“Just type in Luke Collins and the photos will come up at the top of the search listings,” she instructs.
I’m already typing. The first photo makes me catch my breath. Luke is being hauled out of the police car and into the station with his hands cuffed behind him. I’m walking alongside with a sheriff’s deputy holding onto my upper arm. “I’ve found them,” I tell her. “We’re definitely not Instagram ready in these photos.”
“Look on the bright side. All they have is a few photos. Nothing explicit or too risqué. Sure your hair is a little messed up. No big deal. This isn’t the worst thing that could happen to you.”
I don’t dare share with Misty my biggest concern. What if someone has photos on Luke and me kissing in the meadow? The media has a way of twisting things around to suit their purpose. Hot bile rises up in the back of my throat. I close my eyes and will myself not to throw up. I hate this. “Hang on a sec,” I tell her. “I’m trying not to puke.” I scroll down to the next set of photos. There’s Luke’s mugshot. He’s scowling at the camera. Then another one of me and Misty while we’re trying to make our way through the crowd of photographers to her car. “Why didn’t you tell me a weed was sticking out of my hair?” I ask her. “People might think I’m a meth addict.”
“Honey, you were a wreck,” she explains. “I was just trying to get you home asap. We didn’t have time to be fixing your dress or hair. Though now that I think about it, we should’ve taken the time. You’re a hot mess in these photos.”
“Thanks a lot.” I laugh despite myself. “I would say my date with Luke was worth it, but I’m not so sure now. Considering we were arrested and now this scandal.”
“What are you going to do?” she asks.
“Pray that my parents don’t see these before I get a chance to talk to them about it,” I reply. “Chances are they won’t. Neither one of them are big on social media. They’ll certainly hear about them though. My mom’s cousins love to spread gossip at every opportunity. I’m sure they’ve already tried to call her.”
I keep scrolling through the photos. There’s a grainy photo taken at the church with me and Luke singing together. I’m standing right behind his shoulder. A second closeup shot shows our hands discreetly linked together. There are several photos taken afterwards at the church luncheon. He’s handing me a paper plate and I’m smiling up at him. Another one where we’re sitting together at a picnic table with Lily. All three of us are digging into a huge slice of the cake I brought with our forks. There’s even a photo of Matthew and their dad standing together underneath a big oak tree. Charles looks frail in the photo, while Matthew appears sad and worried.
I feel a sudden urge to punch the person who took these photos in the face. It’s hard to understand how a stranger could invade our privacy and special moments to get their ‘likes’ up on social media.
“People are horrible,” I say quietly. “I can’t believe someone took these at church. Doesn’t anyone have any respect? We were at church for heaven’s sake! A sacred place. Not a social event.”
“You’re the most upset by the church photos?” she asks. “And here I thought the police station photos would be the worst.”
“They are,” I say. “I’m trying not to think about them. How can I face my boss this morning? Or my co-workers? I’ve tried so hard to project a professional image. I should leave and call in sick today.”
“How long will that work? You’ll have to face this at some point. Running away won’t solve anything. Keep your head up. You’re a good employee and general all-around great girl. Everyone loves you. You don’t have anything to be ashamed of.”
“I’m embarrassed,” I say. “And mortified. I’ve never been involved in a scandal. I like my quiet, peaceful life. Luke will go back to Nashville soon, and all I’ll have left to show for our time together is a tarnished reputation.”
“These are modern times. By tomorrow, you’ll be old news. Don’t sweat it.”
“This is also a small town,” I remind her. “People talk, and they’re still old-fashioned here. I’ll be remembered as the girl who was arrested for doing ‘goodness knows what’ with that playboy Luke Collins. I can hear the little church ladies talking about it now.”
“Oh, those old biddies need something new to talk about to liven up their day,” she says. “Stop worrying. I’ll call you later to check in. Keep your chin up, look people in the eye, and do your job. Don’t hang your head. No one will dare say anything to your face, so just pretend as if it didn’t happen. Eventually it will all be forgotten, I swear.”
