Carpentry and Cocktails: A Heartfelt Small Town Romance (Green Valley Library Book 5)

by Smartypants Romance

  With a salute, I continued toward my section. “I got it! I’ll text later!” I tossed over my shoulder. It would have to do until we could sit down and talk.

  Heading to the rear of my section of booths, I spotted Drew and Ashley Runous. I knew Ashley from growing up together in Sunday school at church, but to my mother’s endless chagrin—that she was more than happy to wax on about during dinner the other night—I had not been back to church since I’d gotten home. So I didn’t know her husband, Drew. Sabrina had pointed him out to me the last time we were at The Donner Bakery for a banana cake fix, and I totally understood her old crush on him. He was dreamy hot. With a smile, I took their orders and the next few table’s orders and made my way back to the bar.

  My eyes drifted over the tables as I hustled to enter everything in the computer. Was it because I was paying closer attention tonight, or was it because of the live band that there were so many more familiar faces in the crowd this evening? Yeah, Green Valley was a small town, but it seemed as if every table was filled with people I knew. No sign of Everett yet, though. My heart fell at the thought of not seeing him tonight, and I immediately felt shame at the idea I could be leading him on and might end up giving him false hope. Then I felt confused as I realized that it wouldn’t actually be false hope, because I wanted him so bad. I was such an idiot. I needed a hot-mess intervention. Someone needed to shake me and tell me to stop being such a dumbass.

  From the bar, I saw Everett arrive with Jackson and Garrett. He spotted me and blew me a kiss, laughing as I blushed and twisted to the side like a girl in a movie. I wished I were a girl in a movie, because then maybe I’d get a guaranteed happy ending instead of these insane bursts of giddiness that would pop up whenever Everett was near. He made me forget who I was sometimes. But as soon as I remembered, it would go away, smashed back down by guilt and shame and the knowledge that it was an absolute fact that he could do better than me and all my piles of baggage.

  I gathered my tray of drinks and held it over my head as I headed to my tables. The quicker I was, the better the tip. Making the rounds of the rest of my section, I once more headed to the bar to put in my orders. On tiptoes, I tried to catch another glimpse of Everett, but I couldn’t find him in this huge crowd. “She’s got it bad,” I heard Sadie whisper to Clara. Yeah, I did have it, and it was so, so bad. My heart was pounding like a drum and my insides were twisted up in knots because I knew he was here, and I didn’t know where. It drove me crazy that he wasn’t up here at the bar where I could see him.

  “You okay, honey?” My head swung to Aunt Genie, sliding my tray of drinks over the counter and looking at me with concern etched in her features. Why did everyone keep asking me that? Were my outsides reflecting my insides? If that were the case, then I’d look like a flaming dumpster right now.

  “I’m totally fine. I just wish everyone would quit asking me—”

  Her face turned to stone as her eyes shifted from somewhere behind me then back to meet my eyes. “Come back behind the bar, Willa. Come on, sweetie, right now.”

  “Okay…” I breathed then moved to do what she said. Aunt Genie wrapped her arms around me. Patty was filling a pitcher of beer behind her but suddenly she was at my other side. Flanking me, almost guarding me. What the heck was going on? The lights of the bar blurred into pulsing white spots as chills ran through my body. One of the bouncers stood at the end of the bar with a nod. “Thank you…” I mouthed to him.

  After a glance behind her to see who Aunt Genie was glaring at, Sadie whirled in her stool with an outraged shout. “That dick!”

  “That motherfucking dick! Oh, hell no!” Clara shot out of her stool and stood up in front of the bar—in front of me. I flashed to the times Clara would yell back at Momma, getting in the middle of her hateful rants against me. Sadie and Clara were fighters; they always stood up to Momma, but I was a runner. I took everything inside, letting cruel words tarnish my heart. I ran away from her only to find more of the same with Tommy.

  Sadie took off her high heel and brandished it like a weapon above her head. “Aren’t you supposed to stay away from her? Fuck off, Tommy,” she yelled as icicles replaced the blood in my body and I trembled in Aunt Genie’s arms while Patty held my hand in hers. The last time I’d seen Tommy, he’d hurt me. I wasn’t afraid he would do it again right now; there were too many people around. But he brought out feelings that I hadn’t felt in almost two years. He made me feel small again, insignificant, less. Maybe I was afraid of standing up for myself. I had never done it before.

