Thursday

Alice woke up in the top bunk bed in Charlotte's room. She wondered how long it took for Jasper to eat his breakfast, hoping to avoid the very attractive sight of him in the morning shirtless and hair still a mess from sleep. Charlotte was long gone; she did have livestock to tend to after all. The girl had tried to be quiet but had accidentally woken Alice anyway.

She looked at her watch with a groan. It was seven a.m., sleep wasn't coming back, and her stomach was rumbling.

She quickly dressed, thankful she'd planned on spending time on farms ahead of time and had packed practical, though still stylish, clothing options.

Comfortable in her appearance, she made her way downstairs to the Whitlock dining room.

"My my my, haven't seen you around these parts in some time, missy." Mrs. Whitlock greeted warmly from her place at the stove. "And don't you worry about a thing. Charlie has already informed me about your deal with my idiot son."

"Mama." Jasper groaned as he took a seat at the table, placing his cowboy hat on the table next to him. "Not you too."

"This sweetheart should be my daughter in law by now, and you can't even remember her name. I call em like see em. You're an idiot boy." She knocked him on the arm with a spatula before turning back to Alice, "You sit, girl, you've somehow gotten even skinnier we gotta put some meat on those bones."

Alice obliged gladly; she'd missed Lilia Whitlock's homecooked meals and was excited for at least that aspect of spending a week in her home. It was a lovely breakfast of eggs, bacon, hashbrowns, and potato pancakes in abundance. Jasper didn't say another word for the entire meal as Alice and his mother chatted; in fact, he looked rather pensive. Something Alice wasn't used to on the man who never thought anything through.

He did, however, pull her to the side after breakfast looking very serious. "Would you care to tell me, Miss Mysterious, why my mama spent half an hour chewing me out and telling me I'd better marry you this time?"

"Wow, I knew your mama liked me, but I didn't realize it went to that degree." She was pleased by that revelation; Mrs. Whitlock had always been like a mother to her. She'd stepped in for Alice and Emmett when their own mother had passed away. She was elated to know Bethany not only thought she was good enough for her son but was actively pushing the idea.

"Who are you?"

"Figure it out, Jazzy." She blew him a kiss and walked outside to sketch some nature scenes; the Whitlock ranch was surrounded by trails that she missed exploring. The numerous pathways offered an abundant source of beautiful locations to draw. She happened to be on one of these trails sketching out a breathtaking view of the skyline when she ran into Jasper and Peter heading back to the house for lunch.

"Could I offer you a ride back, ma'am?" Jasper had asked as he dismounted his horse holding his cowboy hat over his heart.

"Sure, Mr." It was amazing how easy it was to fall back into a flirting pattern with the man.

You can ride with me." Jasper patted his horse as Peter stared at him in shock.

"You never let anyone ride Cherry..."

"We don't have enough horses." He'd responded simply to his best friend's astonished comment.

"Yeah, but normally you would make her ride with me."

"Don't worry about it, Pete." Jasper had glared at his friend as he lifted Alice helping her up before mounting the stallion himself. As they galloped down the familiar trail, Alice let her mind wander back to the last night she'd spent in Dublin, Texas.

They had come to the clearing as a group; everyone else had run off to cause a ruckus while Alice and Jasper stayed behind. She loved their private talks when he allowed himself to actually converse about thoughts and feelings. He was so much more complicated and intelligent than he was given credit for. It was one of the many things she liked about him, though she'd never told him out of fear it may end the discussions.

He'd told her about one of his horses being ready to give birth; she'd responded that she wished she didn't live in town. She'd always wanted a horse named Cherry."

Alice had left town before the foal had been born, Jasper may not remember who she was, but it made her smile knowing that he'd remembered that conversation. Maybe he had missed her, at least for a while.

After lunch, Jasper had driven Alice and Charlotte into town for their final bridesmaid dress fitting. Alice didn't love the cliche choice of light pink lacy dresses paired with cowboy boots. But she didn't say anything as it wasn't her wedding after all. Alice couldn't help but notice Jasper couldn't take his eyes off her. Maybe cowboy boots weren't so bad, she thought back in the dressing room, choosing to leave her tennis shoes in the box the boots had come in. The look on Jasper's face when she came back out told her it was the right decision.

Later that night, Emmett and Rosalie had shown up for a bonfire, wanting to spend as much time with their friends as possible before departing for a month on a honeymoon Emmett kept secret from everyone.

Too much beer and whiskey had given Charlotte the grand idea to dance; they twirled and laughed as they sang along to the top 40 country station. Alice was hyper-aware of a pair of eyes on her. Glancing back only slightly so as not to be caught staring. Her heart softened to find it was Jasper, doing an exceptionally terrible job of hiding his gaze. She found she didn't mind at all grateful to Peter for not calling him out.

She permitted herself to become a bit more brazen, allowing her eyes to connect with Jasper's. She soared with glee at the gentle affection his green orbs expressed and the warm smile that graced his lips.

Only a few hours later, way too much whiskey and beer had left Charlotte a little too confident when she kissed Peter in plain view of everyone, including her older sibling. He was the only one there, including Alice, unaware of their relationship. Needless to say, he was pissed.

"You're not actually doing the whole protective big brother thing, are you?" Charlotte scoffed, "You of all people should understand liking your best friend's sister."

"What is she talking about?" Emmett growled, his eyes immediately darting to Jasper accusingly.

"You have no idea what you're talking about, Charlotte." He stared down his sister in a warning.

"Oh, please, everyone..."

"It's true, he never cared about Em's little sister." Alice cut her friend off, proceeding to stand; the conversation weighing heavily on her heart. "I wanna go for a walk." She kept herself composed as she made her way to the horse trail. When she was out of earshot and confident no one had followed her, she allowed the tears to fall. She'd told Charlotte numerous times that there had been nothing going on between her and Jasper. He'd never viewed her as more than a friend. At least not until now.

Alice really didn't appreciate her friend bringing up the subject in front of Emmett. If he found out the truth of that night, he may never speak to Jasper again. While things had clearly shifter in their relationship, Jasper seemed to relate more to his friend Peter now. Emmett couldn't find out about Alice's lie, not this close to his wedding.

Later that night, as Alice made her way back to the ranch, she overheard something she shouldn't have. Jasper and Peter were still sitting around the fire, having clearly made up as Alice knew they would. She felt a bit uncomfortable; it seemed to be a private moment between the best friends, so she made her way back down the horse trail giving pause as she faintly heard the confession. "I think I'm in love, Pete."