“I’m sure you’re right,” I say. “Taking the day off won’t accomplish anything. Luke and I have a long history together, and I loved him. It’s not as if I picked up a random guy at a bar to rob banks with.”
“Love is the word, not loved,” she corrects. “Keep your facts straight and don’t talk to the media. Call me or text anytime if you need me. I’m only a phone call away.”
“I’ve got you on speed dial,” I say. “What would I do without you?”
“Don’t worry, you’ll never have to find out.”
Making it through the morning without letting my thoughts distract me is hard. I can tell by the way my co-workers are tiptoeing around me that they’ve seen the photos. They want to ask me about them but have enough respect for me not to. For that, I’m extremely appreciative. One day when this all blows over, I’ll thank them.
My customers are treating me differently too, cooler than normal and not as chatty. Or maybe it’s my imagination that they’re silently judging me while buying dental floss and vitamins. I try to bury myself in work, not giving myself a second to stop and think about the photos.
Meanwhile I haven’t heard a word from Luke. Surely he’s out of jail by now? I was hoping to hear an update from Matthew. By the time my lunch break rolls around, I can’t stand it any longer. I need to take a break to clear my head.
“I’m heading to the sub shop for a sandwich,” I tell my co-worker, Tina. “I’ll be back in thirty minutes. Do you want anything?”
She waves a hand at me. “No, I’m trying to stay on a diet,” she says. “Don’t tempt me.”
I’m almost at my car before taking notice of the white van parked beside it. A guy with a camera is busy clicking away, taking one photo after the other of me. I fight the urge to bang on his window and confront him directly. Instead, I turn around and hurry back inside the drugstore. Going straight to the snack aisle, I gather up crackers, a candy bar, a bag of chips, and a soft drink.
“I thought you were getting a sandwich,” Tina calls out to me when I hurry past her on my way to the stockroom.
“Changed my mind,” I say. “I’m having junk food instead. There’s too much work to do for a full lunch break.”
“What do you consider a full lunch?” she jokes back. “You have a day’s worth of calories in your hands.”
“I know, but I need it today.”
Hiding in the breakroom, I hastily gobble down my lunch. I’m almost finished with the candy bar when my phone buzzes with a text message from Luke.
“The jailbird has flown the coop. I’m sorry. How can I make it up to you?”
His joking tone tells me he doesn’t know about the photographs. I’m unsure how to answer. My lunch break is almost over and I have a responsible job to do. I can’t be working on prescription medications while I’m chit-chatting on the phone or my mind is wandering somewhere else. One mistake with filling medication and I could kill someone. I’ve worked too hard to get to where I’m at. I can’t jeopardize my job. At the end of the day, I’m still a professional. With a sigh, I turn my phone off and head back to work.
Tonight, I’ll visit Luke at the ranch, and we’ll talk about a plan. For right now, I need to concentrate on not screwing up everything I’ve worked for. Soon Luke will leave Sweet Rose Canyon and go back to Nashville. He’ll pick up his career and go on the same as before. There’s no doubt in my mind this will be his fina
l decision.
When he does, I need to make sure I have my life to go back to as well.
The day drags on in slow motion. When my shift is over, I breathe a sigh of relief and sign out of my computer. After donning the biggest, darkest pair of sunglasses I can find to buy in the drugstore, I hurry to my car and pull out of the parking lot. When I reach the town’s one stop light, I glance in my rearview mirror. Just as I suspected, the white van with the reporter is following close behind me.
Not for long.
A split-second before the light turns green, I gun the accelerator and take off down Main Street. After several random turns down narrow streets and cutting through the back of a grocery store parking lot, I lose the van. For now, anyway.
I’m sure they’ll be waiting for me back at my house. My fifteen minutes of fame is almost over and I’m already sick of the press. I’ll never understand how Luke tolerates it twenty-four hours a day. Living his life would make me miserable.
