Second First Kiss

A foreboding washed through him. “Of course. And I let Rhoda know to meet us at seven outside the gates to our seats in the stands.”

“You got us rodeo tickets?”

“It was on the list.” Jasher half-laughed. “I still can’t believe you didn’t even read what I wrote down and yet you bid on it anyway.” Of course, she hadn’t known he was the one offering. “I’m glad you did.”

Sage looked up at him, her eyes a conundrum. “Me, too,” she said, but didn’t sound like she meant it. Not exactly.

“What’s wrong?”

“I—I have a business question for you.”

Jasher led her to a tall cottonwood tree, where there was a bench and a couple of chairs. “I’m all ears. But, I do have something I want to talk to you about, as well. I’ve been working on it for a few days.”

He took a seat on the bench. Sage began to sit in a chair to the side, but he pulled her to the bench. “I think you’ll be able to see better if you sit by me.”

“See what?”

“The thing I’ve been working on.”

Sage hesitated, but she complied and sat down beside him. Despite the pervasive outdoor scents of deep-fryer oil and diesel engines’ exhaust, Sage’s essence encompassed Jasher, floral and heavenly. He resisted the overpowering urge to press his face into her hair and to kiss her neck.

“That’s another thing,” he said. “This isn’t our final commitment to Inchy and Rhoda, it turns out.”

“It’s not?” Sage’s face clouded even more. “We agreed to five dates.”

“Yes, and to attend the barbecue next weekend at the park.”

“Maybe it will be canceled. They’re predicting rain all next week. Big storms.”

Great. The high school gym threatened along with the rainclouds. Not a surprise, but also not a welcome turn of events.

“I don’t want to disappoint them.” Sage twisted her hands in her lap. “But after that, I think we need to stop seeing each other.”

“If this is regarding your concerns over past relationships gone wrong, Sage, I think there’s something you need to see.”

“It’s not about that, Jasher.” Her eyes shifted. “Not exactly. Okay, it is, but I think I have come upon a solution that is going to make so much sense and help everybody win. You, me, the town, even Tyanne.”

“What kind of solution?” Because if it involved Sage and Jasher not seeing each other anymore, that wasn’t a solution he would be agreeing to anytime soon. “Can you just wait to tell me your solution until you’ve seen what I have to show you?” The video in his phone would render her solution pointless—or so he planned.

“Jasher, I—”

“Please?”

Sage bit her lower lip and closed her eyes. “I found a buyer for Parrish Medical.”