by Lia Riley
“You came back,” he murmured.
She nodded slowly. “Turns out I needed to wrap up some unfinished business.”
“Yeah. What kind?”
“Me.” She pulled back, pain etched on her face. “I didn’t mean to hurt you by leaving. It was selfish. The worst thing I could have done. I was terrified by the feeling of needing. Of needing you. I’ve done everything I could to never need anyone.”
He twirled her around. “I know. I know. But you know what? None of that matters. Not one single stupid thing we’ve done in our pasts.”
“Why?”
“Because every step and every misstep has brought us here, right here, to this moment.” He dropped his head, resting his cheek on hers. “And now I’m a small-town guy, dancing with a big-city girl to one of my favorite songs.”
“It doesn’t feel too complicated?” she teased.
“Making a decision to be with you is the simplest decision I’ve ever made.” As he pressed a kiss to her ear, smiling at her happy sigh, his gaze met Birdie’s across the dance floor, where she danced with her husband and twins, the four of them holding hands and turning in a laughing, tripping circle.
She winked at him and he winked back, warm to his toes. Thank God she’d let him go all those years ago. Because it made space in his life for this moment. And as the song finally came to an end, he couldn’t feel regret, because his and Pepper’s melody had just begun.
Lou Ellen stepped up on the stage, striding to the microphone and giving it two brisk taps. “Good evening, Everland. I think you’ll agree with me when I say this has been our best Pillage yet, am I right?”
Whoops and cheers erupted around them.
“The oysters are going to be coming all night, so eat, drink, be merry, and on behalf of all of us at the Quilt Guild, go make bids. There are gift cards from a range of local businesses from What-a-Treat Candy Boutique, to the General’s General Store, to Smuggler’s Cove and Chez Louis, plus many more! There’s also the always-popular Florida condo and, saving the best for last, Mr. Scallywag. This year we have a fine man—not that I’m biased—a little older than our usual vintage, but aged like a fine wine. Dad, come on up and let the ladies see what they’ll be bidding on.”
More cheers, especially from Miss Ida May and Maryann Munro, who threw elbows as they good-naturedly jostled to reach the Mr. Scallywag bidding table first.
“Get out of the way, cougar! He’s five years younger than you.”
“Who you calling cougar, you horny old saber-tooth!”
Doc stepped up the stairs, and despite the perfection of everything else, a shadow passed over Rhett’s heart.
Pepper must have felt it because she rose on tiptoe to kiss him on the cheek. “His loss,” she whispered.
He was glad Doc was willing to go on a date, even if it was for charity. He knew Mama would never have wanted him to grow old, alone and bitter. Mama loved to rescue lost souls, and she’d hope a good woman would come along and save his dad from living alone except for Marie Claire.
Speaking of the Maltese, she didn’t look right. His gaze dropped down to the small white dog peeing on the bottom step of the gazebo. Strange. He frowned. A case of nerves?
Doc stepped to the mic, not seeing as Marie Claire collapsed to one side, eyes glazed and muscles twitching in herky-jerky spasms.
“Stop!” Rhett dropped Pepper’s hand and dashed forward.
“Son.” Doc frowned, his bushy brows contracting. “This forum is no place to rehash old—oh! Marie Claire!”
Everything happened in a matter of seconds, but time moved in slow motion.
Rhett knelt down, checking her vitals as the seizure stopped. “Has this ever happened before?”
Sometimes dogs have a one-off seizure and it’s not an emergency.
“Three times in the last month,” Doc said in a choked voice. “I took her to TLC in Hogg Jaw, and they assured me she was fine. The diagnostic bloodwork they ran came back negative for anything serious.”
“The wait-and-see approach is not a good idea with reoccurring seizures. We’ll have to bring her to my office for a checkup. Now.” He caught Doc’s gaze and refused to look away. “You okay with that?”
“Can you help her?” The old man’s voice cracked, and for the first time Rhett saw Doc as he was, not the towering father figure of his imagination, but an old man who matched bowties and hair ribbons on his pet. A man who doted on a dog to try to bring a little joy to what was a lonely life.
