Count on Me (Petal, Georgia)

by Lauren Dane

  “You’re pretty good at this boyfriend business. I’ll come over after work tomorrow and spend the night. I’ll even sleep over Friday night because hello, I like you at my disposal for all my wicked desires. I do have to work a little though. And I’m expected at Lassiter Central for lunch on Saturday. Ugh.”

  “We’ll both go.”

  “Oh we already established that I like you. Why would you believe I’d do that to you? I’m just maybe going to take a Benadryl and then drink a glass of wine.”

  “No. I mean it. I hate that you line up for this every week. But if you’re going to do it, you don’t have to do it alone. Let me go with you. Let me get your back.”

  “We’ll talk about it tomorrow night. You sound exhausted. How was everyone?”

  “Long day at work, but we finished up a planting and so I can breathe for a day or two without panic. But I ate a lot of sliders. Like, I don’t know how many, but that could just be my conscience kicking in and being ashamed I ate eight of them.”

  She laughed. “We’ll pretend it’s the former.”

  “Speaking of Saturday, Lily and Nathan invited us over for dinner Saturday night.”

  “Um. Okay. Sure.”

  “Lily specifically told me she was looking forward to getting to know you. I know it’s hard.”

  “Ugh, convo for another time.”

  “Fine. I’m counting on it. Now, I’m going to take a shower and go to bed. I’ll see you tomorrow night. Just text me to let me know what you think your schedule will look like.”

  “How about I bring something?”

  “Like takeout? That works.”

  “No, silly. I’ll make dinner. In your kitchen obviously. I’ll bring the fixings over tomorrow.”

  “Yes, that would be very good. I like you cooking in my kitchen.”

  “Sleep well, Royal. I’ll see you tomorrow night.”

  The problem was, she thought the next day as she looked at herself in the mirror, she needed a haircut. Caroline dialed Melissa. “Do you have any recommendations for hair?”

  “I assume you mean in a non-Murphy-run shop?”

  “After yet another negative encounter with Anne, I’m not trusting her anywhere near my hair. I don’t think she’d do anything. She doesn’t seem cruel, just unhappy that I’m around. But I don’t have a horrible haircut death wish, so I’ll be taking care of my hair-coloring-and-cutting needs elsewhere.”

  “Good point. There’s a place in Riverton. Hang on a second.” She heard some rustling, and then Melissa was back with a few names and numbers.

  “Thank you. It’s my one-month anniversary. As Royal reminded me last night. We’re hanging out pretty much from tonight through the weekend. Or through to Sunday at least.”

  “Well then Sunday come over for a barbecue. You and Royal, I mean. Clint should be back in town. It’ll be good. We’ll sit on the back deck and eat too much.” Clint was Melissa’s rebound after whatever went down with her fiancé. Clint was a menswear buyer for a large department store chain. He lived outside Atlanta but spent a lot of time traveling.

  Caroline wasn’t sure if Clint would be around for long, but he was fun and he made Melissa happy and that was sort of all either of them seemed to want just then. “Sounds good. I’ll talk to Royal about it. He’s so social, I’m sure he’ll be up for it if he’s free.”

  Caroline paused and finally the words burst from her, “Okay so I have to vent. I think if Anne wasn’t such a bitch over Royal—who is not hers anymore and she doesn’t really want him, for God’s sake—anyway, I think if she was a normal person around me, I’d actually like her. My patience at letting her work through her shit is dwindling. I get it, they’re her friends and so they all hold back, but that feels like shit. Maybe this dinner over at Lily and Nathan’s on Saturday will be a step in the right direction. They’re his friends! I want to be part of that. They don’t all have to be my best friend, but at this point every time I end up in any group situation, even when I have a good time, it’s never totally comfortable, you know?”

  “I do and I’m sorry. I hope this thing Saturday is good too. Maybe you need to take Anne aside and talk to her. Clear the air.”

