Say You'll Stay

by Michaels, Corinne

  Looks like some people never change, although I didn’t expect much from a heartless wench. The thing about this town is that trying to avoid someone is like trying to dodge the rain—it’s impossible.

  Grace and I chat a little, a lot of people come say hello, and I begin to relax. Trent gets me to dance with him for a slow song, but I spend half the time looking over his shoulder at Zach. I can’t believe he’s here. If I’d known, I would’ve never come back, which is probably why no one told me.

  I head back to the table where Grace is sitting. Wyatt is flirting with some bimbo from another town—typical.

  “So why aren’t you married?” I ask, noticing she has no ring.

  She shrugs and holds up her left hand. “I’m picky.”

  We laugh and she tells me all about the guy she has been talking to. I can almost pretend that my life isn’t a mess right now. The atmosphere of the bar allows me to forget for a bit.

  “Is he from here?” I ask.

  “Pres.” Grace’s eyes nearly bug out of her head.

  “What?” Her gaze is locked on something behind me, and I can see it in her eyes. He’s here.

  “Presley.” His deep voice slides my name out like silk. I fight my body from responding like it wants to. He can’t have this control. I won’t let him.

  “Zachary.” I turn and struggle to keep it together.

  He’s the same boy I fell in love with at twelve. His eyes still hold the same intensity when he looks at me. My fingers tingle as Zach stands before me. He’s paralyzed me with one look. His light brown hair is a little shorter, his five o’clock shadow makes him more rugged, and his body is so much more filled out. Age has only made him better than I remember.

  Grace clears her throat. “I’ll let you two catch up.”

  I try to grab her arm, but she moves too quickly.

  “You look great, Pres.” He smiles, and I fight the urge to slap him. I don’t look great. I don’t feel great. I’m a mess, and I’m trying to find a way to get up in the mornings. But there’s not a snowball’s chance in hell I’m telling him that. The Zach I knew would’ve already seen that. “How are you?” he asks.

  I have a voice somewhere, but I can’t seem to get it to cooperate. “Okay,” I murmur. Damn it. Pull it together, Presley. You’re a grown ass woman who doesn’t need or want to ever be hurt like that again. “You?” Great. One word is all I can manage.

  “I’m doing good. Wyatt said you were back in town, but I didn’t believe him. You were pretty clear about never coming back.”

  Wyatt. That son of a bitch. He knew this was going to happen. “I sure was. Wonder why?”

  “Right.” He’s thrown off by something. Probably my hostility. But he continues our very uncomfortable conversation. “I thought about stopping by the ranch. I didn’t think you wanted to see me, though.”

  I let out a heavy breath. “I didn’t know you were here, Zach. He failed to mention that, as did everyone else. If I had known . . .” I trail off while I collect myself a little more. “I don’t know. I’m kind of surprised right now. I didn’t expect to see you.”

  I didn’t want to see him either. I never wanted to lay my eyes on him again. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind that he’d affect me this way. It’s always been like this for me. I’ve never been able to control my heart where Zach is concerned. He has some kind of special hold on me.

  “We should talk.”

  There’s nothing to talk about.

  “Why are you in Bell Buckle?” I ask with an edge to my voice.

  “Blew out my shoulder,” he says, and I want to laugh. I literally want to laugh in his face. He broke my heart. He left me in Maine to go play pro baseball and winds up back here. “I came back to rehab it, but ended up settling here when my dad had a stroke.”

  Felicia slithers behind him, the whole time watching me. “There you are, baby.” Her fingers slowly glide up his arm before reaching his shoulder. “I was hoping we’d get to talk to you together, Presley. I was telling Zach how long it’s been since the three of us were in the same room. Of course the dynamic has changed a little now.”

  I let out a short laugh. “Yup. It has.”

  Zach’s eyes stay on me. He doesn’t even acknowledge her. “There’s a lot that’s changed.”

  Felicia rests her head on his arm. He looks at her and then back to me. She perks right up. “I would love to have lunch or something. Wouldn’t that be fun, Presley? We could talk all about your life and how Zach and I are doing.”