Rhett’s heart expanded in pity. “I’ll move heaven and earth.”
Doc mashed his lips before replying. “Thank you, son.”
All those years ago, Dad had been in the wrong. But hell, he’d lost the love of his life and was hurting. Rhett glanced at the tattoo on his arm. What would Mama say? Stay true to self-pride at the expense of patching things over? Stay true to emotional isolation? To a lonely existence because it guaranteed never being hurt?
Never.
“You should take her home to rest tonight. Keep her under observation, and you can bring her in first thing tomorrow morning. There are many possible underlying causes, so we have to do a lengthy workup. No stone will be left unturned.”
“I can be there first thing.”
“Sounds good. We’ll make her better, Dad. I promise.”
A half hour later, the band was back onstage and the town celebration had resumed. Pepper lifted a flute of Champagne to her lips, smiling as Tuesday and Rhett danced.
“Mind if I have a word?” A crisp British accent, not a slow Georgia drawl.
She turned, blinking into the shadow. “Cedric Swift? Is that you?”
“At your service.” The British sailing historian stood in the gathering dark, looking decidedly uncomfortable.
“What’s the matter?” she asked.
“What would you say if I told you that I might have some information about illegal activity?”
“In Everland?”
He nodded once. “Stealing in particular.” He pointed to the flower-strewn cement base where Davy Jones used to stand. “That dog statue to be exact.”
“You know where Davy Jones is?” she asked, shocked, mostly because of the relief flooding her. Who knew that she’d grown so attached to that bronze furball, and yet, he was a part of this town. This place that felt so much like home that her body ached with the promise.
He frowned. “Not exactly. But I think I do know who took him.” He undid the top button in his button-down shirt and rolled his shoulders. “I’d been up in Charleston doing research. Found a few interesting leads on…well…a few interesting things. The night the statue went missing, I’d had a hard time sleeping, so I decided that a midnight stroll would do me well. Fresh air and the like. And that’s when I saw a man behaving rather peculiarly.”
Her brows mashed. “Peculiar how?”
He cleared his throat. “Creeping through the town green in a black ski mask, carrying a sack and a crowbar peculiar.”
“That isn’t something that you see every night.”
He chuckled. “Happily, he didn’t see me. So I watched, assuming he was going to break into an automobile. But instead, he headed to that dog statue. It was hard work for him to get it off. Ample swearing. Then it came free, striking him in the face. He ripped off his mask and it was—”
“Hey, what’s going on?” Rhett pulled up short, frowning between them.
Pepper made a “quiet” motion. “You’ve met Cedric Swift. He was just telling me—”
“No, but I’ve seen him around a few times. Talking to you.” There was definite tension to his voice.
She gave him a look. “I did not fly back here like the west wind was at my back to find you only to have you getting all weirdly jealous about the fact I’m talking to this guy.”
“This guy?” Cedric pointed at himself. “What’s wrong with this guy?”
“Nothing.” Pepper gave him a reassuring pat on the arm. “You’re perfectly nice. And b
rave. And knows who kidnapped the Davy Jones statue.” She stressed the last part of the statement for Rhett’s benefit.
“Who did?” Lou Ellen drew close, emerging from the shadows with Snapper and their four daughters in tow.
“It was that chap with the strange name. Not Kevin Bacon.” Cedric laughed to himself. “Although that movie Footloose, ah, what a classic.”
“Cedric,” Pepper snapped, clapping her hands in his face. “Focus.”
Cedric startled. “Hogg. Yes, the judge with the swine-like surname.”
“Can you be certain?” Rhett growled.
The historian gave a one-shouldered shrug. “As certain as anyone can be who sees a man in the dark. He clocked himself jolly well hard in the face, so if he’s the man I think he is, you should see him sporting a sizeable forehead egg.”
Lou Ellen gasped. “It was Hogg. Today at Sweet Brew, Maryann Munro mentioned that the judge had taken up boxing. I thought it was strange, but she said he’d come into work with a black eye and a mood worse than usual.”
Rhett cracked a knuckle. “I saw his car by the courthouse when Beau parked. Let’s go have ourselves a conversation.”
