by Ali Parker
It was one thing for her just to be involving Mason in all of it. But it was another thing entirely when she started to involve me in it too.
I tried to think of something to say to her, but by now, I was starting to realize that words had no effect on her. Suddenly, I spied the bucket of water under the sink. It was quick work to finish filling it from the hose that was still in my hand. Then, I stalked towards the door, hardly thinking about what I was about to do. I knew that as soon as I really thought about it, I would realize what a terrible idea it was. But right now, caught up in the heat of the moment, I didn’t care.
I hovered just inside the bathroom door, listening to Ella and Mason.
“Seriously, lay off her,” Mason said.
“Because you like her?” Ella asked.
There was a long silence, and I wondered what Mason was thinking. Finally, I heard him, though. “No,” he said. “Lay off, because Abi is ten thousand times a better person than you’ll ever be.”
“Do you really think that, Mason?” Ella asked, sounding disappointed. “She’s just your current flavor of the week—we all know that.”
I couldn’t keep listening to the two of them bicker about me like that—I had to do something. I pushed through the door, set to ream Ella out. But instead, I found my arms raised over my head as I dumped a bucket of water over her.
She stood there for a moment in shock, then she whirled on me. “What the hell,” she screamed. “You bitch!”
I stared at her, still shocked that I had actually done it. But there I was, with the empty bucket in my hands, and there she was, with water dripping off her tight-fitting dress. I couldn’t help the smile that spread across my face. Especially not when I saw the way Mason was laughing in disbelief.
Then, my eyes went out to the rest of the bar. Because of where she and Mason had been standing, we were visible to nearly everyone. They had all seen me, and I couldn’t help wondering if it would be exactly like she said—that everyone would believe her over me. I was, after all, the newcomer in town.
Cringing, I shrunk back a little. But I wasn’t the one who was ruining someone else’s life, I reminded myself. I looked over at Mason. “You know she’s making it all up,” I told him. “I heard her talking with her friends. She isn’t really pregnant. She was even stealing their drinks. They were planning on going to Milford so she could drink there and pick up a guy.”
“I knew it!” Mason said triumphantly, spinning towards Ella. He pointed a finger at her. “I knew you were lying. You stay away from me and my family, do you hear me?”
“But Mason, honey, you don’t believe her, do you?” Ella whined, reaching for Mason.
Mason took a step back, scowling at her and folding his arms across his chest. “As a matter of fact, I do,” he said. “Abi has never given me any reason to doubt her. You, on the other hand, are about as trustworthy as a log on the river.”
Ella stared at him for a moment in disbelief, then looked around the bar like she expected someone to back her up. When no one came to her rescue, she stomped her foot a little, seeming to realize that the charade was over. “You did have sex with me, though,” she said, a parting shot.
Mason just shrugged expansively, even though I could see in his face that he didn’t really want everyone in town to know about that.
Kinsey finally walked up to us. “Ella, I think it would be best for you to leave now,” he said, a note of steel underlying his tone. He wasn’t really suggesting it; he was telling her she had about ten seconds to leave of her own accord. It would only be more embarrassing if she got thrown out of the bar on top of everything else.
Ella seemed to realize that too, so she turned on her heel and stomped out. A couple of her friends followed her hurriedly, and I could already imagine what they must be saying to one another. They were probably complaining about how unfair it all was. And about how much of a bitch I was.
I swallowed hard, looking down at the empty bucket in my hands. I hadn’t wanted to get caught up in all the drama, but now it seemed I had inserted myself right into the very middle of it all. I sighed and set the bucket and hose down on the floor.
Kinsey walked over to me, a stern look on his face. “I can’t believe what I just saw,” he said.
I couldn’t meet his eyes, instead, my gaze darted around for some spot on the floor to focus on. “I’m sorry,” I said, even though I knew ‘sorry’ didn’t make up for what I had done. Right in the middle of the bar, right during my shift. Now, he would fire me, then how could I possibly help out my grandparents? It wasn’t as though anyone else in town would hire me; they were all going to know exactly why I’d been booted from Kinsey’s.
