Bobby Jo—the Bob in Big Bob's—was probably one of the most beautiful women I'd ever seen, outside of her daughter.
She was dressed casually in baggy jeans rolled up at the ankles and a gray shirt bearing the store’s logo, her dark hair pulled back off her face.
"Can I help you find something?" she asked, a slight smile on her face.
It took me a second to find my voice because:
1- how had that horse's ass J.T. MacIntyre pulled this off
And
2- how
I met the dude once, and it was once more than I needed to to realize no one in Green Valley exaggerated when it came to what a douchebag he was. I mean, he wasn't an ugly douchebag, but Bobby Jo was on a different level. You weren't even sure you were looking at an actual human being.
When I didn't answer, she raised an eyebrow slightly, like I was amusing her with my absolutely horrifying people skills.
"My dad," I managed. "I'm, uh, I'm Grady Buchanan. He said he needed a ride home from work because his truck was acting up."
The "customer smile" melted into something a touch warmer, and she held out a hand. "Pleasure to meet you, Grady. I'm Bobby Jo."
I want to marry your daughter and she has no idea, I thought miserably.
Instead, I shook her hand. She and Magnolia looked so much alike, and I knew I was getting a glimpse at how magnificently she'd age. They had the same cheekbones, same jawline. Her eye color must have come from J.T., though, because Bobby Jo had big, dark eyes instead of the golden-green that Magnolia did. Her skin was darker than her daughter’s but not by much. J.T. was hinted at in Magnolia's face. Everything else, from the bone structure, to her hair, to her height, to her skin, she got from her mom.
"Your daddy is finishing up with an order in the back," she explained. "He should be done shortly."
I tucked my hands in my jeans. "No problem. This is a pretty great place to kill some time."
She looked around, pride evident in her voice when she answered. "It is."
"How long have you owned it?"
I already knew. Pops had told me when I first moved into town, but it felt important to hear it from her, to take this opportunity to know her better.
"Long enough to betray my real age, young man," she said with a tiny smile, and I laughed. She studied my face for a minute, and I wondered if she knew Magnolia was working for me. "Your daddy has been telling everyone about the business you're starting."
"It's been quite an adventure already," I told her. "Bit more complicated than I thought, if I'm being honest, but I seem to be getting on the right track this week."
Her gaze was steady and knowing. "Getting good help makes all the difference, doesn't it?"
I exhaled a laugh. "Yes, ma'am. It does. How'd you know?"
The bell tinkled again as someone opened the door, and Bobby Jo lifted a hand at whoever walked in, but she made no move to leave our conversation.
"Can't hide much here," she said. "It's a blessing and a curse, depending on what people are trying to find out."
I thought about Tucker and Grace, how they felt like they needed to hide their relationship because of Tucker's history in the town, and nodded my head.
Bobby Jo glanced around the shop, then down at a simple band around her ring finger. "For myself, I've never cared much what people have to say about how I live my life."
"The rest of us should take notes."
When she smiled, clearly amused by me, I got the sense that she wasn't a woman who laughed often, but when she did, it was probably at something really, really funny.
"You seem to be doing just fine," she continued dryly, "as not many people would risk my husband bearing down on them by hiring her. I may not have much influence over my daughter's decisions, but I like the idea she'd work for someone brave enough to risk it."
I scratched the side of my face and decided not to tell her that her daughter chose not to disclose her last name when I hired her. Instead, I chose my words carefully and made sure to hold eye contact when I said them, so she might know how deeply I meant them. "Magnolia is a force to be reckoned with, ma'am. You should be very proud of her."
Only the slightest lift in her eyebrows betrayed her surprise in the gravity of my answer. My cheeks flushed at what I might have given away, and Bobby Jo narrowed her eyes slightly, then nodded, as if she'd come to a decision about me.
"I am," she said in return. It was full of subtext, though, and only the slightest edge of questioning.
I wanted to hide.