Folks streamed out of the auction, catching wind of what had happened. Rhett, Pepper, Lou Ellen, the General, and Cedric found themselves flanked by a large and increasingly agitated mob.
“We need to calm everyone down,” Pepper muttered out of the side of her mouth.
“Good idea,” Cedric suggested. “What do you suggest?”
“Sing ‘Kumbaya’?” Pepper was kidding. At least half kidding.
“Stick by me in case the action gets out of hand.” Rhett beckoned her closer.
Lady Justice watched their approach. God, she gave good RBF. Her stone face watched the crowd with a calm impassiveness, as if she knew righteousness would win the day, and that would be enough.
Sure enough, the judge’s apple-red Cadillac was parked in his designated parking spot.
“I almost feel bad for him,” Lou Ellen piped up chirpily. “If I wasn’t so pleased that rat bag was finally getting his due.”
“I don’t.” Maryann jogged up. “This man has had it coming for years. Do you know how many times he’s made me cry, in the little girls’ room? The lord works in mysterious ways.”
They filed into the courthouse’s marble rotunda. Pepper hadn’t set foot in the courthouse since her unlucky first day. She glanced up at the rotunda as the crowd hustled toward the staircase. It was as if she could see herself in her pencil skirt and poofy hair that fated first day when she was chasing a dream that she’d carried for so long.
A false dream that would never lead where she wanted to be.
Rhett turned to her, an apology in his eyes and something else. Something she hoped she wasn’t hallucinating through heartsick longing. “After this dies down, we need to talk.”
She nodded in assent. “Soon.”
He gave her hand a squeeze. They were at the door with the frosted glass.
“Easy now.” Rhett held up a hand. “I’ll go in alone.”
“Not so fast. I’m coming, too,” Pepper announced.
His mouth twitched as if he was going to tell her to wait, but as her hands migrated to her hips he smashed his lips together, nodding once in assent.
Rhett walked with her through the door, and then let them into the large back office. Judge Hogg sat at his desk, hands clasped, waiting. Cedric Swift had been right: he did have a black eye and deep bruising on his forehead.
“What’s the meaning of this?” His tone of manufactured outrage was exactly the type people use when they must pretend at having nothing to hide.
Rhett cut to the chase. “We’re here for Davy Jones. Where is he?”
“The precious town dog? I don’t know what you’re talking about.” But his hands belied the bold statement. They didn’t stop moving, adjusting a water glass, moving a pencil. Sweat sheened his creased brow.
“You were seen,” Pepper said. “Crowbarring him off his pedestal.”
“We don’t want trouble.” Rhett jerked a chin to the door. “I can’t say the same for the people lining up behind that door.”
The judge cocked his head. Deep-set lines bracketed his mouth as he took their measure. “Such a pity about your animal shelter. You had worked so hard to honor your mama.”
“What’s that mean?” Pepper swiveled her head back and forth. The judge was steering the conversation in an unexpected direction. “What’s the shelter have to do with anything?”
Judge Hogg blinked blearily. “Doesn’t matter. It’s not going to be built.”
“You have no say in that,” she scoffed.
“Actually, yeah. He does. Hogg’s on the board of Low Country Community Foundation.” Rhett raked a hand through his hair. “He needs to review our grant application and sign off. He tried to strong-arm me, and it didn’t work.”
“Deal is off.” Hogg shrugged with satisfaction. “Construction grants require unanimous approval.”
“Listen good.” Rhett broke the smug silence with a fist banged on the desk. A glass of water upended, trickled down to the carpet. “There’s three things I care about most in this world. One is this town’s reputation, and one is my mama’s memory. Here’s how this is going to go. Another deal. Give me the statue and recommend the shelter funding—in full.”
“Or?”
“I open up that door and unleash a horde that will tear you limb to limb like a pack of hounds on a treed coon.”
The menacing grumbles outside increased in volume.
“It’s not here.” The judge’s Adam’s apple worked up and down. The clockwork gears in his head almost audible.
“Where?” Rhett wasn’t fucking around. All patience was gone. His boyish features brokered no weak excuses.
