Long Road Home

by Kate Stacy

  “You coming or what?”

  “Not yet, but before the night is over? Absolutely.”

  She shakes her head and laughs.

  “Pervert.”

  “You love me, though.”

  “You know I do.” She reaches for my hand as we go out to my truck.

  Time to put the drama to rest.

  Hopefully, tonight is the last we hear from Angie.

  HAILEE

  Drake parks his Ford in one of the reserved spots in the back of the Brewhouse. We don’t waste any time getting out of the truck to head for the back door. Jaxson must have been waiting for us because he pushes the door open.

  “It’s about time the two of you show up.”

  Drake chuckles. “You ready for this shit to go down, man?”

  “Do what you gotta do. I wish it wasn’t gonna happen in my bar, but as long as you don’t break anything—I can deal.”

  “I doubt it’ll come to that unless the psycho starts throwing shit. Have your phone ready in case we need to call the police.”

  “Will do, man.”

  He opens the door to let us through, winking at me as I pass. I roll my eyes and laugh.

  “Everything good, dollface?”

  “It will be soon.”

  As we go through the set of doors that leads to the main bar, I spot Madalyn right away. I head directly for her, not wanting to be a part of this confrontation. Rather than looking for Angie, Drake follows me and greets Madalyn with a hug. He whispers something in her ear before turning his head to look as she points to the opposite corner of the bar.

  Drakes nods his head and thanks her before taking a seat. He pulls me into his lap, kissing my neck as a waitress drops off drinks for us. He raises his beer toward the bar, nodding to Jaxson in thanks.

  I take a sip of my drink and ask, “Aren’t you going to confront her?”

  He shakes his head. “Not just yet. I want to see if she notices me first.”

  We don’t let Angie’s presence ruin our fun. We talk, laugh, and have a blast watching people do karaoke. People are brave. There’s no way in hell I’d ever get up on a stage and sing in front of a crowd. Jaxson doesn’t stock enough tequila to ever make that happen. A few of the bartenders and waitresses stop by to chat for a bit, and Holden joins us after awhile.

  Despite having a good time, I know that we’re all still watching Angie closely. She’s too preoccupied with her group of admirers to even notice that Drake has been here for over an hour. I’m sure I haven’t seen it all, but I know that she’s had at least four shots of tequila and two cocktails since we’ve been here.

  Everything is still going smoothly until we see her crawl up on a tabletop and lay down to let some guy do a body shot. They manage to pull it off before Jaxson gets over there to put a stop to it. It’s loud in here, but not so loud that we can’t hear Jax tell them that kind of shit isn’t allowed in his bar. Angie has the audacity to try to sweet talk him. We can’t hear the conversation, but it’s obvious that she’s flirting.

  Jaxson has to remove her hands from him several times before he raises his voice and he tells her, “If you touch me one more time, I’m throwing you out. You know damn well I’m married.” He pulls away from her and gives her one last warning before going back behind the bar.

  Drake nudges Holden, “Do me a favor, man. Cut her off.”

  “You got it.” He leaves the table to inform the bartenders.

  Less than fifteen minutes later, Angie goes up to the bar to get another drink. She doesn’t hide her anger when they refuse to serve her. She goes back to her table and talks to one of the guys for a minute before going with him back up to the bar. We’re too far away to hear the conversation, but there’s a lot of head shaking from Holden and Jaxson. Holden points our direction and Angie’s head turns, her eyes popping wide open when she sees the group at our table.

  She whispers something to the guy that she’s with and he walks away from her. I can see her straighten her spine before she heads our way. I’m still sitting on Drake’s lap. He squeezes my thigh before wrapping his arm around my waist and kissing my temple.

  I guess I’m supposed to stay put.

  Angie gets to our table and has the nerve to smile. “Hi, Drake.”

  DRAKE

  I can’t believe this girl.

  I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that she’s going to stand here, pretending that nothing is wrong.

  “Angie.”

