The Best of Me: a Hope Valley novel

by Prince, Jessica

  Lifting a hand, I pressed my fingers into the center of my forehead, attempting to massage away the headache that was suddenly forming. “I can’t believe you just asked me that. You are unbelievable! What the hell makes you think I have that kind of cash just lying around?”

  “What about the shop?” he pushed. “Or the house? I know there’s equity in the house.”

  Rage bubbled inside of me. Just when I thought Chris was incapable of surprising me, he said or did something that would take him to a whole new low.

  “That’s out of the question,” I snarled. “If there ever came a time I needed to use the house or my salon as collateral, it would be for Blythe and Tristan. Only ever for them. You understand me? I don’t know what kind of trouble you’ve gotten yourself into, but your debt is not my responsibility. That’s on you, Chris. I’m not gonna pull you out of a fire that you lit yourself. Grow up. You’re an adult. It’s time you start acting like one.”

  “Fuck you,” he hissed through the phone, the venom and hatred tangled around those two words so strong it nearly stole my breath. “Should’ve known askin’ you was a waste of my goddamn time.”

  “You’re right. You should have. Don’t worry, I’ll cover for you with the kids. Again. But from here on out, unless it directly involves their well-being, you and I have no reason to speak. Ever.”

  And with that, I hung up.

  Bracing my hands on one of the stocked shelves, I closed my eyes and pulled in a deep, steady breath through my nose, holding it a few seconds before letting it pass my lips. It took a good couple of minutes to calm the storm raging inside of me, but somehow I managed.

  * * *

  “What a dick!”

  I swirled a french fry through the glob of ketchup on my plate and looked to Gypsy, replying, “Yep. Pretty much,” before stuffing it into my mouth.

  After my call with Chris, having to fake a good mood had proven harder than I thought. So when my lunch hour rolled around, I’d decided to head to The Tap Room. It was a double win in the sense that their burgers were fantastic, and Rory would be there, so I could vent all my frustrations to a friend.

  When I walked through the door, I discovered Gypsy was there as well, perched on a barstool while scarfing down a plate of chili fries.

  All it took was one look at my face, and they both knew something was up. I didn’t hesitate in pulling up a stool and launching into the whole messed-up story—after I put in my order, of course. I’d just finished with Chris’s most recent show of asshole-ery when my plate was plonked down in front of me.

  “Fifteen grand?” Rory asked in bewilderment. “How do you even end up owing that much?”

  “Hell if I know,” I grumbled, dragging another fry through the ketchup. “He hasn’t worked since before I kicked him out, so I can only assume he’s up to his eyeballs in debt.”

  “You did the right thing,” Gypsy declared passionately. “When it comes to your kids, a person’s supposed to do whatever it takes to take care of them. Whatever it takes.”

  I knew all too well that my friend was speaking from experience. She’d grown up the oldest of six kids, and aside from bringing their kids into the world, her parents wanted nothing to do with actually raising them. For all intents and purposes, those kids were Gypsy’s, and that was exactly how she viewed them. Left to raise five children on her own when her folks finally bailed for good, she’d been forced to drop out of high school before earning her diploma so she could get a job and take care of them. To make ends meet, she worked as a cashier at the local grocery store during the day and stripped at night.

  While some of the judgmental, closed-minded assholes in town looked down on her for taking her clothes off for cash, I was proud to call her my friend.

  She’d bleed and die for any one of those kids, and if she had to strip to keep food on the table and a roof over their heads, she wouldn’t think twice. She was one of the best women I knew, and I admired the hell out of her.

  “I know,” I said on a heavy sigh. “I just hate this for Blythe and Tris. I want them to have a father they can look up to. I mean, what kind of example is he setting for our son? These are the years when Tris needs a role model, not a flake who can’t be bothered to call him on his birthday or see him two weekends a goddamn month.”

  “Role models come in all different shapes and sizes, hon,” Gypsy said sympathetically. “It’ll hurt for a while, but kids are resilient. They’ll get past it, I promise. In the meantime, they have you to look up to, and from where I’m sitting, you’re a pretty incredible example.”

