by Kristie Cook
I scowled at her. She made an excellent point. And part of me did want to give Ty a second chance. But another part of me thrilled at the sound of tires crunching on sandy gravel outside—without the loud sound of a truck engine accompanying it. I glanced out the window. Ty’s big black truck still sat over at his house, not moving at all today. And Mason’s sleek and shiny black car came to a stop behind mine.
“Quick! Throw me some clothes!” I commanded Sissy.
She jumped up and yanked open a dresser drawer, and then threw an old, paint-stained t-shirt and cut-off sweats at me. I didn’t have time to complain or choose something better, so I hurried into them right before Mason walked inside. Peeking from my bed down the hallway and into the living room, I watched as he dropped some shopping bags on the kitchen counters and then turned in a circle, taking the place in. I sagged back against the wall and closed my eyes. How embarrassing.
Even more embarrassing was when my stomach heaved again, and I had to run for the bathroom. Then the chills came on, and at some point, I stopped being self-conscious because I was too sick to care.
Mason stayed and took care of me. As in, stayed the night and the next day and that night, too. Sissy had gone back to Mama’s Monday morning after sleeping on the couch because she gave up her bed for Mason. I think she was keeping an eye on us, making sure he stayed in her room at the other end of the trailer from mine. So precious of her to care about my virtue. But one night on our old lumpy couch with its scratchy, plaid upholstery was enough for her. Besides, she needed to get back to Mama and her caretaking duties.
“You look a lot better,” Mason said Tuesday morning when I finally emerged from my room and after giving my teeth a much needed scrubbing.
“I can’t believe you’re still here.” I made it as far as the couch, where I lay on my side, curled in a ball. I hadn’t checked yet but I should have had a six-pack, the way my abs ached from all the barfing.
“I took off a few days to see you.”
“Too bad I was sick the whole time.”
He rose from his seat at the tiny kitchen table and came over to the couch. He lifted my upper body, sat down, and then laid me back down so my head was on his thigh.
“I can’t say that was my top choice of how to spend time with you, but it was better than nothing,” he said as he brushed the straggly hairs away from my face. Good heavens, I needed a shower. How he could stand to be so close was beyond me. “But I have another day, so you’re not sick for the whole time.”
“I can say that if anyone was to take care of me, you’d be my top choice.” When he grinned cockily, I added, “Because you are a doctor, after all.”
He laughed. “Geez, and I thought you meant because of my great looks or my fantastic bedside manner.”
“Hmm … yeah, maybe those, too.”
He laughed again, and I smiled, enjoying the sound.
“So I don’t have to worry about this Ty dude who stopped by?” he asked, and my body tensed. “Or do I?”
“He’s, uh, an old friend. My best friend, besides Sissy. He’s been friends with us both since we were little.” Could I say friend any more times? Who was I trying to convince—Mason or me?
“Yet you never mentioned this best friend to me before.” He twirled his finger in my hair, and I couldn’t tell from his voice if he was teasing or serious. I guess that did sound a little worrisome, from his point of view. I’d be a little suspicious, too, if he had a female best friend that he’d failed to mention to me. Who he happened to have gone steady with and possibly been in love with for several years. Who still lived next door … at least for the time being. I mean, it’s not like Mason and I were dating, but we’d talked enough, set the stage enough, that something like this probably should have been brought up. And since it hadn’t, well, I knew it looked like I was hiding something. Maybe because I was. Mason chuckled. “I’ll try not to be jealous, although I may not have been able to help it when he came by to check on you.”
“Ty came by?” And here I’d been wondering the whole time I was sick why he hadn’t bothered. Why he’d dumped my passed-out self in my bed and never returned. Wasn’t like him.
“Yesterday morning. He said he’d been sick and wanted to apologize for his disappearing act. He wanted to see you, but I insisted that he not wake you up. I might have pulled the doctor card. He looked pretty pissed off, so I’m thinking you did tell him about me.”
Oh, shit. My head swam again and my stomach clenched, but not from feeling ill. Not physically ill, anyway. I imagined the scene of Ty showing up and finding Mason here after the night we had together, and then being shooed off like a pesky ant by the very guy Ty knew was trying to steal me away from him …. Damn, it couldn’t have been good. I needed to talk to Ty, but I honestly didn’t know what to say to him. I didn’t know what to do about Mason right now, either.
I liked him here with me. I liked how he’d taken care of me. I liked the bright pink flowers that stood in a vase on the nightstand next to my bed—flowers he’d brought me. He’d held my hair back, doctored me until the fever broke, made me suck on ice cubes and then sip water to ensure I didn’t dehydrate. When I could finally hold anything down last night, he made me broth and crackers. And not once did he try anything or give a hint that he did it all for any other reason than he simply cared.
My heart was torn.
“So,” Mason said, the tone of his voice changed, lighter and more cheerful, when I didn’t respond, “what should we do today?”
“Mmm …” I groaned. “Lie here and do nothing?”
“You don’t want to at least watch movies? Play a game or something? Feel up to a walk?”
