I pin my eyes on my mug. This is going into uncomfortable territory. I’m not seeing a problem since I couldn’t care less what other people say. “So?”
She pats my hand and explains, “This is a small town with small town values. I just need you to consider how this might affect Kimberly. She’s starting a new business and she wouldn’t want to give the wrong impression.”
I cut my eyes to her. “I’m not sure I understand.”
“I guess it depends on where you see this going with her. Is it serious or is it casual? Do you see it going somewhere with Kimberly or are you just, what is it you say these days, hooking up?”
I stand up quickly and I make a grab for my chair when it starts to topple over. Uncomfortable territory is now upon us. I am not talking about this with my mother. “I…I’m not sure where we’re going. But isn’t that up to us to decide?”
She nods and raises her mug. “Of course, sweetie. I know you don’t want to tarnish her reputation.”
I put my hands on my hips and whine, “Oh, come on, Mom. What is this, the 1800s?”
“I just want you to think about it, sweetie. On the other hand, I really like her. I can just see the grandbabies you could give me. And, Bode, she’s nothing like Mandy.”
After that, I make haste to get out of there and leave all my mom’s talk about babies and hooking up behind. I sure don’t need her to compare my ex with Kimberly.
It turns out I don’t have to think about the conversation with my mom. The town seems to make it impossible to forget about all that touchy-feely relationship stuff with Kimberly. In fact, they’re pushing it down my throat.
I go by the pharmacy to pick up some sunblock for the boat and Steven gives me the you dirty dog wink and back slap.
Olivia and Agatha want to know when the wedding will be. The fact that they assume we’re getting married makes the hairs on the back of my neck bristle. Sure, I see this thing with Kimberly developing into something. I just don’t like being pushed.
Even David, my best friend, asks if he can be my best man. I don’t even reply. I just turn and walk away and he has the gall to laugh. I even get catcalls and thumbs up from people walking down the street.
Then…I make an asshole move by texting Kimberly and telling her I’ll be working late so I’ll just stay at my house tonight.
I’m so mad I’m letting other people keep me from sleeping with her in my arms, I make a second asshole move when, instead of going to the Inn and giving Kimberly a few orgasms, I’m sitting on my boat with a twelve pack in a cooler. I’m five in when Case shows up.
He steps on board and takes in the empties littering the deck and my sprawled-out ass. “What are you doing here? Mom called and said there were lights on at the marina and asked me to check it out. I never thought I’d find you on your way to being wasted. You are the Murphy son who is actually getting some on a regular basis. When are you going to make an honest woman of her?”
“Shut up,” I growl and glare at my brother. Even he has something to say about it.
Case looks closer and that gets rid of the smug grin on his ugly face. “Oh, man, what have you done now?”
I try to open the cooler for another beer, but it must be locked. “I’ve not done anything. It’s everybody else.”
I jump to my feet, which is really stagger to my feet, and yell as loud as I can, “This town needs to mind its own fucking business and stop telling me what to do!”
“Whoa there, cowboy,” Case says and takes a fistful of my shirt to keep me from going headfirst in the water as I stumble around on deck. “Come on. You can sleep it off at my house. It will be just like old times.”
Case takes my arm and throws it over his shoulder, and then wraps an arm around my waist and buddy-walks me up the dock.
“You’re an ass, you know that, right? It was always me rescuing your butt,” I point out.
I don’t like his laugh because he knows it’s the truth. I have always been the levelheaded Murphy. So why is my head pounding now?
Case helps me in his truck and takes over buckling me in when I can’t seem to get the two parts together. “Maybe, but now it’s my turn. We can talk about it in the morning.”
Even after taking two aspirins and drinking a bottle of water, my head is still thumping. It serves me right for acting like a fool. Even a hot shower fails to ease the pain. Maybe it’s the guilt of what I did to Kimberly that’s making it hurt. I was an ass by not even calling her.
I need to go talk to her. I find Case in the kitchen with a plate full of food in front of him. “Help yourself. I made plenty.”