“Hogg Jaw.” He licked his dry lips, glancing at his dog’s painted portrait. “Let me drive home.” Anxiety wafted off him, thin and sour as old milk.
“You’re lying,” Pepper broke in. “Rhett, Davy Jones is here, and I think I know where.”
The judge broke into a sweat as Pepper stalked to the portrait, “There!” She touched the frame and the picture swung open. Inside was a secret cubby. A pair of bronze ears poked out of the top of a flour sack.
The judge bolted to the office door, took one look at the townspeople, and slammed it shut. “Mama’s going to kill me,” he sniveled. His hands splayed the wood. “She has a plan. Taking that dog was step one.”
“Now I have the statue. I still want the grant.” Rhett’s tone was implacable, even as he opened the window. “Deal or disaster?”
“Yes, damn you,” the judge choked. “Deal. Deal. Anything. I’ll sign off on the grant tonight. All I’m asking is to get out in one piece.”
“Pleasure doing business. There’s a thick wall of ivy. Climb down and head for the hills. Tomorrow the shelter will be funded in full, and you’ll submit your resignation from the board and job. You’re off the bench and out of town. No more lording over the people of Everland.”
“Climb down?” The judge’s pale face drained of the last vestiges of color. His waxy mouth went slack with shock. Fists beat at the door. The frame creaked. With a whimper, he kicked a leg over the window ledge and vanished into the night.
Pepper closed the cubby and swiveled around. “What are you going to do to buy him time, uphold your part of the deal? You got the dog and the grant, but this crowd is baying for payback.”
“Trust me, Trouble.” Rhett’s features grew grave. “I’m going to do something I should have done a long time ago. And when I’m done, people will have something to talk about for a good long time.”
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Townspeople poured into the judge’s office. The gawking expressions were anxious, angry even.
“Hogg, get out here with your hands up.”
“We want Davy Jones!”
“Calm down, everyone. Calm down.” Rhett raised his hands, his voice deep and au
thoritative. “Davy Jones will be returned to the Everland Dog Park after a few minor repairs. I’m sure Mayor Marino will waste no time in ensuring that the statue will be fixed good as new.”
The crowd hummed, digesting the information.
“But there’s another matter to attend to,” Rhett persisted. “Davy Jones represents courage. Loyalty. A steadfast heart. In that spirit, I have to repair something else tonight, my relationship to this incredible woman standing beside me. Many of you know that I like nothing better than avoiding the town spotlight. Wanted to steer clear from the Back Fence and any gossip, but—Miss Ida May, are you here, ma’am?”
“Move it, move it. Coming through, people. Step aside. Coming through.” She barreled her way to the front. “’Course I’m here, Cupid.”
“You have full permission to print everything I am about to say.”
She reached into her purse and removed a notepad with an audible squeal.
“Pepper. When I said I value three things, I meant it.” Rhett turned to engulf her hands in his. They were warm, so warm, and all she could do was kick herself that she had almost walked away from them forever. His touch was an anchor, and promised to help her steer course through any rough waters ahead. “There’s my mama’s memory. This town. And you. There was a time this week when I wasn’t sure I would ever see you again. And I realized that could never work because if I never saw you, I could never tell you that I love you.”
Pepper’s gasp was magnified by those of everyone in the room.
“Yeah. I love you,” he repeated, his voice rough with emotion. “Once I told you that I thought I did. And I lied. Because I knew it and got scared. But you don’t deserve lies anywhere near the kind of love I want to give. And you sure as hell don’t deserve cowardice. So now I want everyone in this town to know the truth. No secrets. No more hiding. Because with you on my arm, I’d be the proudest man on the coast, and no matter where you go, I want to stay true to you, and that means staying by your side.
“I love watching you watch eighties romantic comedies and that when you laugh, it makes me laugh. I love that you will drink a beer on my boat and tell me to turn off cheesy music. I love that since you’ve lived here I’ve had the privilege to watch you flourish and grow. My dogs love you. Kitty loves you. Hell, the whole dog park adores you. And I love your red underwear and—”