“Argh!” she shrieked, wagging her finger at me. “Yes he would if you would just do the right thing and leave for good! I’ve seen the way he looks at me sometimes when we’re hanging out while you’ve been away. He would too want me if you weren’t in the picture.”
A sense of calm hit me as I finally realized that it didn’t matter where I lived. Shane was mine. He was my home, and there was no way in hell I was going to let a jealous bitch rule my life and run me out of town, away from the man I loved. Away from my family. I’d been crazy to even think about it in the first place. Shane was it for me, and I was the only one for him. This was our home, and I was here to stay.
“No, Suzanna. He wouldn’t want you if I was gone because he loves me. And you’re nothing like me. I don’t know what crazy daydream you’ve built up in your head about Shane, but it’s about damn time for you to let it go. Because he’s never going to be yours. He’s mine for good and I’m here to stay.”
Katherine, one of her friends came up to pull her away from me. “Suzanna, stop. You’re causing a scene.”
“I don’t care! It isn’t right that she’s with Shane. He’s too good for her, and I’m going to be stuck having to pick a nobody like Billy Joe.”
At that, Katherine dropped her hands and stopped trying to help. “Billy Joe? My Billy Joe?”
“Bah,” Suzanna shrugged her off. “He hasn’t been yours in years.”
“Shit, Suzanna. You really are a bitch. I can’t believe you’d even consider dating your best friend’s nobody of an ex-boyfriend. The one you told me to dump in the first place. And to think I’ve stood behind you all these years and listened to the trash you’ve spewed about Charlotte and how she stole Shane right out from under you,” she said before turning to me. “I’m sorry. A lot of us were really mean to you back then because she had convinced us all that you were a horrible person. Looks like we were wrong.”
I was stunned by the sudden turn of events as several people in the bar were giving Suzanna dirty looks. The rest of her friends were gathering up their stuff and throwing some cash on the table.
I accepted her apology. “Thank you.”
“If you know what’s good for you, you’ll keep her as far from Shane as you possibly can. She’s toxic,” the girl finished before walking out of the bar with the rest of her friends.
Suzanna had a blank look on her face, like she couldn’t believe what had just happened.
“I think you’d better go too, don’t you, Suzanna? And maybe it would be best if you didn’t come back to the bar again.”
“But—” she sputtered.
“And I will be having a conversation with Shane about all the shit you’ve pulled over the years. So don’t be surprised when he decides to drop your ass. The only reason he was still your friend was because I never said a word. But that time has passed, and when it comes down to it, anyone who knows Shane knows he’s going to do what’s best for me any day of the week.”
The remaining customers hooted and hollered in agreement at my words. Suzanna’s face turned beet red as she finally realized that she’d completely lost it in front of an audience. She stomped out, and I felt lighter than I had in years. I’d finally done what I should have done years ago—I had confronted the cause of most of my problems in town and walked away the winner.
Chapter 7
Shane
Word spread like wildfire through town about Charlotte’s confrontation with Suzanna. I’d heard about it first thing this morning and was a little pissed that she hadn’t mentioned it to me herself when we spoke on the phone last night. Yeah, I got that it was a short call because she’d been really tired by the time she’d gotten home and my mind had been on my conversation with her dad. But I didn’t like having to hear from someone else that a girl I’d known forever had been a total bitch to my girlfriend.
Part of loving her meant that it was my job to protect Charlotte. And I didn’t feel like I had done a very good job of that if what I’d heard was true. It made me sick to know that I’d allowed Suzanna to be a part of my life while she was hurting Char.
I was utterly furious with myself for not seeing it sooner. The little comments here and there that had been meant to undermine my relationship, to make me doubt Char’s love for me at a time when a true friend would have provided support knowing how hard the long-distance relationship had been on both of us. I had always figured it was because she didn’t get it since she’d never fallen in love the way I had with Char.
It turned out that all this time she had been doing it on purpose, hoping to split us up. God only knows what shit she’d pulled with Charlotte over the years. And that’s what burned me up the most—knowing that my girl had suffered because I hadn’t seen the truth sitting right in front of me.
No more, I swore to myself. Now that I knew about it, I was going to take care of the Suzanna situation once and for all so we could move on to the future I had planned for us without any dark clouds hanging over our heads.
I hightailed it over to their farm next door and pounded on the front door. I hadn’t called first, and I usually didn’t just stop by first thing in the morning. I knew it might piss her daddy off, but I didn’t think even they would appreciate the stunt she’d pulled last night since she’d managed to alienate most of the town. There had already been whispers about her dating history, and this was just the icing on the cake.
“Shane, is everything all right?” Suzanna’s father asked as he opened the door, a worried expression on his face.
I hated to be disrespectful to a man who’d known me since the day I was born, but I needed him to know that I meant business too. “No, sir. I’m sorry to bother you so early in the morning, but I need to speak to your daughter. Now.”
My tone of voice got his dander up a bit, but he still called Suzanna to the door. She looked surprised to see me but happy that I had come calling. She clearly didn’t recognize the look of anger I was sure was spread across my face, totally clueless to what was going on around her.