  She opens her mouth to speak, but I cut her off. “Last time I checked, tequila shots aren’t good for the baby.” I take a pull of my beer, nodding my head toward her stomach.

  “I...I—“

  “What’s wrong? Too drunk to think of a convincing lie?” I shake my head. “Save it, Angie. I don’t want to hear whatever shit you’re going to spew next.”

  “Drake...I…” She’s got nothing.

  “Spit it out, Angie. I’m dying to hear what bullshit excuse you have for faking a fucking pregnancy!”

  The entire bar goes quiet, witnessing this shit go down right now, but I don’t even care.

  Hailee tries to move, but I squeeze her hip. A silent way to ask her to stay. I need the connection with her right now. She stays put.

  Angie hangs her head for a minute before looking at me with tears in her eyes.

  “I thought if I could give you the family you always wanted, that you would take me back. I love you!”

  A wry chuckle slips out. “Love? Bullshit. You’re not even pregnant, Angie. What were you going to do—fake a miscarriage too?”

  The look on her face tells me that’s exactly what she planned to do.

  “Damn.” I can’t help but shake my head. “I can’t believe this. You don’t love me. You don’t love anyone but yourself! You...Christ, Angie. You don’t pull bullshit like this on someone you love.”

  “But— “

  “No! I’m talking. You listen.”

  Hailee tries once again to move from my lap. This time, I give her thigh a quick squeeze, but let her go.

  I stand, my voice getting louder, but fuck it—I’m pissed.

  “We. Are. Done! Do you hear me?” I point to Hailee. “That girl right there? She is my everything. You have done nothing but cause drama and inflict unnecessary hurt on her, but you’re done. No more.”

  “I’m sorry. I do love you, Drake. I do.”

  “You don’t know the meaning of the word.” I take a deep breath. “You don’t do shit like this to someone you love. Cheating. Lying about a baby. I’m sure there’s other shit that I don’t even know about. No, Angie. You don’t know what love is.”

  From the corner of my eye, I see Jaxson getting closer. He knows I’m reaching my breaking point.

  “You see, Angie...when you love someone...you don’t intentionally hurt them. I love Hailee. I love her so much, that it would kill me to hurt her. I’d rather die than ever intentionally cause her pain. This drama...this shitstorm you created has done nothing but hurt her, and she’s never done a damn thing to you to deserve it.”

  She’s never going to get it.

  “What does that bitch have that I don’t? Huh?”

  Oh, she has some nerve, but apparently, she’s not finished.

  “It’s because of that little bastard son of hers, isn’t it?” The entire bar gasps at her words. “She comes with a ready-made family. It’s just what you’ve always wanted, and you didn’t even have to work for it. She’s so pathetic she’ll take any attention you give her, and you get to play daddy since the bastard’s own father wanted nothing to do with them.”

  I take another deep breath, looking down at the floor for a second.

  I can’t stop the dark chuckle that slips out as I shake my head.

  And now’s the time when I lose my shit.

  “Shut the fuck up, Angie!”

  She opens her mouth again, but a simple shake of the head from Jaxson makes her snap it closed without speaking.

  Ah, wise move. />
  “I don’t want to hear another word out of your mouth. I’m done, Angie. I’m not dealing with this bullshit.” I look to Jax and he gives me a nod as permission, knowing what I want to do. “You’re going to turn around without speaking and walk your ass right out of this bar. You’re not welcome here tonight, or ever again.”

  “You can’t do that!”

  “I just did. Shut up and listen. I don’t want to see your face anywhere near the bar, the bakery, and especially not near my house. If you step foot on any of those properties, the police will be called immediately, and you’ll be charged with trespassing. If you speak a word to me, Hailee, or any of our friends...I’ll file harassment charges. This is fucking over.”

  I nod to Jaxson, letting him know I’m done.

  “Time to go, Angie.”

  He and Holden each take a side, escorting her from the bar.