I looked nervously around at the patrons of the bar, trying to gauge their reaction. A couple of them had turned back towards their drinks, but most of them were treating this all as the most interesting thing to happen in who knew how long.
Staring at Kinsey, I was in shock as he started to laugh. In fact, he was laughing so hard he had to wipe tears from his eyes. “Never, in all my days,” he gasped, now unable to catch his breath.
“You’re not mad?” I finally managed to ask.
“Mad? Of course I’m not mad!” he said. “That was the funniest thing I’ve seen in years. Besides, I’ve never liked that one, and if anybody had it coming it was her.” He shook his head. “Good riddance.”
He put his hands on his hips as he looked around. “But now, why don’t you get this mess cleaned up. I think we’ve had enough of the wet t-shirt contest for the night. No one’s going to top that one anyway!”
I managed a weak smile and headed for the closet to grab a mop. Mason pinned me in there. “Are you all right?” he asked in a low voice, concern in his eyes.
“I’m fine,” I said. I glanced towards Kinsey. “I’m just lucky I managed to keep my job.”
“Kinsey’s a good guy,” Mason said, nodding. He paused. “You’re not mad at me about the whole Ella thing, are you?”
“It’s not like you were the one causing drama,” I pointed out.
“True,” Mason said. He ran a hand back through his hair and grimaced. “I really hope all the drama’s done now, but I’m worried that people are going to think that you and I are involved, with the way you reacted towards Ella and all.”
I stared at him for a long moment, realizing he was right. But I didn’t really mind it, and maybe Mason was worth all the drama. I smiled shyly at him. “So let them think that,” I said. “Why don’t you come over to my place when I’m done? We can talk more about your idea.”
Mason looked surprised, but he smiled right back at me. “Sure thing,” he said, reaching out to squeeze my hand before turning and heading back to his seat at the bar.
I couldn’t keep the goofy grin off my face for the rest of my shift.
Chapter 15
Mason
I couldn’t stop staring at Abi as she went about the rest of her shift, cleaning up the things from the aborted wet t-shirt contest and then serving people at the bar. I could tell she was a little embarrassed, given the way she kept glancing over at me and blushing. But I just couldn’t help it.
What she had done to Ella had stunned me, and I still couldn’t believe it. I would never in a million years have thought that Abi had that kind of fight in her. I knew she was tough, of course. It took a lot to try to save a farm, especially one in such a state of disrepair. But she’d seemed so hesitant about getting caught up in the slightest bit of drama that I wouldn’t have expected her to get so catty.
It had been really sexy, if I was being honest.
The rest of it was a surprise too, and I couldn’t have imagined it. The fact that Abi had invited me over to her place once she was done with work. I didn’t for a second think of it as in invitation for a hook up or anything like that. She said she wanted to talk, and I believed her. But still, it was progress. It was friendship, if nothing else.
What a weight off my chest with the whole Ella
thing. I had never seriously thought that she was pregnant, but I was more glad than ever to find out for sure that Ella had been lying about it. It meant that I could approach this whole Abi thing without that hanging over me. Plus, the whole town had heard that Ella was lying, too. That should keep them off my backs with Abi, I hoped.
I still didn’t really want my brothers to know that I had slept with Ella, but that was a lot better than them finding out that she was pregnant with my baby.
Finally, in a last-ditch effort to distract myself from Abi, I headed back to the pool tables. Kinsey’s was starting to clear out for the night and there was no one who was really interested in playing pool, but the great thing about pool was that it could be played solo. There were a couple shots I wanted to work on, anyway.
I knocked the balls around the table for a little while, but it was difficult to find my focus. When Luke appeared at my elbow, I was happy for the diversion, even though I had a sneaking suspicion that I knew exactly why he was there. “Did Ted send you?” I asked.
Luke shrugged. “Yes,” he admitted.
