“Oh.” Brian still looked shocked, but he seemed to accept his cousin’s explanation. “But how did you end up…I didn’t even think you guys were on speaking terms.”
We’re not.
His cousin continued, “I mean, you lost your shit when Becca paired you guys up for the wedding. I’ve never seen you so pissed.”
Josh had been mad. He’d thought it was just Brian and Becca trying to play Cupid.
“You gave me the third degree at the rehearsal dinner. I had to swear on the life of my unborn children that I wasn’t the one that switched things around. And you didn’t speak to her the entire weekend. In fact, have you ever spoken to Bailey in the, what’s she been back in town for? Five years now?”
Six years, two months, five days, and about seven hours.
“But all of a sudden you’re showing up to a gala looking like The Fonz and you’re going to dance with her for twenty-four hours? How does that happen?”
As much as Josh would love for his cousin to drop it, he knew that he wouldn’t.
“I was out for a ride on Firefly Road. I came across Buford broken down and found her walking about a mile up. I picked her up, dropped her off, and left. But she forgot her purse in the back of my bike.” Technically, he took off before she could retrieve it. “When I came back to return it, she was arguing with the girl at the desk who said that she couldn’t dance without a partner.”
“Oh, I see.” Brian’s mouth tilted up in an amused grin. “And you swooped in with your cape and saved the day. I guess old habits die hard.”
He’d had the same thought less than half an hour ago. “I’m doing it for the hospital.”
“I’m sure the hospital appreciates it.”
He knew what his cousin was thinking. That Josh was doing this for Bailey. He wasn’t. Josh was doing this because it was the right thing to do. Just like giving her a ride was the right thing to do. He had no desire to win Bailey back.
They were over and nothing would change that. Not because he didn’t love her, but because he did love her despite his best efforts not to. He’d finally learned to accept that as a cold, hard truth in his life. Fighting what he felt for her was a losing battle, so instead he’d resigned himself to it and learned to cope. But, that didn’t mean he wanted to dwell on it. He was determined to move on with his life.
He was going to have the future that he’d always dreamed he’d have with Bailey. A family. A home. A forever kind of love. It just wasn’t going to be with her.
He’d recently started seeing someone that he could imagine having something like that with. It was new. They’d hung out a couple of times. It wasn’t anything serious. They hadn’t discussed being in a relationship or even being exclusive. Hell, they hadn’t even had sex yet. But Heather was nice. Pretty. Smart. Funny. So far she checked all the boxes.
Josh liked spending time with her and he thought about her when they weren’t together. He didn’t ache for her, the way he did with Bailey. His heart didn’t do a nose dive when it was time to say goodbye. He didn’t crave her with every fiber of his being. But that was okay. It was better, actually.
He’d seen where that kind of all-consuming love had gotten him. And his dad, for that matter. For all intents and purposes, his dad’s life was over the day they’d buried his mom. And Josh’s own life had been stalled since Bailey had left. It was time to jump start it again.
“Well, good luck. I always thought you two should bury the hatchet. Here’s to new beginnings.” Brian lifted his beer and Josh begrudgingly clinked his glass in cheers.
There was no reason to mention that this was not the beginning of anything. It wasn’t the end of anything, either. He wasn’t looking to start fresh or for some kind of closure. He just wanted to get this night over with.
“How’s your pops doing?” Brian thankfully changed the subject.
“He’s hanging in there.” Josh’s dad had acute emphysema from smoking his whole life and to complicate matters further, he was diabetic.
Both conditions would be a lot more manageable if he actually took his medication or followed his doctor’s orders. But Stanley Scott was a proud man. He refused to slow down or modify his diet.
Secretly, Josh thought that he might be doing it on purpose. Evangeline Scott had been Stan Scott’s entire life. She was his sunshine and he’d been living in darkness since she passed. Josh was ten when his mom’s kidneys began failing. From there, it went fast. She started dialysis in July and was gone by Thanksgiving.
From the day she took her last breath it was as if his dad was just waiting to do the same. Josh’s father had always been a rock of their family. He was a man of few words but the ones he spoke had always been wise and thoughtful. He was also the hardest working man Josh knew. Stan Scott lived by the motto actions speak louder than words, and his father proved that he loved his family every day by his actions. Until they lost Josh’s mom. After that, his dad became a shell of himself. He barely functioned. Instead of quiet strength, he became belligerent and aggressive. Josh hadn’t just lost his mom, he lost his father, the man that he idolized and to this day he missed them both.
People said that things would get better with time. They said that things would get easier, but they never did. If anything, with each day, month, and year that passed, his dad got more sad. More angry. More resentful that his sunshine wasn’t with him.
He’d begged his dad to go to counseling, but Stanley Scott was from a different generation. One where men didn’t talk about their feelings. Instead, it seemed he was hell-bent on smoking, eating, and drinking his way to an early grave.
He was currently in the hospital with a case of pneumonia.
“I heard your pops cussed out the radiologist.” Brian shook his head as a smile tilted his lips.
“Yeah.” Josh had only heard his dad’s side of the story, so he had no idea what’d really happened. But he doubted the “guy had it comin’” as his old man had claimed.