  I leaned to the side, resting my head on her shoulder, and she wrapped her arm around my waist in a sideways hug.

  “Boys Tristan’s age look to who’s around them as a role model,” Rory added. “And I’m not sure you could ever find one better than Trick Wanderly.”

  Her knowing look made my cheeks flush as I sat up straight.

  “Speaking of Trick….” I turned my head at Gypsy’s tone and found her shooting me an evil glare my way. “I can’t believe me and Rory are the last to know! And we only found out because the whole damn town’s talking!”

  “We’ve only been together for like two days,” I defended.

  “Yeah, but you slept with him nearly two months ago, and you guys have been circling each other ever since,” Rory chimed in accusatorily.

  “I was going to tell you. I promise. It’s just… it started pretty bad, and I didn’t want to share that part. Then it stopped being bad and turned good really fast, and I feel like I’ve been on this roller coaster ride that’s only just now starting to slow down.” My friends gave me matching looks of understanding, but I still felt like absolute shit for keeping something this big from them.

  “I’m sorry,” I stressed. “I should have come to you guys sooner. Will it help if I promise to never ever to keep another secret from you?”

  Gypsy’s glare morphed into a cheeky grin. “Works for me.”

  “Ditto,” Rory replied, propping her elbows on the bar and leaning in. “Now, tell us everything.”

  I did just that, regaling my girls with all the awesomeness that was Trick Wanderly as I devoured every bite of my burger and all my fries. By the time I finished, the dread that had been resting in my gut since earlier that morning was gone.

  It was amazing what good food and amazing friends could do.

  Gypsy reached over and placed her hand on top of mine. “I’m happy for you, Nona.”

  “Thanks, doll.”

  The three of us chatted a while longer, keeping the topics of conversation much lighter, and Gypsy was in the middle of a sentence when, all of a sudden, she stopped talking and a dreamy look drifted across her face. That hardness she wore in her eyes like an armor, the one ingrained in her at a very young age thanks to a difficult life, slowly began to leach away.

  I turned my head to see what had caught her attention so fully, and felt a giddy bubble of excitement begin to build up in my belly.

  Marco Castillo had just walked through the door of The Tap Room, and his gorgeous pale hazel eyes drifted our way. He gave us the obligatory hot alpha-dude chin lift before wandering over to a table near the wall of windows.

  Marco had moved to Hope Valley some years back to work for Lincoln’s private investigations and security firm, Alpha Omega, and despite the town having taken him in as one of their own, the man still remained somewhat of a mystery. He didn’t talk a lot and mainly associated with the other guys at the firm, but he always seemed nice enough in a distant, somewhat unapproachable kind of way.

  Then, when Eden was going through her drama, Marco had been one of the guys Lincoln put on her to keep her safe. Months after that, Tempie went through a totally different, even more intense drama, and again, Marco was cast in the role of protector.

  Our little crew had gotten to know him better, and what we came to discover, we all liked very much. We’d adopted him into the fold—as much as he would allow, at least. That meant
we knew him, but we didn’t know him.

  And from the way my girl was currently staring at the tall hunk of man, she wanted to get to know him in a completely different way.

  “You should go say hi,” Rory said, having noticed the same look on Gypsy’s face that I did.

  That pulled her from her stupor, and Gypsy gave her head a shake. “Nah, pretty sure the guy doesn’t even know I exist.”

  I let out a little scoff. “You’re kidding, right? Doll, every man in Hope Valley and the surrounding towns knows you exist. Trust me.”

  That hardness crept back in as she turned to look at me. “Because most of them have seen my tits,” she said, her words as stony as her gaze.

  “No,” I argued. “Because you’re beautiful.”

  That didn’t seem to appease her in the slightest, and a moment later, she hopped off her stool and hooked her purse over her shoulder. “Doesn’t matter,” she replied, her voice carrying an air of detachment that I knew was fake. “A girl like me would never work with a guy like him, so there’s no point in fantasizing.”

