Chapter 15

The feed store sat just off the highway, old and familiar, with its faded red sign and the faint smell of hay that clung to everything inside.

Poppi got out of the truck before Madden even fully stopped it.

Not because she was eager.

Because sitting next to him another second felt worse.

She walked ahead, pushing through the heavy glass door without waiting. A bell chimed overhead.

Madden followed a beat later.

They didn’t speak as they moved through the aisles, Poppi grabbing the list she’d memorized, Madden heading toward the bulk bins like muscle memory was easier than conversation.

It almost worked.

Almost.

Until she heard her name.

“Poppi?”

Her stomach dropped before she even turned.

Anchor stood near the front counter, holding a receipt in one hand and a bag of supplies in the other. She looked surprised to see her.

She walked over and hugged Poppi. And then her eyes flicked past Poppi.

And landed on Madden.

The shift was instant.

“Oh,” Anchor said, a smile forming a second later. “Hey.”

Madden nodded. “Hey.”

Just that.

One word. Controlled. Careful.

Poppi felt it anyway. The ease. The familiarity. The way Anchor didn’t hesitate the way Poppi did.

“I didn’t know you’d be here,” Anchor added, glancing between them.

“We needed feed,” Madden said simply.

“Clearly,” Anchor replied lightly, then looked at Poppi again. “You two always do everything together?”

The question was harmless.

It didn’t feel harmless.

Poppi opened her mouth, then closed it again.

Madden answered instead. “Not everything. Our dad insisted we get the feed together as we open the trails today on the ranch.”

“Well, I’m heading out. I’ll let you two finish your… farm errands,” she teased.

She stepped closer to Madden as she passed him, brushing lightly against his shoulder in a way that looked accidental but didn’t quite feel like it.

“See you around,” she said.

Madden gave a small nod. “Yeah.”

And then she was gone.

The bell chimed again.

Silence settled in her place.

Poppi grabbed the last bag she needed too quickly, heavier than she expected, and walked straight toward the register without looking at him.

Madden followed.

They loaded the truck in silence. Drove out of the parking lot in silence. But it didn’t last. Not this time.

Halfway down the road, Poppi finally spoke. “You could’ve told me she’d be there.”

Madden didn’t look at her. “I didn’t know.”

“She knew you were coming,” she said.

“That doesn’t mean anything,” Madden said, shrugging his shoulders.

Poppi let out a short laugh, turning toward the window. “Right.”

The word landed sharp.

Madden’s jaw flexed. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“It means,” she said, voice tightening, “that I’m not stupid.”

Silence again. Thicker this time.

The truck rolled over a bump in the road, rattling slightly. Madden’s hands tightened on the wheel.

“You think something’s going on,” he said flatly.

Poppi didn’t answer right away. Because the truth sat too close to the surface.

“I don’t think,” she said carefully. “I see.”

That did it.

Madden finally looked at her, quick, sharp, controlled in a way that didn’t match the tension in his voice. “You don’t see anything.”

Poppi turned fully now. “Then what am I supposed to think when she looks at you like that?”

“Like what?”

“Like she already knows you.”

The truck went quiet except for the engine.

Madden exhaled through his nose, shaking his head once like he couldn’t believe the conversation.

“That’s not what this is.”

Poppi gave a small, humorless smile. “It looks like it is.”

His grip tightened again. “You don’t get to decide what it looks like.”

That landed differently.

Poppi’s expression changed, something flickering behind her eyes, hurt cutting through the jealousy for a second before she buried it.

“I’m not deciding,” she said quietly. “I’m reacting.”

That time, neither of them spoke for a while.

The road stretched ahead, long and straight, like it didn’t care what was happening inside the truck.

But the air between them had already changed.

And neither of them knew how to fix it before they got home.