by Marina Adair
“How are you with blood?”
Chapter 8
Oh, God, blood. She closed her eyes and swallowed back her dinner.
“Yeah, me either.” He chuckled, but it didn’t hold any humor.
She opened one eye, peeked through her lashes, and immediately felt woozy. A huge chunk of glass stuck out from the sole. All she could think of was an iceberg, and she wondered, with a tip that size, how much was in her foot?
“Get it out!”
Boo plopped down against her thigh, covered his head with his paws, and whined.
“If I pull it out there’s going to be a whole lot of blood.” Mr. Tough Cowboy looked kind of pale.
“And I’ll bleed out?”
“Ah, sugar, you’ve been in New York too long. I meant that you’ll most likely need stitches. Which means I need to get you to a doctor before I see the blood.”
Twenty minutes and a terrifying car ride later, Josephina sat on an exam table at the Sugar Medical Center. Brett had wrapped her up in a bathrobe—thank God—and drove like it was the final lap in a NASCAR championship race, probably afraid she’d get blood on his precious truck.
Willing herself not to look at her foot—again—she turned her head and caught a reflection of herself in the mirror above the sink. On second thought, maybe he didn’t want to be seen with her.
She was wearing an epic case of bed-head and Letty’s bathrobe, which was muumuu-shaped and electric-mango-colored with bulls wearing bow ties on it. And yet it was less humiliating than the teddy she had on underneath.
A flash of white doctor’s robe passed by the small square window, and Josephina’s belly went queasy. Doctors meant needles. And the only thing she hated more than blood was needles. Which explained why she pushed off the table, desperate to make an escape.
A strong, calloused hand came to rest on her thigh, pinning her to the table.
“In high school, I was one of the best bulldoggers in the county,” Brett whispered in her ear. “And I bet I could take you down in under a second. Might even be fun.”
The door opened and in walked the doctor. Tall, exquisite, and sophisticated, she flashed a megawatt smile and moved gracefully across the room with a confident ease that made men swallow their tongues whole.
“I understand you had quite the social event earlier this evening,” she said, her perfect white teeth gleaming even brighter in Josephina’s direction. “Well, even though the circumstances are unfortunate, it’s good to see you again. Now, let’s take a look, shall we?”
“Hey, Brett,” she said, picking up Josephina’s foot, her eyes glued to the hunk of glass catching in the light.
“Hey, Charlotte. Thanks for seeing us so quickly.” Brett’s hand gently massaged Josephina’s thigh. “I heard you almost reached your goal for the new children’s wing.”
“Can you believe it?” Charlotte finally looked up, her cheeks tinted with pride. “I’ve been dreaming about this for years and it’s almost here.”
Josephina had read about the proposed pediatric center in the local paper, which she had found shoved up the tailpipe of Ulysses earlier that afternoon. A Texas-based company had agreed to fund the much-needed pediatric ward in Sugar. The center would support all the children of Sugar and a good portion of the surrounding area. Since the center and its building were privately owned, the actual addition would have to be paid for by the center’s founders, the Holden family, who had already agreed to shoulder a large part of the debt. From what Josephina had read, the town had stepped in, planning a host of fundraisers to make up the difference.
“And a huge part of that is due to you, Brett. So thanks.”
Brett just shrugged, but Josephina noticed that his ears went a little pink at the praise.
“Just a few stitches and you’ll be good as new.” The doctor slipped a monitor on Josephina’s finger. “Now, Mr. McGraw, if you could just give us some privacy, I can have her all cleaned up and ready to go.”
“You want me to stay?” Brett gave Josephina an encouraging smile. It was warm and open and real and it made her heart do dangerous things. Like set off that damn thing stuck on her finger.
The doctor flicked a glance at the monitor, currently beeping as if it was part of Defcon One.
“The minute I take this shard of glass out, she’s going to bleed like a stuck pig, and since I have no inclination to clean you up off my office floor, I’m guessing this is where you say goodbye.” Her gaze landed on Brett and something passed between them, something easy and comfortable. Something akin to history.
