I’d thought I’d timed it right. I’d mastered peeking out the window to make sure the coast was clear before I raced from my door to my car. Making sure our paths didn’t cross.
But there they were, Rex stepping outside and turning around to lock his door, Frankie bounding down the steps, calling my name. “Rynna, Rynna! What’s you doing? We’s goin’ to the lake. You wants to come?”
Janel was between them, at the top of the steps. Arms crossed over her chest. A sneer on her face when she met my eyes.
I gulped around the agony. Fumbling, I tried to hurry and unlock my SUV. I had to get away. Escape. Instead, my hands were shaking so badly I dropped my keys. They clattered to the ground. The only thing I managed was to draw more attention to myself.
I snatched the key ring up, trying to steady myself, my heart and my hands and my voice. “I don’t think that’s a good idea, Frankie.”
“Ah, man. But I misses you.”
I miss you. I miss you. I miss you.
The world spun around me. A circuit of torment. I inhaled, blinked, my words barely a whisper. “I miss you, too.”
So much.
“Does Milo wants to come and play?”
Behind Janel, Rex slowly turned around. His entire being flinched when he saw me, and instantly, he cast his eyes to the floorboards of his porch. As if I’d broken him every bit as much as he’d broken me.
The hate in Janel’s expression shifted, and she looked up at him, beaming, before she set her hand on Frankie’s shoulder. “Come on, sweetheart. We’d better go before it gets too late.”
I floundered to get into the driver’s seat before slamming the door shut. I choked back tears as I pulled out of my drive, refusing to let her see me fall apart, my teeth clenched as I took the three quick turns to get out onto the main road.
I lost it just down the street, my eyes blurring over. I pulled into a convenience store parking lot, whipped into a parking spot, gripped the steering wheel in both hands. Head dropped. Gasping.
He lied to me.
Maybe this was the way it was supposed to end, anyway.
Maybe Janel had changed. What if she was exactly what they needed? The one who would make them whole again? Who would chase away the darkness that lingered in the depths of Rex’s eyes?
Every part of me rejected it. The fact she was Rex’s wife. That he belonged to her. Not when my heart screamed he was mine.
I jerked when the diner door swung open. But I wasn’t struck with the presence I’d been aching for over the last five days. Instead, I was slammed with a stark, radiating anger.
I’d been sweeping up some of the mess left behind by the resanding of the long countertop, again looking for something to keep my idle hands busy.
Knowing if I kept still for too long I might go insane.
My mouth dropped open when a woman stormed into my restaurant. All bristling fire and animosity.
She wore jeans, boots, and a flowy, whimsical blouse. Her blonde hair had been darkened underneath and curled into long waves, the woman beautiful in an earthy, natural way, aged by the faint traces of smile wrinkles at the edges of her mouth.
But her eyes.
Her eyes were warm and sincere, even though they were raging mad.
Sage.
My heart clutched.
This was Rex’s mother.
She crossed her arms over her chest and looked me up and down. “Well, you must be Rynna Dayne.”
I set the broom and pan aside. I tried to straighten myself out, to keep myself from falling apart, my voice shaking when I finally spoke. “I am. You must be Jenny Gunner.”
Still, her name tripped on my tongue.
Standing there, she seemed to war with something, and she blew out a strained breath from her nose and lifted her chin when she came to whatever conclusion she’d been looking for. Some of that anger slipped away. “I wish we were meetin’ under different circumstances,” she said. “Honestly, I came over here thinking I was gonna knock a little sense into you for breaking my boy’s heart, but from where I’m standing, looks to me like you’re suffering from that breaking, too.”
I choked out a laugh. Wow. She was . . . something. Confident and brazen and sweet. Country to the bone. So much like the women I’d been surrounded with all my years growing up.
I forced myself to smile, though it came out weak. “Yeah . . . I think I’m dealing with a bit of a heart breaking.”
A bit.
