When Jake went to the main house to shower, he didn’t see Shelby. Her door was closed and her dad said hello, but nothing about whether she was up or not. Jake wondered if she was angry and was still confused about the night before and why she stormed off. Maybe it was a good thing, he thought as he washed off the smoke and sweat and beer smell from the night before at the Lucky Line. Distancing herself from him was probably the best thing she could do, all things considered.

But he missed seeing her. He longed for the easy conversation the morning before and the perfectly cooked eggs. Maybe not so much the swimming with an alligator and the gun waving, but even thinking of that made him smile.

Matt knocked at his trailer door promptly at ten. Jake came out with his laptop bag, squinting in the blinding morning light. He shielded his eyes with his hand as they started walking to Matt’s truck.

“I feel like you guys have a different sun up there. And it’s angry at me.”

“Here.” Matt tossed Jake a pair of aviator sunglasses.

“Oh, I couldn’t—”

“Take them,” Matt said. “If it makes you feel better, they’re from the dollar store and I’ve got two more pairs in my truck. If I find something I like, I buy in multiples.”

“Thanks,” Jake said. As they reached the truck, he paused by the door. “Aren’t we waiting for Shelby?”

“She had the early shift at the diner. I took her in already.”

Jake slid into the seat, the air already blistering with heat. “You didn’t have to—”

“Jake. Stop making this into a big deal.”

“Okay,” Jake said.

They rode in silence for the next few miles. Jake realized that the uncomfortable feeling squirming around in his gut was the sense that he was indebted to Matt for all his kindness. Usually Jake could just pay for things, which left him without feeling that sense of owing. It was uncomfortable and unfamiliar.

Matt was the only one who knew that Jake had anything to do with Shelby losing her house, yet he hadn’t said anything. He’d been playing chauffeur for Jake since Layla decided to die. And he had watched Shelby flirt with Jake, which couldn’t be easy. All these things just made him feel worse, somehow.

He tried to think of conversation that steered clear of all these topics. “Matt, I can’t believe I haven’t asked yet. What do you do?”

Matt drummed his fingers on the wheel. “I’m a plumber. It’s my dad’s business—our family business. And don’t make any jokes about pipes.”

“I don’t think I know any,” Jake said and they both laughed.

“It’s not the sexiest job. But it pays the bills. What exactly do you do?”

Jake thought about how to describe his job. “My official title is COO of Obsidian Development. As for what I do? That’s a little harder to describe. I help plan large-scale corporate developments and projects.”

“Like whatever you’re doing here in Lucky.” When Jake didn’t say anything, Matt glanced at him. “I guess it’s big. There’s been some talk.”

Jake paused. “Yeah.”

“What exactly are you building here?”

“I can’t really talk about it. Yet. Other than to say that it would boost the local economy. Really help out here in Lucky.”

“Sounds like Walmart.”

“It’s not a Walmart.”

“No, I mean, it sounds like what Walmart and companies like that always says when they come into a small community and destroy all the small businesses. You say you’ll help, but at what cost?”

Jake glanced over at Matt to see his jaw working. Not for the first time, Jake found himself wondering if the cost had gotten too high. For the towns he’d been developing and for him.

Shelby only felt a little bad about lying to Matt. She didn’t have an early shift at the diner but was going to look at houses with Gracielynn. She should be used to lying. Much of her life was a lie when it came down to it. She kept her dad at peace by not telling him everything about his illness, their house, the finances, and her life plans. But an outright lie felt worse. Especially to Matt.

She knew Matt knew about losing her land already, but the idea of looking at houses made this whole thing real. She wasn’t ready for it. Not by a long shot.

Which is why she cried through the first two houses Gracie showed her.

“You’ve got a really spacious kitchen here,” Gracie said. “A nice island and a view of—”

“A lake? The baseball field?”

Shelby put her head down on the stupid island and let the sobs move through her. She couldn’t remember the last time she had cried like this, at least, not in front of another person.

“Aw, Shel. I hate seeing you like this.” Gracie rubbed her back. She sniffed and Shelby knew that she was crying as well.

“You always said you wanted to see me cry,” Shelby said, a small laugh taking over the sobs. It was a running joke between them, since Gracielynn cried at any moment and Shelby never did.

Gracie handed her a wad of tissues from the bottom of her purse. “I take it back. I’ll do anything to not see you like this again.”

Shelby saw that Gracie’s lip was trembling and her eyes were damp too. She patted Gracie’s hand and wiped her eyes. “I’ll be fine. I’ve lived through worse. But I hate this house.”

