by Piper Rayne
Rather than explaining all that, I say, “Misery loves company.”
I snag my purse and bag off her chair.
“Savannah?”
I ignore her and dip my head into Kingston’s room where Grandma is staring at a strip of condoms as if she’s never seen one before. “Bye, Grandma. I’ll let you get settled in.”
“Bye, dear. I’ll see you in the morning. Juno will drive me to the office while I’m staying here since I go in later than you.”
I look back at an obviously displeased Juno. “Perfect.”
“Savannah…”
There’s an extra bit of annoyance to Juno’s tone, but I wave goodbye. “See you later.”
“Savannah!”
I shut the door and stop on the other side.
For what feels like the first time in years, I really smile.
Thirteen
Savannah
Leaving Grandma Dori and Juno behind, my mind slips into fix-it mode. Should I sleep on Juno’s couch or find somewhere else to stay? I could stay at Liam’s and make myself scarce, I guess. Knowing Grandma Dori, she’ll stay at Juno’s just to make sure I don’t return.
I drive around for a bit and eventually find myself heading down Liam’s long driveway. My gut twists at having to see him after last night, but there’s a conversation to be had between us. One that’s been looming for a long time. The longer we avoid it, the more often incidents like last night will happen.
One single headlight shines toward me, and I slow to a stop, knowing it’s him on his motorcycle. I rarely see him ride it. He stops, kills the engine, and straddles the bike next to my driver’s side window. The air around us is awkward and uncomfortable and I hate every second of it.
We’ve never been the best of friends, but before I moved in with him, we coexisted well. We could hold a conversation during the obligatory Bailey functions. Sure, we’d get a few jabs in on each other, but it was all in good fun.
He takes off his helmet. Since it’s the middle of summer, dusk won’t come until midnight, which means I can see the dark circles under his eyes. He didn’t sleep last night either.
“Hey,” he says.
I press the radio volume button on my steering wheel, leaving the sound of the crickets chirping as our only distraction. “Hi.”
“Can we talk?”
“Are you going on a ride?”
The slight turn of his lips on his right side says he wants to make a smart-ass comment. I admit, I kind of gave him a great opening.
“I was, but I’d rather talk to you.”
I gulp and nod. “Is Denver home?”
“Unfortunately, yes.” He pats the back of his bike. “How about I take you for a ride?”
“Or I could drive us.” I pat my steering wheel.
“That wouldn’t be nearly as much fun.”
“But it would be safer.”
He nods. “Give me a second to put it back in the garage.”
After putting his helmet back on, he circles around the back of my SUV and heads back up the driveway to his house. I follow and watch him park the motorcycle and put away his helmet. I’m so busy wondering what’s going to happen now with him in my truck that I don’t realize he’s ready to go until he’s knocking on the window.
I fumble to unlock the door, and he slides into my passenger seat. “Thanks.”
“Where to?” I do a U-turn in the driveway and head back the way I came.
“I’d rather not be Buzz Wheel’s hot news tomorrow.”
A sour taste coats my mouth. I never checked the blog last night, but I’m sure it reported our fight. Come tomorrow morning at work, someone will have passed around a screenshot, which means I’ll hide in my office until someone else is the center point of everyone’s gossip.
“Me neither. What are you thinking?” I stop at the end of his driveway, unsure if I should turn right or left.
“Hungry?”
Since Juno only had a container of pizza-flavored Pringles and some leftover orange chicken from Wok For U, I’m starving. “I could eat.”
“Left then.”
I turn into the street, and silence encases every molecule in my car.
Liam leans forward, his fingers on the button for the radio. “Do you mind?”
I shake my head. “No.” I school my anxious tone. “I turned down the volume and forgot.”
He puts on the classic rock station my father listened to when he was doing yard work or out in the garage. It brings a sad smile to my face.
“What made you enjoy this type of music?” I ask, at a loss for what else to say.
His knee bounces to the beat of “Sweet Home Alabama” by Lynyrd Skynyrd. “You really wanna know?”
“I wouldn’t have asked otherwise.”
He nods with a touché expression. “Your dad. When all you guys told him it sucked, I kind of enjoyed the beat, the lyrics. They wrote about things that affected them back then. Things they lived through. Take this song. It makes me wish I was from Alabama because you can hear their love for their state.”
I laugh.
“Take a right here.” He points in the direction he wants me to go.
We’re leaving Lake Starlight. As we pass the goodbye sign, I release a pent-up breath it feels like I’ve been holding since last night.
“Funny, since the boys never found a liking for it,” I say.
“I think they each kind of like it but are afraid to admit it after giving your dad so much shit. I found Rome listening to Robert Plant once at the restaurant.”
“I’m ashamed to admit I never listen to this music anymore. Classic rock tends to depress me.”
“Oh, shit. I’m sorry.” He moves to hit the button, but I rest my hand on his.
“No. It’s okay. It kinda works for me tonight.”
I feel his eyes on the side of my head while I drive. “I’m sorry, Savannah. I never should’ve said what I did.”