  I grin when the whole bar breaks out in applause, including the guys she was hanging out with. Angie definitely burned some bridges tonight.

  I turn around, pulling my girl into my arms. I drop a kiss to her temple and whisper in her ear, “I love you, darlin’.”

  She looks up at me, smile beaming. “I love you, too. So much.”

  I pull back, but keep my arm around her and holler, “Next round’s on me! Let’s party, y’all!”

  Another cheer from the crowd, and it’s like the drama never happened.

  Now, time to prove to my girl how much I love her.

  HAILEE

  I’m so happy to be done with that whole mess.

  If Angie has any intelligence whatsoever, she’ll stay away. Drake has only ever been sweet to me, but even I was intimidated by him.

  The attention is off of us now. Drake kisses me before excusing himself to go help Jaxson with something. Since Madalyn and I sat back, saying nothing that whole time, we use Drake’s absence as the perfect opportunity to talk about what just happened.

  “Can you believe her? I don’t know what in the hell she was thinking.”

  I laugh at her because I’m convinced that Angie is actually crazy. I had to bite my tongue earlier to keep myself from suggesting that she seek some help. I know that mental illness isn’t something to joke about. Angie really may need some help, or maybe she’s just delusional. Either way, I’m glad to wash my hands of her. I really hope she stays gone this time.

  “I don’t even know, Mads. I’m just glad it’s over. Even though she didn’t succeed in splitting us up, she caused a lot of problems for me and Drake.”

  “I know you’re right. Y’all got through them, and that’s what matters.”

  A round of drinks appears on our table and I thank the waitress.

  “I guess I could actually thank her. Drake and I are stronger together now because of her and her drama. She may have wanted him back, but all she did was push him even closer to me.”

  I take a long drink of my tequila sunrise. I really love that I don’t even have to order drinks here. There are some awesome perks to being friends with the owners.

  “She may have started the drama, but you and Drake worked things out together. That’s on y’all, not her.”

  I shrug my shoulders. She’s not wrong.

  “Besides, if you really want to thank someone—you can thank me and Jax for giving you the kick in the ass you needed to see you were being stupid.”

  I bat my eyelashes at her. “Thank you, Madalyn. You’re the best.”

  She slaps my shoulder. “Smartass. You’re lucky I know you mean that.”

  “Of course, I do. We’ve been through so much together, but I’m happy that you’re the first person I met when I moved to Blackwood. Life wouldn’t be the same without you in it.”

  She pulls me against her. “Love you, dollface.”

  “I love you, too.”

  We turn our attention to the group of guys on stage singing some rock song. They’re not half bad. I finish my drink, motioning to the bar for another. Jaxson nods his head, throwing me a wink.

  If Jaxson is back at the bar, where is Drake?

  I look around the entire space, but I don’t see him. I guess he’s still in the back doing something for Jax.

  When the waitress drops off my refill, I notice that Madalyn hasn’t even touched the drink in front of her. Come to think of it, I haven’t seen her drink anything all night.

  “Mads…”

  “What?”

  I raise my eyebrow, nodding my head toward her glass. “Something you wanna tell me?”

  She bites her bottom lip, a nervous gesture that I don’t see from her often.

  “Not tonight, okay?”

  I open my mouth to respond, but I’m stopped short when I hear Drake’s voice over the speakers.

  “I want to apologize for the drama in here earlier tonight. Y’all didn’t come here for all that, so I hope you enjoyed a drink on me!”

  The volume in the bar raises as everyone claps, whistles, and hollers.

  “Alright, alright. Settle down. There’s an angel in the bar tonight, and even though I always tell her I love her...sometimes words aren’t enough.” He looks at me with a devilish smile. “Hailee, only for you, darlin’.”

  As soon as I hear the music start, my mouth drops open in shock.

  I look at Madalyn, her expression matches mine.

  “Is he really going to…”

  I don’t get my question out before Jaxson, Holden, and two of the bartenders join Drake on stage.