“What’s wrong with it?” Gracie asked.

Shelby looked around. The one-story ranch was roughly the same size as her house, but everything was brand new. New floors, new counters. Everything was too nice. There was literally nothing bad to say about it. And she hated its perfection and clean lines. She started crying again.

“It’s not home,” Shelby said.

Shelby could hear the tears in Gracie’s voice now. “I know, sweetie. I know. Nothing is going to feel like home. But you know what? You need to stop looking for that and start seeing these as houses. They’re just houses. Waiting for you to make them a home. The home part comes from people living in them. You fill it up and make it your home.”

Shelby looked at Gracie. “Is that a speech you memorized for all your clients?”

Gracie gave an apologetic smile. “Busted. But it works, right? I mean, it’s really true. Even if I say it to everyone.”

“Yeah, it’s good. I know you’re right, but this is so hard. I don’t want a new house. Even if I know it’s better than my own.”

Squeezing her hand, Gracie said, “Let’s keep going. Maybe after you’ve seen a few more places, you can go home and think about them when the emotions aren’t so strong. You can really think about what house might be that home.”

“How many more are we looking at?”

Gracie made a face. “Only two.”

“Two? We’ve only seen two so far. Four houses is all?”

“This is Lucky. There isn’t much here. I mean, in the price range you’ve got. And even outside of that, there just aren’t many places. The other option is to look at property. You could build.”

“We have forty-five days. Where would we go in the meantime?”

“Well, you’ve got the trailer. And you can always stay with me or something. I bet Matt would take your daddy. Actually, speaking of, the next house is really close to Matt.”

“The one right across the street from him?”

“Yep. So, really really close. Would that be good or bad?”

Shelby knew that Gracie had always had a thing for Matt. Even though he had always been after Shelby. Gracie had even encouraged Shelby to date Matt because he was such a good guy. Shelby knew it probably killed her to say that, but that’s the kind of friend Gracielynn was: always looking out for others first. Just like Matt.

Shelby felt guilty as she realized that was the opposite of how she treated Matt. Even though she had been clear in her words that she didn’t want to date Matt, she still let him drive her everywhere and do things for her. He was a good friend, too, but probably wouldn’t do half the things he did if somewhere deep down he didn’t hope she might change her mind about her feelings for him.

Shelby needed to let Matt go. The realization hit her with a fresh wave of loss. She knew that it was right and felt ashamed suddenly, realizing how much she had, without meaning to, used Matt. She hardly let anyone else help her, but had always let him. It needed to stop. And maybe with Shelby out of the picture, Matt would finally see how amazing Gracie was.

“I don’t know if I want to live that close to Matt,” Shelby said. “But we don’t have many choices, so let’s go see it.”

They drove in silence, Shelby trying to pull herself together. Besides the house search, she kept going back to Jake and how she’d run out on him the night before. First, there was her erratic behavior at the Line. And then he called her crazy. Logically, she knew that when he said “crazy,” he meant it as a compliment. But that word was a trigger for her. A big one that looked just like the memory of her mother. Of course Jake didn’t know anything about that, so her actions probably made her look actually crazy, the very thing she was trying to avoid.

“Oh no,” Gracie said. “Didn’t you want to avoid Matt knowing you were looking at houses? I thought he’d be at work.”

Shelby saw Matt’s truck in his driveway. He and Jake stood there, talking. The last two people she wanted to see.

“Keep driving!”

Gracielynn plastered a smile on her face and waved. “They already saw us,” she said through gritted teeth.

Shelby ducked lower in the car seat.

“Not gonna work, sweetie. Let’s do this. Come on.”

Gracie made it out of the car first as Matt crossed the road. Jake still stood in Matt’s driveway, leaning against the bed of the truck with his hands in his pockets. Shelby felt humiliated. Gracie waved him over. “Hey, Jake.”

Slowly Jake followed over and the four of them stood in the gravel driveway of the house for sale.

“I thought you were working this morning, Shel,” Matt said.

Shelby cleared her throat. “I had some time free and we took the morning to look at some places.”

Shelby didn’t want to look at either man, but saw them both turn towards the small house they stood in front of. It was a wreck. Long abandoned, tall weeds choked out the front yard and several shutters were missing or hanging off. The whole thing needed to be stripped and repainted. It even sat a little crooked, like it had gotten weary of standing tall. Maybe more than anything it needed a bulldozer.

“You’re looking at this place, Shelby?” Matt met her gaze and she couldn’t tell for once what emotion was on his face. It looked like several were warring for control of his features.

“It’s just one of a few places we’re looking at,” Gracie said. Shelby shot her a grateful look for taking over the conversation.