When she stepped outside, her father joined us with his arms crossed in front of his body. He knew this wasn’t going to be good, and I understood that, as her father, he wanted to be there to protect Suzanna. But that didn’t mean I was going to spare her a shred of my anger.
“Suzanna, I heard about what happened last night, and I cannot believe you would be so horrible to Charlotte like that,” I began.
Suzanna reached out to grab my arm, but I yanked away from her, making it clear how mad I was. “But, Shane, you’ve only heard her side of the story. It isn’t fair for you to judge until I’ve had a chance to tell you what happened too,” she complained. “Although I’m not surprised she ran straight to you to tell tales about me. She’s never liked our friendship.”
“That’s where you’re wrong. Charlotte didn’t come to me about this. I’ve had five different phone calls this morning from people around town, some of whom are supposed to be your closest friends. And yet she hasn’t said a single word to me about it. She’s never complained once about anything you’ve said or done, respecting the fact that we were childhood friends. But you can’t say the same, can you?”
“Whatever do you mean?” she asked innocently.
“All these years, I never realized that you hated her so much. That you could be so spiteful and mean to someone I loved. What happened to the little girl I grew up with? How in the hell could you have turned into the type of person that would try to destroy something that makes me so happy?”
“Suzanna, honey, what on earth did you do last night?” her daddy asked.
A frustrated look crossed her face as Suzanna realized there was no getting out of this. Not only was I pissed at her, but her parents were going to hear about the whole thing too. Not just from me either.
“I just tried to make Charlotte see reason is all.”
“And by reason, you mean you told her she didn’t belong in this town and she didn’t deserve to have me in her life
? What the hell were you thinking?”
“Argh!” she growled before stomping her foot. “I was thinking exactly what I said. Maybe I shouldn’t have done it, but dammit, Shane! It’s supposed to be me and you! Ever since we were kids, it was supposed to be me that you picked! But you never did, and then she came to town and you were a lost cause. Totally blind to the fact that she’s horribly wrong for you.”
“Oh, Suzanna,” her father sighed, shaking his head.
“No, Daddy! You’ve always seen it too! I’ve lost track of how many times you’ve said how perfect it would be for us to combine the two farms. How wonderful Shane is. I know how much you wished he was your son, and he could be if he would just open his eyes, stop thinking with his dick, and see how perfect we would be together!”
“That’s enough out of you, missy. Go inside now. We’ll talk about this later,” he said, pointing at the door.
I’d never heard him use that tone of voice with Suzanna in all the years I’d known him. He’d always treated her like his princess, but look how that had turned out. She looked at me longingly as she walked through the door.
“Shane, son. I’m terribly sorry for the trouble my daughter has caused. You have my word that it won’t happen again. And she will call Charlotte and apologize for her behavior.”
“I’d appreciate that, sir. But I hope you understand when I say that she isn’t welcome on my land anymore. It isn’t just going to be my home from now on. It’s going to be Charlotte’s too, and there is no way I’m going to let anyone make her feel like she doesn’t belong there beside me. No matter how long I’ve known them. Not when I plan to make her my wife.”
“I hate that it’s come to this, but I hear what you’re saying. I hope sometime in the future y’all will be able to move past my daughter’s actions,” he said.
“That will be up to Charlotte, sir. If she ever decides she’s ready to forgive Suzanna and wants her in our life, then that’s when we’ll move past this. I’m sorry, but until then, I’m done.”
He shook his head sadly. “You’ve turned into one hell of a man, Shane. Your Charlotte is a lucky woman.”
“That’s just it, sir. I’m the lucky one. She’s helped make me the man I am today,” I said before walking away.
Chapter 8
Charlotte
Shane didn’t sound happy when he called me to tell me he was on his way over. My head was still fuzzy from sleep since I hadn’t gotten to bed until very late, so I didn’t even think of a response before he hung up. I hated when he was pissed about something, and after the scene from last night I didn’t really have the energy to argue with him about whatever was going on.
I pulled on some clothes and wandered downstairs only to find the house was completely silent. Mama had said she and Daddy might take everyone out for breakfast this morning so that I could sleep in now that the plague seemed to be over. It was a shame that Shane had woken me up instead.
There was a pot of coffee made, a covered pot on the stove and a note with my name on it on the kitchen counter. I flipped it open to see that my mama had made my favorite breakfast before they all left. There was nothing like cheesy grits to get your day started.
I spooned out a bowl and enjoyed each savory bite while I was waiting for Shane to arrive. It was nice to have a moment of peace and quiet, even if I knew that Shane was going to barge in any minute now to talk about whatever burr he had up his bonnet. I snorted a little at that thought, right before I heard a quick rap on the door and the sound of it opening.
“I’m back here,” I yelled out to Shane so he could find me at the kitchen table.
He didn’t say a word as he walked over and lifted me to my feet and wrapped me into a big ole’ bear of a hug. We stood together for a few moments, Shane practically squeezing me to death.
