And Then One Day

by Samantha Chase

  “I’m serious, Dean,” she snapped. “What are you doing? I thought we agreed not to work on it yet!”

  “No, we said we would tell her things were wrong with it. I never said I wasn’t going to work on it,” he explained calmly. “And what are you even doing here? Aren’t you still on bed rest?”

  “No, that stopped a week ago. Now I just need to take it easy and not have stress. But now, thanks to you, I have it!”

  “Me?! What did I do?”

  “Are you trying to make Courtney leave town? Huh? Are you? Because once this car is fixed, she’s leaving!”

  “You’re overreacting. Again.”

  “No, I’m not…”

  “You’ve said no like three times already. Why are you here again?”

  Rolling her eyes, she dropped her arms to her side. “Mason and I decided we’re going to get away for a few days since we didn’t get to go on our honeymoon. We’re going down to Hilton Head. It was a spur-of-the-moment decision and we thought we should stop in and tell you guys that we’re going so nobody worries.”

  “Oh, well…good for you. I hope you have fun.”

  Scarlett rolled her eyes again. “Please. It’s hard to have fun when I’ve got this beach ball body going on. Every move I make feels awkward.”

  He couldn’t help but smile. “Personally, I think you look great. Pregnancy really agrees with you.”

  Her eyes narrowed. “Thanks.”

  Looking around, he asked, “Where’s Mason?”

  “Oh, he wanted to go across the street to talk to Gramps and make sure things were okay over at the Mystic Magnolia.”

  “I really wish they’d change the name of the place. With the whole new design and menu, I just thought they’d give it a new name.”

  “Trust me, there were a lot of discussions about it, but…Grandma named it way back when and everyone feels like it’s finally going to be the kind of place she originally envisioned, so…”

  “I guess that makes sense.”

  “You’re not going to tell Court that you’re working on her car, are you?”

  Was he? He still wasn’t sure, but instead of telling his sister that, he simply shook his head. “Honestly, I’m not working on her car. Dad just asked me to take it down from the lift and start on Mrs. Alden’s car.”

  “Ugh…that woman can be a nightmare. You better do as he says.”

  “I was already planning on it.”

  “Then why is Courtney’s car up there?”

  He shrugged. “I just felt bad about…Ow! What the hell!”

  She punched him in the arm as he spoke.

  “We talked about this!” Shaking her finger at him, she continued. “She’s going to look into the job with public health this week so just stick to the plan and keep her car here! If she gets the job, then we’re all good and we can know we did the right thing!”

  And for some reason, he couldn’t let her go on. “It wasn’t our call to make, Scarlett,” he said with more heat than he intended. Her eyes went wide. “We had no right to play God and keep her here if that wasn’t what she really wanted!”

  “She doesn’t want to go. Trust me. This is just Courtney being Courtney! She would have moved and hated it and ended up coming back here eventually.”

  “Then why stop her?” he cried. “If you knew she was going to come back, why go through all this?”

  “Because why should she have to go through and make a mistake when she didn’t have to?” she yelled back. “She’s just being dramatic and–in typical Courtney fashion–had to blow the entire situation out of proportion! People get laid off all the time and they don’t have to move across the state to find a job! If she hadn’t made the announcement that she was moving, her parents never would have turned their house into an Airbnb and she would have had a place to live! And possibly a car to drive! This is really all her fault and…”

  “That’s enough!” he shouted and the entire garage went silent. With a muttered curse, he took Scarlett by the hand and led her back to the office. Once the door was shut, she yanked her hand away. But before she could utter a word, Dean was talking. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

  “Me? What’s the matter with you?” she demanded.

  “I’ll tell you what’s wrong with me; it pisses me off to hear you talking about someone who you claim is your best friend! The way you were talking was pretty insulting, Scar! And for the record, you haven’t made the greatest decisions in life either! Maybe Courtney felt overwhelmed! Maybe she didn’t feel like she had a choice but to move! And who knows? Maybe it was a rash decision, but it was her decision to make! No one stopped you when you wanted to start working on cars! And no one stopped you when you started riding motorcycles! And no one stopped you when you started making luxury dog houses for rescue dogs!”

