Repercussions (The Hot Mess Duet Book 1)

by B. L. Olson

  "Oh, uh yeah I suppose. I used to write all the time, but I had been blocked as of late."

  She pats me on the knee and gives me a knowing smile, "Sometimes things happen in life to derail us a bit. The important thing is you found your way back to it."

  Oh, how true those words are. I veered so far of course that I was beginning to believe I would never find my way back. It became easier when I had Wyatt in my corner, him witnessing the real me I keep beneath the surface and pushing me to do what I knew needed to get done all along. I could do this alone now, I know I have to. I don't need anyone who could so easily push me away when I am in such a vulnerable state.

  Grandma Hazel interrupts my thoughts and asks, "Do you mind if I use the restroom dear? This old bladder isn't what it used to be." She pats her stomach.

  Makayla jumps up and answers for me, "Of course! Let me show you where it is."

  They head out of my bedroom and leave me alone with Maddie, and it's then that I realize I don't know much about the silent Haynes sister. Sensing my thoughts might turn to personal questions she breaks the silence first, "Sorry about this. It's my turn to babysit and she said it's either this or going to the shooting range today." She shrugs uncomfortably.

  I let out a laugh, "Probably a wise decision to keep her away from firearms. Do you have to babysit often?"

  Maddie tucks a tendril of her dark hair behind her ear and murmurs, "We all sort of take turns. It's not like she's senile or anything, that woman is smarter than half the politicians running this country, but she has no fear in her old age. Someone has to keep her in line." She taps her fingers on my wooden bed frame.

  I nod knowingly, having been witness to some of her more creative moments when it came to her wardrobe. I can only imagine what other shenanigans she manages to get herself into.

  "For what it's worth, I agree with Grandma Hazel. Wyatt will realize he's being a freaking idiot and negating all the progress forward that he made with you."

  Her words cut me. I can't let myself hope that he comes to his senses, not sure what I would even do if he did. I'm torn up still that he could just walk away from me in the hospital and pissed that he used words that he knows would play on my insecurities and make me try and doubt us as well.

  I retort, "I think it's a little late for him to come to this realization. I've been sitting here dealing with falling off a cliff, the miscarriage of your brothers freaking baby, and him telling me I am not good enough to fight for. Even if he stopped being an idiot, I wouldn't want him back anyway."

  While my hormones have mostly returned to normal, I still feel a surge of them every now and then. I'm often taking a feeling and running with it, like my sudden outburst of anger. I'm not so whacked out that I don't notice Maddie's eyes widen slightly before she schools her expression. Like her freaking brother.

  She points out my mistake, admitting something Wyatt hadn't likely shared, "You-you were pregnant?" I nod and she looks concerned for a moment before saying, "Well now I really know why my brother is being a dolt."

  "Care to share your theory with the class?"

  She gives me a searching look before slowly replying, "Did Wyatt tell you about his life before moving here?"

  "About Brielle and leaving the force? Yeah, we have discussed it."

  She studies my face for a moment before asking, "And what exactly did he tell you about Brielle?"

  "They met when he graduated from the academy, fell in love, got married, and she died when she got hit by a drunk driver." I cross my arms across my chest slowly, trying hard not to disturb my healing ribs.

  "So Wyatt didn't explain to you that the reason they got married so quickly was that Brielle was pregnant?" Maddie asks softly.

  Her words don't register, at least not at first. Did she just say Brielle was pregnant when she died? Was Wyatt going to be a father? And then, oh God, here I happened along and almost died while our baby suffered my possible fate. No wonder he freaking panicked and pushed me away. Makayla is absolutely right, not that I would ever tell her that when she said there had to be more to it than what was on the surface.

  Maddie's voice breaks through my thoughts, "Judging by your reaction, he didn't share that part with you. I probably shouldn't have either, but I can see something has been eating at him more than losing you. It all makes so much sense now."

