I smile as I go about loading up my items on the belt. “Hey, Tulip, how are you?” I ask.
She gives me a fake smile, her red lips stretched tightly. I wait for her to tell me that she’s fine, but she doesn’t. Instead, her face almost immediately crumples.
“I’m just. It’s been hard,” she admits on a whisper.
“Are you okay?” I ask, my voice softening.
She nods, then shakes her head, then shrugs her shoulder. She scans my groceries, her eyes staring down on each item as she runs it over the scanning machine. Once she’s finished, she lifts her eyes to me, and I notice that they’re swimming with unshed tears.
“Tulip…” I begin.
She shakes her head, inhaling a ragged breath before she speaks. “You know me and Joey had been together since high school. He just, he left, and he didn’t look back. He didn’t even tell me he was leaving town, just left me a note yesterday on my car in the parking lot. I’ve been working here and taking care of him, paying all the bills for five years.”
Reaching my hand out, I wrap my fingers around her wrist. “Oh my God. That rat bastard,” I hiss.
Her eyes widen, then a grin appears on her lips. “He really is,” she says.
Sliding my debit card into the machine, I think about Tulip and her predicament. “You want to go out for girl’s night this weekend? I have Saturday night off. Channing is probably bored stiff, too. We could go to a movie,” I suggest.
I don’t know what makes me ask her. Maybe because she opened up to me, maybe because she’s always been kind and friendly with me. Maybe because of the sadness that swims in her eyes. She bites the corner of her bottom lip, then gives me a small smile.
“Really?” she asks.
Nodding my head, I pull out a scrap of paper from my wallet. Writing my cell number down, I slide it across the counter to her.
“Just the three of us, it’ll be fun,” I smile.
“Okay, I’ll text you,” she grins.
Turning away from her, I take a step when she calls my name. Turning my head, I look back at her. Her eyes meet mine, and this time when she smiles, it’s real. It’s sad, but it’s real and I can’t help but twitch my lips into a smile of my own.
“Thanks, Exeter.”
Gripping my fingers on the handle of the cart, I smile. “Can’t wait to hang out, you deserve a night out,” I state.
She doesn’t say anything else, and I don’t give her the opportunity. Instead, I march out of the grocery store, feeling a little better than I did before I went inside. Tulip is a nice girl, and Joey was always an asshole, I can’t deny that I’m glad she’s free of him.
My stomach twists as I think about Wyatt and his ex, Sammi. They were the same. Two people that stayed together longer than they should have.
Loading up my groceries, I wonder if he would have ever moved on had she not left. Would he have ever wanted more with me? Probably not. Just like Tulip wouldn’t be doing the same if Joey were still living in her house.
Once my groceries are loaded, I take the cart back to the return and head back toward my car. I pause when I see that same familiar blue pickup truck. It slowly drives past me, but too quickly for me to see the driver. It could be someone else, but I have a feeling it’s him.
My hands shake as I pull my keys out of my purse. Hurrying, I slip into the front seat, then quickly start the engine. I keep that pickup in the peripheral vision as I pull out of the parking spot, then refuse to lose it until I’ve pulled out of the lot.
The entire drive over to Channing’s, I continue to check my rearview mirror the entire way over there. The last thing I want is to make her a target for my father’s sick games. I still don’t quite know what he’s up to, and if it’s only money, I’d gladly give him my last dime if he would just leave me and everyone else I know, alone.
Once I’m convinced he’s not behind me, I head toward Channing’s street and park at the curb in front of her house.
Opening the door, I walk around to the trunk and grab my bags, then walk up toward the porch. Before I can even knock on the door, it flies open and Channing is standing in front of me. She’s glowing perfection, her hair in a long braid down her shoulder and her big eyes focused on me.
“That looks like a lot for just dinner,” she announces, her eyes looking down at the bags in my hands.
I laugh softly. “That’s because it’s dessert too.”