The sincerity in his tone now hasn’t been there for weeks. Somewhere in all this, we’ve both changed, and not for the better.
“It’s okay. There’s truth to what you said.”
“Well, it was a shitty thing to say either way.”
I huff out a laugh because whereas some guys would argue or take back their words entirely, Liam doesn’t. Because he doesn’t believe them to be untrue. He’s just apologizing for vocalizing them the way and where he did.
“Yeah.”
“Take another right here. Pull in.”
I take in the restaurant on the other side of the parking lot, Carol’s Crabby Shack. “You want some crab?”
“Ready to get messy?” He opens the passenger door, one foot hanging out as he waits to see if I’ll agree.
“We’ll never get in. It’s Sunday night.” The parking lot is packed with trucks and I can hear the live music from out here.
“I’ll get us in. Trust me.” He winks, and my stomach somersaults. Stupid involuntary reflexes.
When I still don’t move, he turns the keys in the ignition and snatches them.
“Hey!”
“You’ll get them back after dinner. Let’s go have some fun.”
He steps out of my SUV and shuts the door. Waiting in front of my car, he doesn’t even turn to look at me.
My stomach growls. “This is one time I’m going to let him think he’s getting his way,” I mumble to myself before opening my door and meeting him in front of my car.
We walk around to the patio that faces the lake. It’s filled with people cracking open crab legs, butter dripping down their hands, laughing and singing and dancing. I haven’t been here in years and I forgot how fun it is.
“Liam!” Carol, the owner of Carol’s Crabby Shack, kisses Liam’s cheek and hugs him. She peers over her shoulder. “Savannah, it’s so good to see you.”
“Hi, Carol.” I wave.
Carol went to school with my mom, but other than a few chance meetings throughout the years, I haven’t seen her. I’m no
“Come here.” She waves me forward then grabs my upper arms and thrusts me into her body. She’s taller than me, and her generous chest shakes along my chin. When she pulls back, her hand cradles my cheek. “You’re the spittin’ image of your mom.”
This sentiment has become more common since I turned thirty. Everyone and their mother says how similar I look to my mom now.
“Looks like her mom and business brains like her dad. Perfect combination,” Carol says.
I smile politely.
“Carol, do you have a booth?” Liam asks.
She finally draws back and takes in the fact that we’re here together. Her smile indents further, and I can almost see her mind spinning with thoughts of us. The one good thing I have going for me is that Carol doesn’t gossip. She never has.
The only reason I know that is because we came here as a family when I was five and I had to go to the bathroom so badly. Mom had just had Rome and Denver and between the rest of us, she was too busy to take me. I ended up peeing in my pants. After helping a hysterically crying me get cleaned up and asking Carol for some help, Mom told me, “No one keeps a secret better than Carol.”
“We’re busy, but for you two, I’ll find something. Give me a couple minutes.” She smiles one more time and disappears through the crowd.
I stand with my purse clenched in both hands in front of my body, watching couples in front of the band dance to a ballad. A few glances come our way, but no one says anything or stares for too long.
“Want to look out at the water?” Liam gestures toward the lake and I follow his lead to the railing.
“I’m not sure if we should be here. I mean—”
Liam puts his finger over my lips. “I know you owe me nothing. If anything, I should be helping you move out of my house, but please, let me buy you dinner as an apology. We’ll listen to music, and I won’t hit on you or razz you. We’ll just be two people having dinner. I promise.” He shoves his hands into his pockets.
Carol comes out and says, “I found you guys a great table.” She turns to lead the way but circles back around when she notices us not following.
Liam stands between Carol and me, waiting for me to make my decision.
I could walk out of here and Liam would probably understand. But a large part of me wants to forget for a while. Forget about Bailey Timber. Forget about Buzz Wheel. Forget about my house. Forget about the charity.
I focus on Liam. He’s not even smiling because he probably believes I’ll reject his invitation. That I’m refusing this olive branch he’s holding out between us.
I think it’s time I do something people don’t expect me to.
“Thanks for fitting us in, Carol.” I walk past Liam, whose lips turn up.
“My pleasure.” She leads us to a booth tucked into a secluded corner, but we have a great view of the lake. “I’ll send Keri over to take your order.”
“Thanks.”
She disappears, and we both stare out at the water, ignoring the elephant sitting smack-dab in the middle of the table. If I’m going to put it all behind me, we need to clear the air.
“About last night…”
Liam straightens, his eyes focused on me. “I feel terrible. As soon as I—”
This time I put my finger to his lips. “Let me say something.”
He leans back in the wooden booth. “Okay.”
I tuck my hands under the table, clenching and unclenching them. “You were right. Something in me died when my parents did. I accept your apology, and I need to apologize for the last month. I’m not sure when everything went crazy between us. I am attracted to you, but the girl you seem interested in isn’t me anymore. She’s just not a part of me.”
“She is.”
I blow out a breath and my gaze shifts to the water. “She’s not, and the sooner you realize that, the better we’ll be.”