“Cat got your tongue?” Matt said.

Shelby narrowed her eyes. “Maybe Gracie just likes to talk.”

“No one likes talking more than you,” Matt said, rocking back on his heels. Shelby felt like he was trying to pick a fight with her, but she didn’t even understand about what. Because she lied about working this morning? Because she was looking at a house across the street from him?

Gracie stared between them and then stuck out her hand. “I met you in passing last night at the Line. I’m Gracielynn.”

“I remember. Good to see you again.” Jake looked to Shelby, but she couldn’t meet his eyes.

There was an awkward silence for a few moments. Matt still glared at her and Jake and Gracie both just looked confused.

“Well. We best get inside and take a look around,” Gracie said.

“No,” said Shelby. “I don’t need to see it. I couldn’t live here.”

Matt looked like steam might come out of his ears. His jaw tightened and Shelby felt a little bad. But this moment confirmed everything she had been thinking. She had to pull back and let Matt go. He couldn’t keep waiting around, hoping she changed her mind about him. It had to stop. Even if it hurt them both.

“You sure?” Gracie said. “There’s just one more place to see.”

“Let’s go,” Shelby said. It took her a moment to conjure up the guts to speak to Jake. But she needed to do that too. “Will I see you later Jake? You can stop by the diner for dinner if you’d like.”

She wasn’t surprised to see the familiar blush creep over his cheeks. “I’ve, uh, actually got plans.”

“With who?” Both Shelby and Matt said at the same time.

Jake looked uncomfortable. “I’m going for a swim at the mayor’s house.”

“Mayor McClure? Really?” Shelby couldn’t hide the disdain from her voice.

“At least I know there won’t be any gators,” Jake said, lightly.

“You’d be safer with T-Ball,” Shelby muttered.

“Why? Is the mayor scary?”

“Not him. Daisy. She’s the one to watch for.”

“So…not a gator,” Jake said.

Matt snorted.

“Nope. Daisy’s a woman,” Shelby said.

“Woman seems too kind,” Gracie said. “I’d use another name.”

“Is Daisy more Buchanan or Duke?” Jake asked.

Shelby burst out laughing. She loved how easy it was for him to dispel the thunderclouds from between her eyes. There was no one she could talk to around town who would get literary or pop culture references like this. Much less mix them together. This small thing made her happier than it should.

“Definitely a Buchanan,” Shelby said. “Watch your back. But she looks like a Duke. So again—watch your back.”

“I’m a Daisy if I do,” Jake said, and Shelby burst into laughter again.

Gracielynn and Matt exchanged a look, like they were trying to figure out what they were missing.

“What language are you even speaking?” Matt said. “Is this English? What are you talking about?”

Shelby rolled her eyes. “That’s a quote from Tombstone, dummy. Your favorite movie, right? Daisy Buchanan is from The Great Gatsby and Daisy Duke from Dukes of Hazard, obviously.”

“Huh,” Matt said. His expression looked dark. Shelby could see Gracielynn staring at him with concern on her face. Too bad Matt didn’t notice. Shelby sighed.

“I’ll be careful,” Jake said. “But I’ve got to run. Want me to pick you up at the diner and bring you home after, Shelby?”

“Sure,” she said. “That will keep Matt from having to make another trip out to the house.”

Matt nodded, his jaw tight. Shelby tried not to look sorry or concerned. She knew it probably hurt to see her letting Jake take his place, but that would only help give him the distance she knew he needed. They both needed. “I’m off,” Matt said. “Got a job with my dad.”

“Bye, Matt!” Gracielynn said.

Matt waved a hand and walked across the street, not looking back. Jake started to follow, but Shelby grabbed his hand. She looked intently at him and spoke in a low voice. “Don’t let Daisy get her claws in you. Especially if she knows you’ve got money. That’s all she cares about.”

He nodded. And when she tried to take her hand back, he held on and squeezed it gently. Shelby felt the touch move like a current through her body. The thought of letting Jake go to the mayor’s house with Daisy filled her with an unfamiliar feeling. Jealousy. That’s what that was. Boy, was it an ugly feeling.

“Don’t worry about me,” Jake said. “No one else is getting their claws in me.”

No one else? Did that mean someone already did? Was it her?

Suddenly shy, Shelby nodded as Jake dropped her hand. Part of her wanted to run after him as he walked over to Matt’s Jeep and got behind the wheel. Instead she watched as he drove away.

“Where’d you go?” Gracielynn said, waving a hand in front of Shelby’s face. “I asked if you were ready to head on.”

