The Merriest Magnolia

by Michelle Major

  “Not a chance.”

  Her pert nose wrinkled. “So how long in LA and what brought you to the West Coast?”

  “My first book got made into a movie.”

  “Wow. Anything I would have heard of?”

  “A thriller called Point of No Return.”

  “Shut the front door!”

  Chloe let out a series of sharp barks that made Garrett wince, clearly riled up by her owner’s outburst. Lily took a moment to quiet the animal, then turned to him. “Brad starred in that movie. It was huge. That’s so cool.”

  “I thought so, too, but things didn’t quite turn out the way I’d planned.”

  “Did you meet Brad Pitt?”

  He nodded. “Decent guy.”

  “Did you get to know any other famous people?”

  “Tons of them,” he said, thinking back to that first heady year when he’d come to Hollywood, certain it was the start of an illustrious career.

  “Are you famous?” she asked, inclining her head.

  “For a hot second in certain circles.” He didn’t like to talk about that time. It brought back too many dark memories of the mistakes he’d made and the way his ego and pride had led him to a place where his life circled the drain. “I was what you might call a one-hit wonder or a flash in the pan. I went from being the next big thing in the world of Hollywood writers to nothing. Now I’m less than nothing.”

  “Don’t say that.” She reached out and placed her hand on his arm. The gentle touch reverberated through him. “The industry doesn’t define you.”

  “It does in LA.”

  “But you wrote the book before you moved to California?”

  She pulled her hand away and it took every ounce of willpower he possessed not to ask her to keep it there.

  “I was a high school English teacher. It feels like that life was a million years ago.”

  “I know what you mean.”

  “How long have you been chasing the dream?” he asked.

  She sighed. “Seven years. Not much chasing recently. Turns out the chase isn’t all that fun when it’s someone else’s dream.”

  He raised one brow when she didn’t elaborate.

  “My mom wanted to be an actress when she was younger,” she explained. “But she got pregnant with my oldest sister and married my dad. They stayed in Magnolia, but she always talked about what could have been if she hadn’t been trapped in a small town.”

  “Ouch,” he murmured.

  “She didn’t exactly make my sister or my dad feel special. But she saw something in me.” Lily gave a soft laugh. “I guess it was because I looked like her. Both of my sisters took after my dad. They’re really smart. I was...you know...ordinary other than being pretty.”

  “I don’t think that’s true.”

  “You don’t know me,” she countered immediately.

  Garrett shrugged. “I’ve watched you interact with customers over the past year. You’re always kind and remember details. You don’t mess up orders, and you give Mrs. Garinski water with no ice every time.”

  “She has sensitive teeth.”

  “My point is you’re a good person. That’s not ordinary, at least in LA.”

  She studied him for several moments. “Since when did you become a nice guy?”

  “What made you think I wasn’t?”

  “You’re always scowling or frowning or giving me stink eye.”

  “I don’t give stink eye.”

  “Total stink eye.”

  “Kristin likes me,” he offered, not quite sure why he felt the need to prove some strange point.

  “She thinks you’re a good tipper.”

  Chloe put her snout through the two seats and shoved her wet nose into Garrett’s armpit. “Gross, dog.” He pushed his elbow into the animal’s face—gently but enough to get his point across.

  “I believe in tipping,” he said, “but she and I are friends. We go to the Brentwood farmer’s market once a month.”

  “Seriously?” Lily looked genuinely confused. “I didn’t think you spoke to anyone in the diner, let alone made friends. Maybe it’s just me?”

  Garrett opened his mouth to answer, then snapped it shut again. Of course it had been her. No one else affected him the way Lily did.

  “Oh, my gosh.” Lily let out a delicate snort. “It is just me. You don’t like me.”

  “I never said that.”

  “Everyone likes me.” She shook her head. “Even the casting directors who reject me tell me how nice I am.”

  “A comfort, I imagine.”

  “Are you making fun of me?”

  “No.”

  She didn’t look convinced. “I’m going back to sleep. Wake me when we stop for gas.”

  He watched as she reclined the seat, then turned so she was facing the window, seat belt still fastened.

  He liked this Lily Wainright—the spunk and sass—just as much as he did the chipper, amiable waitress he knew from the diner. He had a feeling he’d like every aspect of Lily he discovered.

  Which was why he had to get across country and drop her off without delay.

  CHAPTER SIX

  “HAWAII.”

  Lily looked up from the book she’d been reading. They were almost through the ten-hour drive of day two on the road that would keep them on schedule to arrive in Magnolia late Friday night.

  She felt sore and sticky despite the cool air blowing from the vents on the dash. The Oklahoma sky was in the midst of turning from pink to gray, but thanks to the late summer days, it still wouldn’t be full dark when they reached their destination.

  She threw a questioning glance at Garrett, who managed to look unrumpled and strangely attractive with the shadow of stubble across his jaw and his hair curling around his ears.

  He pointed to the sedan in front of them. “A Hawaii license plate.”

  “Seriously?” She straightened in her seat. “That’s amazing. I would have totally missed it.” She checked her list. “Now we only need Maine, Alaska, Vermont and South Dakota.”

