I shook my head to clear my thoughts. Grams had mentioned before that Bristol never listened to my songs. “Wait. She doesn’t listen to any of my songs?”
Grams shook her head. “None. And trust me, your mama and Emmie— she’s Bristol’s mama,” Grams said to Lanny, who nodded, “And Mindy too…we’ve all tried to get her to listen to them.”
“But they’re mostly all about her,” I stated.
She shrugged and leaned back in her chair as Lanny and I did the same.
Lanny asked, “How do you know she has a scrapbook of…”
“Shh! Lord, child. That is a secret, and I’m not supposed to know.”
Lanny leaned in and whisper-shouted, “How did Mindy find out she has a scrapbook?”
Grams gave a wicked smile and winked. “We have our ways, Sweetheart.”
“Teach me your ways, wise one!” Lanny declared.
I dropped back in my seat and groaned as I closed my eyes.
“These are going to be the best few weeks of my life!” I heard Lanny say.
Bristol
THE PALE PINK dress seemed all wrong as I stared at myself in the mirror. I took a picture with my phone and then opened Instagram.
I posted the pale pink dress and the light blue romper. Then I captioned the photos.
Going out on a date tonight, y’all. Yeah, it’s been a while. Which outfit?
Now I would sit back and wait for the votes to come in. It didn’t take long to see which was going to be the winner.
“The blue jumper it is,” I said with a smile.
I slipped the pink dress off and then stepped into the jumper. I paired it with simple white dangle earrings and a silver necklace my mama had given me. A cross with a small heart in the middle of it.
Another snapshot, and up it went on my Instagram stories.
The winner! I wrote as I posted it and then glanced at the time. I was meeting Gus at El Torito Gril for dinner. He had asked me out months ago, and I had politely declined. When I stopped at the bank yesterday, though, I decided to take him up on the offer. When he had mentioned going out on our date today, a part of me wanted to say no. After all, I normally sat on the sofa and watched Pride & Prejudice every year on this date and then cried myself to sleep because I would never find my Mr. Darcy.
That wasn’t true—I had found him, and I had stupidly let him slip away all because of my foolish pride.
Well, I wasn’t doing that again this year. Especially with Anson back in town. I wouldn’t give him the benefit of knowing I was sitting at home.
One more look at myself in the mirror and I smiled. “Here I come, Gus.”
An hour later, and I was still waiting on Gus as I sat and sipped my margarita. Finally, he arrived. Nearly thirty minutes late. I spent the time texting Mindy, ready to walk out and leave when she convinced me to give him a few more minutes.
“Hey, Bristol. I’m so sorry I was late. I got stuck at the bank.”
I smiled. “No worries. I was about to call you when I realized I never got your cell number.”
Gus sat down, picked up his menu, and then looked at me. “I don’t have a cell phone.”
“Did you lose it?” I asked.
He laughed as he studied the menu. “No, I mean, I don’t have a cell phone at all.”
I laughed, thinking he was joking because hello, it was the twenty-first century and all, but as he glanced up at me, the look on his face said he was not kidding.
My laughter faded. “Wait, you’re being serious. You don’t have a cell phone? Like…at all?”
He shook his head. “No, I do not.”
I was positive my face was one big confused, scrunched-up blob. “How do you get messages?”
With a frown, he replied, “I have an answering machine at home.”
I would have given anything to have seen the expression on my face when he said answering machine. Any. Thing.
“I didn’t realize they still made those…because you’d need a landline for that to actually work,” I said with a chuckle. He didn’t find my joke funny.
“They do, yes. I have a landline, obviously. And if you ever need to get a hold of me, you can always call the bank.”
I nodded. “Do you check your social media on your laptop then?”
He looked up from his menu again. “I don’t do social media. Do you?”
I nearly laughed. “Um, yes. I have a pretty large following on Instagram. Over half-a-million people.”
Gus stared at me like I was some sort of puzzle he suddenly realized he would have to figure out.
“Is that so? What in the world could you possibly have to talk about with half a million strangers? They’re all probably trying to steal your identity.”
I stared at him in shocked silence and realized my mouth was hanging open when he reached across the table and closed it with his finger.
“Sorry. I guess I’m not used to people saying they don’t have cell phones or social media.”
“We exist, I promise you.”
I nodded, suddenly feeling like this date was not off to a great start.
“Again, what do you talk to these people about?”
With a shrug, I replied, “Everything. Anything. I take a lot of pictures of things and post them. I have a few paid ads I do but only products I like and use.”
He nodded.
“I just got done doing a bedroom makeover and shared that process.”
Now he looked horrified. “You showed a half-a-million people your bedroom?”
I nodded. “Yes. I show them lots of things in my house. Like this new rug I got! It is so cool. You can peel it off and then throw it in the washing machine!”
His brows pulled in tight. “Why would you need to do that?”
“I don’t know,” I said with a half-shrug. “In case the dog got it dirty.”
His frown deepened. “You have a dog?”
I smiled. “No, but I would like to get one.”
He snarled his lip. “I hate dogs. And cats. And birds.”
“Birds!” I nearly shouted. “Jesus, you lost me at the dogs and cats, but how can you hate birds, Gus?”
