One of These Days (Prairie Town Book 4)

by T. E. Ridener

  “That appears to be the plan.” Rubbing her ribs apologetically. She let her eyes wander to the backseat of her car.

  She’d lost almost everything.

  “We’ll help you rebuild, Ags. I promise you that.” Laney grabbed her hands and pulled her in for another hug. Gods almighty, the woman could hug. “Oh, honey, I’m so sorry.”

  “It’s all right, Laney. Seriously. It’s okay,” she said, meeting Jeb’s gaze as she rested her chin against Laney’s shoulder. He was still smiling, but it seemed more sincere this time. “At least I wasn’t there when it happened. I could have ended up in Oz.”

  “What a terrible joke.” Laney sniffled and released her, crossing her arms over her chest. “Don’t make jokes like that. You could have died!”

  “But the point is, she didn’t,” Jeb interrupted, stepping between them so he could push the front seat forward. He reached into the backseat and grabbed her safety deposit box, giving her an oh-so-nice view of his backside.

  Holy hell, he can fill out a pair of jeans.

  Her pulse quickened and her knees trembled. It took everything she had to refrain from reaching out and touching him. Perhaps it made her the most perverted person on earth, but she was confident anyone would have dirty thoughts while looking at that ass.

  “Did you hear about Devin’s dad?” Laney asked, disrupting her wicked thoughts.

  “Yeah, I did. That’s awful,” she replied, though she hardly meant it. The man was a complete asshole according to, well, everyone. She didn’t have any sympathy for assholes.

  “It is. I reckon his funeral will be happening on Tuesday. The forestry service is trying to clear the roadways so they can make it to the cemetery.”

  “They’re not burying him in Wolfe Cemetery?” Jeb asked, straightening back up with the safety deposit box in tow.

  “No. Apparently he’s too good to be buried there.” Benji popped up beside them, an annoyed expression on his face. “But good riddance I say. The dude was a total douchenozzle.”

  “Hey, that’s my word,” Jeb said, grinning. “But you’re right, he is. I’d rather he be buried elsewhere. He’s been a thorn in this town’s side for too long.”

  “Ags!” Lydia’s squeal could have been heard from miles away. They all turned to look at her as she bounded out of the house. Dressed in a black and white polka dot dress; she looked every bit the part of a retro pin-up model.

  Oh, how she always envied Lydia’s beauty.

  Lydia and Benji had been her closest friends for the last several years and she was so grateful for them, but she’d be lying if she said she wasn’t jealous of both of them. They both had found love and happiness, and while she was beyond elated for her friends, she was also sad she hadn’t found her forever.

  Her eyes wandered back to Jeb.

  He was looking at her, too.

  Quickly looking away, she sighed in relief when Lydia finally made it to her and embraced her. The sweet scent of her perfume comforted her and she relaxed against her friend.

  “I’m so happy you are here,” Lydia whispered, kissing her cheek. “You can stay for as long as you want, okay?”

  “Okay,” she whispered back, feeling the sudden sting of tears. Why was she crying? She wasn’t sad – not really. Well, she was, but she was trying not to be. They were all faking it to the best of their ability at the moment; allowing depression to kick in for what had happened to their town was not an option. It was hard to have hope if they focused on the bad stuff for too long. “Thank you, cupcake.”

  Sadness weighed heavily on her heart as they headed into the house. No, it wasn’t a house – it was a freaking mansion. It was the kind of place a Dutchess would call home and Lydia was so damn lucky to have it.

  She had it all, didn’t she?

  “Come with me, Ags. I’ll show you your room,” Lydia said, walking ahead of her. Her high heels clicked against the shiny clean floors and the sound bounced off the walls. “Your room is on the second floor.”

  “Hey, wait for me!” Laney said, quickening her steps to catch up with them. “Oh, man. I swear this place gets prettier and prettier every time I see it.”

  “It is pretty gorgeous,” she mumbled, clutching the strap of her duffle bag. “And always so clean.”

  “You know she doesn’t clean this place by herself, right?” Laney laughed. “She probably uses the same cleaning lady Tula does.”