  I hear voices in the hall and try and tamper down the emotions showing on my face before the other two women return. Maddie drums her fingers against my bedpost again, lost in her own thoughts once more.

  Grandma Hazel barges into my room first and immediately looks for her granddaughter, "We should be getting along darling, I need to take a nap before I have to beautify for bingo. I hear there will be a decent selection of bachelors and I want to get there early so I can have my pick." She shoots me a grin, "You take care of yourself Annie, and I hope I see you again soon."

  She strides from the room as quickly as her little arthritic legs can carry her, Maddie muttering under her breath as she follows behind, "Someone else is freaking taking her to bingo."

  Makayla lets out a guffaw and turns to look at me. Studying my face a moment, she finally asks, "So, what did you two discuss while we were gone?"

  I jerk my head in her direction and tell her, "Oh nothing, just that this isn't the first baby Wyatt has lost."

  Her eyes widen in shock, "No!" She pauses a beat before saying, "Although… I knew there had to be more going on with him, and his reasons for calling things off."

  I don't acknowledge that she had been right, I don't need to. I'm too lost in my thoughts about the man who is so damaged he couldn't share this part of himself with me.

  Chapter 23- Wyatt

  Repercussion #294: Answering your phone without looking at the caller ID means you could end up getting roped into something you would rather not do.

  Is it too late to flee to Mexico and start over again? I would much rather try and repair my life in yet another new place than deal with my geriatric grandmother troll for dick.

  Her words, and ones that are sure to haunt me to my grave. Nobody should hear that come from their grandmother's mouth. I want to cleanse my ears with bleach and holy water, and if the two ruined my hearing than so be it. I would never have to hear something so abhorrent again.

  Unfortunately for me, I had been distracted when my father called earlier and didn't screen it like I usually do. I answered like the freaking idiot I am and got roped into babysitting duty.

  "Your sister has been with her all day and needs some time to decompress. I would take her but the last time I went to Bingo she tried to set me up with all her friends. I can't do it again Wyatt. You're safe because you have Annie."

  I rub a hand down my voice and growl out, "We talked about this dad. I don't have Annie anymore, we broke up remember?"

  He snorts on the other end of the line, "Stop being a bastard and go apologize. She's still your girl in the everyone's eyes, and therefore you aren't marketable meat to the preying women who go to Bingo. Please Wyatt, just do this for me? I am not above begging if it means not going."

  With much reluctance, I finally agree to pick her up after dinner and take her.

  Now here I am sitting at a card table full of my grandmother's friends and Bingo cards spread out in an orderly fashion. Grandma Hazel may be here to find herself a man, but the rest of these women are straight up bosses and came to win.

  Gossip is flying across the table as they prepare their cards for the next round, already a few games into the evening. One woman whose name I cannot properly recall asks the group as a whole, "Has anyone talked to Deborah today? Isn't she due to have her surgery?"

  Another one chimes in, "Yesterday in fact. She should be home in another day or two."

  "Should they be releasing her so early? I thought there is considerable risk involved due to her heart condition?"

  "No, her husband Dale told me that her heart did fine and her vitals have been stabl
e. As long as nothing else pops up, they should be letting her out no problem."

  My grandma, as bored with this topic of conversation as I am, decides to shake things up, "Did you see Ed Norbert drop his card and bend over earlier? Woooowie," she drawls out and fans herself, "I thought I was going to jump that man right there and then."

  The other older ladies giggle nervously at her comment and I roll my eyes. My grandmother's best friend Minnie, however, agrees with her, loudly, and includes her own declaration of lust, "I was holding myself back as well!" No wonder those two get along so well.

  As the caller gets ready for the next game, my grandmother turns in her seat and appraises me over the diet coke that she spiked with a flask that's hidden in her purse. As I take a sip of my own un-spiked drink, she blurts out, "Your sister and I went to see Annie today."

  I choke on my soda and feel the burn from the carbonation, "Christ, you thought to go to see my ex-girlfriend was a good idea while she's recovering from a near death experience?"

