Rushing Waters was busy that night, but it didn't stop Kenzie from leaping out of her chair and weaving through the tables to envelop Gabriela in a hug as soon as she entered, grinning as she wrapped the darker-haired woman in her arms. Marshall smiled as he watched his soon-to-be wife greet her best friend, the menu in his hands all but forgotten.

Gabriela's laughter was clear as they headed for the table where Layla sat between Annie and Marshall. The first thing she noticed about the woman was that she wasn't the only one who noticed--like moths to a flame, several men in the restaurant watched her as she walked by, a vision even in a simple t-shirt and jeans. 

"You act like I was gone for a year," she said, voice carrying an accent that reminded Layla of one long-ago summer in Buenos Aires.

"In wedding-time, a month practically is a year," Kenzie joked. 

Gabriela accepted Marshall's one-armed hug as he stood from his seat, then she turned to face Layla and Annie with a wide, red-lipped grin. "Finally, I get to meet the girls. We don't get a lot of new people in Red View around our age--figures we get two while I'm away."

"Kenzie's told us a lot about you," Layla said with a smile, falling back on the classic opening line. "And we're all excited to have you join the workouts."

"I am too!" She sat down next to Kenzie, dark eyes bright with enthusiasm. "I've never worked out with a trainer before. Seeing what you've done to these two already, I'm even more excited. You'll have me whipped into shape and turning heads."

Kenzie rolled her eyes, but her lips quirked as she joked, "Like you need the help."

"How's your sister?" Annie asked, reminding Layla why Gabriela had been away in the first place--to be a good aunt and help with her sister's newborn.

She laughed, flipping long hair over her shoulder. "Overwhelmed. But happy, mostly."

Layla's nerves about meeting the Maid of Honor faded away as the group fell into easy conversation. Still, there was one thing distracting her that she couldn't bring herself to deal with: telling the truth. 

As much as she wanted to, it was a special night for Kenzie, seeing her closest friend for the first time in a month and catching her up on everything wedding, house, and orchard related. Layla's big secret could wait until the morning.

Thankfully, with how chatty Kenzie was, the topic of Layla's own life didn't come up in detail—only the passing fact that she was thinking of opening a gym in Red View. Which meant that at the very least, there was one less person she would have to worry about coming clean to.

Gabriela—or Gabby, as Layla learned she preferred—had a lot to take care of now that she was back in town, so she declined joining everyone for a workout the next morning, but promised she'd be there the day after. This meant Layla would have the perfect opportunity to tell Kenzie, Marshall, and Annie the truth. That left only Jack, Roman, and Lillie Mae.

At least, that's what she thought until dawn the next morning, when Dawson accidentally woke her with a kiss to her cheek as he slipped out of her bed.

"Sorry," he whispered, running a hand over her hair. The room was still lit only by the moon, and Layla's eyes were quick to fall shut again, getting only a blurry glimpse of Dawson. Even the quick look made her smile--his skin was luminous, hair perfectly mussed by sleep. 

"'S'okay," she mumbled, rolling over, already missing his warmth. "I'm just a light sleeper."

"Well, as long as you're up, I forgot to mention something last night." 

And who could blame him? He'd snuck in her room again, and with the way they'd jumped each other there hadn't been time for talking, or even thinking. Still, his intriguing words did little to wake her--she'd been out at the restaurant until late, and he'd kept her up even later.

She managed a, "Hmm?" already drifting back to sleep.

"Jack knows about us."

The thought sat in her mind for a second: Jack knows about us. Jack knows... about us? 

She shot upright, eyes flying open to meet his. "He knows?"

Dawson barely managed to hold back a laugh—whether it was from her reaction or the bed-head she no doubt was sporting, she wasn't sure. "He knows. I went to talk to him, like you suggested, and he guessed you were the reason why. I didn't have to tell him anything—he just knew."

"Is he... I mean, what does he think?"

Dawson shrugged, lips pursed. "Didn't seem to think much of anything. I told him Colin wasn't in the picture, and that it was serious between us."

Serious. Where the word might put fear into others—probably Dawson himself, at one point—it made her smile. "Oh. Okay. I guess that's not so bad, then."