  “You need them,” he clarified. “I’m not playing.”

  She laughed softly. “Whatever you say as long as you keep looking.”

  He rolled his eyes and adjusted the radio to a country station with decent reception.

  Lily hummed along with the old Luke Bryan song while she glanced behind her. Chloe’s big body was stretched across the back seat, tongue lolling out of her mouth as she slept. The dog didn’t seem to mind the hours of driving, sleeping through most of them and perching her chin on Garrett’s shoulder to look out the front window when she was awake.

  To be honest, Lily didn’t mind the long hours either. Something inside her had loosened as they got farther away from Los Angeles, and she realized how unhappy she’d been.

  Why had she gone through the motions for so many years with no regard for what she’d truly wanted?

  Because it would have made her mom happy? Tears had clogged her throat when she’d explained to Garrett that her mother’s dying wish—as the pancreatic cancer had decimated her body—was for Lily to pursue the dream of stardom. To succeed where her mother had failed.

  That had been Lily’s senior year of high school and, despite her father’s protests, she’d done it. She’d moved to Hollywood and tried to find work as an actress, hoping that her mom would be watching over her and guiding her on a path to success.

  A path that Lily now wished she would have gotten off of sooner.

  “I think a hotel for tonight is a better idea,” Garrett said as Luke’s crooning voice faded and a song Lily didn’t recognize came on. She hadn’t listened to country music since she’d left Magnolia and had forgotten how much she liked it. Another tiny piece of herself she’d stripped away trying to become a person she was never meant to be.


  “No way.” Lily shook her head. “I heard your mom when you talked to her earlier. She’s so excited to see you, even if it’s just for one night.”

  “I can stop on my way back.”

  “Garrett.” She waited until he glanced her way and then squeezed his arm. It was odd that she kept finding excuses to touch him in the confined space of the SUV. Or when they stopped for gas or food. Potty breaks for Chloe. No wonder she’d kept her distance at the restaurant. Some part of her obviously knew that she wouldn’t be able to ignore her attraction to him.

  Just as she understood that he wasn’t the type of guy who’d be interested in her. Garrett was an English teacher who’d written a rabidly popular debut novel that had been turned into a blockbuster movie. He might not have had much follow-up success, but he was intelligent. Book smart like her sisters. Not like Lily, who’d struggled with school most of her childhood.

  She’d learned to make the best of her strengths, and having super-smart friends or boyfriends wasn’t part of that.

  Unlike her older sisters, Garrett didn’t make her feel stupid. As the miles rolled by, he’d become less guarded, and they’d talked about everything from their families to favorite books, movies and flavors of ice cream.

  She’d been the one to suggest he call his mom after realizing their journey would include a night near his home.

  “Trust me,” she said gently, “I get how hard it is to return to where you came from. At least you’ll be just passing through. You can visit your mom and then drive away tomorrow morning. I won’t have that luxury.” She laughed, trying to sound flippant even though it came out more like a squawk. “Not that anyone other than my mom believed I’d make it big. My return proves them right.”

  He drummed his fingers against the steering wheel in time with the beat. “Do you care what they think?”

  Lily sucked in a breath, his question hitting her like a punch to the gut. She turned and pressed her palm to the window, watching the plains zoom by between her outstretched fingers. When she finally had control of her emotions, she shook her head. “I feel so much relief at leaving California it makes me regret not going back sooner. But my mom would have been disappointed, and I hate that.”

  “You can’t know how she would have felt after all these years. Maybe if she’d lived, she would have missed you. Maybe she would have realized that your happiness was more important than her unrealized dream.”

  How could she have ever thought this man was a coldhearted jerk? In a few simple sentences, he managed to give her the comfort she’d never been able to find on her own.

  “I want to believe that,” she told him.

  “Then do.” He rolled his shoulders. “On the other hand, I had the dream in my hot hands and messed it all up. Hollywood welcomed me with open arms, and I wasted my chance.”

  Last night, as they’d had dinner in an authentic Mexican restaurant outside of Albuquerque, Garrett had shared the downward trajectory of his career once his book had become a bestseller. He’d gotten involved with drugs and alcohol, partying hard with his so-called friends. His girlfriend had left him for one of the stuntmen on his movie, and after his second book tanked, he’d spiraled out of control.

  “Do you believe in second chances?” she asked. “You know Hollywood loves a good redemption story.”

  “I’m not sure there’s anything worth redeeming.”

  “Don’t say that. Your aunt believes in you, and from what you’ve told me, your mom does, too.”

  “She didn’t care about the money or the fame. I could have been a high school teacher by day and obscure novelist at night for my entire life. If it made me happy, she’d be happy for me.”

  “Were you happy then?”

  One side of his mouth turned up in a sad smile. “Yeah,” he whispered.

  “Have you thought about moving back to Oklahoma permanently?”

  He shook his head. “I don’t think I belong there anymore, and I definitely don’t belong in Hollywood.” He glanced at her and the emotion in his gaze made her heart beat faster. “Have you noticed how much easier it is to breathe away from LA?”