She steps to the side to let me in, closing and locking the door behind me. I look over my shoulder one last time, glancing out of the window beside the door to make sure my father didn’t follow me.
Nobody is there, and I shake the thought away. Maybe it wasn’t him after all, maybe there just happens to be another truck like his around. Stranger things have happened.
WYATT
The rain pours down, it’s hot and sticky. Standing in a long food line is the last thing I want to do after working for twenty plus hours straight, but if I don’t grab the boxed meal now, I won’t have anything to eat later.
All of the restaurants, even the fast food places are closed. Most people left the city when they got news of the massive hurricanes headed their way, the people that are still here are on a mandated curfew. Most are hunkered down trying to save their homes.
The person behind the banquet table hands me a white Styrofoam box. I take it with a thanks before moving on toward the bagged snack food and water. Taking a couple extra bags of chips and trail mix, I move onto the bottled water and take a few of those as well. You never know when you’ll get water and food when you’re out like this.
Making my way toward our trucks, I pass by rows of bucket trucks from other companies. We’re all staged, ready for our next assignments. For now, we need to rest as much as we can before we’re dispatched to the next trouble call.
Rylan has his back against his door, his head bowed and his phone against his ear.
“Oh yeah? Good. I’m fine, sweetheart,” he murmurs into the phone.
Channing.
There is nobody else in this world for him other than her. I still find myself staring in awe at my cousin. This hard, tattooed, felon. He’s fallen to his knees for the sweetness of a good woman. I thought when he went to prison that the person he was before he went down was gone forever.
I don’t know how, but somehow, he came back a better man. Better than ever before, hell, better than me. I respect him, he’s the best man that I know and he’s going to be an amazing father. I watch as he shoves his phone in his pocket and lifts his eyes toward me.
“You okay?” I ask.
He’s been struggling, this storm much more intense than the last one. Plus, now he has Channing at home, alone and waiting for him. He shrugs his shoulder but doesn’t say anything. I toss my boxed food in the passenger seat of my bucket, then turn toward him, ready to talk him out of his funk when he begins to speak.
“Exeter went over last night. They had dinner and dessert, she sounded so happy and excited. They’re going to the movies tonight with Tulip,” he explains. “You know who that is?” he asks, looking concerned.
I chuckle. “Yeah, I know Tulip. She works at the grocery store. Though, I didn’t realize they were friends.”
“She says Exeter knows her or some shit. I don’t want her going anywhere at night.”
I nod, understanding his concerns. I don’t want Exeter going anywhere at night either, but with her job, she doesn’t have that choice. I hate her hours, I wish it was more of an eight-to-five job like mine, but that isn’t what she does, and I can’t ask her to change that about herself. She worked hard for her position, and I won’t take that from her.
“Exeter will take care of her, it’s just a movie,” I say trying to keep my voice calm.
He frowns deeper. I watch as he looks at the ground, then back up at me. With a heavy sigh, he lifts his hand and runs his fingers through his hair. “I should want her to have fun, but fuck, I’m not there and I’m always worried about her.”
“Which is perfectly normal, especially with everything that happened.”
He nods. “I know, I just, I can’t keep her locked away.”
“No matter how badly you want to?” I suggest.
He snorts. “Exactly.”
“I get it.”
I don’t go into depth about Exeter, about why I fucking get it, I don’t have to, not with Rylan. He knows. I don’t say anything else, he needs to think, to process. He knows that she’ll be okay, but just in case, I’ve decided to make a call of my own.
Walking away from him, I take my phone out and dial Louis’ number. “You okay?” he asks immediately. Shaking my head with a laugh, I tell him that I’m fine. “What’s up?” he asks.
“You doing anything tonight?”
He hums, then there’s a moment of silence. “Just sitting around with Rosy.”
“Dude,” I choke on a laugh. “Well, could you put your dick, and Rosy Palm away, do something for me?”
He laughs, his eighth-grade humor obviously funnier to him than to me. When he finally stops, only then do I ask him what I truly called him about.