“They poop.”
I waited for him to go on.
Nothing.
“That’s your argument? They poop.”
He nodded.
The waitress came and took our order. I was so discombobulated by all of Gus’s truths that I nearly forgot how to speak. I got my order out and then turned back to Gus.
He was smiling, and for a moment I forgot all about the no cell phone thing. He was handsome, and I had a feeling he had a nice body under that suit. Of course, good looks or not, the guy hated animals.
I was about to ask him something else when I felt the air in the room change. With a quick look over Gus’s shoulder, I sucked in a breath when I saw him. A curse escaped my lip-gloss coated lips.
Gus went to turn. “No! Don’t turn and look,” I said. “It’s my ex.”
“Would you like to leave?” Gus asked.
Okay, that was sweet of him to ask. That sort of made up for the fact that he didn’t like social media.
“No, oh goodness, no. He’s here with his assistant. It’s fine. Everything is fine. No worries. It’s all good. It’s fine.”
I reached for my margarita and took a long drink.
Gus nodded then turned to watch Anson and Lanny as they were seated.
He shot his gaze back at me. Now it was his turn to have his mouth gaping open.
“Holy meatballs, Anson Meyer’s is your ex? The Anson Meyer? The country music singer?”
“Wait, did you just say holy meatballs?”
He nodded and took another quick glance at Anson before he looked back at me. “I don’t swear.”
Yeah, this relationship is not going to work out. Honestly, I’m not sure we’ll make it through the chips and salsa at this rate.
“Of course you don’t,” I mumbled.
“Are we ready to or
der?” a waitress who was not our own asked as she stopped at our table and stole glances at Anson.
“We already ordered with the other waitress,” I stated.
She looked at me and frowned. “Well, she lost it, and I need your order again.”
Gus went on like she hadn’t just been incredibly rude to me. “I’ll have the number five special. Bristol?”
With a quick smile to the waitress, I said, “I’ll have the special, again.”
After she wrote our order down, she made her way over to Anson’s table to let him know that his waiter would be right with him. Then she turned and giggled as she went back to the kitchen.
I looked back at Anson. Goodness, he stole my breath. He had a cowboy hat on, one of his older ones. I only knew it was an older one because it had George Strait’s signature on it. He also wore a light blue T-shirt that showcased his muscles nicely. I glanced around the restaurant. Not one person—besides that rude waitress—was paying any attention to the fact that he was in here. Never mind the fact that he was famous, he was, by a wide margin, the best-looking guy in the place.
Stop this, Bristol, right now.
“How do you find time to do your social media when you have the tea room?”
Gus’s voice pulled me away from ogling Anson.
“It’s not that hard. I enjoy doing it, even though I don’t do it as much as I used to.”
“Exactly why do you do it?”
“Um. Well, it’s fun. I guess I enjoy interacting with people.”
“You don’t find that you could spend your time doing something more…useful?”
Whoa. Hold on there, Mister. What in the hell?
“Like what, Gus? What occupies your free time without social media and cell phones?”
He leaned back in his chair. “Well. You could go for a nice walk. Paint or read a book. Maybe learn to play an instrument.”
“I read almost nightly, I run every day, oh, and I’ve played the piano since I was eight.”
“You play the piano?” he asked with a smile. “I do as well.”
“My mother had me take lessons early on. She said it was a good skill to have. Anson took music lessons with me; he chose guitar.”
Good Lord. Why had I brought up Anson? Who does that? Who talks about an ex on a first date with the ex in the same place? Especially when said ex is a famous country singer.
That would be me.
“Nice,” Gus replied, a polite smile on his face.
I reached for my margarita and took a drink.
“Did you want a drink, Gus?”
He shook his head. “I don’t drink.”
With a forced smile, I nodded. “Right.”
From the corner of my eye, I watched as the waitress brought drinks to Anson and Lanny’s table. She had an iPad on the table and appeared to be taking notes. Then they both laughed, and a painful twist hit me in the stomach. The way Anson laughed at what she’d said seemed so carefree. I longed to be the person sitting across from him.
No. No, I didn’t. I was perfectly fine sitting across from Gus. The animal hating, non-cursing, zero social media engaging, piano-playing banker.
“Is that his new girlfriend?”
My head jerked back to Gus. “What?”
He motioned with his head over toward Anson and Lanny. “Is that his girlfriend?”
“Ah…”
How should I answer a question like that? If I said she was his assistant, it would make it appear that I followed every little detail of his life. If I said I didn’t know, then it would make it seem like I had been watching them because I was jealous.
“I’m not entirely sure.”
He nodded. “Would you like to go say hi?”
“No! God, no,” I replied with a chuckle. “I would like to pretend he’s not even there.”
A faint smile appeared on Gus’s face. “That’s going to be hard to do when you keep looking over there.”
My gaze met his. “Direct, aren’t you, Gus?”
He shrugged then took a drink of his water. “I think we both realize we have nothing in common, Bristol. I think you’re a beautiful woman. You intrigued me, that’s why I asked you out.”