I groaned again. We were definitely not going for a walk. His car being here for two days now was surely the town’s gossip of the week. They probably had me pregnant, even though I hadn’t had sex with anyone for months, and Mason and I hadn’t even kissed since that first night we met. No need to take the chances of having to face anyone, especially Ty. Oh, dear God and sweet baby Jesus. Two days ago the gossip had been Ty and me, even reaching Sissy’s ears. And now Mason and me, and since they surely assumed I was knocked up, they’d probably already gone on to whose baby it was and which one would be raising it. Sissy was going to love this. Elizabeth was surely hating it.
“Crap. I need to call Liz’beth and Sullivan’s,” I said.
“Done.”
I rolled on my back and looked up at him. “Done?”
“Sissy called them both yesterday morning. I called Memaw’s again today, just to be sure they knew you wouldn’t be in again. The woman on the phone didn’t sound happy, but I don’t think it had anything to do with your absence.”
Yep, Elizabeth was hating the gossip … and Mason. “Liz’beth tries to fill my grams’ shoes. She doesn’t know you so she doesn’t trust you.”
“I should meet her, then. As soon as she meets me, she’ll fall in love, just like all the women do.”
“Good heavens. Arrogant much?”
He gave me a grin. “You know I’m quite charming.”
I couldn’t argue with that.
“If you want to meet her, go on in, but I’m not going anywhere. You’re probably going stir crazy, though, aren’t you?”
“Not at all. Especially now that you’re up and speaking in more than grunts.”
“There’s that charm again.”
He laughed then tweaked my chin between his thumb and fingers. “You know I tease you because I adore you.”
Heat flushed my face, and I cleared my throat. “So, um, anyway, if you want to go home, I’ll be fine. I’ll be up and at ’em again tomorrow.”
“Which is exactly why I’m staying. I have you all to myself for what? At least twenty-four hours?”
I glanced at the clock on the stove. Not exact
ly twenty-four hours, but we did have one day together, and one night, and I’d never had a day and night after being sick that was so amazingly perfect. Mason treated me like a princess, continuing to take care of me because I was still a little weak, almost babying me sometimes. We did what I wanted to do, and he didn’t lift a brow when I gave him the list of chick-flick, rom-com movies I asked him to get from the rental box in front of the park office. He sat on the couch with me, seeming perfectly content to simply be there while we ate ice cream and watched movies. We played a few hands of gin rummy, and he didn’t get too upset when I beat him the first time, and didn’t act like an ass when he beat me the second hand. And when my energy was drained and I was ready for bed, I awkwardly took his hand and led him back to my room. He lay down with me and held me, but we did nothing more than talk until I zonked out.
I had to get back to work the next morning, even though he begged me not to.
“You need another day of rest,” he insisted.
“I need the money more.”
He scowled, not liking that answer. “We have to figure something else out for you, Bex. You’re taking so long to recover because your body’s exhausted. You can’t work as much as you do.”
I didn’t point out that I got sick after partying all day and night, and probably from kissing Ty, who’d also been sick. Of course, Mason did have a point about how long it had taken me to recover. Ty had apparently been better after twenty-four hours, but it’d taken me more than twice as long. I still didn’t feel quite up to par.
“I’m going to look into a few things for you and your sister and your mother,” he said as he walked me out to the car. “I hate this, Bex. I hate you working so much. I hate being so far away.”
He leaned down and gave me a kiss goodbye, the first one since I’d practically jumped him in the parking lot of the steak house. My toes curled again.
“I’ll see you soon, precious,” he said as he pressed his forehead to mine.
“Precious?” I asked skeptically.
“Yes. You should know that you’re quite precious to me.” He kissed the tip of my nose and headed for his car.
As I slid into mine, I heard a door slam. Not a car door, and not my house door. It came from the trailer next to mine. Ty’s. I shut my car door, leaned back in my seat and closed my eyes. My heart ached for what I knew I needed to do.
In my search for The One, I’d never had this problem before. Two men I cared about. Two delicious men who cared about me. But I obviously couldn’t be with both, and I needed to make a decision before I led one of them on any further than I already had. This decision would be one of the hardest I’d ever had to make, because I had strong feelings for both, but I knew deep down which one was right for me.
And it killed me to have to break the other man’s heart. I could only hope mine wouldn’t be broken in return.
Chapter 16
When I came home from work that night, no Ty sat on my steps waiting for me. He must have moved his few belongings out of his trailer while I worked, because not even his truck sat outside. I tried calling him and left messages, but he never returned them. Mason’s presence while I was sick must have really hurt Ty, and I felt horrible about it all, but didn’t know what to do when he refused to acknowledge I even existed. If I could have taken a break to sit at his house and wait for him, I would have, but my couple of days off had cost me too much. I needed every hour, every tip I could get to make up for it. The more time that went by, the worse I felt. Elizabeth kept telling me to take care of it because she felt the darkness over town growing even stronger, and apparently, that was entirely my fault. Maybe it was because my heart was breaking all over again.