  “Hey! No one’s supposed to know about that!”

  “Oh, yeah? Well too bad! I’ve seen them and they’re adorable!”

  They both started laughing at the same time and Scarlett walked over and hugged him. “You’re right,” she said after a minute. “And you know what? Court’s always been supportive of all the things I do and I wasn’t being supportive of her.” She looked up at him with a sad smile. “I’m a crappy friend, right? At the rehearsal dinner, I told her she was the worst friend and it turns out that’s me.”

  He kissed the top of her head and led her over to a chair to sit down. “You’re not a crappy friend.” He paused. “Okay, in this scenario you kind of are, but…your heart’s in the right place. Just…you need to trust her to make the right decision. And even if it’s not? If things don’t work out? Then just be there to support her and be her friend.”

  Tears welled up in his sister’s eyes and for once, he wasn’t worried. Pregnancy hormones had made her cry at the drop of a hat for months so all he did was smile down at her.

  “You gonna be okay or do I need to call Mason and tell him to hurry back?”

  She wiped her eyes. “I’m fine. You know how emotional I am.”

  He nodded. “Can I ask you something?”

  “Sure.”

  “When you and Mason started dating, did people think it was weird?”

  “Um…some. A few, I guess. Why?”

  Ugh…why did he even bring it up?

  “It’s just something I’ve often wondered about. I mean…I can see now how great you two are together, but in the beginning, it seemed like…I don’t know…awkward.”

  “You mean because he’s from one of the wealthiest families in town and we’re one of the poorest?”

  “Scar, we’re not the poorest, so stop that. You and Mason just seemed like you had nothing in common, that’s all. You ride motorcycles and work on cars, while he looks like someone who doesn’t like to get his hands dirty at all.”

  “Hey! That’s my husband you’re talking about so tread carefully.”

  Crossing his arms as he leaned against the desk, he let out a long breath. “I didn’t mean it in a bad way. Just pointing out the obvious, that’s all. And I guess I’ve always been curious about how you handled it. Hell, you didn’t even tell any of us–your own family–until it had been going on long enough for you to get pregnant.”

  “Yeah, well…that happened a lot sooner than either of us ever thought, so…”

  “Not the point I was going for,” he said dryly.

  “Okay, yeah. It was a big sore spot for me. I was afraid everyone was going to look at us funny or say something snarky because he was so out of my league. But it was my hang-up, not his. If anything, Mason was all for us going out and just being…you know…normal. I fought him on it but the only one who really had an issue was his mom.”

  “Really? Like…no one? None of his friends?”

  “Well, you guys were all jerks in the beginning too.”

  “That’s because he knocked you up and we had no idea you were even dating! It wasn’t because we didn’t think he was someone appropriate for you to date!”


  She looked at him funny. “That’s an odd thing to say. Appropriate? Really? And for the record, you guys never liked any guy I dated.”

  “Because you’re our baby sister. That’s the way things are,” he said with a grin. “But honestly, Mason’s a great guy and it’s obvious to anyone who meets the two of you that you’re crazy about each other.” He shrugged. “So that makes me happy.”

  She smiled up at him. “Me too. Although, not that it would have mattered. I was in love with Mason and wanted to be with him, so while I would have hated it if you and Dad and Hunter and Kyle didn’t like him, I still would have been with him.”

  “Really?”

  “Hell yeah. I’m the one involved with him, not any of you.”

  Huh. Maybe he needed to rethink the way he was looking at his relationship with Courtney. It would be easy to simply blurt it out right now to Scarlett and get it over with, but being that it didn’t just involve him, he knew he should talk to Courtney first.

  There was a knock on the office door, and Mason walked in. “Everything okay in here? Dom said you guys were arguing.”

