I had been in denial so far this summer, living in the moment and not thinking about them. I always knew in the back of my mind they wouldn’t want me living here or dating someone like JT, but I didn’t care. At first I was having fun with him, not sure if it would ever be more than a summer fling. I knew it was so much more than that now.
My hands shook as I hit the keys to delete the message. I listened to one from Grandma. She warned me about my mother’s call and told me the doctor had given Grandpa the okay to get back to work in a couple of weeks.
I couldn’t go home, not now. My parents would freak if they found out I wanted to stay here. They had very different ideas about how I should live my life.
My mom grew up living a simple life with Grandma and Grandpa here in Mountain. She hadn’t been very content and was envious of the people who came to their cottages on the lake for the weekend. She managed to snag my dad, a surgeon from Madison, and got the hell out of town.
We came to visit my grandparents all the time, but my mom had become snobby after marrying a doctor. She would look down on some of the locals sometimes, and I would hear my Grandma tell her that she wasn’t raised to be like that.
Mom and Dad had certain expectations of me. They wanted me to go to college, have a career doing something they approved of, and marry well. I had gone to college, but they assumed my degree in English Lit would be a stepping stone to law school. When I told them I had no plans for that, they sent me here to think about what I wanted to do with my life.
I got a text back from JT, telling me he missed me too, and tears filled my eyes. I had never been surer about what I wanted to do with my life. I wanted to stay here. I could help Grandma and Grandpa and maybe one day take over the diner. In Madison I felt a little hopeless and lost; here I feel like I am home.
I wasn’t sure if I wanted my parents to meet JT while they were here. I wasn’t ashamed of him by any means, but I knew how they would feel about their daughter dating a man who made a living getting his hands dirty. If they thought a boy was the reason I wanted to stay, they would dismiss my feelings and tell me I was being foolish.
One of the other waitresses called me to the front. I took a deep breath and regained my composure. I would figure this out. Hopefully Grandma would get here before my parents did and I could talk to her about this. She would support me.
In the middle of the lunch rush, she and Grandpa walked into the diner. I finished taking someone’s order and went over to her for a hug. “I take it you heard,” she whispered, patting my back.
I pulled back at arm’s length and nodded. “I don’t want to leave.”
“I know you don’t, dear, but you know they’re going to push you to go. Your mother hated growing up here, and she won’t be happy that you want to settle down here.”
I bit my lip. “I don’t care. I’m not a child anymore, and I can make my own decisions.” My voice was shaky, and I was already on the verge of tears.
She nodded and rubbed my arms. Grandpa came up behind me. “What’s wrong? Did that boy hurt you?” He frowned, and I couldn’t help but laugh.
“No, Grandpa. This has nothing to do with JT.”
“It’s your daughter. Kara is upset that she’s coming to talk to her about going back to Madison. She wants to stay with us.”
“Then stay with us,” he said and shrugged. I loved how he was so matter-of-fact. He made it seem so simple.
Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed my parents’ big black Escalade pull into the parking lot. “They’re here,” I whispered, as a feeling of dread came over me.
“It’ll be fine. I promise.” Grandma kissed my cheek, and we turned to greet them.
I watched Mom get out of the car. She was dressed in her designer shorts and blouse, with her Chanel bag hanging from her forearm. Dad was wearing his typical khaki shorts and golf shirt. I had to admit I had missed him. He was often on my side when it came to my Mom, and I knew he went along with her most of the time to keep the peace.
They came inside and I went to him. “Dad!” I greeted him with a hug and kiss. He held me tightly and I closed my eyes, fighting back the tears.
“Hey baby girl,” he replied and squeezed me before letting me go. “You look great–so tan.”
“You should be wearing sunscreen, Kara,” my mom admonished me as she came over to give me a loose hug. I couldn’t help but roll my eyes at my dad, and he fought back a chuckle.