  “You know.” I let out a dramatic sigh. “I’m really busy these days.”

  “I’m sure you are.”

  I clench my fists, ready to let out months of hostility, but Zach interjects. “Felicia.”

  She, of course, doesn’t take well to him defending me. “Really, Zachary?” She rips her arm away before raking her fingers through her hair.

  Wyatt comes to stand next to me and tosses his arm over my shoulder, hauling me against his side. “There you are, Cowgirl. I need to put one of those tracking things on you.”

  Felicia snorts. “Like one of the cows.”

  I want to claw her eyes out. Wyatt must sense it because his hand clasps my shoulder. “I meant to ask you, Felicia,” he says with indifference. “Did you get what you wanted for your anniversary? You know, the day after Presley got back in town?”

  “Why don’t you grab us a few beers?” Zach urges Felicia.

  She shoots daggers at him. I have a feeling I’m missing something. “What?” she whines. “You’re kidding me?”

  Wyatt tugs me closer. “Grab us one too, would you?”

  “Fuck you,” she snips before turning to Zach. “Babe, let’s go back to the bar.”

  I glance at Zach, whose eyes are zeroed in on Wyatt’s hand. He rubs up and down, and I turn into him a little more. I’m being infantile. I’m fully aware of this. I’m nothing to Zach, and he’s nothing to me. We’re just two old lovers who are now face to face. Of course, the history between us could fill a library, but he’s moved on. I’ve moved on. I have two boys and a life to get back to. I wish he weren’t here, though, and I wish more than anything I didn’t feel this pit in my stomach.

  Wyatt coughs and waves his hand in front of his brother’s face. “Earth to Zach.”

  “What?”

  Felicia’s lips slant down, and I fight back a smile. She’s pissed. “I said let’s go. But you were staring off into space.”

  Zach looks at her and then back to Wyatt and me.

  “You should go, Zach.” Wyatt smiles and kisses my cheek. “Presley is my hot date, and I need a dance before someone else tries to swoop on in.”

  My eyes widen when he says date. Zach zeroes in on that too. “Date?” he asks.

  “Well, yeah. She’s single. I’m single. That doesn’t bother you, does it, brother?” Wyatt goads him.

  He looks at me and shakes his head. “Of course not. All I’ve ever wanted is for her to be happy.”

  If I hadn’t known Zachary my entire life, I might actually believe the bullshit he just spewed. There’s nothing he likes about this. My being here, his brother touching me, him having to see me—it’s all eating him up, and I’m glad. I hope this makes him hurt because the scars he left from ripping my heart apart are starting to ache.

  “Zach!” Felicia practically yells. “Now!”

  I can see the struggle in his eyes. He watches me before letting out a sigh. “Have a good night.”

  “You too, buddy,” Wyatt says to his back.

  Once again, Zach walks away.

  Now to decide how many ways I can kill Wyatt. He knew this was going to happen. It was bad enough seeing Zach, but seeing him with Felicia—torture.

  “Dance with me.” I step out of his grasp.

  “I’m about to pay for this, aren’t I?”

  “Yup.” I turn without another word.

  We head off to the dance floor and a part of me crumbles again. Wyatt takes my hand in his and pulls m
e against his body. “Don’t knee me in the balls or something, please.”

  Our bodies move to the music as he leads me around the floor. He’s lucky I haven’t stomped on his feet. “Why would you let me walk in like this?” My voice is filled with anger. “How could you not tell me?”

  He spins me as our feet shuffle in time. “Would you have come?”

  “No! That’s the damn point.” I shove his hand, and he laughs.

  “Look, you were going to see him eventually. This town is way too small, and this way, Trent and I were here.”

  “I’m so mad at you. You have no idea. You should’ve warned me. You should’ve told me he was here. If you were my friend,” I pause, “I wouldn’t have been blindsided.”

  He shakes his head, clearly not agreeing. “I’ve always been your friend. I’ll always be your friend. But you’ve got a thick head, and sometimes you’re going to have to trust me.” Wyatt looks over toward the bar and smirks. “Right now, my brother is ready to rip my arms off and feed them to me.” I glance over where Zach is shooting daggers at Wyatt as we dance. Wyatt’s hands move lower toward my ass as he spins us again, breaking my view. “Payback’s a bitch.”