  “Gypsy—” I started, but her head whipped around, and the look in her eyes gave me pause.

  “Love you, hon. With all my heart. But it is what it is. You’re the one a man would take home to meet his family. I’m the one he’d bail on before the sun came up, and I’m okay with that.”

  “That’s not true,” Rory declared vehemently. “You don’t give yourself nearly enough credit. If you could just see what we see—”

  “A guy like Marco Castillo doesn’t need my kind of baggage in his life,” she insisted. “And honestly, I don’t have a place for any man in mine. And I’m not saying that so you’ll feel sorry for me. It’s just the truth. I’m raising five kids and working two jobs. A relationship just isn’t in the cards.”

  I opened my mouth to disagree, but she cut me off. “Now, I need to get back to work before my manager cans me for being late.” Her smile was bitter as she mumbled, “Nothing worse than a nineteen-year-old with a power trip.”

  She blew us air kisses and turned on her Converse tennis shoes before Rory or I could say a single word, heading for the door with her chin lifted and her shoulders squared. I hated that she thought so little of herself. I hated that she didn’t see what we all saw when we looked at her. And I freaking hated that she didn’t think she was worth something amazing.

  I looked to Rory to see her watching our friend with the same amount of concern I felt at that very moment. “Something tells me we’re gonna have our work cut out for us, trying to surgically remove that woman’s head from her own ass,” I grumbled as I pulled out my wallet and dropped a few bills on the bar top.

  “Sooner rather than later.” I lifted my head at her ominous proclamation and saw her attention had shifted and was now fixed on the wall of windows. “Don’t make it obvious you’re looking, but check out Latin Hottie.”

  I tried being as casual as possible as I cast my gaze in Marco’s direction to find him staring at the door Gypsy had just walked through. The expression on his face led me to believe there was no way in hell he’d bail on my girl in the middle of the night, but instead, would stick around and make her a feast for breakfast the next morning.

  “Oh yeah,” I whispered, turning back to Rory in excitement. “This is gonna be fun.”

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Nona

  The door to Trick’s house opened, and the look of relief on his face at the sight of us had me biting the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing.

  “Hey, Trick!” Tristan called before barreling inside in search of Shawn.

  “Hi, Trick,” Blythe greeted politely.

  “Hey, sweetheart. Hannah’s out back. You can just go on through.” She did just that, leaving Trick and me standing across the threshold from each other.

  “Thank fuckin’ Christ, you’re here,” he grunted, taking the Tupperware container of chocolate chunk cookies from my hand and putting it on the table just inside the door. He pulled me into him, and I braced my hands on his chest so I could look up into those gray eyes I was coming to love.

  “You look like you’ve just been dragged through the nine circles of Hell.”

  “Feels that way,” he muttered unhappily.

  My nose crinkled as I took a sniff of the air. “What’s that smell?”

  “Paint,” Trick answered. “I promised Shawn and Hannah they could paint their rooms this weekend.” He looked over his shoulder toward the backyard. “What I didn’t know was that Blythe invited Heath to join us on our trip to the hardware store.”

  I lost the battle against my grin as I asked, “Well, did he at least help out with the painting?”

  “Yeah,” he grumbled unhappily in return. “Not that he was much of a help. Had to go over everything he did. What kind of guy doesn’t know how to paint?”

  A snort vibrated up my throat as my fingers pressed deeper into his chest. “Something tells me that he could’ve painted better than Michelangelo, and you’d still find something to complain about.”

  Trick let out a grunt, refusing to admit I was right. “The boy’s been here damn near all day, and he’s been starin’ moon eyes at my girl the whole time.”

  “Aw, that’s sweet!”

  His gaze shot back to me. “Yeah? Tell me how sweet you think it is when some sex-crazed punk’s makin’ eyes like that at Blythe.”

  I let loose a quiet chuckle. “If that look means he cares about her, it may be hard, but I’ll deal.” He scoffed, but I kept going to prove my point. “I saw the way he looked at her at the field. That’s the look of a boy who cares about all the beauty that is Hannah, handsome. Inside and out. I’ll count myself lucky if Blythe lands a good boy like that.”