  “I wish I had a cleaning lady.” Jeb’s deep voice rumbled all the way to her core and she had to force herself not to look at him. “My place is going to need a fuck ton of work thanks to that tornado.”

  “Oh, that’s right. It hit your house, too, didn’t it?” She asked, ascending the stairs carefully. There were times when she could be terribly clumsy – she’d die of humiliation if she fell with Jeb McIntosh right behind her.

  “It did a lot of damage, too. I can’t stay there.”

  “I’m sorry.” She glanced at him briefly, reaching to grasp the rail so she didn’t fall. “That sucks.”

  “Yeah, but at least I’m alive. We’re all okay and that’s what matters to me.” His eyes stayed on her, and there was something behind those green hues that made her want to hold him and never let go.

  “Here’s your room, Ags!” Lydia stopped abruptly and turned to face them, a huge smile plastered on her face. “Come inside and make yourself at home, please.”

  “Ah, is this another ‘mi casa es su casa’ moment?” She asked, poking her head inside and immediately falling silent.

  Holy hell, had she ever seen anything so beautiful?

  The room itself was larger than her apartment, she was sure of it. The big windows above the canopy bed and the silk curtains draped across them were enough to make any little girl squeal in excitement, but for her, it was a dream come true.

  Leave it to Lydia to remember she’d always wanted a canopy bed.

  “When you agreed to come stay with me for a little while, I had Callum set this up for you. It belonged to his great-grandmother,” Lydia said, biting at her bottom lip. “Do you like it?”

  “Do I like it?” She asked, drinking in the sight of the purple comforter set and matching pillows. “Are you kidding me, pumpkin? This is perfect. I love it.”

  “Good! I’m glad.” Lydia gently pushed her inside and pointed towards the closet in the corner. “You have plenty of room for whatever you want. That’s a walk-in closet, by the way.”

  “That’s nice, but I—”

  “You will,” Lydia interrupted, as if she somehow knew what she was going to say. “You’re going to get back everything you’ve lost, and I’m going to help you.” She promised, gazing at her with teary eyes.

  “I can’t let you do that, honey puff.”

  “Sure you can. It’s my way of paying you back for all the nice stuff you’ve done for me.”

  “But you’re the one who’s always done nice stuff for me,” she argued, resting her hands against her hips. “I can’t accept anything else, Lydia. The room will work just fine for me.”

  “You are so stubborn,” Jeb commented as he stepped inside, still holding the safety deposit box. “Where do you want this?”

  “Um...”

  “Over there,” Lydia instructed, nodding towards the closet. “There’s a shelf designed just for that. Every bedroom has one.”

  “Geez, Lydia. Did you have Callum’s dad build one for the kid, too?” He snorted and rolled his eyes, moving to the closet.

  “For your information, yes.” She shrugged. “He may have important things he doesn’t want anyone else getting a hold of. Someday.”

  “Like dirty magazines?” He stuck his tongue out at her.

  “Maybe.” She huffed and flipped her hair over her shoulder. “Keep talking to me like that and I won’t let you stay here, Mister.”

  “W-what?” Aggie felt like her heart was going to explode as she stared at her friend.

  No one had said anything about Jeb staying there.

&n
bsp; Under the same roof.

  With her.

  “Oh, did I not mention that?” Lydia asked, acting innocent. “I thought I did. Jeb is going to be staying here until he gets his place fixed back up. He’ll be right across the hall from you.”

  Oh, sweet gods. Right across from me?

  Did her friend not understand what torture it would be for her to have Jebson Ray McIntosh within touching distance, especially at night?

  She’s trying to kill me.

  Lydia gave her a knowing grin and her eyes sparkled as she clasped her hands together and began backing away – probably so she could make a fast exit, that sneaky hag.

  “Jebson,” she called sweetly to her brother. “If you’ll follow me now, I’ll show you to your room.”

  Jeb, none-the-wiser, as always, shut the closet door and turned around. “Yep. On my way, Sis.”

  Her heart felt like it was about to leap out of her throat as he passed by her, the delectable scent of his cologne tantalizing her nose.