“Sav.” He holds out his hand for mine. When I don’t place mine in his, he slides it closer.
Knowing he won’t stop until I oblige, I put my hand in his.
His calloused thumb runs along my knuckles. “Will you let me help you find her?”
“What?”
“Give me five weeks. One day during each week, I get to choose what we do.”
I sigh. “If this is just to get me into your bed—”
“It’s not. Believe me, your brothers already squashed any notion that that would ever happen. This is something I want to do for you.”
His sincerity steals my breath. “Why?” I whisper.
“To prove you wrong?”
I smile because isn’t that always the problem between us? We both love to be right. “I’ll bet you good money you won’t find what you’re looking for.”
His smirk appears, and my insides zing with awareness. “I’m game, but you’re betting against yourself.”
“Nah, I know that I’ll always be this way. You’re betting against yourself.”
He shakes his head. “Name your prize. If you are permanently like you are now, what do you want?”
I lean in with a grin. “You show me what’s in that barn?”
He lets my hand go. If I had to judge by the speed his smirk vanished from his face, the last thing he ever wants to share with me is the contents of that barn.
Fourteen
Liam
She’s asking me to share with her something that no one else knows about, and I don’t know if I’m ready. But she’s putting trust in me with this experiment. If I accept her terms, I’ll be putting trust in her too.
A bet might seem stupid. But I’m smart enough to know that if you want Savannah Bailey to do anything she’s not on board with, you have to challenge her.
Still, how can I pull out the Savannah Bailey she was before her parents’ deaths? We can’t time travel or be visited by past, present, and future ghosts. We don’t live in a movie or a book. But it’s a challenge I want to take on because between last night and this morning, I’ve figured out that I care for this woman, whether I’m her future or not. I want her to be happy, and I’m convinced this is what she needs to find it.
“So?” she presses.
“Sure, but if I’m right, you go on a real date with me in town at Terra and Mare.” This goes against everything I talked about with her brothers, but the fact is if I’m right, everything they’re concerned about is no longer valid.
She inhales deeply and stares out at the water for the thousandth time since we sat down.
“Well?” It’s my turn to press.
She turns back my way and holds out her hand for me to shake on it. “Deal.”
I take her hand as the waitress comes over, apologizing for taking so long to get to us.
As simple as the bet sounds, I’m going to have to do some research if I want to be eating a steak at Terra and Mare across the table from her.
We end up ordering crab legs, hushpuppies, potatoes, and beer. I’m enjoying the Beatles cover band, but I’m not sure about Savannah. If I can pull just one laugh out of her tonight, I’ll call it a success.
“I hear you’re moving in with Juno.” I spin my beer bottle in my hands.
“I was, but I think I’ll stay with you a little longer if that’s okay.” She picks at the label on her bottle.
Does she really not know how much I love having her in my space? I mean, it’s borderline torture, but I’d rather that than go weeks without seeing her.
“It’s fine. You’re welcome as long as you need.”
“Thanks.”
I sip my beer. “Kingston back in town?”
A smile creases her lips, but it’s a slow creeping smile that pulls out my own because I can tell she’s amused by something. “No.”
“What then?”
She bites her lip, clearly trying to push back her enjoyment. “Grandma Dori moved in. She says she has termites, which we all know is a lie, but who’s going to call her out on it?”
I lean back in the booth. Grandma Dori is a meddler extraordinaire, but I’m not going to argue if it grants me a little more time with Savannah.
“She amazes me.” I take a pull from my beer.
“Amazes?” Savannah relaxes, her eyes on me and not the beer bottle or the water anymore. “How so?”
“Just her attitude of ‘I do what I want and to hell with you.’ She doesn’t mean it to be a bad thing. She honestly thinks she’s doing a good thing.”
She nods. “I know. There’s no way I’d be where I am if not for her. You’d never imagine the patience she had with me when I first started at Bailey Timber. I think she’s trying the same thing with Phoenix, but Phoenix doesn’t want to work in business.”
“What do you think you would’ve done if not for Bailey Timber?” I’ve wondered that since the announcement of her departure from college to run the family business.
Her mouth twists, and I hate that nothing immediately falls off her tongue. “Honestly, I’m not sure I even knew at the time. I was only in my sophomore year of college. Though my major was business, I hadn’t a clue what I was going to do in life. I’m not a creative person at all. Maybe I always knew I’d work for my dad.”
“You just got there a little faster then?”
She shrugs. “I suppose, but I would’ve preferred to finish college without having to schedule it around Bailey Timber. Have fun, do what people do in college.”
“Yeah, maybe you needed a few more years before being responsible for hundreds of employees.”
Her giggle is low. It’s nice, but not the one I want to hear tonight. “Exactly.”
“It could be worse. The Baileys could’ve owned a skeleton cleaning company.”
“A what?” Her smile grows, but no laughter sounds from her lips.
Fail.
“I read this article about a company that has to clean skeletons, and not just dust them off. They have to degrease and whiten the bones.”
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