“Becca said that Bailey calmed him down.”
“She did?” Josh hadn’t heard anything about that.
Brian nodded. “Apparently, any time Uncle Stan gets out of hand, they call Bailey to diffuse the situation.”
“They do?” This was the first that Josh was hearing about that.
“Yeah.” Brian took a swig of his beer. “From what I hear it happens pretty often. You know your pops, he can be—”
“An asshole,” Josh finished.
“I was going to say combative, but yeah. That, too.”
“Why didn’t you tell me that was happening?”
Brian’s brow creased and he looked at Josh like he’d just grown another head. “Until about sixty seconds ago, I was scared to utter the B word.”
That’s fair.
“But why do they call Bailey? It’s not like she and my dad were ever close?” His dad had never taken their relationship seriously. He’d been dismissive and condescending whenever the subject came up. At the time, Josh had figured it was because they were so young, but now, as an adult he wondered if it was because his dad met his mom around the same age that he’d met Bailey and their relationship reminded his dad of his and his mom’s.
“They are now. Things change. People change.” Brian shrugged as he smiled. “That, and Becca thinks she might be smuggling him cheeseburgers from The Grill.”
“I thought I smelled a burger the last time I was there.” Josh had interrogated his dad about it, but Stan had feigned ignorance. He was on a strict diet that he never adhered to.
“Five-minute warning, dancers. Time to make your way to the dance floor,” the MC announced.
“I can’t believe you got roped into this.” Brian’s smile was a mile wide as he finished off his beer and slapped Josh on the shoulder.
“You sure it’s a good idea to be drinking beer before you have to dance for the next eight hours before you get a break?”
“I have a bladder of steel,” his cousin assured him.
Out of the corner of his eye he saw Bailey emerge from the bathroom. She’d pulled her hair up, exposing her neck. Her neck had always driven Josh crazy. He could kiss, lick, and nibble on it for hours.
Bailey and Becca were laughing and for the first time since she’d returned to Harper’s Crossing, Josh didn’t feel a stab of pain in his chest at seeing her. Instead, he felt a warmth spread through him. The same warmth his dad described experiencing whenever he saw his mom.
Bailey was his sunshine. She always had been, and he feared she always would be. But unlike his dad, Brian was determined not to let the rest of his life be ruled by it. He could live in the shadows of her lost love. He just had to stop himself from walking toward the sun, because there wasn’t enough sunblock in the world to keep him from getting burned.
Chapter 6
“Okay, teams, take your places.” The announcer’s voice came over the loud speaker.
His words caused Bailey’s pulse to speed up. This was it. For the next twenty-four hours, she’d be in Josh’s arms.
“Remember, your feet must continue to move. No stopping. We have several referees that will be monitoring the floor. You will get two warning whistles and on the third your team will be disqualified.”
The MC continued to read off the rules but Bailey tuned him out. Her palms grew damp and she couldn’t catch her breath as she walked out onto the dance floor. Apprehension and anxiety consumed her.
You’re not walking the plank to your death, she told herself as her mouth dried up like the Sahara desert. She tried to swallow but she was unable to. Drink a can of suck it up.
She’d stolen that line from Grandpa J. He’d never said it to her, but she’d heard him say it once to a group of whiney teenagers doing community service because it looked good on their college transcripts. They’d been complaining about having to actually do work instead of being on their phones and he’d told them if they needed a break they could go to the fridge and get a can of suck it up. It made her smile every time she thought about it.
Partners filled the area around her and she waited.
Immediately after Sierra so politely excused them, Bailey had rushed to the restroom. She’d stayed in there until the announcement came and she hadn’t seen Josh since she’d walked out. There was no doubt in her mind that he was still there and he’d be on the dance floor before the first whistle blew. Unlike Peter, if Josh said that he was going to do something, he did it. No exceptions.
People crowded the floor. The level of chatter increased and there was a buzz in the air. The ballroom was alive with kinetic energy, but that wasn’t why the tiny hairs on her forearm suddenly stood on end. Even before she saw Josh out of the corner of her eye, she’d been aware that he was beside her. She’d known because she’d felt his overwhelming presence. It was similar to sitting in front of a blazing fire after being in the snow all day. He radiated heat.
“Take your places. Ten seconds to go.”
There was a large countdown clock on the far wall and Bailey watched the seconds ticking down to the start time.
She swallowed over the large lump in her throat as the number reached five and she turned to face her partner. Without a word, Josh settled his left hand on her hip and with his other took her hand in his. The innocent contact shot through her body like a bolt of lightning. It took her by surprise and a shiver ran from the top of her head to the bottom of her toes. The buzzer sounded. They were now on the clock.
Josh either didn’t notice her reaction or didn’t care. When her eyes lifted to meet his, he was staring above her head. His body was tense and his frame locked as he swayed back and forth, leading her around the dance floor. She didn’t need to be a body language expert to see that he was doing everything in his power to have as little contact with her as possible. Her body was having a much different experience than his. She was fighting every instinct to melt into his embrace.