I reached across the table and squeezed his hand in mine. “I agree with you a hundred percent. You’re very handsome, but I don’t think we have much in common either.”
He winked and then nodded. “Should we blow off dinner then and head to my place or yours?”
I tilted my head and leaned forward some. “Um, why would we do that?” I asked with a confused laugh.
“Sex. This is all about sex now, right? I want you. I’m assuming you want me. The next obvious question is where would you like to have sex?”
I dropped back in my seat and stared at him. I wasn’t sure how many times my mouth opened and closed in an attempt to speak. Or how many expressions went across my face. But he sat there and patiently waited for me to work it all out.
“Let me get this straight, Gus. We have nothing in common, therefore we’ll never go on a date again. Yet, you want me to go home with you and sleep together?”
He smiled. “Just because we don’t have anything in common doesn’t mean we can’t share a nice evening together.”
“I’m honestly trying to figure out if I want to slap you or go home with you and see if your dick is as big as your head.”
Gus grinned. “I’m happy to show you. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.”
I took my napkin off my lap and set it on the table. Then I plastered on the best smile I could and looked my date square in the eyes.
“You, my friend, need a fucking cell phone because clearly you spend too much time alone with your dick. I’ve lost my appetite. Enjoy your evening, and from this point on, I think I’ll be using the drive-thru at the bank.”
I stood and grabbed my purse. When I started to walk off, I couldn’t help but glance over at Anson’s table. He looked up at me and frowned, then looked back toward dickhead Gus.
It was decided. I was swearing off men forever.
Bristol
“NO. WAIT! WHAT?”
I nodded and took a sip of wine as I sat curled up in a chair on Mindy’s back porch.
“He wanted to go back to your place and have sex?”
“Or his place. He probably would have taken me in the bathroom, simply to make it easier and more efficient so he could get back to the painting he was working on in his free time.”
Mindy lost it laughing. “What in the living hell is wrong with men?”
I sighed. “I don’t know, but if you figure it out, let me know, will you?”
Mindy shook her head and let out her own sigh. “I swear, the only normal, decent guy I know is your brother.”
I lifted my glass up to the heavens. “I’ll drink to that.”
“What about Anson showing up at the restaurant?”
Turning, I stared at her. I hadn’t told her about Anson being at the restaurant. “How did you know he showed up there? I hadn’t mentioned that part yet.”
Her hand paused as she lifted her tea to her mouth. “You said he was there.”
My eye twitched. “No, I never mentioned anything about Anson being there.”
She peeked over her glass and smiled. “Must have heard it from someone else.”
“Gossip spreads fast in this town, I’ll give you that. But not that fast. Spill it, Mindy. It wasn’t just a coincidence we were at the same place for dinner, was it?”
She set her glass down, crossed her legs, and gave me a megawatt smile. “Fine! Fine! You dragged it out of me! I’ll tell you already!”
I lifted my brows. She was practically bursting at the seams to spill the tea. “I barely asked you anything.”
“It’s okay, you don’t have to badger me. My God! It was Ida! She called with this plan of hers. I couldn’t turn her down. She offered me apple streusel. Bristol, you know how much I love her apple streusel.”
With a nod, I
mumbled, “You do like her streusel.”
“Yes! And she knows I have this weakness called pregnancy. And my husband left me, and I’m emotional right now. I couldn’t make a good decision if my life depended on it!”
I nodded. “Wait, is that the streusel in the kitchen? It’s half gone!”
Mindy blushed. “Well, it was good. And Drake ate some.”
“Drake?”
“Yeah, he stopped by to see how I was doing. He barely missed Anson dropping off the streusel. Good thing, because Anson might have gotten punched again.”
I smiled. “Drake stopped by, huh?”
“Yeah. Why are you looking at me like that?”
“No reason. I think it’s interesting how my brother is so…worried about you.”
Mindy narrowed one eye at me. “What are you hinting at, Bristol.”
“Nothing! I’m just saying, you know he had a crush on you once upon a time.”
Her eyes widened in shock. “He did? When?”
“High school. But then you got together with Jim, and he got together with…bitch face.”
Mindy stared at me for the longest time. I sat up straighter as I figured out the look on my best friend’s face.
“Holy shit. You liked my brother in high school? Mindy! Why didn’t you ever say anything? Y’all could have ended up together! Had babies together! Instead, you both ended up with losers.”
“Thanks, I’m well aware of that. And yes, I liked him, but that was high school.”
“Why didn’t you ever tell me?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. It was Drake. He was older and so handsome.”
“He still is handsome,” I countered.
The way her eyes lit up and her teeth dug into her lip told me she still liked Drake. A lot.
“How would that work?” I asked. “You’re pregnant with another guy’s baby.”
Her mouth dropped open. “I’m not even divorced. I just found out my husband was cheating on me, and you’re hooking me up with Drake already?”
“It was just a question. My gosh. Just cause you’re pregnant doesn’t mean you don’t have…desires.”
“I’m not talking to you about this.”
I nodded. “Fine. Let’s get back to you telling Ida about my dinner date tonight.”
“Girl, it is so hard because I’m so horny all the time now with the pregnancy, and then all these feelings just came flooding back with Drake.”
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