“Hello, Mother,” I said drily, returning her half-hearted hug. It blew me away that someone as loving as my grandma had given birth to my mother. They couldn’t be more different.
She ended the hug and pulled back to look me over. “You do look good. I guess this place agrees with you.”
I looked over at Grandma, my eyes hopeful. Maybe she would see how happy I am and not argue with me when I told her I wanted to stay.
My parents greeted Grandma and Grandpa and found a table to have some coffee. They chatted while I went back to work. Grandma had wanted to help, but I insisted I had it covered and she should enjoy the day off.
Eventually they all decided to head back to the cottage. I told them I would meet them back there later.
“But where’s your car?” Grandma asked when we were away from everyone.
“JT gave me a ride this morning,” I admitted, my face warm with embarrassment.
She gave me a knowing smile. “I hope you guys had a good time.”
I nodded. “We did, Grandma. He told me he loves me.”
She hugged me quickly. “I’m so happy for you. There’s something about you two that reminds me of your grandfather and me.” She squeezed my hand. “So don’t you worry. Is he picking you up?”
“Yes, but I’m not sure I’m ready for him to meet Mom. She’s going to freak enough when I tell her I’m not coming back to Madison.”
Grandma sighed and nodded. “Unfortunately, my daughter judges people too quickly. Could you get Brittany to pick you up?”
“Maybe. I’ll figure it out. Maybe it would be best to have JT meet them today. I could get it all over with at once.” I shrugged.
“It’s up to you. I’m here for you no matter what.”
“Thanks, Grandma.” I hugged her again and shooed her off.
I was distracted the rest of the day, trying to figure out what to do. I didn’t want to lie to JT or make him think I was ashamed of him, but I also didn’t want to subject him to my mother’s scrutiny. He had made a few comments occasionally about me being a city girl who was too good for him, and I didn’t want to feed into that.
Things were unusually busy that afternoon, and I never had a chance to ask Brittany to come get me. When I heard JT’s truck outside, I realized the decision had been made for me.
He came inside and found me in the back office. The rest of the staff was finishing up the cleaning, so we were alone. He was still in his work uniform and had a smudge of grease on his face. His red cap was on backwards, and he looked so adorable.
“You look deep in thought,” he said and leaned against the desk next to me.
“Just going over the numbers of the day,” I lied and stood up. I moved between his legs, and he reached down to grip my ass.
“I missed you.” He leaned in for a kiss, and I wrapped my arms around his neck. “I’ve been thinking about you all day, mostly about how great you look naked and how good you feel.”
I rolled my eyes and smiled. “I’ve been thinking about you too.” I was too distracted to mess around. I went back to the desk and put everything away. “Today was busy. And exciting.”
“Oh yeah? What happened?”
I turned to look at him and took my apron off. “My parents came to visit.”
“That’s good.” I gave him a look. “Isn’t it?”
“JT, my mother wants to talk to me about going back to Madison in a couple of weeks.”
“Oh.” His face fell.
“I’m not going,” I said firmly and went over to him. “She�
��s going to be angry, and it’s probably going to get ugly, but I won’t let her change my mind. Grandma and Grandpa told me I could stay here and work at the diner. Maybe I can even take it over one day.”
His eyes lit up. “That would be great. Do you want me to come with you?”
I chewed on the side of my mouth. “JT, she has always pushed me to end up with a surgeon or someone like my father. I’m afraid of what she might say about you or to you.”
“I’m a big boy. I can take it.” He took my hand, threading his fingers with mine. “We’re a team, and I won’t let you do this alone.”
I finished up a few things and we left the diner. I took a deep breath as I locked the door behind me. He helped me into his truck and then got in. We rode to the cottage in silence, unsure of what we were going to face.
At least we were facing it together.