I head out of Sweet Rose Canyon and drive straight to the ranch. Luke and I need to talk. When I arrive, I park beside his rental truck. I’m glad to see he managed to retrieve it from the impound lot unharmed. I jog up the porch steps at the house and after knocking twice, open the door and let myself in.
“Anyone home?” I call out. “Matthew? Lily? Charles? It’s Ginny.”
No answer.
Walking into the living room, I check to see if Charles is sitting in his usual recliner chair in front of the television. He’s missing too. They must be out on the ranch somewhere together.
I go back outside and head over to the two-story, red-and-white barn behind the house. There I find both brothers, leaning against an old wooden split-rail fence overlooking the pasture. Charles is sitting beside them in a folding lawn chair with a soft drink in one hand and a bag of peanuts in the other.
Luke is shirtless, with his broad shoulders rippling with muscles. His arms and biceps are slick with sweat from working this afternoon on the ranch. His worn jeans are covered with dirt and his old leather boots are dusty. He’s never looked better in my opinion.
Luke throws his head back and laughs out loud at something Matthew says. Matthew grins back at him, says something else, and they both burst out laughing again. The joyous sound carries across the yard to me. For a moment, I stop walking to take in the scene before me.
This is the way I always pictured our life together would be. Full of family, kids, and the ranch with big open spaces to play. I hate to interrupt them and break up the party. They seem happy and at peace with each other. A rarity for the brothers lately. I head towards them. Luke spots me over his shoulder and rushes over to greet me with a hug.
“Ginny! What are you doing here? I’ve been trying to reach you. Is your phone off? I’m so glad you came by.”
“I had to work today,” I remind him. “Sorry that I didn’t have a chance to call you back earlier. Were the charges really dropped? It’s over?”
“Yes, thank the good Lord! All due to Matthew. Him and Sheriff Johnson are buddies from way back in high school. The sheriff wiped the slate clean and turned me loose. It’s all water under the bridge now. No worries now. Nothing but sunshine and blue sky ahead for us.”
“Not exactly,” I say slowly. “I have some bad news and thought it would be better to tell you in person.” I hold up my cellphone and show him a screenshot of the photo of us being led into the police station. “Have you seen these photos?” I ask. “There’s several more of them.”
His happy, relaxed expression falls. “No.” He takes the phone from my hand and flips through the photos. His expression changes from surprise to irritation to anger. By the time he sees the photo of Matthew and his dad at the church picnic, he’s furious. “I could kill these people!” he spits out, his eyes angry. “Taking photos of me is one thing. Invading my family’s privacy and yours is another story.”
Matthew walks over to join us with a concerned expression on his face. “What’s going on? What are you two talking about?”
“Some photographers posted a bunch of pictures on the internet,” Luke replies. “All of us are in them. Even Lily and Dad at the church picnic yesterday. And Ginny with me at the police station.”
“No way! Don’t tell me that,” Matthew says angrily, grabbing the phone to see for himself. “How is this legal? I thought they weren’t supposed to publish photos of celebrity kids?”
“Misty told me it was a kid who posted the photos from the church,” I tell him. “Everyone has a cellphone now. He uploaded the full video of Luke singing too.”
“If it was a church member’s kid, they’ll be hearing from me,” Matthew says. “When I find out who took these photos at the church, I’ll jerk a knot in somebody’s tail. Kid or no kid. Children think they can get away with all kinds of bull these days with Mommy and Daddy covering for every screw-up. Kids need to learn that their parents can’t fix everything. Not this time. If it’s the same brat kid who I think it is, he’ll be mowing the lawn at the church for the next five years for free. I’ll let the preacher know too. I’m sure he’ll have something to say about it.”
“Can we get the photos taken down?” I ask Luke. “You would know more about this than we do.”
He slowly shakes his head and lets out a long sigh. “We could ask the original poster to take them down. Once they’re on the internet, they’re out there. Even if the original photos are removed, they’ve been shared, copied to cellphones, and posted again. Nothing ever dies on the internet.”