Charlotte moved to the sink to wash up, tossing Josephina a sly smile as Brett hightailed it out the door mumbling something about being right outside.
“Is there going to be a lot of blood?” Josephina asked, scooting to the back of the exam table as the doctor took the cap off the syringe.
“No; I figured you’d be more comfortable if he wasn’t in here, and to be honest, your heart racing like that doesn’t make this any easier.”
Great. One of Brett’s women—who obviously thought Josephina and Brett were doing the cowboy cha-cha—was armed with a needle and about to perform surgery on her foot.
“Before you stick that thing in my arm, I want to know if you and Brett are dating. And to tell you he’s here…with me…because he was just being neighborly.”
“Honey, this isn’t going in your arm.” Josephina went clammy. “And as for Brett, my granddaddy said he’d castrate all three brothers if even just one looked at me with interest.” She shrugged, fiddling with the needle again. “When a Georgia state judge who is on record in support of public lynching as a form of capital punishment says something like that, it works. Not that I was interested, much to my mama’s dismay. Being a McGraw makes him one of the most sought-after men in this county. And, well, my mama, being the current regent of the Sugar Peaches, would have looked the other way had I accidentally fallen into a compromising situation that would’ve led to a ring. Unless it happened to be the youngest of the brothers.”
“Why?”
“According to my mother, Jace,” her voice thickened, “bless his heart, has a past that no amount of money or fame could excuse with regards to marriage.”
“I meant, why would she want you to marry a McGraw?”
Charlotte wiggled a very manicured brow. “In these parts, McGraws are gods. Their great-great-grandfather, Cletus McGraw, helped found this town, and the McGraw men are legendary for being honorable, loyal, and, as of this last generation, rich as sin. Not to mention handsome. His parents had one of the most talked-about love affairs in these parts, second only to their grandparents.”
“Spenser said they died in a fire.”
“It was a horrible loss for everyone, especially those boys. During a lightning storm, a bolt hit the roof and their whole house went up. Mr. McGraw got the boys outside and went back in for his wife, who was looking for Jace, not knowing he was already safe. She had asthma and passed out from the smoke. They made it to the hospital but both died an hour later, within minutes of each other, while holding hands and whispering how much they loved each other.”
“Oh, my God.” For a girl who never cried the room was looking awful blurry.
“My daddy was on duty that night and said that even though Mr. McGraw died first, his heart monitor continued to beat because—” Charlotte clutched her chest, syringe still sticking out of her hand, “—his wife’s heart was beating through his. Can you imagine? She was literally giving him her heart, so they could go together. When she died the doctors had to pry their hands apart.”
Josephina swallowed hard, her heart cracking a little more for the boy she had once known and the man she was starting to understand. “No wonder the brothers are all single. I mean, how can anyone even live up to that?” She sure as hell couldn’t.
“I know. Even after all these years, people still talk about it. The whole town is waiting for one of those boys to fall. Folks thought that Cal had taken t
he fall with his wife, Tawny, but that was a dose of blinding lust not love, because everyone knows that when McGraw men fall, they go all in. Been that way for a century and a half. Why, to hear my mama tell it, just the way their daddy would look at Mrs. McGraw was enough to make a bystander swoon.”
“How come you never dated one then?”
“Because my mama wanted me to.” She smiled and Josephina found herself smiling back. “Now, close your eyes and lie back. You’re looking too pale for it being so close to my quitting time.”
Josephina did as she was told, feeling like a wimp.
“And, honey, being neighborly is Brett talk for let’s get naked, feet to Jesus style.”
“Yeah, well. I’m not interested in being seen naked or showing anyone my feet.”
“I think it might be a little late,” the doctor said to Josephina’s toes, then looked at her robe and grinned. “On both accounts.”
Poke. The old Josephina would have thrown up. The new Josephina, the one who was ready to take on the world, stifled a whimper.
“You really don’t remember me.” Poke. Poke.