Forget military questioning or torture. If anyone wanted international secrets ferreted out, they should hire Bobby Jo MacIntyre to stare her way into whatever information they sought.
She glanced at a clock on the wall behind the sales counter. "Your daddy should be out any minute, and I've got a meeting with a supplier shortly." Her fingers tapped out a short rhythm on the endcap, those dark eyes appraising me. "Good luck, Grady."
When she walked away, I was about to heave a sigh of relief when I realized the full ramifications of the fact that Bobby Jo knew, which probably meant my pops knew.
We were headed to dinner at my uncle Robert and aunt Francine's place. Grace was meeting us there (Tucker had something already planned that he couldn't get out of), along with my cousin Connor and his wife, Sylvia.
Statistically, the odds were not in my favor to keep the lid on this for much longer. It was like a bottle of oil tipping over on its side. Once it was out, you were bound to have a leftover mess even if you did your very best to clean it up.
I hated lying to my sister—not just hated it, I was terrible at it.
And Tucker, he was the first friend I'd made in Green Valley. Bro Code was not a joke, it was not something to mess with, and Magnolia was his first everything. Beyond the issue of working together, I couldn't even conceive of how to deal with that just yet.
"What are you doing here?"
Grace.
I pinched my eyes shut for a second. She punched me.
"Ow." I gave her a warning look. "You need to learn healthier communication skills."
"You could've responded to the text and let me know you were picking up Dad. I hurried out of an engagement shoot because I figured you weren't by your phone." She looked frazzled, and the longer I stared at her, the bigger and bigger this problem became in my head.
There was no way to blurt out the truth. Or not the whole truth, at least.
It was ironic, of course, that all this had started with an omission. Magnolia didn't share her full first name or her last name, but everything else she'd told me was true.
"Pops not done yet?" she asked, trying to fix her crazy-ass hair. Grace's hair was always crazy when she worked.
Her question didn't require an answer, which is probably the only reason she didn't notice when I didn't give one. A pair of elderly guys wearing matching red trucker hats walked past, blatantly talking about us.
I heard Tucker's name whispered by the one on the right. Then Grace's. And I rubbed at the back of my neck because I was about ready to dig a hole in the ground to get out of this place unscathed. The only way it could get better was if J.T. and Magnolia joined us, followed by Tucker. And a photographer from the newspaper.
Grace simply rolled her eyes. "Maybe when Tucker and I are married someday, they'll stop talking about us." She tilted her head. "Actually ... no, they probably won't."
Pops came through a door that opened to the back of the store, smiling at the two guys.
My throat felt clogged with words, and I couldn't figure out what I wanted to say. How much I should say. But I felt like I'd puke if I didn't get something out.
"Grace," I started.
She waved. "It's fine. It really doesn't bother me. Once Magnolia finds her Southern prince and they can rule the town, everyone will move on."
Was my face green? It felt green.
My sister grimaced. "That was unfair because I don't actually have a problem with Magnolia.
She seemed perfectly lovely the one time we met and I shoved wine in her hand. A little lost maybe, but nice enough."
A little girl stopped Pops as he approached and asked him about a bright pink fishing rod. He leaned over to answer her question, and I had to take a few deep breaths just so I wouldn't pass out.
"Grace," I repeated.
"I'm fine, seriously." She glanced over at me, then did a double-take. "Holy crap, what's wrong with you?"
One more breath in, then out.
"I hired Magnolia to run the office for me."
The guy in the trucker hat dropped the fishing rod in his hands. "Good Lord Almighty," he whispered.
Grace stared at me, color high in her face. "What did you just say?"
I shoved a hand in my hair. "I'm messing this up. Can we go stand outside?"
She grabbed the front of my shirt. "Did you just say what I thought you said?"
A few more people were staring, and I gently removed her death-grip on my shirt. "Let's go talk outside." I glanced at my dad and nodded to the door. He gave me a thumbs-up.