I rolled my eyes. “I don’t need a babysitter,” I said. The last thing I needed was my brothers checking up on me to make sure I was behaving myself. It was none of their business what I wanted to get up to in my free time. As long as I kept showing up for work and getting through all my assigned chores.
“Come on, man, let’s just have some fun,” Luke said. “You’re not chasing skirts tonight anyway, are you? Because playing pool by yourself is a funny way of doing it.” He grabbed a pool cue, as though it was already decided.
I forced myself not to glance towards Abi. “Not chasing anyone tonight,” I said. “Ella was in here earlier.”
Luke grimaced. “What’s she done now? Is she still trying to convince everyone that she’s pregnant with your baby?”
“You heard about that?” I asked.
“Don’t worry, I didn’t tell either of our brothers,” Luke said, hurriedly. “And given that Ted is basically a hermit at the moment and David’s off in Nashville, I think your secret’s safe. For now.” He paused. “But you may want to tell them before they hear about it somewhere else.”
“Yeah, yeah,” I said, rolling my eyes. “Seems like Ted already knows. He mentioned something about it when he was firing me.” I paused. “You’re still my baby brother, remember,” I told him, teasingly. “I don’t need your advice.”
Luke snorted and took a shot at the table, managing to knock not one but two balls into separate holes. I groaned and he laughed. “Maybe you need my advice on pool,” he said. He paused, his face sobering. “She’s not really pregnant, is she? Because Ted would have a fit if he found out something like that.”
“She’s not,” I said, shaking my head. “Actually, that all came out tonight. She came in here to try to lure me to her house, like I’d be stupid enough to go anywhere alone with her right now. Anyway, I guess she was pissed when I didn’t agree to go with her, and she started shit-talking me with her friends. Abi overheard them and cleared things up.”
Luke looked appraisingly over towards Abi. “Good of her to let you know that Ella was lying. But you’re still going to be the talk of the town until everyone finds out for real that Ella isn’t actually pregnant. Why no one’s dragged her off to the town doctor yet—”
“Abi made sure everyone knew that Ella was lying,” I said, shaking my head, still picturing Ella there, soaking wet, in the middle of the floor. I knew I shouldn’t have laughed, but I couldn’t help it. She’d gotten what she deserved, all right.
“That’s good, I guess. I’m glad for you,” Luke said. “Abi must really like you, if she was willing to get tangled up in that love triangle. Or love pentagon, if you count our brothers.”
I made a face and looked over at Abi. “She’s just—a friend,” I said.
“Sure,” Luke said knowingly.
I laughed. “All right, you caught me. She’s sexy. We’re not doing anything, she doesn’t really want to get involved with me.”
“Because you’re such a man-whore,” Luke surmised. “And she thinks you probably have herpes.”
“No!” I cried, but I was laughing. “Because she’s a good girl, a relationship type of girl, and she’s leaving after the harvest is over.” I gave him a sly look. “But I am going over to her place tonight, as soon as she’s done with work, to talk. We’ll see where things lead.”
Luke frowned. “You’d better not be late again.”
“Seriously?” I said, sighing in aggravation. “I’m sick of all you guys riding my ass. Why is it that everyone else can do whatever they want, have girlfriends or whatever, but it’s apparently not cool when I do? I’m not even talking about spending the night at her place, I’m just hanging out for a little while. And I have never missed work, even when I have stayed the night with women!”
Luke held up both hands. “Hey, I know,” he said. “I’d be annoyed as well. But you know Ted. He’s under a lot of pressure from Daddy at the moment. If you’re late again, even if it’s just late to breakfast, I think Ted’s going to explode.”
“We’re all under a lot of pressure since David left, but you don’t see the rest of us turning into gigantic assholes over it,” I muttered.
“You know that what we’re dealing with isn’t half as bad as what Ted’s got on his plate,” Luke said, and I had to grudgingly admit that he was right about that. All the same, it was just frustrating.
“I come here to get away from all that shit, you know,” I told him pointedly.