  “That’s what this is?”

  Wyatt’s light brown eyes bore into mine. “I would never use you for payback. Ever. I wouldn’t think of you that way. You’d be the reward.” My breath hitches, and I try to decipher what he means. Is he saying he thinks of me as more? Does he have feelings for me still? No. He couldn’t. He must sense my panic, because he continues, “I’m just saying this isn’t some game. Your friendship isn’t something I’d fuck up for fun.”

  “I know that.”

  “Good.”

  When the music stops, he bends in a dramatic bow. “I’m still pissed.”

  He chuckles. “You’ll get over it. Just like you’re over him.” His chin raises in the direction of the bar. I’m a fool if I look, but I’ve always been stupid when it comes to Zach. He leans against the railing, staring at me while Felicia vies for his attention. When our gazes lock, everything disappears.

  There’s no one else in the room, this town, or this world right now.

  Zach and I might be over, but my heart doesn’t seem to care. I’m deluding myself if I think otherwise.

  But I’ll never go there again.

  I remember why I’m here. The reason my life is now on the path I’m traveling. Zach left, I met Todd, and this is the consequence.

  I AWAKE THE NEXT MORNING with a killer headache. It was exhausting trying to avoid Zach all night. I ducked out pretty early. Thankfully Grace offered to take me home.

  Not wanting to wallow in my fury of conflicting emotions, I decide to head into town to get a few office supplies. I’m lucky that most of the town is at church so I can get around undetected.

  Or maybe not.

  “Oh, my God! Presley?” a woman shrieks as I exit my car. “Is that you?”

  I turn to see one of my high school girlfriends. “Emily Underwood!” I pull her into a hug. “You look amazing!” Her blonde hair hangs to the middle of her back, and she’s ridiculously skinny. She was always pretty, but she’s stunning now.

  “Thanks.” She fixes her shirt. “I’ve been singing up in Nashville, so lookin’ good kind of helps get you a gig in that town.”

  “That’s awesome. I know you loved to sing when we were kids.”

  She sang in every play, chorus, and at church for as long as I can remember. Her mother and mine are close friends. Well, everyone who’s the same age here are close friends.

  Emily shrugs. “I can’t seem to stop. It’s my passion.”

  We start to walk down the sidewalk. “That’s really great, Em. I’m so happy you’ve found something you love.”

  “Thanks.” She smiles. “What about you? What the hell are you doing back in Bell Buckle?”

  Oh, just trying to not go insane. “Had some things happen, needed a change.” I don’t want to explain it anymore.

  “Good for you. Oh, my God!” Her voice gets very dramatic. “Have you seen Zach?” Her eyes alight with wonder. “He’s gotten so good looking. I mean, he’s with the town bitch, but.” She sighs. “Now that you’re back . . .”

  Now that I’m back what? He’s got his girlfriend. I’ve got my miserable life. End of story.

  “Did I mention I have two boys that are almost eleven now?” I try to throw her off the topic.

  She stops and stands in front of me. “Oh, nice try, Presley Townsend. You’re not going to give me the questions with a question thing. You know you can’t pull that crap down here.”

  I sigh and decide to give her a tiny piece of information. “I saw him. He was with Felicia. We said hello, I said goodbye.”

  I have to remember to answer only the question. I don’t know how anyone tries to get away with anything here. My mother could’ve been a detective with the way she’s able to wring out information. You think they’re asking one thing, but the follow up question is what gets you.

  She smirks. “Were the sparks there?”

  “Can we not talk about this?” I beseech her. “I’m sorry, it’s been a long day, and I’m out of coffee.” And I don’t want to think about him. It’s bad enough he starred in my dream last night; I don’t need that becoming reality.

  “Oh, let’s go to the coffee shop,” she suggests. “We can talk more about all the things you’ve been doing since you’ve been gone.”

  Yay! Not.