  The caller starts rapidly calling out letters and numbers but my grandma ignores the flurry of commotion happening around her, focusing all her attention on me, "Maddie told me the darndest thing on the way home too."

  I can only imagine, "And what was that?" I take another sip from my drink, this one going down more smoothly than the last.

  "That you never told her that you also lost a daughter when Brielle died." My heart stops beating in my chest at her words and she continues, "And that Annie lost a baby last week as well."

  I grip the edge of the table in an attempt to keep my emotions reigned in, "Annie told Maddie about that?" She's a private person, I can't imagine what possessed her to tell my sister something so personal.

  She shrugs, "I don't think she meant to, it sounds like it kind of just slipped out. She has been dealing with a lot you know, what with her broken ribs, heart, and crazy hormones post empty womb."

  I level her with a glare at her comment. That's an extremely low blow and she knows it. She already spent the last week tracking me down and berating me when she found out that I had ended things. She has made her stance perfectly clear, Annie is meant to be her granddaughter and I need to fix things. Stat.

  It's not like I haven't thought about it a trillion times in the time we have been apart. I lost track of how many times I strode to my door and swung it open wide, only to stop right at the edge of the threshold. I am constantly at war with myself wondering if I made the best decision and trying to rationalize that I am staying away from her for a legitimate reason, but I still have moments if I wonder if I am doing the right thing.

  What if by giving her heart a chance to beat, I finally gave mine the death sentence it has been begging for?

  My grandma's strong voice breaks through my thoughts, "I know the miscarriage scared you kid and you're reliving some hurts, but you can't let it get in the way of one of the best damn things to happen to you. I loved Brielle, don't get me wrong. But you're different with Annie. More alive, less closed off. Hell, happier.

  A pregnancy brought you and Brielle together and now you're letting it tear you and Annie apart. And for what purpose? To keep her out of harm's way? You can't do that unless you intend to wrap her in bubble wrap and never let her leave the house. That woman is a magnet for strange luck and it will find her whether you are there or not. At least with you looking out for her, she has a chance to make it to the age of thirty." I snort at her remark, but I know she isn't wrong.

  Being with Annie made me the happiest I have been since my mom died. I fucking loved Brielle, we had something so easy and pure, but I love what I had with Annie even more because it was everything but. We fought and butted heads at every turn, but we also pushed each other to invoke change in the other. Both as individuals and as a couple.

  Our relationship was built on the biggest fight of all time, the fight for us, and my heart aches as I realize that I just gave up on it. On everything we had been building and the lives we were weaving together. I have to get her back, I can't just let all our fighting be for naught, and I hope like hell that she hasn't already waved a white flag in defeat at us.

  I lean back in my chair and level my grandma with a questioning stare, "And how do you propose I go about getting our girl back?"

  She smacks the table with the palm of her hand, making the old folks around her jump. I sincerely hope she hasn't just invoked some premature heart attacks. Grandma cackles at the glares and stares being directed at us and waves me closer to her. She regards me for a long moment before saying, "You know Annie better than anyone, son. What do you think will do the trick?"

  I drum my fingers on the table for a moment before I scoot back my chair and stand to leave, "Grandma, do you think you could possibly get a ride home from one of your friends? I have some thinking to do."

  She nods enthusiastically and gestures to the door, "Shoo, get out of here. You're cramping my style by being here anyway. Nobody is gonna try and pick me up with strapping man meat sitting next to me. Even if he is my grandson."

  I let out a groan and whip around to leave the building, my grandmother's laughter following me out the door of the rec center. Good thing I have other thoughts to occupy my mind because I don't want to dwell on someone hitting on my grandmother in an attempt to get her into bed.

  Fucking gag.

  Chapter 24- Annie

  Repercussion #923: You might very well be prepared to kick ass alone for the rest of your life, but sometimes things happen that you cannot plan for and you have to readjust.