  He let me go in order to hook an arm across my shoulders and started guiding me toward the back door. “We’ll revisit this conversation in about six months, how’s that sound?”

  I giggled as he guided me through the house. I’d been inside on multiple occasions when Eden lived here, but it was different seeing it with Trick having taken over. All the girly touches were gone, and the house was all man now. It was full of dark, masculine furniture that was handsome, but so different from what I was used to. It was like stepping into a totally different house.

  “Speaking of Blythe,” he said, segueing into a totally different topic, “how’s she been?”

  “Good,” I answered, although her reason for the about-face she’d taken in the past twenty-four hours left me with a sick feeling in my stomach.

  “You don’t sound too happy about that.”

  I pulled us to a stop, turning to look up at him as I lowered my voice. “I’m glad she’s back to normal, but she only got that way after I told her that her dad called me and said he wouldn’t be able to pick them up for his next couple of visits.”

  "Tell me he fuckin’ didn’t,” Trick growled in return.

  “Oh yeah, he did. Right before he asked me to loan him fifteen thousand dollars.”

  His expression turned to stone, and the air around us began to crackle with the anger rolling off of him in waves. “What?”

  “I told him no,” I blurted. “I mean, there’s no way in hell I’d lend him that kind of cash, even if I had it. Which I don’t. But I still can’t believe he asked.” I cast my eyes over his shoulder as I chewed on my bottom lip. “I don’t know what he’s gotten himself into, but my gut’s telling me that, whatever it is, it’s bad.”

  Trick worked to get calm himself, stepping closer and pulling me against him. “You want, I can look into him next time I’m at the station.”

  My heart swelled and my belly fluttered at that thoughtful offer. “Is that allowed? I mean, isn’t it against the rules?”

  He shrugged off my concern. “Don’t worry about that. If this is bothering you and I have the means to do something about it, then that’s exactly what I intend to do.”

  My whole body sagged as I let out a sigh of relief. “Thank you, honey. Tha
t means a lot.”

  His arms squeezed, and he leaned in to place a kiss on my lips before lifting his head. “Anything you need, beautiful. Now tell me about Blythe.”

  “Well, she seemed almost… relieved when I told her she wouldn’t be going back to her dad’s for a while. That’s not normal, right?”

  Trick gave that some thought before hedging, “Maybe she just doesn’t like being away from home. After all, she has Hannah across the street now, and you said it yourself that Chris’s apartment is shit. I’d be willing to bet she just doesn’t want to stay there.”

  “Maybe,” I muttered as we restarted our trek. “I just don’t know.”

  “It’ll be all right, beautiful. You’ll see. Kids adjust.”

  “Yeah.” I pushed out an exhale and forced the bad feelings away. “You’re probably right.”

  “I am.” He opened the back door and let me go so I could step through, offering a wink as he said, “Now prepare to be amazed.”

  “By what?”

  “Your man’s culinary brilliance when it comes to the grill.”

  And just like that, all was right in my world again.

  * * *

  The smell of burgers grilling filled the air. There was a breeze blowing, keeping the temperature nice and comfortable, and white, puffy clouds dotted the beautiful blue sky above. It was the perfect day for a backyard barbeque, and everyone was having a great time.

  Everyone but Trick.

  Grabbing a beer from the cooler, I popped the cap and headed toward the grill. Pressing against Trick’s back, I circled his waist with both arms. He took the beer, and I let go so I could move to his side.

  “Thanks, baby.”

  I stood on my tiptoes to brush a kiss along his cheek. “How you doing there, papa bear?”

  He let out a grunt in response.

  We both looked out at the yard. Shawn and Tris were kicking a ball around while Diva ran after it. Both Shawn and Hannah had been beside themselves at their dad’s surprise, and they hadn’t stopped fawning over her since they got back home yesterday afternoon. And according to Trick, the entitled girl had loved every minute of it.