“The girls are going to a movie, I don’t know which one or what time, if I can find out, I’ll text you,” I begin.
“You want me to follow them?” he asks, guessing my intent.
“Rylan is worried, I don’t want him to be stressing about that when he’s supposed to be working.”
Louis makes a grunting noise. “I’m on the case, Wyatt. You don’t have to worry about them. I’ll keep my distance and keep my eyes on them until they’re home. Safe and sound.”
“Thanks, I don’t know how I’m going to repay you.”
He snorts. “You don’t have to repay shit. I’m doing this not just for you and Rylan, but for the girls too. They’re good women, they don’t deserve to have anything happen to them,” he explains.
“Thanks, Louis. I will buy you a couple beers when I get back though.”
“I look forward to it. Don’t worry about your girls, I’ll keep my sights on them,” he murmurs.
Ending the call, I make my way toward Rylan. He lifts his eyes to me, they look tired, sunken in, and he looks fucking stressed. Hopefully me telling him that Louis will keep an eye on Channing while she’s out tonight will make him feel better.
Lifting my hand, I clap his shoulder as I explain the call that I just made. “Seriously?” Rylan asks.
“Seriously.”
“Holy shit, that is really fucking nice. I mean, I know he helped out last time, but still, this is his vacation.”
I nod. “It is, but he gets bored, and it gives him something to do. He’s here trying to work through some shit in his head, so I know that it will be a nice break from his own thoughts,” I explain.
Rylan nods, lifting his hand to wrap his fingers around the back of his neck. “I can get that. Christ, that makes me feel a million times better,” he says.
“Honestly, me too,” I admit.
A few minutes later, I watch as the foreman makes his way toward us, his phone to his ear. He lifts his chin, and I know it’s time for us to load up and get back to work. I hear a couple diesel bucket trucks start up, and I know that other crews have received their orders as well.
There are over three million outages, so I know that we won’t be sleeping again any time soon. Luckily there are a fuck ton of crews here, waiting and ready to get to work. Hopefully it won’t take more than a few weeks to get these people back up and running with power.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
EXETER
“You realize Louis Kingston is following us, right?” Channing asks when I pull into the movie theater’s parking lot.
“Yeah,” I chuckle. “I have a feeling our men did not want us going out to the movies, at night.”
“Oh, I know Rylan was not very happy with the situation,” she murmurs.
Pulling into the space, I turn the key, turning my car off. “It’s sweet though, that he worries,” I say.
She nods. “It is, it doesn’t bother me. Louis is a really nice guy. Maybe we should invite him to join us. He’s hot, and Tulip could probably use the distraction,” she offers.
“Do you think he would?” I ask.
Channing looks over her shoulder at Louis’ fancy black car, then shifts her gaze toward Tulip who is waiting by the ticket counter. A slow smile appears on her face.
“Oh yeah, I think he would. And I think they are the distraction that each other needs. Maybe nothing will happen, but maybe something good will happen.”
“What are you, a matchmaker now?” I ask, arching a brow toward her.
She shrugs. “I just want everyone to be as happy as me and Rylan.”
I blink from her words. I want that too, I understand it. I want everyone to be as happy as me and Wyatt. I want Emily to find someone who loves her the way Wyatt loves me. I want MawMaw to live in peace, and I want Louis and Ford to find their happiness too. I completely get it.
“Me too,” I admit.
Without another word, we both open our car doors. We don’t walk toward the entrance, instead, we make our way toward Louis. Once we approach his car, we can hear him laughing before we’re even next to the driver’s side of the car. Slowly, the driver’s door opens, and he unfolds his long bulky body from the car.
Looking down at us, his lips are pulled up into a wide smile showing off high white teeth. “You clocked me, when?” he asks.
“I noticed you when I pulled away from Channing’s curb,” I admit.
“I saw you when we pulled onto the main road,” Channing announces.
“I’m a shit undercover detective,” he says, still laughing.