Grace only hesitated for a second, then followed me out onto the sidewalk. For as busy as it was in the store, the sidewalk outside of Big Bob's was quiet.
"Magnolia?" she repeated, facing me with crossed arms. "You hired Magnolia MacIntyre, my boyfriend’s ex-girlfriend and first love, to run the office that you will be in every single day, and the office that he will hopefully be in every single day? Am I hearing you right?"
Okay, so the puking feeling hadn't gone away because Magnolia was Tucker's first love. And without any idea of what the future held for me here in Green Valley, I wanted her to be so much more than my love. I wanted her to be my future.
That came with complications. It came with a whole shit ton of awkward. Her dad would probably hate me. People would talk about us in a way that would probably erase Grace and Tucker from the gossip chain forever.
And I'd face all of it for her.
Staring at my twin sister, I knew—knew with a certainty that was unshakable—that I couldn't tell her the whole truth. At least, not yet. For some reason, this crazy, made-no-damn-sense, couldn't-shake-it family legend had turned out to be true for all of us, and as much as I'd wanted it to be BS, it wasn't. And I would respect Magnolia enough to allow her to be the first person I told. No one would know what was locked inside my heart until Magnolia had heard it from me. Heard all of it.
So I met my sister's confused gaze and nodded. "I did. At first, I didn't make the connection."
"How did you not?" She shook her head. "You are the one who made fun of her name when I first started dating Tucker. How is it possible you forgot it?"
"It doesn't matter, okay?" I set my hands on my hips. "I gave her the job, and Grace, she's exactly who I need."
My words hung awkwardly between us, and my sister blinked. "She's ..."
I held up a hand. "She's organized and efficient, and she has done borderline miraculous things in less than a week, and that's what this business, and what I, needed."
Grace's eyes were huge in her face as she listened to me talk, and for the first time I could remember, I'd rendered her speechless. Normally, I'd high-five myself or tease her about it, but this wasn't a joke. And our ability to move forward in this strange little tableau would set the scene for whatever came next for me and Magnolia.
Whatever that might be.
Grace opened her mouth. Closed it. Opened it. Then clenched her jaw and stared down the street, studying downtown Green Valley for a moment before her eyes pinched shut.
I found myself holding my breath as I waited for her to say something.
Her hands covered her face for one moment, then her shoulders relaxed. She dropped her hands and speared me with an unfathomable look.
"You're on your own when you tell Tucker."
"I—" My head tilted. "That's it?"
She pointed a finger at me. "I will keep my mouth shut for twenty-four hours, Grady. Twenty-four hours is all you’ll get from me before I tell him myself, and the only reason I'm giving you that is because he can't come to dinner tonight. I will not lie to the man I love, not even for you."
Gratitude had my chest relaxing on a mountain-sized inhale. "Thank you."
Grace watched my face. She wanted to say something else, but she didn't.
"What is it?" I asked.
"I'm worried for you." She shook her head. "Her father almost ruined Tucker and his dad's business. He can't be happy that she's working for someone else, and if he comes after you, I'll be forced to like ... key his car or something."
I set my hands on her shoulders. "I'll be fine. He won't come after my business, so please don't key anything. I'm pretty sure they'd arrest you, and you look awful in orange."
There was no smile at my joke. She really was worried.
Squeezing my hands, I gave her my most reassuring, older than her by two minutes look. "Gracey B, you are an excellent sister."
"I know," she said dryly.
"You're really okay with this?"
"Okay is not the word I'd choose just yet," she said. "But ... I trust you. And if she's what you need"—she visibly swallowed—"then I trust you."
I wrapped my sister up in a tight hug. "Thank you. I know this is weird."
She laughed into my chest. "The weirdest, brother. But with you? I expect nothing else."
The door to the shop opened, and Pops shook his head. "We hugging on the street now?"
Grace pulled back and smiled. "Yeah. You guys ready for dinner?"