“Sorry. Sure, let’s go,” Shelby said.

Once in the car, Gracie fiddled with the radio for a few minutes, then switched it off and stared at Shelby when they got to a stoplight.

“Okay, what’s going on? Obviously, something is going on with you and Jake. And something’s up with Matt, probably because of it. I thought I was your best friend and you haven’t told me squat. I had to find out about your house from my mom who heard it from Beatrice at the store who heard it from that loudmouth, Wanda. Remember you can talk to me, Shel.”

“I’m sorry,” Shelby said. “So much happened the last few days, and I haven’t really done a good job of handling it or talking about it. You’re my best friend, Gracie. And I think I need some best-friend advice.”

“I’m all ears, girl. Shoot.”

Shelby fought for the right words and found everything lacking. “I really like Jake.”

“I can see that,” Gracie said with a grin. “Actually, I’ve NEVER seen you act like this. It’s adorable.”

“Shut up,” Shelby said.

“No, really. I think it’s good. You haven’t been able to—you haven’t…Heck. I’ll just say it. Ever since your Daddy came back and your mama left, you shut off everything that was just for you. You gave it up: college, boys, any dreams you had. All of it. You need something for you.”

Shelby swallowed back tears. Hearing Gracie say it made her understand it. She was completely right. “I didn’t have a choice.”

“You did, though. Everything is a choice. Sure, you’ve been dealt a hard hand. A real hard hand. But I think more than that, you pulling away had to do with something bigger. You retreated. I’ve seen you this week start to come back to the front lines. And I think that Jake drew you out into the battle again.”

“Are you using war analogies?”

Gracie giggled. “Yeah. It kinda got away from me.”

“Little bit.” Shelby was quiet for a moment. “But I barely know him. I can’t get past that. I feel something, but he’s leaving in a few days. That’s too short to know whether something’s worth fighting for—to go with your war theme. Anyway, it’s stupid.”

“Is it?”

“Stupid? Yes.”

“No, I mean, is it too short of a time? Think about the timing of this. Your whole life is being upheaved in a way. What if Jake came at this time because you actually can think about something new? Right now, more than any other time in years, you can think about change.”

Shelby frowned. “Change, like move? I’m not leaving Lucky.”

“I don’t know what I meant. Forget it. You’re probably right. I just feel like, I don’t know. I’m reading into it too much, probably. I just could see maybe God using all this change in a way that’s good for you too.”

“I hope God had nothing to do with this, because I can tell you that I won’t be speaking to him again if he did.”

Gracie shot a glance at her. “I mean, in some way, he has to have something to do with it. If he didn’t, he wouldn’t be God, would he?”

Shelby crossed her arms over her chest. This day had kept her swinging on a pendulum of emotions and she was tired of it. She just wanted a normal day in the diner, frying up food and living a simple life. It was what she knew. But was she really happy with the routine? Or was it just what she had come to accept?

“And if God did have his hand in all this, would he still be good? Daddy lost his leg in a war he didn’t want to fight and that never got won. Mama—well. I don’t need to say anything there, do I? Now we’re losing our home. And the first guy maybe ever that I’ve felt something real for is just passing through town. Tell me how there’s a good God in charge of all that mess?”

Shelby was in tears for the millionth time that day. This time, angry as much as sad. Maybe she hadn’t lost as much as some, but she had lost a lot. And Gracie was right—she had given up all hope of a future for herself because of her daddy and her mama leaving. This had been fine until this week, when things upset the balance. It did feel like some kind of sign, but one she couldn’t—or didn’t want to—read.

“Okay,” Gracie said.

“Okay?”

“Okay, I’m not going to try to convince you. Yes, it totally sucks what you’ve been through and what you’re going through. I can’t say for sure how God is involved in things that are hard. I don’t think there are neat answers. But for me, if I didn’t think that God was involved in the mess, I couldn’t go on. I’m not going to try to convince you, though. I will promise to pray.”

Gracie reached over and squeezed her hand. Shelby swallowed, trying to push the tears back down. “Thanks, Gracie. I’m not sure I deserve you.”

“Shut up,” Gracie said. “You’re amazing. But even if you weren’t, I’d love you anyway. Because that’s what love does—keeps on loving anyway.”

Shelby nodded, feeling her anger slip away. Gracie was right—at least about a few things.

Gracie gave he a sly look at the next red light. “And just for the record, speaking of love, I think that you shouldn’t fight whatever you’re feeling for Jake. You just never know.”

Shelby rolled her eyes. Okay, so Gracielynn was definitely not right about everything.