  I am beginning to learn there will always be repercussions. Every single choice and decision you make leads you on a separate trail that branches off the main path. Sometimes that choice you make takes you to other superior roads you could never hope for or expect. And other times, your decisions may take you to a road filled with potholes and highway robbers.

  My ex-boyfriend Travis being such a road. I got lost in all the side paths surrounding my decision to be with him or continue to date him even knowing who he truly was. I slowly trudged along afterward until I stumbled upon another hiker, lost in his own hell. I can't exactly say he is the reason I picked myself up and happened to be put back together in an entirely different way. The changes coincided with our meeting, but I knew a large part of my progress came from realizing my own worth.

  Everything about Wyatt has been a constant fight. Our quips and banter came naturally for us, and we knew what buttons to push to cause a destruction. I had always been willing to fight for that relationship, to knock out anyone or anything that tried to get in our way. But what if the thing that got in the way was your own clumsiness? Your own stubbornness to admit that while fuck, you can do this single and alone thing once again, you really don't want to? I fucking miss falling asleep in his arms, or his protectiveness when I mention that I am going out for a night with Makayla.

  I warred with myself a dozen or so times on getting up, running to his house, and fighting with him just a little bit more. He may have given up on everything that we were building, but I have enough fire in me to ignite him back to life if he needs it.

  On the flip side, I realize that if he truly wanted me he would make no excuse to be there. He's the one who pushed me from the very beginning to let him in. And each moment that passes without a word or an apology, makes the fire in me burn even more fiercely.

  Let it be said, here and now on this day, that I am firmly on the screw Wyatt bandwagon and am writing my woes into my current story. The one that I have been using my bed rest to plug away at and am currently wrapping up.

  The irony of the last time I wrapped up a project is not lost on me. It was the night that Travis and I were done for the last time, or so I naively thought. My intuition is screaming at me though, that this time is different. I am surrounded by amazing friends and family, who care enough to harass me at every turn to finish and publish so they can read it and brag about me. I also know that there will be no showdown with my
ex-boyfriend over the said manuscript. Remember what I said about being naive though?

  No freaking joke, the universe must be shitting its pants laughing at me, because as soon as I type the end, I hear it. The sounds of a diesel truck that have become as familiar to me as my own heartbeat. But rather than rumbling by as usual, it stops in front of my house.

  Oh hell to the freaking no. I have my Wyatt shit-kicker mood going on today and if he wants to show up when it's convenient for him, then he is going to get one heck of a fight. He should know to expect it from me by now anyway.

  I save my progress and ease my body to the edge of the bed. I try and steel myself against the sharp lance I know I will feel the moment I stand, but I am never truly prepared for it. Letting out a hiss between my teeth I give myself a moment to adjust to being on my feet before slowly heading to the door.

  Taking the stairs one at a time, I try and imagine what the heck Wyatt would be doing here after all this time. Is he here because I accidentally told Maddie that I had been pregnant? Did she tell his grandma? Oh God what did I do, she probably told the whole town. I couldn't blame him really if that's why he is suddenly showing up now.

  But then my shit-kicker thoughts take over and I just want to kick the man in the balls for making me the villain when I had been a victim of my own hormones. It takes two to tango, buddy. Although to be fair, I was the one who had had the defective birth control.

  Finally arriving at the door and wondering why he hadn't beat me to since I moved everywhere at a snail's pace, I prepare myself to see the most recent man to break my heart. I yank open the door and try to step out onto the porch but am whipped in the face by a sunflower sitting in a pot on the doormat, "What the fuck?" I shout, whacking the blasted thing out of my face. I cannot help but think bitterly back to the last plant that obstructed my vision, the fern on the side of the logging road.

  Pushing that day far from my mind I try and move slowly around the flower and am stunned to see there are already several scattered across my porch. At the sound of shoes on the steps I turn too quickly to face Wyatt and wince at the shot of pain.