“Such a perfectionist.” I shake my head, looking at him, and I don’t know what I did to be this lucky.
Chapter 33
Quinn
“Are you almost ready?” I look over at Willow as she stares at her clothes hanging in my closet. Well, our closet.
“Is this new?” She takes the shirt down off the rack and turns to me. “Like, did you buy this for me?”
I avoid her eyes and look away. “I don’t think so.”
“Quinn?” she calls my name, and I look over at her while I put on my T-shirt. “This is new, isn’t it? I’m not dreaming up things.”
“Okay, it could be new,” I say, shrugging. “My mother brought over some things she bought for you and …” She opens her mouth. “And I hung them up.”
“What?” she asks, shocked as she looks back at the racks. She has more clothes than she knows what to do with. She can go a full year, I think, without washing anything and still be okay. It’s my mother’s way of showing her how much she loves her. “When?”
“I don’t know, a couple of weeks ago,” I say the truth. “Or a couple of days ago.”
“Well, which is it?” she asks, and I walk to her and take her face in my hands. It’s been two months since she has officially decided to stay. Two months since she officially moved into my bedroom. Two months since she officially had not one but two jobs. Two months since she hung up the empty black bag in the closet.
“It could be both,” I say and bend down to kiss her. “Now, if you don’t hurry, we're going to be later again.” I slip my tongue into her mouth this time. “I’m not going to remind you what they thought we were doing.” I stop talking when her cheeks go a bright pink, similar to how they turned last Sunday.
“I can’t get dressed if you are all over me,” she says, and I laugh when she pushes me away from her. She grabs her jean shorts and slips them on her legs, and then puts on the new top she just found, tucking it in the front. She slips on her Converse shoes and then looks at me. “I’m done.”
We walk out of the house with her hand in mine, and when we pull up to the barbecue, there are no parking spaces left in the driveway. We park on the street, and again, she reaches for my hand. In the past two months, she’s come out of her shell. She kisses me more just because, she holds my hand even in the barn. But the best of all is she laughs and smiles all the time. All. The. Time. And it’s glorious.
Every single day, we make dinner side by side, both of us learning. Most of the stuff is edible, while some of it has to be trashed, and then we order pizza. “Do you want to take the horses out tonight?” She looks over at me. “After the barbecue.”
“That sounds like a perfect night,” I say, and we walk around the side of the house. The backyard is already packed with people.
“Oh, look who it is,” Reed says, smirking, with his best friend Christopher beside him. “Only ten minutes late this time,” he teases, and I’m about to push his shoulder when I hear my mother’s voice.
“Don’t hit your brother,” she says, and I glare at him as he smirks at me.
“I’m going to head to the barn,” Reed says, “and see you all later.” He turns and walks toward the barn, where I see some of my cousins on their horses.
“Hey, you two,” my mother says when she gets close enough. My father is right behind her as usual. “Willow, you look radiant,” she tells her and takes her in a hug.
“Thank you,” Willow says, hugging my mother. It has been a slow process with Willow accepting all the love my family has to give, and at times, I feel her holding back because of the fear that it will somehow be ripped away from her. “And thank you for the clothes.”
My mother looks at Willow and then at me with her eyes going big as she rolls her lips. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She feigns ignorance. “What clothes?”
“Mom,” I say.
At the same time, my father says, “Darlin’.”
She throws her hands up in the air. “What? Can’t I do something nice?”
Willow reaches for my mother’s hand, and it surprises even my mother. “It was way too nice of you. I don’t need any more clothes.”
“One can never have too many clothes,” my mother says, looking over at my father. “Right, cowboy?”
He puts his arm around my mother’s shoulders. “Right, darlin’.” He kisses her lips. “Always right.”
I shake my head and feel Willow slip her hand into mine. “Well, for now, how about we stop buying clothes, and one day we can go shopping together?”
My mother gets tears in her eyes and blinks them away. “I would love nothing more.” She looks down, and I see her lift her hand to the corner of her eye. “Now go say hello to your grandparents. They were asking for you.”
I nod at her and my father, who takes my mother into his arms as we walk away from them. “You really going to go shopping with my mother?” I ask, and she looks up at me.
“She’s been asking me, and Chelsea and Amelia said they would come also,” Willow says, and we look over toward the cheering and see that Amelia is on her horse with her hands up in the air while Asher just shakes his head.
“I want a rematch!” he yells at her, and she just claps her hands and laughs at him.
“When are you going to get it through your head that you can’t beat me at this?” she yells back at him, and he just stares at her. It’s a look I don’t think I’ve seen him have before. I stop walking and look over at them, and I’m about to say something to Willow when I hear my grandmother say my name.
“Quinn, honey.” I turn my head and see her walking to us, her hair tied in a braid at the side. “I made you two apple pies and some blueberry scones.” She looks at Willow. “I also made you blueberry cheesecake.”