These were the only arms she’d ever wanted to be in and she’d honestly believed that she’d never feel them again. Emotions that she knew she couldn’t indulge were pushing past the walls that she’d built around her shattered heart, but she did her best to ignore them.
So much needed to be said, but couldn’t be. There was no way that Josh would ever understand or forgive her for the things she said to him that day at the dorm. It was almost a catch-twenty-two situation. The only way he’d understand would be if she told him why, but if she told him why, she feared he’d never forgive her.
It was strange that she could somehow deal with him hating her while not having all the facts, but the thought of him knowing the whole truth and hating her was unfathomable.
Which left her between two friends she’d come to know quite well: Mr. Rock and Mrs. Hard Place.
Since there was no way to truly clear the air, she cleared her throat instead. “Thanks again, for doing this. You didn’t have to and I want you to know how much I appreciate it.”
Bailey moved side to side, looking up at the man who’d owned her heart for close to a quarter of a century. His cold stare remained trained above her, as if she weren’t there at all. The only response she got to her statement was another barely perceptible, terse nod of his head. It seemed that was his preferred form of communication with her.
The first song came and went, but Bailey’s heart was still beating rapidly. It wasn’t racing from the exertion of dancing. On the contrary, she was barely exerting any energy because she knew that this was a marathon, not a sprint. No, her pulse was running due to the adrenaline spike she had from being this close to Josh.
Besides her ability to compartmentalize things, Bailey’s other superpower was her unwavering, rational thinking. It didn’t matter what the situation was, she never panicked. Calm was her default whenever things around her were chaotic. It was yet another coping mechanism that her not-so-idyllic childhood had taught her.
It had been a big part of why she’d been so successful in her field. No matter what the stakes were, or how grim things seemed, Bailey’s composure never faltered. She remained steady, clear-minded, and focused.
But none of those adjectives would describe her now as the weight of Josh’s palm rested against her hip and the rough pad of his work-worn thumb snagged on the soft material covering her. Josh had been what kids called a “gearhead” growing up. Before he was old enough to work on cars, trucks, and motorcycles, he’d worked on bikes and skateboards. He repaired and tricked out anything with wheels for all the kids in town. From the time she met him, he’d always had rough fingertips from working with his hands and as a teenager she’d associated that with being manly.
He started working at his uncle’s auto shop when he was thirteen. She’d always thought it was so hot that her boyfriend had a job. None of the other kids in eighth grade had jobs. She used to spend as much time at the shop with him as possible. It was where he was truly in his element.
Some of Bailey’s favorite memories were hanging out with him there before and after school and on weekends. The atmosphere was relaxed and happy. The shop had a distinct metallic scent and there was always music playing from a boom box that sat on one of the shelves.
At the time, there was nothing sexier to her than seeing Josh in a white T, faded jeans, and a backwards baseball cap with grease smeared on his forearm. Her teenage hormones would get all revved up watching him as he worked. She wondered what her adult hormones would do seeing him now, as a grown man, in that same scenario.
A tingle spread through her lower region just thinking about it.
He’d taken over running the shop after his uncle retired a few years ago. Since they weren’t on speaking terms at the time, she hadn’t asked him about it, but she’d wanted to. Now seemed like a good opportunity. “So, how are things going at the sh—”
“Don’t,” he cut her off.
She flinched at his harsh tone. “Don’t what?”
The sides of his nostrils flared at her question as his eyes shot to hers. His stare took her br
eath away, and not in the Scarlett-O’Hara-swoon way. No, the oxygen around her was stolen because of his vacant stare. There was no warmth, no connection, no soul in his eyes.
“Just don’t.”
Bailey could tell that Josh was serious. She knew that the right thing to do would be to just drop it. Especially since they were going to be spending the next twenty-four hours together. No reason to start things off on the wrong foot. Well, any more than they already were.
But against her better judgement, she asked, “Don’t what? Don’t talk to you?”
Did he really plan on them being silent for the entire event?
“Yes.”
“Seriously? You don’t want me to talk to you? We’re going to be dancing together for twenty-four hours. Do you realize how long that is?”
Josh continued to lead her around the floor as he inhaled slowly through his nose.
Uh oh. Her eyes widened. She knew the slow inhale meant he was gathering his thoughts. Whenever Josh had something significant to say, he took a few seconds to run it through his mind to make sure he chose exactly the right words. Which meant, whatever he said to her next, he really meant. It was deliberate and calculated.
“We’re not friends. We’re not going to make small talk. Don’t ask me about my life. I have nothing to say to you.”
His words hit her square in the chest with the force of a punch from the Hulk. For a moment she was so stunned that she stopped moving, but when she heard the whistle she snapped out of it. Thankfully, the offender that the ref had blown the whistle for was not her. It was for a couple a few feet away.
That was a freebie.
After the wave of devastating heartbreak rolled through her, a realization dawned on her and a stubborn resolve was left in its wake.
There was no way that Josh would be able to go twenty-four hours and not speak to her. Not because he’d want to. No, no, no. Breaking his vow of silence would be totally out of his control. He would need an answer to something and he wouldn’t be able to help himself.
Just One Night - Josh & Bailey (Crossroads Book 13) Page 5