When Josephina just shook her head, the doctor stuck a latexed hand out. “Charlotte Holden. Your aunt Letty used to sit me during the summer when my mama had a Peaches’ meeting.” Josephina blinked, still at a loss. “I convinced you to climb up that big old oak tree.”
“You stole the ladder and left me up there,” Josephina said, remembering the little brunette in ruffles and pearls who had conned her into climbing the tree, then called her a liar and ran off.
“You said you could fly. I wanted proof.”
“I was in that tree for most of the day.” Well, until the neighbor boy rescued her, and overcome with gratitude, and one too many From Here to Eternity viewings with Letty, she’d kissed him.
Josephina froze at the memory, her heart going kind of squishy. Young Brett had dusted the dirt off her dress, retied the bow on her pigtails, and believed her when she confessed she was a fairy waiting for her wings.
Even though her first kiss had been with the man who had slept his way through the better part of the South and some of the outlying coastal states, she couldn’t help but smile. Whether it was the memory of Brett walking her home or whatever the good doctor had in the now-empty syringe, she didn’t know.
Charlotte grabbed a roll of gauze. “So you and Brett, huh? I must say I’m impressed, you move fast.”
“What? No. I already told you, we’re just friends. Not even that really.”
“If you say so.”
“He came to break up a ‘social event’ when a gun went off and I stepped in glass.” She paused, feeling the tips of her ears heat. “Even if there was something there, which there isn’t—”
Charlotte let out a disbelieving snort that somehow sounded cultured.
“I’m here in Sugar in a party-of-one capacity and penis-carting members need not apply.” She considered and then added, “Unless they have a spare tire around the waist, bad breath, and their own power tools. Then all bets are off.”
“That bad, huh?” Charlotte said, taking a seat on the exam table, understanding flickering in her eyes.
Before Josephina knew what had happened, she’d relayed every humiliating detail, starting with letting Wilson talk her out of seeing Letty before she died, right through the mile-high fiasco, and ending at the showdown with a golf club and pink teddy. And she didn’t even cry once.
Charlotte moved to a locked cabinet, only to return with another needle. This one bigger.
“I stole them.” Josephina studied the ceiling. “The golf clubs. The ones Wilson used to polish weekly.”
“That a girl. You might feel a little—”
“Ow!”
“—pinch. So, a tool belt?” Charlotte went on as if she hadn’t just stuck a horse-sized needle through Josephina’s foot. “Does this mean you’re becoming a real Georgia Peach?”
“Yup. I’m reopening the inn,” she said, adding the cost of one chandelier to the already overwhelming estimate. She was hoping that Mr. Ryan would come back with an approved small business loan, but either way she wasn’t leaving. She was going to turn that crumbling money-pit into the best thing that ever happened to this town—and to her.
Charlotte slapped a bandage on her foot. “Your aunt Letty was as stubborn as they come, determined to keep that house open even when the county tried to shut her down for not being up to code. Those friends of hers rallied and took on the county, making sure Fairchild House was a functioning inn all the way up until the day she passed. She’d be proud that you’re reopening it, so don’t let those biddies get to you. They’re just seeing what you’re made of.”
Charlotte’s words made her smile. Made the stress of securing money and patching the roof fade away, because making Letty proud was as important to her as making her dream a reality. Especially since she seemed to let down every other member of her family by opening her mouth.
The doctor studied her for a long moment. Or maybe a short moment. It was hard to tell when everything felt so good. Even her hair felt shiny.
“You know what you need?”
“A gun?”
“Well, you are in Confederate country.” Josephina waited for her to laugh. She didn’t. “No, I think what you need is some good old-fashioned rebound sex.”
Josephina felt woozy again. The last thing she needed was a man. Especially when the man that popped into her head was a known player and heartbreaker. “Sex would complicate everything.”