Dawson stepped toward the bed, leaned down to kiss her forehead. "And he was supposed to be the tough one."

"I'll tell them today," she said, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. Now that she was up, she may as well get an early start. Mentally prepare for the task ahead of her. "After the workout. Then it'll just be your parents left to come clean to."

She watched him smile, let her heart soar at the realization that truly, that was what he wanted. He wanted her, and he wanted everyone to know.

And yet, she found herself still searching for the words to explain the truth to everyone as the group's morning workout came to an end.

Annie stretched as she stood up from her yoga mat and Layla's pulse rabbited—she couldn't leave, not yet. "Well, that definitely woke me up for my all-day photo editing session."

Layla couldn't even bask in the glow of the compliment. "Um—before you go. There's something I wanted to talk to all three of you about, actually."

Marshall's eyebrows rose as he turned to her, finishing his butterfly pose. "About the gym?"

"Sort of. In a way." But not really, when you took away that cowardly façade. This wasn't about business, this was about her. About the lies she'd been telling them and all the surprises she was about to throw in their faces.

Annie sat back down, splaying her long, slender legs in front and propping herself up on her elbows. She had a stature that many of the hopeful models back home would have killed for, Layla realized for the first time. Usually, she did a pretty good job at hiding it behind loose silhouettes and conservative lines.

"Well," Layla started, forcing herself out of trainer-mode. Now wasn't the time to be analyzing muscles or daydreaming about the kind of workout regime she'd whip up for someone like Annie. It was time to rip off the band-aid, time to come clean. "Annie, actually, already knows part of what I'm about to tell you."

Annie tilted her head at first, then straightened up with wide eyes, no doubt realizing that Layla was talking about Colin.

Kenzie laughed at the blonde's reaction, leaning forward. "Okay, spill. Obviously it's good."

Guilt seared Layla's chest. "I don't know if it is. In fact, I've avoided saying anything because I'm afraid you'll be upset. And you have a right to be upset. I'm stalling." She sighed, hating how she'd turned everyone's faces into worry. "It's Colin. I've been lying to you about Colin since I got here."

Kenzie shrugged, put on a smile that was clearly an attempt to ease Layla's nerves. "Well, I knew he sounded a little too good to be true."

"No—Well, yes," Layla corrected herself, "I have made him out to be better than he is. I mean, he's cheating on me for one thing. But that's besides the point," she added, almost laughing at the way three pairs of eyes went wide in an instant. "I'm trying to say it doesn't matter that he's cheating, or absent, or anything else, because I don't love him. I never have loved him. It's all been for the merger. And—"

"Oh, thank God!" Kenzie exclaimed, placing both hands over her heart before Layla could continue—and she'd just been about to get to the part about Dawson. "Thank God you never loved him! I thought Dawson was ruining everything!"

"You—Wh—Dawson?" Layla barely managed to get the name out of her mouth. She hadn't gotten to that part yet, had she?

"Layla, my brother leaves his room in the middle of the night, and I know damn well it isn't to go downstairs to get a glass of water. He's been smiling more in the past few weeks than he has since he was born." Kenzie grinned as she spoke, as Marshall and Annie stared at her in confusion. "You two give each other a look every time you end up in a room together, and just because the rest of us aren't in on it doesn't mean we can't see it."

"You knew?" Layla asked, horrified at the thought. What she must've thought, thinking Layla had a lover back home and was sleeping with Dawson nonetheless...

"Well I didn't know, not really, but I thought so."

"I'm sorry." Marshall held up a hand before Kenzie could explain more, then pointed at Layla. "You're saying... you and Dawson? You're...?"

"Well, I don't know what we are, exactly," Layla admitted. Her eyes found Kenzie's, because she wanted her to know more than anyone else, "But I'm serious about him. I want to call things off with Colin. It never meant anything to either of us, and Dawson... Dawson means something to me."

Annie pressed her lips together, but a quiet laugh escaped her. "No wonder it felt like I was interrupting when I walked up on you two in the orchard yesterday."

Layla's face warmed—had everything really been so obvious all along?