  Dean helped Scarlett to her feet and stood back as she walked over and hugged her husband. “We’re fine. I was being a brat and–in typical Dean fashion–he had to reprimand me.”

  Mason wrapped his arms around her before grinning at Dean. “Being a brat, huh? And you’re over it now?”

  Pulling back, she gave him a sassy grin. “For now. I’m sure you’ll tell me I’m doing it again later, but we’ll deal with that when it happens.”

  Laughing, Dean walked over and clapped a hand on Mason’s shoulder. “Yeah, good luck with that!”

  “Tell me about it.”

  “Hey!” Scarlett cried. “I’m right here! You can’t make fun of me like that when I’m standing right in front of you!”

  “Babe?” Mason said, his expression going serious. “You’re being a brat.”

  “Oh, you!” She smacked him playfully as they all turned and walked out of the office.

  Yeah, Dean knew his sister was with the right man for her and he was thrilled to see her so happy. He had no doubt that she’d want the same for him.

  Even if it was with Courtney.

  “How long are you guys going to be down in Hilton Head?” he asked.

  “We’ll be back on Friday,” Scarlett replied. “How come?”

  “Just curious. Maybe we can get together when you get back? You haven’t seen my place since I finished the renovations. How about you come for dinner Saturday night? I’ll grill some steaks and we’ll hang out.”

  The words were barely out of his mouth when his sister flung herself at him and gave him a fierce hug.

  “Um…”

  “I love that,” Scarlett said, going up on her tiptoes to kiss him on the cheek. “I love that you’re inviting us over and we get to hang out.”

  “We just hung out not that long ago, remember?” he said with a low chuckle.

  “Yeah, I know, but…sometimes I worry about you, that’s all. Like I envision you working here all day and then being all alone all weekend. I’d like to think that you still have friends you hang out with–or maybe you’re dating someone.” She stopped and gasped. “Oh my God! Is that what this is about? Do you have a girlfriend you’re going to introduce us to?”

  Doing his best not to react, he gently grasped her shoulders and turned her toward Mason. “Just wanted to hang out with you and hear about the trip,” he said evenly. “Now go have fun and try not to get rushed to the hospital again, okay?”

  She groaned but didn’t argue.

  She was also completely spot on about why he was inviting them over. She just didn’t know it yet.

  On Wednesday afternoon, Courtney needed to take out a little aggression and decided to head over to Scarlett’s old place to do some work. Granted, there wasn’t a lot of stuff that she knew how to do, but they were at a good place in the renovations to do some cleaning. After stopping at Target for cleaning supplies, a couple of bottles of water, and a king-size bag of M&M’s, she walked into the house and let out a primal scream.

  When she was done, she plopped down on the floor, pulled the bag of candy out, took a handful, and quickly ate them before taking a long drink of water. Her heart was racing and she was still trying to catch her breath and all she wanted to do was scream again.

  The job at public health was already gone. They had given it to somebody in-house. Then there had been another job that would have been an hour-long commute. She had applied just because it would keep her closer to Magnolia Sound and Dean, but that position had already been filled as well. And that was on top of the few non-dental jobs she had applied for and didn’t get. It was killing her that she couldn’t even get hired as a cashier at the supermarket and she was running out of options.

  Not that she shared it with anyone.

  Not even Dean.

  Scarlett was out of town and there was no way Courtney was going to call her and interrupt her belated honeymoon. Her parents weren’t answering their phones because they were at some big convention today and it all just hit her how much her life sucked at the moment.

  If she did happen to bring any of this up to Dean, he’d just tell her not to worry and it was all going to get better. He’d probably tell her she could pay off the car repairs and how she didn’t have to kick in for groceries if she didn’t want to or he’d help her with anything she needed, but…she was so tired of needing. Tired of things just not going her way.