  My eyes went wide as they darted blankly over the sea of customers on the other side of the bar, trying to see where he was. Trying to determine which direction I was going to run to get away from him.

  I briefly spotted him, near the door before Garrett interrupted his stride with a rough hand on his shoulder. With a glare he shook Garrett off and continued toward me. But Jackson James stepped in front of him, putting a halt to his swift progression in my direction. Jackson didn’t put a hand on him, but the message was the same—he was not welcome in here. But Tommy persevered in heading toward the bar, toward me while various Green Valley citizens intercepted him along his way. Beau, Boone, Suzie Samuels and her badass friends, even Naomi Winters from the library, holding hands with Sabrina, all stood in Tommy’s path to glare at him as he walked down the length of the wooden bar, toward the rear where I stood. He shook them all off, finally made it to where I was, and sat down next to Clara with a smile.

  “Dick,” she repeated and flipped him off.

  “Nice to see you too, Clara.”

  “I fucking hate you, Tommy,” she shot back. “And just so you know, I’m waiting for the exact right moment to toss my drink in your stupid face.” One of the bartenders slid a huge glass of beer in front of Clara with a chin lift then went back to standing next to Genie with his beefy arms crossed over his chest.

  “Thank you,” she said.

  “Yeah, and I have a shoe just waiting to have your face imprinted on it. But I’d be happy to see you arrested instead. Why don’t you just go away?” Sadie added and waved her shoe over her head.

  “Classy as ever, Sadie.” Tommy snickered.

  “Fuck off,” she replied then sat next to him, facing backward, elbows on the bar, so she could continue to glare at him while he attempted to catch my eye. Which was proving difficult since Clara had hopped on the bar to weave in front of him, actively preventing him from laying his eyes on me.

  “You should leave now, while you’re still free to go on your own.” Everett’s voice was low and full of anger. I gasped as he took Clara’s seat, leaning a big forearm onto the bar to sit sideways in the stool and hover menacingly over Tommy with a ferocious glare.

  “Willa, I’m sorry. You know I didn’t mean to hurt you—” Tommy’s voice echoed in my ears. I hadn’t felt this kind of paralyzed anger in almost two years. Not since the last time I’d seen him, handcuffed and being shoved into the back of Wyatt’s police cruiser, screaming my name. I flinched and tried to take a step to leave, but Aunt Genie held me firm.

  “I got you,” she whispered in my ear as she held me close. “You belong here, Willa. Not him.”

  “You don’t get to talk to her,” Everett stated.

  “Make that hell no you don’t get to fucking talk to her,” Clara yelled in his face.

  “She doesn’t want you here. She doesn’t want you at all. Not anymore,” Wyatt said as Sadie got up to let him have her seat, still brandishing that shoe like she was just waiting for a shot.

  “Big sister has your back.” She winked at me and I choked on a sob that turned into a strangled laugh after she snatched Clara’s huge beer and tossed it in Tommy’s face. Tears filled my eyes spilling over, and I knew for certain I was having an emotional breakdown.

  “It’s time to go, Ferris.” Jackson said from behind Tommy.

  “Let’s take a walk outside. It can be easy, or we could just arrest you,” Boone added from Everett’s s
ide.

  “I need to talk to my wife,” he stated while swiping beer from his cheeks, stubborn as always. Only this time I would not be playing peacemaker at his side. This time I was not his wife.

  “Don’t listen to him, Willa,” Patty whispered in my ear.

  “I won’t.” I shifted my gaze to her while she squeezed my hand and my eyes slammed shut.

  “Open your eyes, honey, and look,” Aunt Genie ordered. I opened my eyes to look beyond Tommy, where she pointed.

  The customers were more than just a sea of nameless faces, they were people I knew—from Momma’s farm stand growing up, from church, from the Piggly Wiggly, and from right here in this bar. I knew them, and they knew me. Many of them had stopped their drinking and dancing and fun to join Wyatt, the other deputies, my sisters, and my… Everett, in the attempt to get Tommy to go away. They stood behind Tommy with glares aimed at his back while offering supportive and understanding smiles to me. Some of them even told him to leave. I wasn’t the outsider here, Tommy was.