  I can’t believe he’s doing this.

  An uncontrollable burst of laughter comes out as the guys get into formation as Drake takes the mic.

  DRAKE

  I may have to hand in my man card after this little performance.

  I close my eyes and take a breath, reminding myself that I’m doing this for Hailee.

  I start singing and open my eyes to seek out my girl. She’s at our table, looking fucking phenomenal in that angel costume. I’m dying to get her home to peel it off of her.

  She’s beautiful. That gorgeous smile on her face...yeah, that’s the entire reason that I’m up on this stage right now singing a goddamn One Direction song.

  I know I’m embarrassing her. I can see her blush from across the room, even in the dim light of the bar. She hates being the center of attention, but tonight I don’t care. She knows I love her, but my willingness to drag my ass up here on this stage and sing a fucking song from a boy band shows her that I mean it when I say I’d do anything for her.

  I owe Jax and his boys something huge for not making me get up here to do this shit by myself. I guess the fact that I can at least carry a tune is a blessing. The other guys aren’t too bad, either. If I didn’t detest boy bands so much, we might have a good thing going.

  The thought alone almost makes me laugh, but I just keep singing.

  Jax and I add a few little dance moves to the mix, making our girls go wild. Shy Hailee has left the bar. They come forward to the stage, singing along with us and dancing with each other. They’re being cute as hell, acting like little groupies.

  When the chorus comes around again, I crook my finger, beckoning her closer. I squat down, singing directly to her. All the words about her lighting up my world and not knowing she’s beautiful just make her smile grow bigger.

  I stand, backing up a bit to line up with the guys. Hailee blows me a kiss. I pretend to catch it as I throw her a wink.

  Oh yeah, my girl is loving this shit. Totally worth the shame I feel for actually knowing the lyrics to this song.

  The last chorus of the song is about to start, so I bend down again, grab her under her arms and lift her onto the stage. I wrap my arm around her waist as I sing to her. I can’t resist sliding my hand down to her ass to cop a feel. I know damn well that all the male eyes in the room are on her right now, probably some of the females, too. She’s mine. I’m making sure they know it.

  The song ends, and I drop the mic, grabbing my girl and kissing her hard.

  By
the time we come up for air, most of the guys have left the stage. Jax is standing at the edge next to Madalyn, both laughing and shaking their heads at us. My girl’s got me feeling too high to care right now. I bend down, putting an arm behind her knees, swinging her up into my arms. I carry her right off the stage and back to our table, setting her down on top of it.

  I go right back to kissing her as someone else starts singing a Dustin Lynch song. I finally break the kiss and press my forehead against hers.

  “I love you so much, baby.”

  “Oh my god. I love you, too! I can’t believe you got up there and did that.”

  “I’d do anything for you. Even sing a damn boy band song in front of an entire bar full of people. If you ever question that, just remember tonight.”

  She gives me a quick kiss and laughs.

  “No worries there. Tonight is a night that I’ll never forget.”

  We’re interrupted when Madalyn comes back to the table, clearing her throat.

  “Excuse me, lovebirds. If you can stop sucking each other’s faces for a minute…”

  Hailee reaches over to pinch her side.

  “Ouch, bitch! I just wanted to congratulate your man on his incredible performance.”

  She manages to say that shit with a straight face.

  Jaxson comes up behind her and I give him a serious look.

  “You better get your girl, man.”

  He wraps his arms around her, pulling her against him. “Be nice. You owe me big for that shit.”

  Everyone laughs. “I know I do. Glad you had my back up there.”

  Hailee wraps her arm around me, sliding her hand into my back pocket. I look down at her and the look in her eyes is hard to miss.

  “You ready to head home, love?”

  She nods and squeezes my ass.

  And that’s my cue.

  “Alright y’all. We’re gonna head out.”

  We all say our goodbyes, with promises to talk tomorrow.

  I lead Hailee to my truck, looking back at her several times along the way.

  “About that costume, baby…”