  “Sounds great.”

  We get some coffee, which immediately makes me feel more human. Everyone looks as I walk in, and I hear the whispers. God, I miss Philly. At least there I could walk into a Starbucks and no one would even notice.

  “You should come to Nashville soon. I have a few gigs lined up,” Emily says as she sips her coffee.

  “I would love that.”

  “I’m sure this is a tough change from the city life.”

  I laugh. “That’s an understatement.”

  “Even though you were raised here?”

  “It’s different from what I remember. I’ve become so used to having everything close. The boys have had a major culture shock.”

  “I bet.”

  We spend time filling each other in on our lives, and people stare as if I’m an apparition. My mother had to have told her friends. It baffles me that anyone is shocked at this point. Then again, I’ve been pretending it wasn’t real by staying at the ranch.

  “I need to head out.” Emily checks her watch. “I hope you and Zach get a chance to talk.”

  “Em, it’s over. It’s been over for almost two decades.” I wish my heart would accept that. Seeing him again, knowing he’s close, has me all torn up inside.

  It’s like I’m fourteen all over again and he’s asking me to go on our first horseback ride. The assured grin he wore, the tight jeans that made his butt look great, and the way his eyes would convey everything he wouldn’t say. We were so young, so in love, and so idealistic.

  “Sure, it is. You know, this town isn’t ready to believe that. We all watched you both. There’s not a single memory I have without you two in it. Your love is the kind people write songs about.”

  Great, my life is a country song. I’m a widow, living on a ranch, driving a truck, and the long-lost “love of my life” and I are face to face. All I need is a dog.

  “I think you all remember things very different. And we’re not in love anymore. Besides, if our love was so special, we would still be together.”

  Emily grabs my hand. “I’m serious, Pres. You’ll see. Y’all are soul mates.”

  I give her hand a squeeze as I shake my head. “There’s no such thing.”

  She stands and grins. “I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that.”

  I get out of my seat and give her another hug. “I think it’s time everyone lets it go.”

  “Whatever. Love doesn’t let go, it grows stronger. I’ll see you soon?” she asked, leaning in to give me a kiss on the che
ek.

  “Definitely.”

  I open the door to leave and see the truck I’d know anywhere. There’s no way I want to see him. I yank my sweatshirt hood over my head and rush to my car. The more I can avoid him, the safer my heart will be.

  A knock on my office door causes me to stop working. “Zach?” I push my glasses up the bridge of my nose and stand. I should’ve known avoiding him wasn’t really going to work when he can roll up any ol’ time he wants. It was only a matter of time.

  “Sorry to stop by without callin’, but the other night wasn’t exactly the best place for us to talk.” He removes his hat and tosses it on the chair. “I saw you in town yesterday trying to be incognito. Figured we should try to be civil.”

  Civil? He can’t just show his face when he wants. He doesn’t belong here. I don’t want to see him at all, much less in my home, the one place that’s my safe haven. Damn him for not taking the fucking hint.

  “Your mother said you were out here. She didn’t throw something at me, so I took that as a good sign.”

  “What are you doing here?” I stand, slamming my hand on the desk. “My mother may not have thrown anything because she’s a proper Southern woman, but I’m not anymore. I’ve spent enough time in the North to not give a shit if I pelt you in the head with a stapler!” I grab it off the desk and rear back.

  “Whoa! Whoa!” he says with his hands raised. “I’m not coming to start anything. I just want to see how you are. I’ve missed you.”

  “Asshole!” I throw the stapler at his head. “You don’t get to miss me!”

  He ducks as it makes a loud bang against the wall. Zach’s eyes widen as his lips turn up. “Seems all those years watching me play ball taught you how to throw.”

  I grab the next thing I see. “You apparently sucked at teaching!”

  “Felicia and I wanted to invite you over for dinner.”

  He has lost his damn mind.

  Zach lets out a sigh and moves closer. “I know it could be awkward, but I figured if . . .”

  “If what? That there’s a chance we could be friends? Hang out even? You need your head examined if you think that’ll happen.” I don’t know if maybe he forgot how we ended things.