  “You belong here. Not him.” Before I could reject it, Patty had reiterated the thought that had just darted through my mind. Maybe it was something about the repetition. Or maybe I was just finally seeing clearly for the first time since I came back.

  “Tell him, Willa,” Wyatt encouraged with a soft smile.

  “I don’t want to talk to you, Tommy,” I stated. I barely made a sound, but I said it.

  “She said it. She doesn’t want to talk to you. Time to go, Tommy.” Wyatt stood up.

  A smarmy grin crossed Tommy’s face. How had I ever found him handsome? “This is a public place—”

  “Well, I own this public place,” Aunt Genie said, cutting him off. “Would you fine officers please escort him out of my bar?”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Jackson answered with a huge grin.

  “And I don’t want you coming back here, Tommy. You hear?” she added.

  “I hear you, Genie,” Tommy grumbled and stood up. “Willa, honey, this isn’t over. We need to talk.” He held his hands out, placatingly, his eyes doing that puppy dog thing he used to do whenever he knew he’d pushed me too far. I ignored his pleading look and shook my head side to side. He turned to leave, shaking off Jackson and Boone on the way. “I’m going.”

  I drooped in Aunt Genie’s arms as a huge sigh left my body—along with most of my energy. I couldn’t talk to him alone, not ever. I could barely talk to him in a bar full of people even when most of them had stuck up for me. Were they here just to stick up for me?

  “How did this happen? Did you know he was coming?” I tugged Aunt Genie to the back counter to whisper my question.

  “No, not for sure. But I knew it was a possibility. And honey, you need to get a restraining order against him—”

  “Did you arrange for all these people—”

  “Shoot, Willa. You always did come up with the craziest ways to deny that people actually like you,” Patty said, incredulous. “How would Momma arrange for something like this? People noticed what was going on and they care about you. Plus, this is a small town and he’s a known asshole. No one wants a jerk like him around.” I let my eyes wander over the crowd as people slowly moved back to their evening, going back to their drinks and their dancing.

  Aunt Genie laughed. “The only ones I called were your two crazy sisters.”

  “We’ll take any opportunity to cuss out that dumbass,” Sadie butted into our whispered conversation.

  “Truth. I hate that guy. Always have,” Clara added from her perch on top of the bar.

  “I’m going to take her home, Genie,” Everett said.

  “Good. I don’t want her driving alone,” Genie agreed.

  “Hey! I’m working—”

  “You’re off the rest of the night. With pay. No lip,” she stated.

  “But—”

  “No but. No lip. Goodnight, honey,” Aunt Genie’s eyes softened on me as she pulled me close. “Take some time. Rest tonight and gather your strength. This place will be here tomorrow,” she whispered in my ear.

  “Okay, I will. Thank you.” After hugs from Aunt Genie and Patty, I cashed out my apron, hung it up, and headed out front. Clara and Sadie kissed me goodbye. Then it was all Everett—hand on my waist, protective, hovering Everett—guiding me through the crowd like he’d murder anyone who dared step into my space to give me a problem. I must admit, it was hot. I loved this protective streak from Everett. With Tommy it had never been about being concerned for me and my feelings. It had been about me being a piece of his property, a plaything he didn’t want to share.

  I caught Sabrina’s eye as we passed their table. She grinned and shot me two enthusiastic thumbs up, making me laugh through my—I didn’t know what I was feeling—something indefinable that I’d never felt before. Acceptance?

  “Yo! Give me the Bronco keys, Willa. I’ll drive it home when Boone and I leave.” Garrett slid up to my side with a smile. Pulling them from my pocket, I passed them over to him.

  “Thanks, Garrett.”

  “Let’s go home, Willa,” Everett’s voice was deep as he bent his head to mine, so only I could hear.

  Home.

  I knew what I felt.

  What I felt was—at home.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Everett

  “If a man’s any kind of man at all he knows the difference between love and lust. Lust is in a hurry, but love is already there.”