“That’s what I thought,” Matthew says grimly. “I’m not having Lily’s photo spread all over the internet. Next thing we know, her mama will come running back to town hoping to cash in on Luke’s fame. I’m surprised she hasn’t done that already.”
“Your fans are upset too,” I say to Luke. “They’re burning you alive on the internet. And they think I’m the reason you’re canceling shows. Now they’re sending me hate messages to my work email.”
“You haven’t replied to them, have you?” Luke asks in concern. “Don’t ever do that. They’re baiting you. That’s all. Don’t respond.”
“No, and I won’t.”
Luke reaches out to wrap both arms around me and pull me closer to him. “I’m so sorry about all of this. The last thing I wanted to do was bring my problems down on you and my family. This is a nightmare. I’m not worried about my fans. This will blow over for me. It’s you I’m worried about. I’ll do whatever you want. If you want me to go public about us, I can tell the truth. That you’re someone important from my past that I never forgot. Or I can say nothing and keep quiet until you’re ready. Whatever you feel most comfortable with doing.”
“I don’t know what is best,” I say. “Photographers are stalking me now. They’re outside my house and the drugstore. A van tried to follow me when I left work a few minutes ago. I don’t know how to handle this kind of attention. It’s scary and unnerving. Did you see the photo captions? They’re making me out to be a trashy girl who is screwing up your life.”
“When nothing could be further from the truth,” Luke says, kissing the top of my head and smoothing down my hair. “They’re trying to create a sensational clickbait headline. I never meant for you to be hurt. I messed up everything by coming back to town.”
“Don’t say that.”
“I’m going to be flat-out honest with you,” Matthew says, crossing his arms. “I don’t like the press coming around the ranch, taking photos of Lily and Dad or bothering Ginny at her job. This is our life here in Sweet Rose Canyon. Our financial livelihood. Things can’t continue on this way, Luke.”
“Are you saying I should leave and go back to Nashville?” Luke asks, surprised. “I thought you wanted me here at the ranch?”
“We all want you here,” Matthew says. “That’s not the issue. Things have changed since the press showed up to harass everyone. You might not have a choice if the photographers keep this up. I need your help with Dad, but we need to think a
bout Lily and Ginny too. We’ll all involved now.”
“I’ll talk to Harry and see if he knows something we can do,” Luke says. “Don’t worry, Ginny. No matter what, I won’t let the fans or the press tear your good reputation down. Hopefully this will all blow over soon. Believe me, it always does.”
I nod against his chest, hoping what he says is true.
26
Luke
I pull Ginny tighter against my chest, hoping to ease her concerns. I hate that she’s tangled up in this mess now.
“Why don’t you stay for dinner, Ginny?” Matthew suggests. “Luke can tell you about all the stupid things he’s been caught doing over the years. I’m sure there are plenty of clips of his screwups online to entertain us. We could all use some cheering up.”
Ginny smiles over at him. “Thanks, Matthew, for the dinner invitation. I’d like that. Are you sure I wouldn’t be intruding?”
“Absolutely not,” he says. “You won’t be intruding because you’ll be the one cooking.”
“I hope you’ll stay,” I say. “The bottom line here is that what’s done is done. We just need to figure out a way to work through it together.”
“I’ll wash up and then get dinner started,” Matthew says. He claps his hands together to brush off the red clay dirt from his hands and heads into the house.
Once he’s gone, I lean down and pull Ginny close for a long kiss. “Are you sure you’re alright?” I ask, drawing back and lifting her chin to search her eyes.
“Just shaken up by everything,” she says. “I love my privacy and have never been one to want attention. You were always the superhero and I was the sidekick. I was comfortable in my silent backup role.”
I gently rub my thumb against her lips. She’s gazing up at me as if she thinks I can fix this and make it all go away. I’m not sure I can. “Thank you for hanging in there with me after this mess. If there’s any way I can make it up to you, I will.”
Every Good Cowboy Deserves A Second Chance Page 19