  “I’ll see you later, Roomie.” He winked.

  After they exited the room, she sank down onto the ridiculously soft mattress of her new bed and released a trembling breath. Her pulse was far too fast and she was pretty sure she was going to have to change her underwear before facing him again.

  “Oh, shit,” she whispered, lifting a palm to press against her hot cheek. “How am I going to survive this?”

  Chapter 2

  Jeb

  The Lord was testing him.

  It was bad enough that his house had been all but demolished during the biggest, most terrible storm in the history of North Carolina, but to be in the same house as Ags was much worse.

  And that was an opinion, no one else shared with him.

  “Oh, come on, Jeb. You’ll be fine,” his sister, who was usually so sweet, but definitely wicked at the moment, said. “As long as you remain civil and ignore her pretty smile, you’ll be okay.”

  “That’s so easy for you to say,” he mumbled, grabbing a beer from the fridge and opening it hastily. “You’re not the one who’s been attracted to her for forever.”

  “No, but trust me, will you?” She slid into a seat at the kitchen table and gazed up at him, smiling from ear-to-ear. “Maybe you can find an opportunity to talk to her now that you’re both here.”

  “About what?” He turned to stare at her quizzically, afraid of what else would leave her mouth. Lydia was a good person – a good sister, God knew it – but her devious ways of trying to play matchmaker had really crossed a line this time. “She has a boyfriend, Lyds. What the hell am I supposed to say to her?”

  “How you feel about her, for starters.” She shrugged, twirling a strand of hair around her index finger. “Honestly, Jeb. Haven’t you ever heard the saying, ‘the truth shall set you free’?”

  “That won’t work in a case like this. She’s moved on.” It made his stomach twist into sickening knots just to think about it. “I waited too long. It’s too late.”

  “Never say never, brother,” she replied, sighing dreamily. “Besides, she doesn’t really talk about him, does she? She can’t be that invested into the relationship if she doesn’t talk about him.”

  “Well, unlike other people around here, maybe she likes keeping her private business just that – private.”

  “What are you insinuating?”

  “Oh, c’mon, Lydia.” He took a quick swig of beer and eyed her. “If I’m not hearing about you and Callum, I’m hearing about Laney and Benji. I know every detail of your relationships—aside from the dirty bits and hell no, I don’t want to know about it. There are limits, you know.”

  “I would never dream of talking about my sex life, with you. Gross.” She wrinkled her nose and leaned back in her seat. “But it is pretty spectacular...”

  “No. Don’t go there,” he warned, making a gagging noise. “There are things a brother ain’t supposed to know about his sisters and there are things sisters shouldn’t do to their brothers—like trying to set me up with a girl who already has a boyfriend.”

  “And I just told you,” she groaned, rubbing her temples. “She’s not happy with him.”

  “But how do you know that?”

  The thought of Ags being unhappy with her current relationship made him want to leap with joy, but it also made him sad. She was a kind, wonderful person and she deserved happiness. Would he rather she be happy with him? Yes, of course. But he couldn’t ask that of her.

  He’d told his sisters time and time again, his window of opportunity had come and gone. Ags had liked him long ago, and now, she liked someone else.

  Maybe she even loved him.

  It made his chest ache to think of it that way, but it was true.

  She was a romantic and if she did love her boyfriend, she loved him hard.

  And damn it, he was jealous.

  But I already missed out. I can’t toss a wrench into her life like that.

  Keeping the truth about Mia had been the worst mistake he ever made, but in his mind, he was protecting his family. In the end, however, all he’d done was put them in more danger.

  He nearly lost Laney because of his poor decision-making skills, and he’d definitely lost Ags.

  I am a fucking idiot.

  “Jeb, are you listening to me?”

  Blinking slowly, he met Lydia’s gaze again and noted her frown.

  “Sorry. I guess I got lost in my head for a minute. What’d you say?”

  “I was just saying that if you wanted a chance to fix things with her, now’s the time to do it. Honestly, Jeb, I’m trying here—why aren’t you?”