  Lily nodded, shocked that he felt the same way she did. “At first I thought it was the lack of pollution but...”

  “It’s more than that.”

  “You’ll find your home,” she told him, hoping the words were true for herself as well as Garrett. “We both will.”

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  “HOW DID YOU put all this together in eight hours?”

  Garrett looked around the fenced-in backyard of his childhood home, hoping he remembered the names of all the people his mother had invited for this homecoming s’mores party, as she called it.

  “The neighbors understand how happy I am to have you here,” Alice Dawes explained with a watery smile. “Even if it’s just for one night.”

  “I promise I’ll stay longer on the return trip.” Garrett wrapped an arm around his mother’s shoulders. As a single mom, Alice had done her best and always made Garrett feel loved and wanted, even if his deadbeat father hadn’t given a damn about either of them. When he’d left for Hollywood, he promised her that he was going to make it big for both of them. She deserved to be taken care of after working so hard to support him.

  He’d sent her and his aunt on a Caribbean cruise, Alice’s bucket list vacation. But the black hole of partying and excessive spending drained the money he made from the book and movie before he could truly set her up for life. He still received royalties, but when his second book failed, so did his dreams for a long literary and showbiz career.

  “You have a beautiful home, Mrs. Dawes.” Lily’s sweet smile eased the ache in Garrett’s chest. Did she realize her effect on him? Could she tell he was on the verge of losing his composure? He mentally kicked himself in the teeth for the list of mistakes he’d made that had destroyed the life he thought he wanted.

  “Call me Alice,” his mother said, reaching out to pat Lily’s cheek. “I’m so glad you needed a ride and my son was available to give you one.”

  “Me, too.” The blush that stained Lily’s cheeks pink made awareness dance across his skin.

  “I’m going to get another bag of marshmallows for s’mores.” His mom gestured to the kids surrounding the fire pit on the back patio.

  Garrett rocked back on his heels as she walked away and tried to be subtle about checking out everyone who’d come to welcome him home.

  “This is not what you had in mind,” Lily said, taking a step closer to him.

  He sighed. “It’s making me rethink my commitment to sobriety.”

  “Garrett, no. You can’t—”

  “Sorry,” he said, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. “That was a bad joke. I’m using inappropriate humor to defuse my anxiety.”

  She tipped her chin, her knowing gaze assessing him. Her eyes were the color of the deep moss that grew on the trees in the forest behind the house. She’d taken a shower when they got to his mom’s, and her hair was still damp on the ends. He wanted to run his fingers through it.

  “I’m four years sober, Lily. Trust me. If I could stay clean in LA, I’ll be fine at a backyard picnic.”

  “Your mom is so proud of you,” she murmured, her smile wistful.

  He nodded. “Despite all the ways I’ve screwed up. I don’t deserve that kind of love from her or from my aunt.”

  “Of course you do.” Lily’s eyes flashed. “Everyone deserves love.”

  His mouth went dry. He’d never experienced anything quite like the way Lily Wainright made him feel.

  “Can I show you something?” he asked.

  “Sure.”

  Without overthinking it, he took her hand, lacing their fingers together, shocked but elated when she didn’t pull away.

  He whistled sharply and Chloe, who’d been sniffing around the buffe
t table most of the night, trotted over.

  “Will it upset your mom if you leave the party?” Lily asked as he led her through the gate that led to the woods.

  “Her friends saw me. They know I’m alive and not a drug-addicted bum in southern California. Mom will be thrilled.”

  “That’s a problem with small towns,” she said with a sigh. “People latch onto something and don’t like to let go. I’m sorry if the attention bothers you.”

  He squeezed her fingers. “I didn’t expect all of this, but I’m glad for it. With one fell swoop, we got all of the business of people seeing me again out of the way. It made my mother happy, and that makes me happy.”

  Chloe yowled and galloped after a squirrel running into the forest.

  “That dog makes me happy,” Lily said with a laugh.

  The animal barked and lifted her paws onto the trunk of the tree where the squirrel had retreated. The small woodland creature squawked from a branch, making Chloe bark even more frantically. “Not exactly the world’s greatest hunter,” Garrett observed.

  Lily laughed harder and the sound flowed over him like warm honey.

  “Here we are,” he murmured as they moved into the canopy of elm trees. The temperature had dropped a few degrees, making it a perfect late summer evening.

  “It’s a fort.” Lily let go of his hand and moved toward the structure that had meant so much to him through most of his childhood.

  “I wasn’t sure it would still be here. Max Campbell and I built it the summer between fourth and fifth grade. We hooked up wagons to the backs of our bikes so we could transport the lumber.”

  “Did you have a club name or secret handshake?”

  He shook his head as he opened the door and peered in at the dusty interior. As a kid, the woods and this clubhouse had been his sanctuary. It was empty of the books and trinkets that had filled it back then, but he remembered every detail of the hours he’d spent there. Revisiting it now was an unexpected gift, especially with Lily at his side. “No, but I have an idea for a new series built around a clubhouse in the woods. Think Stranger Things meets WarGames.”