  They’re going your way with Dean…

  Yeah, yeah, yeah, she knew that, but she knew eventually she was going to have to get her shit together and get a job and start paying her own way again. It was one thing to accept help when it was short-term, but the way things were going, short-term wasn’t going to be very short. Muttering a curse, she stood and brushed off her yoga pants and began pulling out cleaning supplies.

  Over the weekend, they had gotten the tile down in the bathroom and installed the new pre-fab shower and a new vanity. With all the grout finally dry, it was safe to clean and mop in there so that’s where she started. She put every ounce of energy into making the room sparkle and when she stood back an hour later, it did.

  Wiping her forehead, she walked over and looked in the lone bedroom. All the furniture was gone and it was the one room in good shape. They were going to paint in here this weekend or…maybe she could paint it now.

  “Hmm…”

  True, she was certainly no painter and never even tried to paint a wall herself, but…how hard could it be?

  “Knock, knock!” Someone called out, and Courtney stepped out into the living room to see who it was.

  Hunter.

  Shit.

  Mortified because she looked like a complete mess–and then embarrassed because she knew he knew about her relationship with Dean–she couldn’t quite force herself to look directly at him. “Oh, hey, Hunter. What’s up?”

  He walked into the house and looked at the work that had been done. “Wow, you guys have made some progress. I heard the kitchen cabinets were coming this weekend. I’m supposed to come help Dean install them.” He walked into what was left of the kitchen and let out a low whistle. “New appliances are coming too, right?”

  “Uh, yeah,” she said quietly, combing the hair away from her face that had escaped her ponytail. “I thought the kitchen would look better and the house would potentially sell for more if he put new appliances in. Stainless steel ones.”

  He nodded. “Good call. I was thinking of asking Sam Westbrook if he could come take a look at the property and give us an estimate on clearing some of it. I know Scarlett never really cared about landscaping, but if she wants the place to sell for a decent price, she really needs to think about the curb appeal.”

  And for some reason, this conversation suddenly put her more at ease. “That’s a great idea! I always told her she should do a little something in the front. Nothing major–just a couple of shrubs in front of
the porch and a little mulch so it all didn’t look so…”

  “Barren?”

  “Exactly!” They both laughed for a moment. “So, what brings you here?”

  He shrugged. “Honestly, I just wanted to see what we were in for on Sunday so I could be a little prepared. I was surprised when I saw your car out front. What are you doing here working alone?”

  She looked down at her feet and tried to think of the best way to explain without getting into too much detail. “Not much else to do today,” she admitted. “None of the job inquiries are panning out so I figured I’d see what I could do around here. Plus, I really can’t stand daytime television so this seemed like a good way to kill some time.”

  “Yeah, I heard about the public health job, Court. Sorry. I really hoped it would have worked out for you.”

  Another shrug. “It’s not your fault. I appreciated you even thinking of me for it.” She sighed before she could stop herself. “I just don’t know…”

  The next thing she knew, she was crying.

  Dammit.

  “Hey,” he said softly. Stepping in close, Hunter awkwardly wrapped his arms around her and hugged her. “It’s all gonna be okay. I didn’t mean to upset you, I swear.”

  It took her a few minutes, but she did stop crying. And when she did, she looked up at Hunter and tried to smile. “You didn’t upset me. The reason I’m here by myself is because I was already upset. I needed someplace to go and scream and get out my frustrations.” She sighed. “I guess I’ve been keeping a lot bottled up.”

  Releasing her, he took a step back. “Yeah, well, you’ve kind of had a lot to deal with.”

  She nodded.

  “Have you talked to Dean about this?” he asked carefully.

  “Some. I don’t want to bog him down with my problems. He knows what’s going on so…why keep talking about it? Besides, that’s always been his role, you know? People go to him with their problems and he fixes them.” She walked over to her purse and pulled out some tissues to wipe her face. “I don’t want to do that to him anymore. I don’t want him to think he has to keep doing that for me. He does enough of that for everyone else.”