Kay jumped down from the truck. “Yeah, we’ve got a telegram from the capital. We’ve stayed in Greenfield County for quite a while now, so we need to head back. But don’t worry—I’ll be back.”
Scarlett felt a little flustered being teased by this fresh-faced young man, even if it was lighthearted.
Spending time with Kay wasn’t uncomfortable. In fact, his manners and way of interacting with people aligned perfectly with her preferences.
For him to earnestly say he’d return—what was it about Greenfield County that could possibly attract him back?
Scarlett decided to go with the flow. She wasn’t in a place to consider personal feelings right now, but she didn’t dislike Kay either.
“Well, you two take care. Drive safely, and when you visit Greenfield again, I’ll make sure to host you properly,” Scarlett said with her usual composed demeanor.
Kay’s smile widened. “Just you wait—next time I come to Greenfield, I’ll bring you something nice.”
Without giving Scarlett a chance to refuse, he climbed back into the truck and waved goodbye. The truck roared to life, and Leo leaned halfway out of the window, grinning.
“Bye, sis-in-law!” he hollered.
If Scarlett hadn’t developed thick skin from her experiences, she might have turned beet red.
—
The truck rumbled down the road, heading out of Greenfield County and back to the capital.
In the rearview mirror, Kay saw Scarlett standing in place for a moment before pedaling her bike toward the town.
Leo turned to him, puzzled. “Why didn’t you tell her you dealt with Wesley and his nonsense?”
Leo couldn’t understand why Kay would do such a good deed and not take credit for it. With the distance between them, what if someone else pursued Scarlett while Kay was away? In his mind, Kay should’ve taken the opportunity to tell Scarlett, earning her gratitude and maybe even her heart.
In fact, they had planned to leave the previous day, but Kay had waited at the county road for hours on the off chance Scarlett might pass through. When she didn’t, he delayed their departure until this morning.
“Do you have a girlfriend?” Kay asked in return, his tone calm but firm.
Leo blinked, caught off guard. “No, but—”
“Then let me tell you something. A real man solves problems quietly. Bragging about it? That’s childish,” Kay said. He didn’t see the need to dredge up Scarlett’s painful memories just to score points. He’d rather she forget all about Wesley.
Leo scratched his head sheepishly. “Well, uh, girls are too much trouble. If I did find a girlfriend, my grandma would drag me to the civil office for marriage the next day. Lucky for me, the marriage laws changed—I’ve got at least two more years of freedom!”
Leo was only half a year younger than Kay and had just turned 20. As a posthumous son of a soldier who had died in the War, he’d been the emotional lifeline for his grieving grandmother, who now pressured him constantly to marry and continue the family line.
“Isn’t the legal marriage age 20 for men and 18 for women?” Kay asked, a hint of humor in his voice.
He thought about how perfectly he and Scarlett matched—he’d met her just as he turned 20, as if fate had aligned their paths. If Scarlett agreed, they could marry anytime.
Leo chuckled, proving his expertise in at least one section of the law. “Three years ago, they changed it—22 for men, 20 for women. Absolute lifesaver!”
Pleased with himself, Leo laughed until he noticed the shift in the truck’s atmosphere.
Wait. Why did Kay look so serious all of a sudden?
A bold thought crossed Leo’s mind. No way. They’d only known each other a few days! Surely Kay wasn’t that far gone already?
Though Leo had jokingly started calling Scarlett “sis-in-law” to tease Kay, he hadn’t thought it would actually lead to anything. Even if Scarlett’s bad reputation had been proven false, the outside world still didn’t know that. How could Scarlett marry into Kay’s family smoothly? Surely, this was just a one-sided crush on Kay’s part.
Still, Leo wasn’t about to voice his doubts. He had no intention of being the one to rain on Kay’s parade.