“If it’s complicated you’re doing it wrong. Look, I’m not saying fall in love. You don’t even have to like the guy. What I’m talking about is a wild, no-strings romp in the hay. Good Lord, did I just say that? My mama would be horrified.” Charlotte looked excited at the idea, and Josephina was quickly coming to like her. “What better way to get your life back than to remind yourself that sex is fun? That being a woman is fun?”
“I was thinking more of girl talk and alcohol.” Lots of alcohol.
Charlotte clapped her hands together, a smile crossing her face. “Honey, I happen to know where you can find all three. Although I can’t do tomorrow night or Thursday night. Actually my whole weekend is booked working on my platform for the Peaches. Elections are coming up and there is no way Darleen Vander, bless her vengeful little heart, is going to win the VP seat this year. I do, however, have next Monday off. You and me, we’re going hunting.”
“Hunting?”
“For a man.”
“I’m not sure.” Josephina was all for embracing this new and improved her, but she kind of wanted to do it in private. That way if she screwed up no one would know. Plus, sex with a stranger seemed so irresponsible. “I couldn’t even get there. I don’t have a car, well, a reliable car,” she corrected thinking of Ulysses S Grant and his ongoing disappearing act.
“I could pick you up.” The good doctor handed Josephina a scribbled note and helped her off the table.
“Am I done? I didn’t even feel the stitches.”
“I’m that good. Plus the drugs helped. Keep it elevated for a couple days and call me if the swelling doesn’t go down. See you Monday.” She hung her jacket on a hanger. “Don’t think about it, Josephina, just come. It will be fun, for both of us.”
Josephina hobbled out into the waiting room wondering if Charlotte was right. Maybe she did need a girls’ night out.
Brett stood, slowly making his way across the room. He looked so strong and safe, like the sweet boy who wiped away her tears and stole her heart, that Josephina almost walked right into his arms. Then she noticed the exquisite brunette just to his right.
“Should you be walking?”
She nodded, looking past Brett to the Budweiser model whose oversized red jersey and baseball cap did nothing to diminish her hourglass curves or hide those big green eyes that were looking up at Brett as if he hung the moon. She stood next to him, her hand in his, as Brett leaned down to look at her fingers.
“It was good to see you, Brett,” the groupie said, extracting her hand. She shifted that smile to Josephina and waited, finally elbowing Brett in the ribs when he kept staring at Josephina instead of giving the proper introductions.
“Hey,” Josephina said, tightening the belt of her robe.
“Hey, yourself. You must be Letty’s niece. I’m Glory.” Again with the elbow. “It’s nice to finally meet you.”
“Sorry,” Brett said, and Josephina could swear that he was tongue-tied and blushing. “This here is Glory Mann, best beer slinger in Sugar County. Glory, this is Joie—”
“Josephina,” she corrected, offering Glory her hand.
“Letty would be so happy that you’re back. She talked about you all the time.”
Even though she’d heard this over and over, it was still hard to believe.
Glory looked back and forth between her and Brett and smiled. What that smile meant Josephina didn’t care to know. It was followed by a long, uncomfortable silence during which Glory was grinning at Brett, Brett was staring at Josephina, and Josephina was trying to figure out what was so funny.
“I was just getting my knuckles checked out.” Glory fluttered her hand in the air, the same one Brett had been holding. It was wrapped in a bandage and gauze. “Falcons lost to the Saints tonight.”
Josephina waited for further explanation, but Brett was back to holding Glory’s hand again, tenderly flipping it over and inspecting it thoroughly. “You should’ve called JD.”
“Would rather deal with a couple of drunken patrons. Besides, it’s only bruised—and I didn’t come here to talk about a bunch of lightweight rednecks.” She took her hand back and faced Josephina. “Well, I better get going. It was nice meeting you.”
“You, too,” Josephina said, smiling.
“See you later, Brett.”
Just what later meant Josephina didn’t want to know. But it irritated her that she was thinking about its meaning. It irritated her even more that Glory was genuinely nice. The moment Brett’s gaze returned to Josephina’s she stopped caring, she stopped thinking at all, because his intense stare was once more making her melt. Then he opened his mouth.