“Yeah,” Luke said, shrugging. “So do I. But I don’t need Ted freaking out and slamming me with ten thousand things to do tomorrow either.” He knocked another ball into the hole and then leaned against his cue, looking seriously at me. “Be careful with Abi, too.”
I rolled my eyes. “What, you think she’s going to break my heart?” I asked. “I’m surprised you think I have one.”
Luke laughed and shook his head. “I don’t really,” he said. “I’m more worried about you versus Ted. I don’t think you’re going to win that one.”
“He can’t get mad at me for dating Abi,” I said. “I’m not even saying that I want to date her. I just want to help her out. She’s having trouble with her family farm, and I have a plan that could help her.”
“That’s exactly what I’m worried about,” Luke said frankly. “I know you want to help her, but you need to remember that we need you around our farm too. There’s a lot to do at the moment. And having hired hands will help, once they’re all trained in what we need them to do, but you have to remember that the reason we’re getting hired hands is so we can increase our output overall.”
“I know all that,” I sighed. “But Ted’s attitude could still use some work.”
“I know he’s been hard on you,” Luke acknowledged. “But you have to remember that he’s just scared. It’s a big change for him, between having to balance his relationship and also having to manage the farm right in the middle of our first expansion in years.” He paused. “He’s scared, you know.”
I rubbed a hand over my face. “I know,” I said at last. I knew that I couldn’t really blame Ted for the way he was harping on me. But at the same time, the little things that he was doing were driving me crazy. I didn’t expect Luke to understand, though. He had always been the most easy-going of all of us. That, in itself, drove me nuts sometimes.
“Well, I’m going to take off,” Luke announced, putting his cue back on the rack. “Try not to stay out too late. Remember, we have an early morning tomorrow, and you need to be on time.”
I made a face at him, especially when I realized he was saying it partly for the benefit of Abi, who had come over towards me. The bar must be closed already, and she had come over to take me back to her place. Luke winked at me and then sauntered off.
“Who was that?” Abi asked, curiously.
“Just my brother,” I told her. “Are you ready to go?”
“It’
s going to be about half an hour. I just have a little more cleaning to do.”
“Can I help?” I asked.
Abi looked surprised, and then a slow grin broke out across her face. She tossed me the rag that she’d had over her shoulder. “Take that and one of those buckets over there and get scrubbing the tables,” she told me.
I gave her a mocking salute, enjoying the way she giggled, and then did as she’d told me.
Chapter 16
Abi
I pulled in next to my brother’s truck and exhaled slowly, trying to calm myself down. Mason wasn’t the first guy that I’d ever taken home with me, but he was definitely the first guy I’d ever brought back here, to the farm. I hoped my grandparents were already asleep. If not, what would they think of me bringing a guy back here so late? Would they assume that he and I were getting up to something?
I glanced over at Mason. “You want a tour of the place?” I asked.
Mason blinked at me. “I think we’d better save the tour of the farm for when it’s light out,” he said. “Last thing I need is to lose you in the cornfields again.” He winked at me, and I couldn’t help blushing. Hopefully he couldn’t see that in the dim light from the porch.
“I meant the house,” I said. “I could show you around the house.”
“All right,” Mason said easily, swinging out of the passenger’s seat.
“We’ll have to be quiet though, in case my grandparents are asleep.”
“Maybe we should save that tour for another time too,” he suggested.
Slowly, with a hand at my lower back, he led me over to the porch swing. I sat gingerly next to him, trying not to sit too close.
Mason laughed. “Relax,” he said.
I grimaced. “Is it that obvious?” I asked.
“A little,” Mason said. “It’s cute, though.”
I didn’t know what to say for a moment. “What kinds of ideas did you have?” I finally asked weakly.
Mason smiled knowingly, but he didn’t embarrass me. “There are so many things we could do,” he said, looking around the dark farm. “I’m thinking that we’d really want to play up the haunted thing. Hay rides around dusk, people dressed up as zombies, all of that. Put up some fake gravestones around the property, tell some ghost stories. That’s the kind of thing that we could market.”