"So... I mean, this is great—it's about time Dawson met his match," Marshall said with a grin, "But... What does it mean for you, in terms of business?"

"Well, the merger would be off—or at the very least, the entire process would be restarted. And if Dawson and I were a couple, then it would make even more sense for me to stay here like I've been thinking about. You know, start my own gym."

"What if you and Dawson don't work out?"

Kenzie whipped around to smack his shoulder. "Marsh!"

"It's okay," Layla laughed, even though the question did sting a little. "It's a legitimate question."

"See?" Marshall gestured to her as he rubbed his shoulder, but the gaze he gave Kenzie was all play.

"I would think the two of us would be mature enough about it for everything to be okay," Layla answered. Even though she believed it, she knew she'd need to talk to him about it later. It was a possibility that she hadn't let herself think about since all of this started between them. "I mean, I wouldn't be moving here just for Dawson. I like the location. I like you guys."

"But you liiiiiike Dawson," Kenzie drew out the word, wiggling her eyebrows as she teased Layla like they were teenagers talking about their crushes at a sleepover.

Layla put her head in her hands, but couldn't help laughing. God, she felt light. She no longer had to carry around that secret everywhere, and her friends hadn't bailed on her the second she revealed the truth. To think that two months ago, she didn't even have friends.

But the fact was, the hard part wasn't over just yet. She looked up, pushing her ponytail out of her face. "Jack knows, and from the sound of what Dawson told me, he wasn't too put off by it. But what about your parents? "

Kenzie narrowed her eyes, pouting. "Jack knows? Jack found out before me?"

Marshall laughed under his breath. "I'm more surprised he and Dawson managed to have a conversation about it."

"He said Jack figured it out on his own," Layla explained.

"Well, if I know Roman and Lillie Mae," Marshall started, grunting as he reached for his nearby water bottle, "they'll hear you out, and they'll understand. I mean, I was terrified to ask for their blessing to ask Kenzie to marry me before David and I got our company in good shape. But once I felt secure enough, they asked me what the hell took me so long."

"They're not fussy about details," Kenzie elaborated.

"I just feel so guilty for lying this whole time. I couldn't blame them if they were upset, or if they didn't want me around their son."

"Layla," Kenzie giggled out her name, "my parents like you. And if you explain it to them like you explained it to us, I'm positive they'll see there's nothing to be upset about. Especially if you and Dawson are happy together."

Well, there was no doubt about that on her part. Everything felt so easy with Dawson, and yet so unfamiliar. He made her strong; he made her desperate. There was something in her heart that hadn't ever taken root there before—even when she thought it had, once upon a time that now felt like a thousand years ago.

She'd thought she'd been in love then, back when her life had just barely gotten started. As a teenager she hadn't known a single butterfly could turn into a swarm with the right person, or that just the sound of a man's laugh would someday have her built-up walls crumbling into ruins.

Yes, she'd thought she'd been in love. But now, in a realization that scared her just as much as it thrilled her, she knew she was. And if she got hurt last time, when the feelings were half as potent, imagine the pain that could amount from this.

Marshall's question swarmed her mind, taunting her. What if she did stay, and her and Dawson didn't work out? What if the intensity of her feelings was one-sided? There was no doubt that he liked her, but like was a far cry from love. If they split up, there'd be no running away from it, no getting away from things that reminded her of him.

Would it be worse that way, than going back to New York and leaving all this behind as a pleasant memory? As something that had the potential to be forever, rather than something that fizzled out? Maybe it would be easier to blame herself for leaving than to face the reality that sometimes, two people just didn't make it.

If he loved her, she would stay. But it was asking too much too soon. It wasn't Dawson's fault that she was so quick to fall, and she couldn't expect him to be falling with her. But God, if he said it, she wouldn't be able to think about leaving. It wouldn't even be an option.

Leave, or risk getting left. That was what it came down to, and it was up to her to decide which would hurt less.

I'm sorry if this chapter is a bit rough! 😥 I've been on the writing-rut struggle bus lately and even editing this chapter my brain was just... kapooey 🥲 But thank you guys so much for being here! It's seriously made me so happy reading your comments over all these months, and I can't tell you how motivating it is during writers block times like right now 😅💚