“Thanks.” I pull a plate from the cabinet and a fork from the drawer beside the sink and load the eggs and bacon on.
Case looks up from his plate and pushes it away. “Do you want to tell me what last night was about?”
I bite into the bacon and chew before answering, “Peer pressure.”
Case has the same uncanny ability to wait it out as Dad. “Did you know that Kimberly Westmoreland is the daughter of the Westmoreland hotel mogul?”
His eyes grow big and I can see he’s just as surprised as I was. “No shit.”
“Exactly. At first, it bothered me, but then I stopped thinking about how ungodly rich her family is and focused solely on Kimberly. She’s…grounded. It’s important to her to stand on her own two feet. I really admire that about her.”
Case gets up to refill our coffee mugs. “That sounds remarkable, but I’m not seeing a problem.”
I take the mug when he holds it out. I stare into the dark liquid and then look up and meet my brother’s eyes. “I like her, Case. I mean I really like her.”
“Again, I’m not seeing a problem.”
The problem. What is the problem? “I love this town, but sometimes they drive me crazy.”
Case takes a sip of his coffee. “Are we jumping subjects?”
I rub my aching head. Why did I ever think it was a good idea to drink so many beers? “Nope, same subject. Everything was fine until yesterday. Mom pointed out that if I’m not going to marry Kimberly, then I shouldn’t ruin her reputation.”
Case laughs and shakes his head, “You know that’s bullshit.
“And then all day long, people talked about weddings and best men, and congratulations for hooking a good one. Instead of telling everyone to shove it, I let it all get to me.” I get the same losing control feeling as I did yesterday as it was happening.
“Peer pressure,” Case says and uses his fork for emphasis.
“Exactly. Before yesterday, I could see us heading that way.” That sounds too much like I’m giving up.
“And now you can’t? Just because of busybodies? Or because of Mandy?”
“That and…her family are billionaires. That’s with a ‘B.’ What do I have to offer her?”
“What has she asked you for?”
She’s asked for nothing, but she’s given me hope that this will work out. “Nothing but as many orgasms as I can give her. We fit together. I like being with her and her crazy chicken, Henrietta.”
“A chicken?”
I push up from my seat for another refill and then lean back against the counter and cross my ankles as I blow across the hot liquid. “You’d have to see it to believe it. I should have been with them last night instead of panicking and acting like an idiot.”
“Why weren’t you?”
“What if…what if she can’t stay here? What if once she gets the Inn up and running and fulfills her obligations to ownership, and then she moves somewhere else? Like New York or California or a landlocked state. I don’t know if I could leave with her. Isn’t it better to break things off now before we get in too deep?” Isn’t it already too late? I’m already in too deep.
“I guess you have some thinking to do. I just know I’d hate to see you miss out on something great because of location. I know how devastated you were when Mandy left but, Bode, Kimberly is nothing like Mandy. Sorry, bro, looks like you h
ave a lot of decisions to make.”
I really don’t. What it all comes down to is that I need to end things before they get to the point of no return. I don’t think I’m the best man for her. I can’t see me fitting into the Westmoreland family and eventually she will realize that and the differences would tear us apart.
I knock at the door and hear her footsteps coming from the back of the Inn. When she opens the door, it’s hard for me to remember why I’m here. She has on another pair of those shorts and a white t-shirt with her hair piled on top of her head. She’s smiling up at me with those clear blue eyes and I want to taste her lips.
“Hey, why didn’t you just come in?” she asks and I just want to pull her into my arms and forget everything else.
I blink to clear that image from my mind. This is for the best. “Can we talk?”
She must notice my distance and the smile on her face vanishes. “What’s wrong, Bode? Have I done something wrong?”
I can’t draw it out. I just need to say it. “I’m going to move back home.”
She tips her head in confusion. “Okay. Do you want to stay for dinner before you go?”
I step back out the door because I’m too tempted to touch her and that would only be more confusing. I look down and take a breath before meeting her gaze and ending it. “I can’t do this with you anymore, Kimberly.”