  “I’ve thought about it. I’ve wanted to give her the space and time to get past this thing and then we could just sort of act like we were okay to be around one another. But she’s trying so hard not to like me. It’s exhausting, I tell you. If there weren’t all these other people around who Royal loved so much, I’d give her a reason to hate me. But I can’t lie, if I lost Royal I’d be totally bummed out too.”

  “Do you think…he’d go back?”

  “I thought about it. For the first few weeks, I told myself if he was going to go back it wasn’t my concern because it had only been a short time. And then I started to tell myself that if he’d wanted to go back, he would have. And that’s where I am now. Royal just isn’t the game-playing type. If he wanted Anne, he’d have gone back to her. And it’s clear she’s fishing in those waters. But he’s not biting. Which okay now, knock it off. He’s not interested, you’re truly over and fuck you, he’s mine.”

  Melissa laughed and laughed. “Girl, you are gone for Royal. Also, your sense of confidence here is off-the-charts awesome. My God. I’m in awe.”

  “There may be a lot of things in my life I’m unsure about, but I just…I’m falling for him. And it’s awesome, and if his ex could just really let him go, things would be so much easier. For him way more than me. These are his friends, he obviously wants to be around them.”

  “I say the next time she pulls some sort of shenanigans you need to have a little heart-to-heart with her and lay it all out. Sister Murphy needs a little truth in her life. You might have to be the one to give it to her.”

  “Maybe. Which is lame. But whatever. Okay, I need to get back to work. Thanks for the info. I’ll text you about Sunday.”

  “Got it. Have fun tonight.”

  “I will! Talk to you soon.” Caroline ended the call, tucking her phone into her front jacket pocket. She had another meeting and some work to finish up, and then she was out of there.

  After that meeting and wrapping up all her loose ends, she headed out, at long last. But she was brought up short when she rolled into the reception area and ran into her grandmother, and then Royal came in as well, pausing when he caught sight of Abigail.

  Her grandmother had a look, a tightness around her eyes and spine. Caroline had seen it enough in the past that she knew a blow up and lecture was coming. Also enough to not want to introduce Royal right that moment. “Grandma, I wasn’t expecting you. Is everything all right?”

  “I just got a call from my friend Susan. Her nephew is a police officer in Millersburg, and she told me you were going to do a presentation about his innocence.”

  Good Lord, right there in her workplace? Holly had gone home an hour before so it was empty, but anyone could walk in at any time.

  With a sigh, Caroline waved her hand in the direction of her office. “Why don’t you come back? We can continue this in private.”

  “Private? Girl, you have no idea what it means to be quiet or private. I forbid you to go over to that police station and shame this family once again by defending your mother’s murderer.”

  Anger began to simmer in her belly. The words used and they way they’d been delivered only made it worse.

  “I think we started off wrong here. I understand your feelings on this issue. I respect your right to believe whatever you believe. But I expect the same. I won’t be called to heel like a dog on a leash. My investigator was invited by the police in Millersburg, and he will speak to them. They’re law enforcement, and of course as such should care about a murderer on the loose.”

  “The real murderer died in prison like the garbage he was.”

  Royal took a step forward but Caroline shook her head. Her grandmother knew he was there. She was playing to an audience.

  But Caroline, though not as big a drama pro as her g
randmother, still had a degree in theatrics and a belly full of this nonsense from her grandmother. “That man was my father. And he’s Shep and Mindy’s father and he was my mother’s husband as well. Do you know his regrets were never about himself? I’d go see him, and he’d be broken up imagining my mother’s last minutes. Or that my sister and brother were growing up without a mother. He missed them, and it broke his heart that they could ever believe he was guilty.”

  “He was guilty!” Her grandmother’s eyes glittered with hatred. “She never should have gotten together with him to start with but she had to.” Abigail gave her a pointed look, reminding her she was the reason they got married.