I put my arms around them both as we walked toward where Grace was parked next to me.
One down. One to go.
Chapter 11
Grady
Downtown Green Valley was draped in lights heading into the holidays. As I walked from Donner Bakery, armed with coffee and tea and more pastries than I needed, it was the first day that felt like winter. I'd borrowed some winter gloves from Uncle Robert, and as I walked from the bakery to the law offices Tucker shared with his dad, I was thankful for them. It was still early, so the streets were fairly quiet. I was thankful for that too.
Tucker's absence at dinner the night before had been a small blessing because it allowed me to take the previous evening after we finished a family dinner with Uncle Robert and Aunt Fran to think over how I wanted to approach this.
When I moved to Green Valley, Tucker and I hit it off immediately. Stuck in a job he didn't love, he was one of the first people truly on board with the idea of Valley Adventures, and once he cleared some hurdles with his parents, we started planning for him to help on the side. Eventually, if the business grew to what I thought it could be, he'd slowly transition away from the law offices where he practiced with his dad and join me full-time.
But this ... it held the possibility of changing all that for him.
A truck rumbled down the quiet street, and I lifted my hand in greeting at whoever was driving. He waved back.
The change from LA to Green Valley hadn't been as jarring to me as it had been for Grace, but I also had to admit that a huge reason for that had been because of Tucker. And Magnolia. She came in with all the subtlety of a wrecking ball that was lit on fire, and not by choice.
For the first time since I'd crossed the city limits, I could empathize with my twin sister. The addition of Magnolia to my daily life changed the tenor of how people looked at me. Looked at us for how this would play out.
Even thinking her name had my chest aching. Had me wondering if she was at the office yet, what she'd eaten for breakfast, what her house looked like, what she was afraid of.
Had me wondering all sorts of other things too.
What her lips tasted like.
If she hogged the bed.
If she'd mind if I woke her up in the middle of the night with my hands and mouth.
I blew out a hard exhale because it was not the time for that train of thought, and it was cold enough that I saw my frustration manifest in the air i
n a small cloud. The California boy in me was thrilled, so I did it again and found myself laughing.
"You need to get out more."
Tucker was leaning up against his truck outside of the law offices, watching me with an amused expression.
"No argument there." I handed him a coffee. "No cream and one sugar on the advice of my sister."
He nodded his thanks and took a long sip. "Thank you." As he lowered the cup, he eyed me curiously. "What did you need to talk about this early?"
Using my coffee cup, I gestured at an empty park bench in front of the building adjacent to the Haywood and Haywood offices, which were still dark. "Should we sit?"
He grinned. "If you think that park bench can hold both of us, you go right ahead and try it. I'll wait here." Tucker walked around to the back of his truck and lowered the gate. "This'll work."
We were both tall enough to sit on the open bed and still brace our feet on the ground. But somehow, it felt more comfortable than facing off. I'd faced off with Tucker a few times since I moved here, and every time, it had been about my sister. He'd more than proven himself. I knew he loved Grace, almost to distraction sometimes, but now I'd be the one who might deserve the tongue-lashing. The warnings. The hard stares. And he wouldn't even know the half of how awkward this might get.
"What's going on, Grady?" He glanced sideways. "Am I right to assume this is related to why your sister was acting cagey as all hell this morning?"
That made me laugh. "Was she?"
"No matter how I tried to get her to talk, she held strong." He grinned. "Which is impressive, considering what I tried."
"Dude," I groaned.
He grinned. "Sorry."
"Yeah, she gave me twenty-four hours to talk to you about this," I admitted.
Tucker's smile melted away. Instantly, he was in lawyer mode, all even facial expressions and the proper amount of gravity. "Talk to me."
"You know I needed help at the office," I said. "I, uh, I wasn't doing the best job keeping myself focused on how to get VA off and running in the most efficient way."
Steal My Magnolia (Love at First Sight Book 3) Page 9