My Spy 6: Private Eye

Family

Mrs. Blackwood excitedly announced that this year's dance would be, drum roll please...the contra dance. I quickly yanked on Austin's arm and demanded he makes up our initial foursome. I started to feel buzzed after spinning around in our circle. Swirling around with our elbows hooked got the alcohol flowing quickly. It wasn't as fun as the two-step, but I still enjoyed holding Ryan's hand as we clumsily twisted around. We laughed as we hooked elbows again in sync to the banjo and fiddle filling the barn. 

The contra dance requires our long row of dancers to interact with the other line of dancers so I managed to spin around with everyone in the barn. Everyone was smiling and laughing as we stumbled through the spins and it wasn't until I was at the end of the third row in the back of the barn when Annabeth and her dad joined our foursome. She must not have realized I was here because she almost tripped over herself in the switch. She didn't dare go for Ryan's elbow and our circle just stopped rotating with her dad wondering why we were slowing the rhythm down. We just looked to each other and then quickly moved on to the next couple, continuing on down the line, never joining hands to circle around. When we are at least two couples away from each other, the music slows down and Mrs. Blackwood announces a water break. 

I look for Georgina and her Tito's bottle, but she's at the other end of the barn, giggling with Tinsely. My heart swells at seeing my winery friend but before I can dart over to her, Annabeth blocks my path. 

"Hey Sawyer," she says calmly. Her eyes dart to Ryan and she adds, "Can we talk a minute?"

I'm shocked when Ryan almost steps between us to say, "She can't. Not now, not here." I'm stunned by his intrusion and I see Annabeth is too. She glances at me, wondering if I agree with him. I look to him in annoyance before telling her, "Uh, we can go outside for a minute," but he shakes his head, "Nope. Sorry." He glances at Annabeth, "Sorry, but not tonight." Annabeth lets out an annoyed scoff and goes to spin away from us, shocked that Ryan just told her no. 

"Wait, why can't I have a minute with A.B?" I ask, loud enough for her to stop walking away and linger next to us. 

"Because, this isn't the place," he tells me sternly and once again, I can tell he is hiding something from me. I can see it so clearly in his eyes. Annabeth looks at me, wondering what I am going to do and now I want to know what she was going to say. Good, bad or ugly. 

Annabeth cuts me off before I can say anything, "Look, I just wanted to let you know that Gus told me what happened and I wanted to let you know that I was sorry and that...I am so sorry if I played any part in it." I'm assuming she's talking about the miscarriage until she says, "I didn't realize what Whitney knew and I would have never wanted you to find out like that-"

"Nope, no," Ryan quickly says and he grabs my arm to physically move me away from Annabeth. I yank my arm from his grip, keeping my eyes on her as I say, "You're apologizing because Whitney's baby daddy turned out to be Garrett? I already knew it wasn't Jackson or Austin." I watch confusion take over her face and she looks at Ryan. Her jaw hangs open as he stares daggers at her and she starts stuttering, "Oh...well...okay...I'm glad you already knew?" Something is up. I now know that is not what she was apologizing for but Ryan is adamant to keep me in the dark. Gus is suddenly at her side and the tension between them is visible. She nearly recoils when he touches her arm to have her take a step away from me. Gus is staring at Ryan and they are having a silent conversation that Annabeth seems to be in on. Suddenly, she looks angry and looks to me, "Okay, what y'all did, thinking I was cheating on Gus is beyond..." She shakes her head, looking appalled before adding, "But one of y'all should say something before Whitney does." She then looks back to me, "Your whole life is a lie and Ryan here knows it." 

Gus suddenly grabs Annabeth, but she yanks herself away from him and stalks off to the other end of the barn. I look to Ryan, in complete confusion, "What the hell is she talking about?" Ryan runs his hands down his face and he's pissed. He won't look to me and the fiddle starts up again, causing all the dancers to push past us to get back into line. Ryan knows we aren't joining them. 

"You've been keeping something from me and I've allowed it because it's been nice having a fun day with you, but I no longer give a shit about line dancing so..." I tell him, crossing my arms and daring him to spill. He paces in a circle and then finally looks to me, "We gotta get Austin."

This throws me off, so I flick my head back as I reply, "What? Why?" 

As he walks away from me he says, "Because this affects him too." The fiddle now sounds obnoxious and the banjo doesn't help. The massive barn feels hot and overcrowded and I need to get out of here. I dodge spinning dancers as we make our way to the other end and Austin is focused on his feet when we get to him. Ryan leans in and says something to him that gets Austin to drop his partner's elbow. He quickly steps around other dancers to get to Margot. She smiles to him when he catches her mid-spin, her elbow locked in with Mr. Blackwood's. He quickly tells her something and then leaves her to spin around. Apparently, Austin is needed but Margot is not. When we manage to get away from the dancers, Ryan continues to the open barn doors and leads us outside. When the music fades, Ryan looks at us and says, "We need to go back to your place Austin."

Austin too, is surprised at Ryan's sudden attitude change and he glances to me, "You alright?" He asks cautiously and I nod. I look to Ryan as he quickly tries to clarify, "There is just something y'all need to know and I need to be the one to tell you before someone else does." Austin clearly has no idea what Ryan is talking about either by the look of confusion on his face. He pulls his phone out as he says, "Cool, let me go give Margot the keys and I can roll with you." I like how Austin doesn't even ask questions. He assessed the situation and then follows Ryan's orders. This is why Ryan gets so frustrated with me when I ask a million questions before I do anything he asks of me. 

Gus suddenly comes flying out of the barn and waves to us, like we wouldn't notice the only person running toward us. I see Ryan tense up and when Gus is closer to Ryan he asks, "You good?" I don't know if I have ever seen Ryan this nervous. I've seen him stressed, upset, angry, irritated, furious and agitated but this is a new one. He looks like he might be physically sick. 

"We're goin' to Austin's now,' Ryan tells him. 

"You want me to come?" Gus asks and Ryan waves toward the barn, "Isn't this your family's thing? Aren't you needed here?" 

Gus quickly looks at me, "She's family too." Ryan and Gus have another silent conversation and Ryan finally nods, "Yeah, I mean. Yeah, come." I suddenly realize this is bad. Ryan and Gus are joining forces to tell Austin and I something that's making Gus act like an adult and making Ryan look like he might be sick. 

Austin finally comes out of the door, half jogging over to us and is surprised to see Gus, "Hey bud."

"I'm comin' with y'all. I know what's up," Gus says cryptically and Austin glances to Ryan but doesn't object. 

"Well we need to leave now before I literally have a meltdown right here," I tell all of them and Ryan nods toward our car.