  Royal stepped up then, putting himself between Caroline and her grandmother. Like a shield against all the hurtful words her grandmother used like a weapon. “I’m afraid I’m going to have to stop you. You’re going to say something else you regret and can’t take back. Mrs. Lassiter, I surely am sorry for the loss of your daughter. Caroline loves you and came back here, in large part, to mend some fences and work on her relationship with you and her brother and sister. But it seems to me she’s got a right to feel how she does about her father.”

  Royal eased back to stand next to Caroline, reaching out to take her hand. Everything was suddenly so much better because he’d reached out and defended her.

  Abigail Lassiter gave him a long, measuring look. “There will be lunch at our home on Saturday. Eleven thirty. Don’t be late.” Abigail turned her attention back to Caroline. “See you then.”

  With that, her grandmother kissed her cheek, turned and swept from the room.

  “Run.”

  He looked at her, amused. “What?”

  “Run. She’s got your scent now, but I can keep her busy while you escape. Sorry you’ll need to leave the state.”

  “Caroline, I hate that she talks to you that way.”

  She wanted to lean into him and let his energy calm her. But they were in public and her freaking associates could come out at any moment and it was bad enough her grandmother had pulled that shit while they could have been overheard. Caroline didn’t want to make it worse.

  “I came to get you. I was in town already so I adjusted my schedule to pick you up.”

  “I have to drive in to work tomorrow.”

  He opened the door after it was clear Abigail had truly gone and left the building.

  “I can drive you in. I like taking care of you. It’s not like I don’t need to be up anyway. Then I can stop at the Honey Bear for coffee on my way out too.”

  “All right. I just need to run home to get my stuff.”

  They walked and various people called out hellos here and there. He opened her door, and she got up and in.

  At her place he ran the food for dinner and her garment bag and overnight case to his truck, but when he got back she was waiting, smiling.

  “Okay, so I’ve got a little something for you.”

  He grinned. “A present?”

  “It’s not a big deal.”

  She handed over a small ice chest with some bungee cord and the cold inserts for it. “Inside there are all the little containers you might need. I mean. You said you went out and were gone all day and forgot to break to eat or what have you. You can strap this to your ATV and have stuff to snack on and eat and drink.”

  He pulled her into a hug. “That’s a really thoughtful present. Thank you. I’ve been meaning to do something like this.”

  He kept that in one hand while she closed and locked her door, and they headed back to his truck so he could drive them to his house.

  “In case I was mistaken, I was invited to lunch Saturday.”

  “That was a command, not an invitation. Abigail Lassiter doesn’t ask permission.”

  “She’s out of line.”

  Caroline sighed heavily. “Doesn’t matter.”

  “Yes it damn well does matter. Why do you spend all your time advocating for other people and their rights, but you just let her steamroll you the way she does?”

  “They’re all I have left.”

  “That’s bullshit. You have lots of people who care about you in your life who don’t try to cut you down and make you feel like dirt all because you freaking believe your father. Are you really going to talk to the cops over in Millersburg?”

  “Well Ron is and I might swing by to listen in. He and Elliot Charles, a cop from Millersburg, came to my office on Monday. Ron is going over there to talk to the cops in the department and see what he can find. He—Elliot, I mean—told me he believes my dad was innocent. His grandfather was a local crime and justice reporter. I think I have a couple of his pieces about my father’s case in the master file. Anyway it’s a good way to introduce myself to these guys. The old-timers always have so much great info on old cases.”

  “Charles. They’re related in some way to the Chases right?”

  “Yes. Polly is Elliot’s cousin like four times removed or something like that. He was with them over the weekend and contacted Ron. They both came to see me Monday. I think he’ll prove to be handy when I talk to his cops.”

  “Good that you have an ally.”

  “She looks a lot like my mother.” Caroline hadn’t intended on saying that, but with him it all seemed to come out anyway.

  He sighed. “Your grandmother?”