I was worried it was something really bad with the way he was acting. “Hey, what happened?” I asked, my voice muffled by his shirt.
“Why didn’t you ever say anything?” he asked.
That wasn’t what I expected him to say at all. “About what?” I wondered aloud.
“Charlotte, how am I supposed to be able to protect you from harm when you won’t even tell me how badly someone has been treating you?”
Aha, the light bulb went off in my head. Someone had gotten to Shane this morning before he and I had talked about what happened at the bar with Suzanna last night.
“Up until last night it wasn’t that big of a deal. She wasn’t always very nice to me, but it wasn’t like she was horrible,” I tried to explain. “And you’ve known her since forever. I didn’t want to ruin your friendship with her just because we didn’t like each other.”
“Yeah, it sucks to lose a friend, but that pales in comparison to the thought of losing you. I don’t have time for anyone in my life who doesn’t want to support our relationship. And certainly not for someone who wants to mess things up between us,” he swore as he pulled away to look deeply into my eyes. “You’re the most important person in my life, Charlotte. If someone is giving you a hard time, I need to know about it. Okay?”
He certainly had a point when he put it that way. “Yes, I understand. I probably should have talked to you about her sooner. And I definitely was going to talk to you today after what happened last night,” I started as I proceeded to explain everything that had gone down with her the night before.
Shane listened to my explanation and then shared with me his conversation with her this morning. I was in awe of the fact that he’d gone barging next door to confront her, in front of her father no less. “So don’t you worry about having to deal with her any more. I made it perfectly clear that she wasn’t welcome around any longer.
“Shane, you can’t tell your neighbor that she’s not allowed at your parents’ house. They might get angry with you for that since they’ve known her longer than me,” I argued.
“No, sugar, they will both understand why I said what I did. Besides, that’s not exactly what I said.”
“I don’t understand,” I said, not following what he meant.
Shane ran a hand through his dark locks and looked up at the ceiling. “I need to show you instead of tell you,” he said as he held his hand out to me. “Take a ride with me?”
“Of course,” I said as I followed him out the door and into his red pickup truck.
We drove straight out to the farm, but Shane turned down a dirt path instead of heading over to the house. After a couple minutes he parked in the middle of a field, hopped out of the truck and grabbed a blanket from the back. I followed him, not sure why we were here, but willing to go along to see what he had planned.
When I moved to sit down on the blanket after he’d spread it on the grass he stopped me. “No, Charlotte. I need you standing up for this,” he said before he stuck his hand into the front pocket of his jeans. I figured he was just putting his keys in there or something so I was shocked when he pulled a ring box out and got down on one knee.
“Ohmigod,” I whispered as tears welled in my eyes.
Shane opened the box and held it up so I could see the diamond ring twinkling inside. “Charlotte,” he sighed before taking a deep breath. “I know our relationship hasn’t always been the easiest, but I hope you know how much I love you. I want the chance to show you exactly how much every single day for the rest of our lives.”
“Shane,” I whispered, tears dripping down my cheeks.
“Will you marry me, sugar? Be my wife? And the mother of my children? Build a home with me here on my family’s farm, right where we are standing? Be the woman I will love with my dying breath?”
I nodded my head wildly in response to his question, swallowing the lump in my throat so I could answer. “Yes,” I croaked out.
Shane had a huge grin on his face as he teased me. “I’m sorry. I couldn’t quite catch your answer there. Was that a yes?”
“Yes, Shane,” I answered as I looked around at the land surrounding us. “I want to be your w
ife. To be the mother of your children. And I’d love to build our home right here where you asked me to marry you.”
“Hot damn!” he crowed before he slid the ring onto my finger. Then he swooped me up into his arms and twirled me around.
I giggled at his excitement and held my hand up so I could admire the look of his ring on my finger. It was a perfect fit, just like us. “Holy shit, Shane! We’re going to get married.”
“Hell yes we are! Just as soon as I can get you to walk down that aisle to me. I don’t want to wait a minute longer than I have to. I want to make you my wife as soon as I possibly can.”
“You do realize that if we rush it people will think this is a shotgun wedding, right?” I teased.
“If that’s what it takes to get this done quickly, that’s fine with me. You just tell your daddy to bring his gun, and I’ll do my best to knock you up,” he promised as he laid me down on the blanket.
I watched as he started to strip out of his clothes. “Right here?”
He nodded at me as he pulled his boots off. “Definitely here. We can christen our land the right way.”
“Right now?” I asked
“No time like the present now that you’re finally my fiancé,” he said before he pounced and my clothes were tossed aside like he was a man on a mission to get me naked. Something I was more than happy to help him accomplish.
“Sounds like a good plan to me,” I whispered as he leaned over me. Shane traced a fingertip down my cheek, with such a look of love on his face. “Since I need you.”
“Charlotte, I will always give you anything you need. You know that,” he swore.
I reached up to grab his thick, dark hair and pulled his head down towards mine. My lips met his, hungrily. I was suddenly desperate for his touch. I licked at his lips and sucked his tongue into my mouth, mimicking what I wanted him to do to me.
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