Chapter Ten
JT
“I Don’t Dance”
I always had a feeling she might be too good for me, even though she never acted that way. Her grandparents always accepted me with open arms as well. Now I was about to go into the lion’s den and meet her mother, who would make my worst fears come true. What if she could convince Kara to go back to Madison and that I wasn’t good enough for her? My stomach was a bundle of nerves just thinking about it.
We pulled up to the cottage, where there was a huge black SUV in the driveway that probably cost more than the trailer Dad and I lived in. I assumed her family did okay, since her grandparents had this nice cottage on the lake, and she had told me her dad was a surgeon. Guess I hadn’t realized what that really meant.
“Ready?” she asked me, her eyes wide with fear.
I reached for her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. I wanted to be brave for her, even though I was scared shitless inside. “Yes. It will be okay.”
“I hope so,” she mumbled and let go of my hand. She got out of the truck and I took a deep breath, gathering my courage to face whatever there was inside that cottage.
She walked to the door and I followed behind her. She went inside, where we found everyone sitting around the kitchen table. The tension in the air was so thick you could cut it with a knife, and they all stopped talking the moment they saw us.
“Mother tells me you want to stay here,” a woman who I presumed was Kara’s mother spat out.
Kara looked to her Grandma. “I’m sorry, dear,” she said. “She was spouting off about how terrible it was to grow up here, and I couldn’t help it.”
“It’s okay, Grandma.” Kara went over and gave her shoulder a pat before coming to stand by me. “Yes, I want to stay in Mountain and work at the diner. Who knows, maybe one day they’ll let me take it over.”
Her mother let out a gasp and put her hand to her chest. “Kara, don’t be ridiculous. Who’s this?” She pointed at me. “Don’t tell me you want to stay here because of a boy?”
Kara grabbed my hand and held it so tight I winced. “His name is JT, and he’s only part of the reason.”
Her mother laughed and waved her hand. “Do you think you’re in love? You don’t know a thing about love. In no time he’ll break your heart, and you’ll come crying back home.”
“I won’t ever hurt your daughter,” I said quickly.
She looked at me, her eyes a steely grey. “What do you do for a living, JT?” she asked, her voice dripping with disdain.
“I run an auto shop with my dad.”
“A grease monkey? Oh really, Kara. You can do so much better than that.”
Her words cut right to my core. I had never been ashamed of who I am until that moment. She was right; Kara could probably do better than me, but she had chosen me, and I wasn’t going to let her go.
“Mom!” Kara cried out, her eyes filling with tears. “What is wrong with you?” She looked to her dad. “Daddy?”
He shook his head. “I wish you would come back to Madison, but I support you if you want to stay here.”
Kara’s mother looked at him with her mouth open. “Oh, really? And when she cries and asks to come home because he broke her heart, what will you say then?”
He looked at me and gave me a sad smile. “I’ll welcome her home because she’s our daughter and I love her.”
“Thank you Daddy.” Her dad got up and gave Kara a hug.
Kara’s mom got up from the table. “Let’s go then. There’s no reason to stay here.” She stormed outside without saying goodbye.
“I’ll talk to her,” Kara’s dad said, as he reached out to hug me. “She’ll calm down.”
“I doubt it.” She sniffled and let go of him.
“Take good care of my daughter,” he said, holding out his hand for a handshake.
“I will, sir,” I said, taking his hand and shaking it firmly.
“I’d better go. I’ll call you later, Kara. I’m so sorry.” He turned and walked out the door. I could hear arguing outside and car doors slamming shut. We stood in silence, listening to the SUV leave.
Kara went to her grandma and embraced her in a hug. “I’m so sorry, Grandma.”
Her grandma patted her head. “It’s okay. She’ll get over it. She’s just sad to lose her little girl.”
“But she’s not losing me,” Kara protested.
“Oh sweetie, when your little girl falls in love, you do feel like you lose her a little bit,” her grandma said. She smiled over at me.
“Now you two go out and have some fun. Try to forget about this.”
Kara stood up. “Let me go change.” She disappeared into her bedroom, and I sat down at the table with her grandparents.