I see when she understands. Her eyes flash to mine and I see a tear threatening to fall. “Oh. You’re breaking up with me.” Her voice trembles
We stare into each other’s eyes. I’m hurting her and then I hurt her even more when I say, “Were we ever together?”
She casts her eyes downward and then her chin tips and her eyes flare with anger. “No, I suppose not. We were just fucking, I guess.”
My spine straightens and blood rises in my face. I want to tell her how wrong she is. We weren’t just fucking. There were feelings involved. But I’m an ass and I say nothing.
She looks back up and meets my gaze, but we’re both silent. Then I turn and get back in my truck and drive away with my heart in pieces.
Chapter 14
Kimberly
I close the door and watch Bode leave. I’m not sure what just happened. How could I go from being the happiest I’ve ever been to feeling like I can’t take another breath without falling apart?
Tears fill my eyes and I put my back to the door and slide to the floor. Henrietta must feel my upset because she struts into the room and takes a seat in my lap. Running my hand down her feathers does soothe my raw emotions.
This isn’t the first time I’ve been dumped, but it is the first time it hurts. I don’t understand why. Yesterday morning when Bode left, everything was fine. He said he wanted to spend more time with me. He was planning on staying here. What happened?
I don’t accept his breakup. He needs to tell me why. Men are special creatures sometimes. I know this because I have four older brothers. Did we move too fast and he got scared? Maybe an old girlfriend moved back to town. Perhaps he just needs some space to think things through. I know all about that.
We’ll put a pin in this relationship and revisit it when he’s finished with his little hissy fit. I refuse to give up on the only man to ever make me feel special and like he only sees me and not the money behind my name.
Over the course of an evening, plus a bottle of wine, my emotions go from sad to mad. For the next week, I throw myself into getting the Inn ready for its opening. Being angry at Bode is actually a help. In every tile I scrub, I see his face, which makes me scour a little bit harder. With every weed I pull, it’s Bode’s neck my hands are around.
I also have a visitor. Wednesday I walk into the kitchen to find Henrietta on her roost with the girl I’d noticed earlier in the tree. This morning the strange little girl is hanging in the kitchen window. She’s just as disheveled as before. She’s wearing jean shorts that are ripped and dirty and what was probably a bright yellow t-shirt, but now is faded and frayed. Her sandy brown hair hangs in clumps around her head like it hadn’t seen a brush in days. Who is she and who are her parents?
I stop just inside the doorway, “Well, hello?” I say in a cheerful tone, not wanting to frighten her away.
The girl doesn’t respond or look at me, but she does ask, “You know that’s wrong, don’t you?”
I sigh; I guess everyone knows but me. “Yeah, I know. I need a rooster.”
This causes her head to swing to mine and her gorgeous clear blue eyes blink. “Huh? Why do you need a rooster?”
Now I’m uncomfortable. I shouldn’t be the one to explain about the birds and the bees or the chicken and the rooster. “You said…wait, what did you mean about it being wrong?”
She pointed to Henrietta, “Those eggs go in the refrigerator. Everybody knows that.”
I bite my lip to keep from laughing. That was a close one. “Yeah, I guess you’re right, but Henrietta is so proud of them I just can’t take them away.”
We share smiles and then she lets her body shimmy out the window and that’s the last I see of her. Strange little girl. I stick my head out the window and watch as she runs toward the beach, stopping along the way to pick a flower or throw a rock. Totally carefree and enjoying her day. I wish I could be more like her.
By Friday night, I’m exhausted, but the Inn is looking good. It turns out I’m a horrible upholsterer, but I am a good shopper and thanks to a ferry ride and an afternoon spent on the mainland, I’ve found a lovely pair of reproduction chairs in a boutique.
I also found new linens and an assortment of pretty antique dishes. There’s not a single matching plate, cup, or saucer and it’s going to be adorable and unique.
Over half of my savings are gone. This really is my Hail Mary. I might be spending all my money and pouring my heart and soul into the Inn for nothing. If the town doesn’t vote in favor of the technology plan, there will be no one to fill the rooms.