My stomach tumbled with the shards of jagged, broken glass that coated my insides, gouging into my flesh. Deeper and deeper with each breath.
It was a constant, excruciating pain.
She cocked her head. “So, what’s the problem then?”
That choked laugh turned into a cry. “What’s the problem?” My head shook, and I blinked at her through the motes that floated through the haze of light streaming in through the windows. “Rex is married. His wife is at his house right now. What kind of person would I be if I stood in the way of that?”
I went back to the same justification I’d been trying to feed myself, the rationale that they might be better with Janel. All week, I’d been trying to persuade myself maybe it was meant to be. That it was best if I walked away.
But I was beginning to wonder if I wasn’t trying to cover the hurt, the fear of finding her there, and what that would mean for Rex and me. If I could ever rid her face from my mind if I ever allowed him to touch me again. Or maybe I was just afraid of facing that same kind of rejection that had chased me away in the first place.
Jenny Gunner didn’t even hesitate. “Just the fact you’d even consider it proves to me that you are the exact kind of person he deserves.”
For a beat, I turned away, gathering myself, before I turned back to her. “She’s Frankie’s mother, Jenny. I—”
“You love them.” It wasn’t a question. It was a solution.
My hands pressed against my chest. “So much. Which is why I’m willing to let them go.”
She turned away from me and began to wander around my restaurant, her fingers tracing across the new tables that had been installed this week. Her voice dropped into a slow musing, “You know, I raised my son to be good. To respect whoever crossed his path. To honor his promises. Maybe it was because his father up and left me the second I told him Rex was on his way, but I drilled that loyalty into him so deep. And I won’t ever regret that. The man he became.”
She turned to gaze at me from over her shoulder. “He’s a good, good man. Honorable and noble. And when he loves, he loves with all he’s got. And that love has come back to bite him in the ass time and time again.”
She looked toward the ceiling. She inhaled deeply and a tremor slid down her spine. “When Sydney disappeared, I was terrified I wouldn’t ever see my son again. Physically, sure, he was there. But the rest of him? His amazing spirit? His smile so wide and his belief so big? It was gone. And then there was Frankie . . . Frankie Leigh. She rekindled a part of him that’d gone dim. Lit him up. He’d sacrifice anything for her.”
She glanced back at me. “And Janel? She’s always been a sacrifice. He chose to love her because he should. And I won’t diminish that. Say it was wrong. Not when my son was tryin’ to do what was right. But the bad seed in that equation was Janel. She’s always been nothing but a leech.” She looked around the restaurant, shaking her head. “Honestly, can’t believe your grandma tolerated her so long.”
Strangled confusion fell from my tongue. “What did you say?”
She turned back to me. “Your grandmother . . .”
My brow pinched. “I know you said my grandmother . . . but Janel . . . she worked here? When she was with Rex?”
Her eyes narrowed in confusion. “Don’t really know a time she lived in this town when she didn’t work for your grandma. From what I know, she started out when she was in high school.”
Oh God.
My arm went around my belly. I had no idea why I’d assumed Janel no longer worke
d at Pepper’s. That once I left, my grandmother would have let her go.
Regret churned.
Once I’d gotten to California and called Gramma to let her know where I was, I’d told her I didn’t want to hear a thing about what was happening in Gingham Lakes or its people. I’d told her the only person I cared about was her.
I’d wanted to shun it and hide it and pretend the rest never existed.
Of course, life here had just gone on.
Gramma had no idea what Janel had done to me. There’d been no reason for her to cut her loose.
“What’s wrong?” Jenny asked, taking a cautious step my direction.
“I . . . I didn’t know she was still working for my gramma. That she was here. It feels . . . wrong.”
So wrong.
So off.
Awareness pressed in. A thread tickling my consciousness, vying to make itself known.
“You knew her?” Jenny asked.
I barely nodded. “I lived with my gramma growing up.”
Jenny huffed. “Everything about Janel is wrong, Rynna. Make no mistake about that.”
