I ignored the way his eyes flared at my last statement, turned back around to take the three strides to the front door, and opened it without knocking, leaving him speechless still on the steps.

“Aspen!” he whisper-yelled. I almost cracked a smile, but I knew what he was going to walk in to. Something I figured out during the ride that he absolutely wasn’t prepared for.

Following the hallway past the open foyer, I found my sister and her husband in the kitchen, prepping the dinner with their live-in chef. My other sister, Alex, used to cook the meals here, but now that her cake shop was inundated with orders, Autumn hired someone else. Tara, a guest chef on a cooking show Colton hosted, took the job.

“I’m here with the bread. Sorry it took so long. I had car trouble. Again.” I handed the bread to Tara, who look relieved, as Colton thanked me profusely. Autumn sat on a barstool in the corner, looking a little green. She’d had morning sickness through her entire pregnancy. Normally, she ran the event venue on the far side of Sunny Brook Farms, but she handed off most tasks to her assistants.

“Aspen!” Owen shouted this time as he found his way to the kitchen and noticed the trio of other people. “Oh. Apologies for yelling. I was looking for Aspen.”

“How interesting,” Autumn whispered as she cocked her head. “I don’t know if you remember me, but I’m Aspen’s sister, Autumn.” She pushed herself off the stool and moved toward the unexpected guest with her hand outstretched.

I rolled my eyes hard enough I saw stars as Owen blushed. The man had been engaged to a supermodel for cripes’ sake, but my sister had him acting like a lovesick teen with a lifelong crush.

“This is Colton, my husband. He plays hockey and hosts a few television shows.”

Shaking both their hands, Owen mentioned how he may have met Colton before at a sports network award show, and the two chat for a few minutes. Autumn winked in my direction, and I shot her a look of disgust.

“Owen?” she called for his attention, breaking up the impending bromance. “Are you staying for dinner? Our chef, Tara, is making manicotti.”

“Oh, that’s okay. Thank you for the offer, but—”

From off in the distance, the sound of fast-paced footsteps grew closer.

“Owen? You’re here?”

I recognized Beverly’s voice immediately. Of course, Owen had as well, and I didn’t miss his subtle wince when his name echoed through the house.

His mother turned the corner, still wearing her Crawford Bed-and-Breakfast polo shirt, and dashed over to her son. Feeling like I would witness a private moment, I shuffled out of the kitchen toward the library.

Thankfully, Autumn and Colton had the same idea, and we found ourselves hiding out amongst the stacks of novels.

“Well, this is awkward,” Autumn murmured as she rested against one of the bookshelves. “Owen didn’t look too happy to see his mom.”

“I’m not so sure he has the best relationship with her… and most definitely not the town,” I replied.

Colton chimed in, “So, it’s likely he has no idea his mom sold you their land.”

“From what I gathered, he doesn’t even know she works here,” I pointed out.

Autumn’s mouth transformed into a guileful grin as her arms crossed against her chest. “So… Owen drove you over here?”

“Don’t,” I pleaded. “It was nothing.”

“Oh, I beg to differ. You and Owen being civil to one another for longer than five minutes is not nothing.”

“Autumn, don’t read into it.”

“Hm. Colton, make sure we have bags packed somewhere.”

He looked alarmed, eyes darting up and down between Autumn’s face and belly. “Is it the baby?”

She laughed loudly. “No, silly. It’s worse. The end of the world may happen sometime soon.” Colton’s face scrunched, and Autumn explained, “Because Aspen and Owen have been hating on each other since they were in elementary school. We’ve never had a single moment where they could be in a room together without something going awry.”

My eyes rolled at her description, though she wasn’t too far off. Of course, she left out the fact that Owen started our rivalry with that stupid nickname. But I couldn’t expect anyone in my family to remember small details like that. I was merely the little shadow who tagged along everywhere. The afterthought.

Glancing over at my sister, I saw her husband was gently rubbing circles on her lower back as she turned toward him. They were in their own little world.

Feeling like a voyeur, I ducked out of the library, slinking along the hallway wall as to not disrupt whatever was going on with Owen and Beverly.

I caught sight of a couple of the guests milling around the living room area just as Owen stomped out of the kitchen toward me, but it was clear he had tunnel vision. I wasn’t sure if I should follow him, but I did anyway.

“Owen!” I shouted as we made it outside.

“I… I can’t talk to you right now,” he said as he yanked open the driver-side door of his car.

I wasn’t privy to the discussion he and Beverly had, but it was clear he was upset about something. I could only imagine some of the things that had come to light. And not that I wanted to blame him for ignoring calls from his mother, since I learned about his childhood, but all fingers pointed in his direction as the reason he was uninformed.

“Not that I care, but maybe you should let your mom explain.”

Leaning against the car, resting his folded arms on the roof, he chastised me. “Look, cricket, in all the years I’ve known you, I’ve never asked for your advice. Why would I follow it, especially unsolicited, now?”

“You don’t have to be an asshole to me just because you’re angry.”

“Go home to your perfect life, cricket. Don’t worry about me.”

Without another word, he slunk down onto his seat and started the car. Within seconds, he was kicking up dust and dirt as he left the B&B.

From behind me, I felt a presence and turned to find Beverly standing just behind the threshold of the door, her face crestfallen.

“Well, that didn’t quite go as expected.”

“What did you tell him exactly?” I asked.

“That I’ve been working here for the last year and the house was condemned.”

“So, he doesn’t even know yet that you sold the land?”

“We… um… didn’t get that far. I’ll see if I can book a room for him here while he’s home. Or maybe there’s a rental in town I can set up.” She paused, and I noticed the glassiness of her eyes. “I was just so happy he was coming home, and now I’m afraid I ruined it.”

“Can I ask why you didn’t tell him anything before now? From what I’ve heard, I realize Owen isn’t the easiest person to get ahold of, but it might not have been such a shock if you’d been able to tell him something.”

“I tried, but he’s so stubborn and refused to listen when I brought up anything not related to baseball. I stopped trying. I should have insisted, I guess.”

Taking her shaking hand, I squeezed it gently between mine. “He’ll come around.”

She shakes her head but smiles at me at the same time. “You’re a sweet girl. Are you headed back to the farm?”

“Yeah, I’ll take one of the UTVs. I need to go over the books with my dad.”