  Papaw Joe

  She trembled beneath my palm as I guided her to my truck. The lights, high on the poles in Genie’s lot, illuminated her tear-streaked cheeks making her freckles stand out against the pale alabaster of her face. That bastard had scared her so bad she’d lost her color. And her trembling was not from the chill in the air. I slid out of my flannel shirt and draped it around her shoulders. She was without a jacket tonight and the brisk breeze raised goosebumps over her skin. I wanted to pull her into me, warm her up, and give her the comfort she so clearly needed. But her posture was stiff, as if she was unsure of how to act around me. Tugging the flannel tight around herself she thanked me. I stayed near, but not touching.

  “You’re welcome, Willard. Let’s get you home. I’ll make you some hot chocolate and warm you right up.” Her eyes darted to the side, briefly meeting mine as she smiled at me.

  “You’re good at this,” she murmured and looked away.

  “Good at what?”

  “Taking care of people, of me. I mentioned it the other night. But it’s worth repeating. You’re—I’ve never met anyone like you, Everett. You make me feel—”

  We made it to my truck, in the dark back of the parking lot. She turned to face me while I placed a hand on the roof and stepped closer to her. “How do I make you feel? Tell me, sweetheart.”

  “Safe. I never feel safe like this, except when I’m with you. How do you do that?” Her eyes were shiny and so big and blue in the moonlight as I studied her. Her lips were deep, dark pink, eyes lined in black, slightly smudged from her tears. She was heartbreak; she was strength. She was my dream not-yet-come-true.

  “I’m glad I make you feel that way. I’d never hurt you. Not ever,” I promised.

  “I know you won’t, Everett. Don’t let me hurt you.” Her soft smile turned sad as she turned to open her door and got in. Shutting the door behind her, I inhaled a deep breath and ran around to the driver’s side. She could hurt me. She could end me, and it wouldn’t stop my feelings for her. Being with her was like being in the ocean. Under water, the pounding of your heartbeat combined with the rush of the waves to feel almost deafening in your ears. Then when you surface, you realize it’s the rest of the world that was too loud, all the noise unnecessary. When I was with her, she consumed me. All I could hear—or see, or feel—was her.

  The drive home was torture. I wanted so much to reach out and put my hand on her thigh as if she were mine, to tug her close and steal a kiss. I wished I could show her how beautiful she was and make her believe it, to show her how m
uch love the right man could give her. She was killing me, yet she gave me life with every second I sat beside her.

  My arm on the console was tense as I held myself back. Until her hand slipped across my skin to rest her palm against mine, fingers interlocked. She held on and it gave me hope. With a soft squeeze I brought our hands to my lips and pressed a soft kiss to the back of hers. Her soft sigh was the answer to a question I didn’t yet have the nerve to ask. I pulled into the driveway and shut the engine off.

  She would be coming with me, to my part of the house. Whether or not she ended up with me in my bed was up to her. No way would I let her be alone without the alarm system in place. If necessary, she could have my bed and I would take the couch. “Let’s go,” I said. Confused anticipation flooded my veins as I hopped out and darted around to her door.

  “Do we need to wait for Garrett and the Bronco?” She murmured after I opened the passenger door and helped her down.

  “No. He knows where to park it, and he’ll probably have a late night. Let’s get inside. It’s cold out here.” Taking her hand, I led her toward the back porch, to my part of the house.

  “I should go home—” her hand fell out of my grasp as she turned away.

  “You should come with me.” I grinned at her. “I have cookies, and marshmallows to go with the hot chocolate. We could watch Firefly again. Gracie is with Ruby for the night, right?”

  “You really are an old man, Everett,” she teased. The easy smile that crossed her face reminded me of when I first met her. Except now that I knew some of what that easy smile had hidden, I realized it was just smile-armor. Something she used to hide her secrets behind.

  “It’s true. Inside this body lies the heart of a senior citizen. Come on, Willard, I want to show off my cocoa skills. The marshmallows are homemade—my mother brought them by earlier—and the cookies are, too,” I confessed. With her, I didn’t need to hide my real self. I was determined to make her feel the same way.