“You didn’t have to do that,” Willow says, letting go of my hand to hug my grandmother.
“I have nothing else to do during the day,” she says to Willow. “I’m still waiting for you to come and bake with me.” Willow looks down shyly. There is no way around it. Willow has captured the love of everyone that met her.
“One day,” she says softly. “One day.”
“Good. Go get yourself something to eat.” She cups Willow’s face and smiles at her with all the love she has. It’s the way she looks at all of us.
We walk away from my grandmother, and I look over at Willow, who is wiping a tear from her eye. “What’s wrong?”
She laughs and blinks away more tears. “Absolutely nothing,” she says. “It’s just …” She looks down, and I know what she’s saying. “It’s a good day.” I kiss her lips as we walk up to the line at the tables right behind Amelia, Asher, Mayson, and Chelsea. “Hey, everyone.”
“One of these days.” I hear Ethan behind us. “We will get here before everyone and be the first in line,” he says, and we all laugh, especially Emily, who just shakes her head.
“One can hope,” Emily says, and just then, all of our phones go off. I look at Ethan, and he looks at me. I pull my phone out, and the commotion behind me makes me look up as I see my father and uncle running.
I look down and then look up at the black smoke filling the sky. “One of the barns is on fire.”
What barn is on fire? Who is inside? Will another mystery be upon us?
Get ready to unravel another secret in the south!
Southern Secrets
Epilogue One
Quinn
One Year Later
“I forgot something at the barn.” I look over at Willow as she wipes down the counter we just ate dinner on.
“Okay.” She looks up at me, and she is even more beautiful than the first day I saw her. “Go get it.”
I look down, and my heart speeds up nervously. “Do you want to come with me?”
“You’re acting weird.” She looks at me, and I roll my eyes.
“How am I acting weird?” I ask, folding my arms over my chest, knowing exactly how I’m being weird.
“We
ll, for one, you didn’t attack me when I walked in from work.” She tilts her head to the side. She works with my father every single day from one in the afternoon until five. It’s the only hours we aren’t together, and every time she walks in the door, I spend a good hour making up for the lost time. “And you want me to come with you to the barn instead of ‘getting naked.’” She uses her fingers in air quotes.
“Number one, I was cooking when you walked in,” I tell her.
“Which is another weird thing because you always wait for me,” she says, walking over to me and washing her hands.
“Would you just come with me?” I say. She laughs at me and walks to the front door to get her shoes. I look at her walk away and the picture of us right on the table. There are actually pictures of us everywhere. Us at the barn, us with our horses, us at one of the barbecues. And in every picture, Willow’s face is lit up with smiles.
“Okay,” she says, walking back, and I take another look at her. She is wearing white jeans and a jean shirt that is loose on her and tucked in. “Let’s go.”
She slides her hand in mine when we walk out of the house. “We should have everyone over this weekend,” she says, looking over at me. “So the pool finally gets used.”
“That sounds good,” I say, tapping the steering wheel before I tell her that it’s already planned. “It’s a beautiful night, isn’t it.”
“It is,” she says, and I look down instead of looking over at her. We pull up to the barn, and I look at her. “Do I have enough time to go and say hello to Hope?” she asks, and I just nod at her. She walks into the barn, and the lights are off as I follow her in.
She walks over to the barn and turns on the lights, and instead of the bright lights, only soft lights come on. Lights are hanging all the way down to Hope’s stall. She looks up and takes in the lights at the end of the stall in the shape of a heart.
She stops walking and then turns to look at me, finding me right behind her and down on one knee. Her hands go to her mouth, and she sobs out and bends at the waist. “Willow,” I say her name softly as she stands there, her whole body shaking. “One year ago today, I took you in my arms,” I say, and I see the look on her face as she realizes what the date is. “You barely had a heartbeat, and if truth be told, I would have given you my heart back then. I would have had my heart beat for you even back then. I can’t explain to you how or why it happened. The only thing I can tell you is that you were made for me. All of you was made for me. We were made for each other.” She shakes, not saying anything, and I take out the black box my father gave me six months ago. “I wanted to get you a ring that was perfect for you,” I say. “But my father had other plans.” I open the ring. “This ring is the one he gave my mother when he asked her to marry him.”
“I can’t take your family's ring,” she says, putting her hand on her heart.
“Don’t you get it?” I say. “It is their way of showing you that you are theirs also,” I say. Her legs give out, and I catch her around her waist. “Willow Davis,” I say her name again. “Will you be my wife? Will you hold my hand every single day? Will you grow old with me?”
“Are you sure?” She looks at me. “Are you really sure?”
“I haven’t been more sure of anything in my whole life,” I say.