She approached me, touched my cheek. Her expression turned pleading. “My son deserves to be happy. And my grandbaby? She deserves to be safe. Both of them deserve to be loved. The right way. And I know I don’t know you all that well, but I’ve always considered myself a good judge of character, and I’m betting you deserve it, too.”
I felt jarred when she suddenly stepped back and began to walk away. Just as she pulled the door open, she looked back at me. “I don’t trust her, Rynna. And you and my boy . . . your hearts are in the right places. But any sacrifice you and Rex are trying to make are only opening the door for her to hurt them all over again.”
My head was still spinning when I left the diner. Streetlamps shined down, twilight the deepest blue where it took to the sky, the Alabama air cooled by the shallow gusts of wind that blew through the quieted corridor, the shops lining the street shut down for the night.
I’d spent the entire day inside.
Working and cleaning and trying to process what Jenny Gunner had been trying to say. It’d felt like a warning. I’d pondered it until the windows had dimmed and darkness had begun to take hold.
I stumbled toward my Jeep parked at the street, my mind five miles away on that little house across from mine. I jerked back when I saw the man at Pepper’s windows, hands cupping around his eyes as if he were trying to get a better view inside through the tinted windows.
Slowly, he peeled himself back, ambled my direction.
Aaron.
Why was he looking in my restaurant?
Terror bottled in my throat, and I took a step back when he took one toward me.
He smirked, every slimy inch of his arrogant face lit in the lamps. This time, the asshole clearly knew who I was. “Well, Rynna Dayne. Thought you looked familiar before. Just couldn’t place you. You look good. Real good.”
He grabbed me by the wrist.
Something took me over. The fear gone, replaced by something fierce. I wrenched out of his hold. Disgusted. Anger burst free. “You didn’t recognize me? Why’s that? Because I wasn’t naked, letting you take advantage of me? Because I wasn’t following you around like a fool? Because I lost a few pounds? Which is it?”
He let loose a low, amused whistle. “Ah, I see the way you look isn’t the only thing that’s changed. Feisty. I like that.”
He went to touch my hand, and I jerked it back. “Don’t touch me. Don’t look at me. Don’t come around me. In fact, stay off this street. Don’t want to see you in front of this diner ever again.”
I ducked around him, trying to keep it together, pretending as if I weren’t shaking all over the place. I was seconds away from coming unglued. Unhinged.
A chuckle rumbled from his mouth, and he looked back at me, shaking his head. “Always in Janel’s way, aren’t you? Brave girl. Just wonder who she’s going to hurt most this time.”
I whipped around. “What did you say?”
He just smirked then he turned and sauntered down the street.
By the time I made it home, I was trembling so hard I could barely see. I killed the engine and sat in the darkness of the cab. I clutched the steering wheel, sucking in breaths.
What was I supposed to do?
What did any of this mean?
I forced myself out into the night. Wind gusted and worry climbed through every inch of my body. Despite all my efforts, my attention tuned to his house. It was lit, all the windows shining with a soft yellow glow.
Janel’s car was in the driveway, but Rex’s truck was gone.
At least there was some comfort in knowing they weren’t together. It was Friday night, so Rex would be at the bar and Frankie would be spending the night with her grandma, who so obviously had Frankie’s best interest at heart.
I forced myself up the steps, across the porch, and fumbled to get the key into the lock. The door swung open.
Dread echoed back from the silence.
God. I was losing it. I had to be.
But everything felt . . . off.
I swore a disorder tumbled through the air, a disturbance ricocheting from my grandmother’s walls that hadn’t been there when I’d left this morning.
I flicked on the light. Eyes jumping around. Calculating as I took everything in.
Nothing seemed out of place. But my gut? It warned me someone had been there.
Fear slithered beneath the surface of my skin, and I stepped all the way inside and locked the door. I went into the kitchen and flicked on the light.
Empty.