As for Bode, I haven’t heard from him all week. Not that I expected to. Every time I was in town, I looked for him. He wasn’t at the marina. One day, his boat was gone and I assumed he’d taken clients on a fishing tour.
Several times I’ve heard his plane fly over, but it could have been Patrick. I waved anyway.
As I’m sitting down to dinner, a frozen dinner, my heart races with anticipation at a knock on the door. From the three silhouettes, I know who it is—just the medicine I need. I swing the door open to three cheery faces.
“We’ve come to kidnap you,” Brandy says and Melissa finishes with, “We’re taking you out for a wild time on the town.”
Suzie jumps in, “Don’t get too excited. On the town around here means Pirates Pub.”
Melissa grins. “But they do have karaoke on Friday nights. Now shake a leg. Go put something sexy on so we can relive our single days through you.”
The whirlwind doesn’t give me a chance to decline their offer. Instead they rush me up the stairs and start going through my closet until they all agree on an outfit. I end up wearing a short, flirty, white skirt and a beaded turquoise halter top. Leftover Kimmie clothes. I start to slip on my black heels, but Brandy switches shoes with me. She wears my stacked heel sandals and I wear her brown and turquoise cowboy boots.
They fuss over my hair. Part gets piled on the top of my head and a riot of curling iron curls surround my face. I have Melissa take a picture of me with my cell phone to send to Lili. If I can ever use my cell again.
The Pub is an experience. Think rough biker bar, just without the bikers. Now replace the bikers with men. Old men. Fun and frisky old men.
“They used to serve the best burgers here until Paddy Grady moved to Florida to be with his daughter. Now they only serve chips and bottled salsa or anything frozen that can be fried,” Brandy says as we walk inside.
“But the drinks are good,” Suzie adds.
We don’t have a problem finding a free table. Most all of them are free. There are half a dozen men at the bar and half a dozen more in
a room to the side with a pool table.
Brandy leans over and says to the man behind the bar, “Hey, Chandler, four beers and shots, and a large loaded fry, please.”
Chandler nods. “Coming right up, darling.”
Melissa doesn’t ease into anything; she just jumps right in. “So, what’s up with you and Bode? The word around town is that you broke his heart.”
I blink in dismay and hate it when I feel stinging behind my eyes. “They have it wrong. He broke my heart.”
Brandy leans in and delivers her intel. “Well, the skinny at the Cut n Curl is that Homer told Agatha that Bode wasn’t ready to settle down because he wasn’t finished sowing his wild oats.”
I can’t believe my life has been fodder for the people of Faire Island. Is this for real? “Really. What is up with this island? Did the world move forward and leave the island behind?”
Chandler brings a tray filled with our drinks. I ignore that he serves mine first and tries to catch my eye.
Suzie chuckles and pulls her beer closer. “It didn’t used to be so antiquated, but that age group is all that’s left anymore. Look around the table, girls. We are the wild women of Faire Island.”
After the third shot, everything erupts from my mouth. I tell them about Bode and how great he is in bed and that he broke up with me and I have no idea why.
Chandler turns the music up and we all dance and get our groove on. I’m feeling more and more like Kimmie with each shot. At one point, I think that I shouldn’t drink too much since I didn’t get to eat dinner. But then Brandy shouts for more shots. At ten, they cut the music off and turn a spotlight on the stage. I am more than a little buzzed. I know this because we each sing a solo and then, as a group, we sing several songs from Mamma Mia. And I don’t sing. I can’t carry a tune even if it’s in a Michael Kors bag.
After our singing gig, we’re thirsty and have a beer followed by yet more shots. I have more than a buzz going. I think about cutting myself off, but I’m so sad and these ladies are so much fun. Before long, I am officially snockered. Nobody else wants to sing, so Chandler turns the music back on and we do more Truth or Dare shots.
Going All Inn (Faire Island Bride Series Book 1) Page 11