Finally, between breakfast and lunch on Friday, she practically kicked me out the door to find Ty and talk to him. But I couldn’t find him. He wasn’t at his new place and not at the trailer picking up anything he’d left behind. He wasn’t at the only gym in town, but I found Jeric at the silver Airstream, and he said Ty had gone to Gainesville for a few days. Well then. That was that. There were two things in Gainesville that I knew about: his other best friend who still hadn’t graduated college and probably never would; and college parties and beer. Oh, and girls.
I didn’t cry, though. I knew this would happen. I knew he’d eventually leave me, and I’d promised myself I’d never cry over Ty Daniels again. I couldn’t be the girl he wanted and needed, and that’s why I’d made the decision I had. But my heart still felt heavy. He could have at least given me the chance to talk to him about it and try to be friends.
On my way back to Memaw’s, Sullivan’s called and said they didn’t need me to work that night. They’d accidentally scheduled too many bartenders and since they gave me more shifts than anyone, they had to give someone else the opportunity to work. I supposed it was only fair, but with the money I’d already lost earlier in the week, losing the tips, especially on a Friday night, would hurt. Feeling completely bummed, I called Mason as soon as Elizabeth sent me home right after the last lunch guest left.
“Come down here,” Mason said. “I know your mom would like to see you, and she’s not the only one.”
I sighed. “I can’t afford the gas.”
“If you have enough to get here, I’ll fill your tank.”
“Mason—”
“Don’t argue with me, Bex. Let me do one little thing for you. What else are you going to do? Sit at home alone and mope? There are people here who care about you.”
I guess those were the magic words, because I packed an overnight bag, left Uncle Troy a note to say I’d be in the office by noon, and drove down to Orlando. I spent some time with Mama and Sissy at Mama’s shitty little apartment that smelled like stale cigarette smoke and urine.
“Maybe we should move her back home,” I said to Sissy once we stepped outside while Mama slept. My nose involuntarily wrinkled as I looked over the second-floor railing at the so-called courtyard below. It was nothing more than patches of crabgrass and sand, littered by the wind with bottles, wrappers, and plastic bags. Perhaps a few needles and syringes, too. Graffiti decorated many doors and walls, on a background of faded pink paint that had probably come out of the can when I was in the first grade. Most windows to the other apartments were covered with sheets or blankets instead of curtains, half of them falling down in one corner.
I turned to my sister, who stared at me with round eyes and her brows raised to her hairline. “You’d really let her move in to the trailer?”
“Believe me, it’s not my favorite idea,” I said, hating it wholeheartedly, to be honest, “but it’s technically her trailer, and I never thought I’d say it was better than anywhere, but it’s definitely better than here. And getting you guys out of here would save us a few hundred dollars a month in rent.”
“The government pays her rent here.”
The government did cover most of Mama’s rent since it was Section 8 housing, but not all, and there were utilities, too. Sissy tended to forget these things, but I didn’t want to argue about it now. “Still, it would be easier, wouldn’t it?”
“Not really. Her doctors are here. If something happens …” Sissy trailed off. “Besides, she’s already got the county here helpin’ her out, and we’d have to start the paperwork and everything all over at home. And with doctors visits, we’d be spending a lot of money on gas, and I’m sure the oxygen deliveries would be more expensive since it’s so out of the way …”
“Okay, okay, I get it.” She had a point with those extra costs, and I almost sighed with relief for a variety of reasons—mostly that I didn’t want the stress of coming home after multiple shifts to feeling obligated to help Sissy take care of Mama. But I hated being so far away, and I hated this place where they lived. As soon as Mason called when he was done at the hospital, I was more than ready to skedaddle.
“Are you su
re you don’t want to stay here tonight?” Sissy asked, and I had to suppress a shudder. “I don’t like you driving all the way home. It’ll be dark soon.”
“I’ll be fine,” I said, not exactly lying to her. I just didn’t give her the whole truth. “Uncle Troy’s expecting me tomorrow.”
“You could leave early enough in the morning.”
“Yeah, I could,” I said even as I hugged her goodbye. “Tell Mama bye. I’ll be back when I can.”
Sissy squeezed me hard. As I walked away, I told myself not to look back because I didn’t think I could bear the look I imagined on her face. I really didn’t want to leave her in this hellhole. She kept it clean and sanitary inside, but the whole building gave me the willies and no amount of bleach and ammonia could cover the grime and odors trapped in the walls. When I reached my car, I couldn’t help but look up at Mama’s apartment on the second floor. Sissy still stood outside the door, but she wasn’t alone. Some guy, about our age, was leaning against the railing, and her laugh—the giddy one she used only with guys she liked—carried down to me.
Well, then. Guess she’d be okay.
I’d barely turned off the ignition after parking at the restaurant Mason told me to meet him at when he yanked my door open and pulled me out of my seat. He held me at arm’s length for a moment as his eyes skidded appreciatively down from my face to my toes and back up, lingering on my lips until I smiled.
“I missed you terribly,” he said before grasping my face in his hands and crushing his mouth on mine. The welcome kiss didn’t last long enough for my liking, so when he tried to pull away, I dug my fingers into his thick, dark hair and tugged him back. Once my knees began to quake, I finally let him free. He slid his tongue over his lips. “Mmm … that’s what I call a sweet hello.”
I smiled and gave a little shrug. “I might have missed you a little, too.”