth fell open. “Are you for real right now?”

  Thinking back, I couldn’t remember a time I’d even heard her recite my name in the brief phone calls with her father or grandmother.

  “This is a completely different way of life,” she said, motioning to our apartment and probably the city of Raleigh in general. “My move to a different state was enough of a shocker for them.”

  I sighed and reached for my reading glasses on the table. I only needed them for the smaller print on my phone, which was pretty much always. I noticed a new text from my friend about some hot guy he met at our favorite gay club in the triangle area.

  “Let me guess,” Cassie said. “Tate?”

  “Begging me to come up to The Nickel,” I said, typing back that I was in for the night. “I can’t imagine what your family would think of our flamboyant friend.”

  “My dad might have a panic attack. He’s always stressed as it is.” She shook her head grimly and balanced her slippers on the edge of the coffee table.

  “Especially if Tate wore one of his screen-print designs. The pink one with the rhinestone tiara,” I said, suddenly thankful that Tate lived in this fairly diverse town, amongst friends who accepted him.

  “So you can pretend, right?” Cassie asked, steering me back to her original request.

  “To like you?” I asked. “I already adore you…but not in that way.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Just hold my hand and kiss my cheek every now and again.”

  “Suppose I can do that.” I imagined all those times as a kid, wishing I could be normal. Acting like it for a long while. And now I was being asked to fake it again. Piece of cake.

  “The townsfolk will be swooning over you,” Cassie said, reaching over and running her fingers through my coarse black hair. She always said she had thick hair envy, even though her finer auburn locks were gorgeous. “Even I can admit you’ve got amazing sex appeal.”

  I scrunched up my face. “Not sure I get it.”

  “Fresh meat,” she said and I wanted to point out that there was plenty of hunky flesh in her brothers. And on the preserve. I nearly felt faint. What the hell was I thinking agreeing to spend time with people who hunted animals?

  “Plus, you can see the pretty countryside,” she said, still attempting to convince me of her inane idea. “We’ll show you around.”

  “You mean there are other things to do besides shooting wild boars?” I failed to mention how petrified I was of any kind of swine after one nipped me on a family trip to a farm. Even having it served at the dinner table didn’t give me the satisfaction, only made me want to puke.

  Cassie grinned. “I hope your misconceptions are blown through the roof, my friend.”

  “Will there be any vegetarian options?” I asked, thinking about my mostly raw-food diet. The thought of any kind of wild meat left me practically dry heaving. “You know me and my high-maintenance eating habits.”

  “We have a large garden and Grammy’s a great cook,” she said. “By the end of the week, you’ll never want store-bought produce again.”

  “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say there was a hint of nostalgia in those eyes,” I said, smirking. “I think Backwoods Betty is glad to be going home.”

  “I guess I can hate on my family all I want until someone from the outside tries to mess with them,” she said, and I thought of how my younger brother and I would fight tooth and nail as kids. “Besides, I miss Billie. Callum, too.”

  How could anybody forget Cassie’s hot ginger brother from those photos?

  “So you’ll do it?” she asked, pouting for effect.

  I stood up and stretched before heading to the window to check on my vast assortment of herbs and potted plants. I pulled off a couple of dead brown leaves, as I thought her idea through.

  I supposed I could beg Tate to keep my indoor garden watered while I was gone.

  “Not sure I can handle a whole week, Cassie.”

  “How about we drive your car down for the trip?” she said, looking earnest. “Then you’re free to ride back straight after the wedding. I plan on staying longer. Deal?”

  It would be nice to get away from the city. I happened to enjoy wide-open spaces, along with some peace and quiet. Though I wasn’t sure how quiet it would be on a game preserve.

  “Does this mean I can ask you to one of my family’s boring events in the future?”

  My parents chose to ignore the topic of my being gay whenever it came up. Having Cassie around for some comic relief would be like a breath of fresh air.

  “Of course,” she said around a yawn.

  A devious grin graced my lips. “When do we leave?”