  “Because it ain’t right. I’m not the kind of man to destroy a relationship and you shouldn’t be that kind of woman. She’s your friend, Lydia. How can you try to sabotage her happiness?”

  “Because I know her,” she shot back with a roll of her eyes. “I’ve known Ags for a long time, Jeb. She never talked about Noah before, and then she’s suddenly dating him? It doesn’t make sense. If she was really that attracted to him, I would have heard about him a millennium before they started dating.”

  Noah. God, he fucking hated that name, and all because some asshole had come along and had the courage to do something he couldn’t.

  It just didn’t seem fair.

  It sucked.

  “Well, it doesn’t matter the how or why, Lyds. She’s with him and that’s that. I’m not messing it up for her.” Turning to toss his empty beer bottle in the trash, his lungs seized up when he heard the sweetest voice in existence.

  “Hey, you two,” Ags said cheerfully, entering the kitchen. “What’s for supper? I’m starving.”

  “I am so glad you asked.” Lydia shot up from her seat like a rocket and all but shoved him out of the way. “I was just about to start cooking and Jeb here, being the kind fellow he is, offered to help you finish unpacking while I do so.”

  He was grateful he had already finished his beer because this would be the moment in which he choked on it and spewed it everywhere.

  Glancing at his sister in bewilderment, he arched a brow.

  She simply grinned.

  “Really? Oh...oh, that’s so nice, Jeb. Thank you.” Ags smiled at him and damn it, his heart began to hammer. “I don’t have much. I mean...it’s not even a two-person job.”

  “But I’m sure there’s something you need help with,” Lydia insisted, avoiding his glare as she began browsing the fridge. “Oh! What about the massage table Tula sent over? The one you said you needed to get your business up and going again?”

  “The extra one from her home? Oh, yeah. That was so sweet of her. I honestly don’t think I can afford a replacement anytime soon. She’s so kind to do that for me.”

  “Tula has two massage tables?” He asked, staring back and forth between them.

  “Yes. It was a ‘his and hers’ kind of deal,” Lydia explained, pulling out an armful of vegetables. “Paul sometimes liked getting a massage, too.”

 
“But how did you massage them both at the same time?” He tried to avoid direct eye contact with Ags by grabbing another beer and staring at it inquisitively.

  “I didn’t give him the massages,” Ags replied, laughing nervously. “That was, um, more of a private session. Between the two of them.”

  “I could have lived out my years on this earth without knowing that.” He sighed.

  Everybody in this town has a better sex life than me.

  The last time he’d felt a woman’s touch was when he’d been with Mia. Their relationship had been genuine in the beginning, but by the end, she’d jaded him in ways he’d never be able to express. She’d blackmailed him into having sex with her; she had forced him to do things he no longer wanted to do.

  He’d never go as far as to say she had raped him because he knew that was an insult to victims everywhere, but sometimes...in his darkest moments...he knew what had happened to him was pretty damn close.

  Lydia and Laney were not aware of those facts, at least not to his knowledge. They were only aware he had a history with the psycho—a very insane, dangerous history that nearly got Laney and Benji killed.

  And to this day, he still wasn’t sure he could forgive himself for everything that had happened.

  He also knew that Ags would never forgive him for what he’d put her through.

  I should have just told her the truth from the get-go. She deserved to know everything.

  But, as always, he had done what he thought was right. Protecting the people he cared about meant a great deal to him. He had stood up for Lydia so many times when they were kids, even if it ended with him getting an ass-whooping. He had tried to protect Laney from her demons, but it was impossible to fight something when it was trapped in someone’s brain.

  And trying to hide what he felt for Ags, for the sake of keeping Mia away from her, had cost him the very thing he wanted most; her.

  The kiss they shared on Christmas Eve, which now seemed to be decades ago, still tingled on his lips from time to time. The sweet scent of her perfume and the taste of her mouth were still very much fresh in his mind.

  He knew she thought he rejected her over the fact she liked to dress like a boy sometimes, but in reality, he’d rejected her because he was afraid of what Mia would do to her—to all of them.