  “Yeah. My mother was pretty much the opposite of Abigail Lassiter. My mom was open and funny, and she loved learning new stuff and trying new things. If you met my mom she’d know all about you in fifteen minutes because people just talked to her. She always did front-of-the-house stuff at the diner because people loved her. She’d come over to their table and ask them how things were and end up holding babies or looking through someone’s vacation pictures. She was the kind of person who gave off a light and you wanted to be around it. My grandmother looks a lot like her and sometimes that makes it worse. Because I need my mom, you know? I have aunts who absolutely love me. Uncles. Cousins. My paternal grandmother. I have people I can turn to but it’s not the same. And none of them are near.”

  “My dad died about nine months after your mom got killed. I was pretty much raised by my aunt and uncle, even though we all lived on the same farm for most of my childhood. My mom has always been sort of dreamy. My dad shielded her, did everything for her. She just didn’t know how to do much and no one ever expected her to learn so there’s a sense of helplessness about her. My Aunt Denver? Now she’s the opposite. Steadfast. Hardworking, and I’ve yet to see something she can’t do immediately or master within half an hour of practice. She’s a farmer through and through. And she’s my mother. She didn’t give birth to me, but she is my mother in every way that is important. She was sturdy when my mother was…not. My uncle is old school. He’s sort of stoic, but he’s always been there for me like a dad when my biological one gave my mother every bit of his love and attention.”

  He hadn’t spoken in this sort of detail about his life. It pleased her he trusted her enough to reveal these parts of himself.

  “And then he died and she got into a car accident about two years later. She was injured pretty bad. Was in a coma for six days. In the hospital for five weeks. Like I said, my mother isn’t strong. She’s gone through a series of surgeries and she’s never really recovered.”

  Her heart ached for him. “I’m so sorry.”

  “She lives in an assisted-living facility near Atlanta. She likes it there. Likes being coddled and cared for, and that’s where she’ll die. I hate that this is reality, but it is. My aunt and uncle are the parents the ones I was born to never managed to be. I don’t know what I would do without them and their advice. So I know what you mean when you say it’s not the same.”

  She took his hand, saying nothing else until they’d reached his house and she’d turned on the oven to put the lasagna she’d put together that morning in to bake. Spike scampered around, chasing a balled-up piece of paper he kept bringing back to Royal to throw.

  “It’s tot
ally all right for you to find yourself oops sorry busy on Saturday afternoon, you know.”

  He handed her a glass of wine. “I’m going with you.” He clinked it. “I seem to recall you liked this one.” He turned music on, and Kacey Musgraves’s “Back on the Map” came over the speakers. Caroline smiled, putting her glass down to get close enough for a kiss.

  Instead he got her close enough to haul to his body and then into a slow dance with some grinding and heavy petting thrown in and oh wow it worked.

  Her head rested against his chest, her pulse a slow, warm throb. Her breath was full of his scent, the heat of his body radiating against her face.

  The hands he slid up her back kept her pressed to him. He was a really good dancer. Slow and sexy. He moved…oh my God the way he moved. He loped, but with intensity, and such a thing shouldn’t even be possible but it was and he was really good at it.

  When she imagined herself in his eyes, she felt beautiful. Sexy. “Coming back here would be so much harder without you. You make me happy, Royal.”

  He pulled her tighter, his heart beating resolutely against her ear on his chest.

  “I thought I knew so many things before you came here. I thought I knew what it meant to be undone by someone. But I didn’t. I didn’t know it at all. Not until you filled my vision and I fell in love with you. You undo me, Caroline. It’s terrifying and awesome all at once. Like a thrill ride.”

  He’d just told her he was in love with her.

  She tipped her head back to look up into his face. “Do I have loop de loops?”

  “Oh fuck yes you do. You’re swoops and swirls and dizzying turns. You turn me upside down all the time. Sometimes you smile a certain way and damn. I’m hit by something new about you.”

  She stared at him, swallowing hard.