“Quinn,” she says. “From the moment I opened my eyes one year ago, I have never felt so safe. From the moment I felt your hand in mine, I knew that your hands would be the ones to pick me up instead of push me down. I fell in love with you without even knowing what love is.” She moves her hand up to my face. “You, Quinn Barnes, made my heart beat with your love.” She smiles. “So yes, I’ll marry you.” She inches her face closer to me, and here in the middle of the barn where she slowly opened up her heart and life to me, I make her mine.
Epilogue Two
Willow
Two Years Later
“Well, you have to give her something. She’s in pain,” Quinn says, putting his hands on his hips.
"I am not in pain,” I say from the hospital bed, then I look at the nurse who looks like she is going to kill my husband. “He’s just nervous."
"You don’t say." She turns, shaking her head, and walks out of the room.
"You are a liar, Willow Barnes," he says. “I saw you flinch.”
“It was a contraction,” I say. “I’m supposed to flinch.”
“Well, they have drugs for that.” He runs his hands through his hair.
"Oh, I heard you were back." I look toward the door at Shirley, who walks in smiling. Ever since I left the hospital, I have kept in touch with her. She claps her hands together. “It’s the third time in a week."
I roll my lips, trying to hide the laughter. “It’s the real deal this time," I tell her.
"Her doctor accidentally broke her water,” Quinn says. “Who does that? You need a new doctor." He looks at me, and I shake my head.
"We came as fast as we could," Olivia says, walking into the room with two big bags. "I got the bag for the baby." She holds up the bag she helped me pack a month ago. "And then I threw something in this bag for you."
"Thank you,” I say, and she just smiles at me. She has been the mother I have never had. She has accepted me with open arms, and she treats me just like she does her children.
"I have to get back to my floor,” Shirley says. “I’ll check in later." She then looks at Quinn. “Don’t get thrown out of the hospital." She laughs.
"Quinn, go and help your dad with the bags." Olivia looks at him.
"Bags?" He looks at her.
"You think your grandmother isn’t going to pack food for after?" She shakes her head. “It’s like you don’t even know her."
"I’ll be right back,” he says, kissing my lips. "Don’t do anything without me."
"Good God, Quinn," Olivia says. “You are going for five minutes, not five hours." She shoos him out of the room.
I rub my stomach and then look down. “What’s wrong?" she says, coming beside me and sitting on the bed. “You had a fake smile ever since I walked in, and if my son was in his right mind, he would have seen it."
I smile shyly at her. “I’m just …" I start to say, and the tears come regardless of how much I try to fight them back. “I’m scared."
"Oh, honey." She grabs my hand. “It’s going to be okay. It might be painful, but you’ll forget about it.”
I shake my head. “No, not that,” I say, and I feel a soft kick. “I don’t know how to be a good mother,” I admit. “I mean, I’ve watched you, and I know the kind of mother I want to be.” I wipe my cheek. “But what if I don’t have it in me?”
“Willow, my mother was not the greatest,” she says. “And if you think about it, we had similar experiences with our mothers. Yours always wanted something from you, and mine used me to better herself." I look at her shocked. “And before I moved here, I never thought I would have kids. But then I was around Charlotte, and I saw how she was with Casey and Kallie, and I knew that was the mother I wanted to be." She wipes her own tears. “Ask yourself this … Would you die for your child?"
"Of course," I answer her. “I haven’t even met her, and I know I would trade my life for hers."
"That," she says, “isn’t something our mothers would have done. For that, you are already better than her."
"Why is she crying?" Quinn says, dropping the bag at the door and rushing to me. “Are you hurt? I told that nurse that you had pain."
"She’s fine," Olivia says. “Everything is going to be fine."
She nods at me, and I smile at her. Six hours later, she is by my side, holding my hand while Quinn holds my other hand. “I love you more than life,” he whispers as I give one final push.
Everything happens so suddenly. The doctor places my child on my chest, and I look down. “We have a girl," the doctor says as I sob.
"I love you so much, baby girl,” I tell my daughter. “So, so much." The nurse rubs the baby’s back, and then she lets out the best s
ound I’ve ever heard in my life. Her cry.
I look over at Quinn, who has his head pushed to me. “You did it, Willow,” he says with his own tears running down his face.
"No," I say. “We did it."
Southern Secrets
Never make the same mistake twice is my motto.
After being left in the dust of an old pickup truck, I promised that I would take care of myself
and never trust another man with a sexy smirk and cowboy boots.
Then he showed up, and he’s everywhere I turn. He's at the barn, he's at the bar, and now, he's my roommate.
He makes me want things I shouldn’t
* * *
Asher
I grew up in foster care, and on my eighteenth birthday, I was set free.
I spent years coasting from town to town.
Staying wasn’t a part of my plan and neither was love, especially with someone off limits.
This was all supposed to be temporary.
I’m just hoping my secret doesn’t destroy the only family I’ve ever known.
* * *
Buried secrets are never buried for long.
Southern Secrets
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