“Come on in and watch the movie with us,” I offer.
He lifts his chin toward the front where I know Tulip is standing. I watch as his eyes scan her, the only person standing at the entrance of the theater. She’s wearing a deep V white shirt and a pair of skin-tight dark blue jeans with rips and tears all over them. Her shorter blond hair is smooth, and I know that even from here, her face is clean of makeup—she doesn’t need it.
“Yeah, I’ll watch the chick flick with you,” he says, not looking away from Tulip.
I bite the corner of my lip and shift my gaze over to Channing. She meets my gaze with wide eyes of her own and a bright smile. Together, the three of us turn and begin to walk toward the theater. I watch Tulip’s reaction to the giant man between me and Channing.
Tulip’s eyes widen, then her mouth drops slightly and hangs open for a few moments before she snaps it closed. Then, slowly she tips her head back as her eyes move up his massive frame.
Louis is at least six-foot-six packed with bulky muscle, a heavyweight professional boxer and his clothes strain against his muscles. Tulip is shorter than me, standing probably at around five-foot-three-inches, with a tiny frame.
They couldn’t be more opposite in appearance, but judging by the way they’re staring at one another, opposites definitely attract.
“Tulip, this is Louis. He’s going to join us if that’s okay?” Channing asks.
She doesn’t speak. She continues to stare. Louis chuckles softly, reaching out he takes her hand in his. He doesn’t shake it, instead, he only holds it while he stares into her eyes. Watching them feels wrong. They look far too intimate, especially for people who have just met.
Louis clears his throat. “It’s nice to meet you, Tulip.”
I watch as a shiver rolls through her body at the sound of her name on his lips. I admit that a little chill shimmies up my spine, the way he said her name, it was more than friendly, it was downright sexual.
Tulip’s lips open, then snap closed again. “Nice to meet you, too,” she says, releasing her hand from his grip to tuck some hair behind her ear.
“Four tickets?” he asks, taking a step back.
I open my mouth to protest, but Channing beats me to it. “We’ll all pay our own, Louis. Please, don’t think we invited you for tha
t,” she says.
Louis shakes his head, his lips twitching in a small grin. “Oh, I know you didn’t. But I’m still buying them.”
Without another chance for us to protest, he turns and walks over to the ticket counter. We watch as he buys four tickets to the chick flick that we came here to see. Tulip wraps her hand around my forearm and squeezes.
Turning my head, I look down at her. I expect her to be upset with me for inviting him, but instead, she’s trying to hide her shy smile.
“He is gorgeous, how do you know him?” she whispers.
I bite the corner of my lip, bending slightly so that he doesn’t hear us. “He’s Wyatt and Rylan’s friend. He lives out by Wyatt’s new place. He’s a really nice guy. Maybe he can help you forget Joey?”
A dark shadow crosses over her features and her brows furrow. She doesn’t respond, she doesn’t have time. Louis appears and holds the tickets between us.
“C’mon ladies. Goddamn, I feel like a king with a harem of beautiful ladies surrounding me. We should take pictures and send them to Wyatt and Rylan.”
“Did you want to get into a fight when they get back and not get paid for it?” Channing quips.
Louis throws back his head as his laughter roars. “Guess not,” he says through his laughter.
We don’t walk straight toward the theater. Instead, Louis guides us all toward the candy counter. He orders popcorn, candy, and frozen Cokes for all of us, and a beer for him.
I feel like I’m out on the date of my dreams. Then it hits me, with everything that’s been going on between me and Wyatt, and MawMaw, my father, and his job. Wyatt and I never went on our date.
In fact, I’ve never been out on a real date before, not like this. Before, my encounters with men were purely sexual, when I was still a teenager searching for validation and something more, I went for the bad boys, boys that were too busy smoking pot, drinking and snorting whatever they could find. Those boys didn’t take girls like me, easy girls, out on dates. They took me to the back seats of their cars, to their crash pads, or to their parents’ basements.
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