“She loves you,” her grandma said. “But she’s conflicted by her mother. Just be patient with her and love her.”
I looked down at my hands. “I don’t plan on doing anything else.”
“Good.”
Kara came back into the kitchen and took my breath away. She was only wearing a plain white sundress, but it accentuated her tan and the blonde highlights the sun had added to her hair over the course of the summer. She looked like my sun-kissed angel.
She hugged her grandparents goodbye, and we went out to my truck. We had to stop at my place so I could shower and change quickly. Matt was having a party at a nearby bar to celebrate his birthday, so we decided to head over there. Spending some time with our friends might help us get today’s events off of our minds.
“I’m scared to touch you and get you dirty,” I teased her. “You should know better than to wear white around a mechanic.”
“You can get me dirty any time you want to, JT.”
As I gripped the steering wheel, I was tempted to find a way to get that dress off of her, but I didn’t want to take advantage of her when she was upset.
She chatted with my dad while I cleaned up. I put on my signature red baseball cap, some green shorts, and a brown t-shirt. I felt underdressed compared to her, but I had that feeling most of the time. I constantly wondered how a girl like her wound up with a boy like me.
When we arrived at the bar, the party was in full swing. Kara gave me a kiss on the cheek and went over to talk to Brittany. She didn’t spend much time with her anymore, so I found Chase after getting a beer.
A few hours later, we were feeling pretty good and the events of the day were long forgotten. I was taking it easy on the beer since I had to take Kara home, but she was definitely drunk. She was laughing with her friends and would come over for a kiss every now and then. She even tried to drag me into a closet so I could take advantage of her. It was tempting, but then there was a knock on the door and we were busted by one of the bartenders, who was looking for something.
She promised to be with me later tonight, and I was going to hold her to that. On Monday I was going to look at apartments. I needed to get my own place. It was too soon to ask her to move in with me, but I hoped she would be a regular visitor.
I was talking to Matt about trucks when I heard a familiar song. The girls all screamed, and it wasn’t long befo
re Kara was dragging me out on the dance floor. I wrapped my arms around her, and we moved to the sounds of Luke Bryan’s “That’s My Kind of Night.”
It wasn’t a slow song, but I didn’t care. I had my girl in my arms and we moved together. She kissed my lips and whispered, “Take me home. I need you.”
I nodded and took her hand. We didn’t say anything as we headed for the door. I needed her too, and I was going to show her that tonight.
We walked out into the warm, muggy night air. She stopped and let go of my hand with a gasp. I turned around to find her staring at something with her mouth open. I looked in the direction of her gaze and saw a guy standing there, leaning against his Land Rover with his arms crossed. He was tall with jet black hair and was dressed a lot like her dad had been.
“Hello, Kara,” he said, with a lazy smile on his lips.
She didn’t say anything, but her eyes filled with tears and my instinct to protect her overwhelmed me.
“Who are you?” I asked him.
He looked at Kara. “Tell him who I am,” he urged her.
She shook her head.
“I guess I will then.” He turned to me. “I’m Grayson, Kara’s boyfriend.”
THE END
Read more about Kara, JT, and Grayson in the next Up North story, coming in 2015.
Acknowledgements
Thank you to Andy, Luke, Troy, and Jeff for teaching me life was more fun in the country.
Thank you to Mr. Metal for keeping us a little bit redneck.
Thank you to my readers for your continued support and I hope you love my characters as much as I do!
About the Author
Scarlett lives in the Midwest with her sexy husband, two girls, and three furbabies. She dabbled in writing right after college but it wasn’t until she took up blogging about eight years ago that she started writing seriously. After writing a few boring service pieces for some online publications, she went back to her true passion, fiction. When she’s not busy writing steamy stories, she can be found with her nose in a book, camping, or geocaching with her family. She loves Diet Coke, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, and 80’s hair bands.
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