I was alone. Somehow, that didn’t make me feel any better. I warmed up some leftover pot pie in the microwave and sat down at the table by the window. It was like sand in my mouth, but I forced it down since I hadn’t eaten in days.
Forty minutes later, a loud engine rumbled down the street. Approaching. Coming closer.
A frenzy climbed to the air.
Awareness.
Confusion.
Dread.
Headlights sliced through the darkness before Rex’s big truck turned into his driveway, way earlier than I’d have expected him to.
That frenzy roiled.
The breath got locked in my lungs when he finally stepped out, and I couldn’t look away as I watched him, his head drooped between his shoulders as he ascended the porch steps and made his way inside.
My eyes squeezed closed, and I pressed my hand over my heart.
God. What was I supposed to do?
36
Rex
I sat at the bar, tossing back beer after beer. Olive’s was packed, same way as it was every Friday night. Hoards of people were out living it up, having the time of their lives, their laughter and voices and conversations ringing out.
It only amplified the hollowness.
The vacancy that wept.
That turmoil I’d stumbled into the day Rynna had pushed me away had only grown with each moment that passed. Janel’s presence had gotten harder and harder to bear. Every single time I opened my goddamned door and she was there, it hit me anew.
It made my stomach clutch and my heart wrench, hating that I wasn’t coming home to Rynna. Hating that Frankie still didn’t know how to act around her mother, uneasy and unsure and a little bit scared. Hated that it made my skin crawl every goddamned time Janel took my baby girl in her arms.
I just fucking . . . hated.
Ollie appeared in front of me, popping the cap off a fresh beer. He slid it across the shiny bar. “Don’t know whether to keep feeding you these or cut you off.”
I lifted it to my lips and took a long pull before I tipped the neck his direction. “I’m pretty sure the answer to that is to keep them coming. You know what they say, it’s all about who you know.”
Chuckling beneath his breath, he planted his hands on the bar and stretched his tattooed arms out between us, dropping his voice when he leaned in close. “Yeah, well that might b
e the case, but that also means I know you. And I know you’re fucking miserable, man. This isn’t healthy.”
I took another sip. “Not much to be done about that now, is there?”
Ollie’s face screwed up in concern. “Not sure wasting away at my bar is the solution.”
“Just . . . can’t go back there, Ollie.”
He sighed and wiped a palm over his mouth before he turned his attention back on me. “So, you let your ex-wife back in your house, and now you can’t go back to it? You not seeing an issue with that?”
Oh, I was seeing plenty of issues.
Harsh laughter rolled from my tongue. “That’s the problem, Ollie. Janel’s not my ex. She’s still my fucking wife.”
A frown pinched between his brows. “Only thing claiming it is a piece of paper. And you know what that piece of paper says? It says the two of you would cherish each other, love each other, respect each other for all of your lives. It says the two of you would stay true through thick and thin. Through the good and the bad. I was there, remember? You really think Janel has been faithful to you since she left? You think her running off on you was fueled by her respect?” Quiet outrage shook Ollie’s head. “Pretty sure any contract you two had is expired.”
I jumped when a hand clamped down on my shoulder. My head jerked that way. Kale was there, grinning down, sliding into the stool next to me.
“Oh, do tell me I’m just in time for the conversation about the fucked-up situation our boy here has gotten himself into.”
Just fucking great.
All I needed was the two of them razzing me. Teasing and taunting me with what I already knew.
Ollie lifted his chin to Kale. “Yep. Right in time, brother. Pretty sure this asshole thinks he’s going to sit here all night and actually manage to drink his cares away.” Ollie turned back to me. “But believe me, when you wake up in the morning? They’re going to be right there waiting for you.”
“Comforting,” I grunted, taking a quick swig.
Ollie shrugged. “Just telling you like it is.”
“And what the hell do you expect me to do about it? Rynna already made her decision.” Didn’t mean to come off so pissy and irate, but I couldn’t stop it. Because I was.
Tempt Me: A First Class Romance Collection Page 59
