Louisiana Sky
Ashleigh Zavarelli
Louisiana Sky © 2015 ASHLEIGH ZAVARELLI
Cover Photograph © 2015 Dollar Photo Club/chesterF
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Prologue
Bentley
She turned away, hiding her face from me, and I knew what she was doing.
She was trying to hide it, the pain I had caused her again. Because she knew how much those tears destroyed me. But I needed to see them, to own the fact that I had caused them, as much as it killed me to do it.
Her shoulders shook as I pulled her towards me, crushing her against my chest.
“I’m sorry Roxy,” I croaked. “I’m so sorry.”
She nodded, but I knew those words meant nothing to her. I’d been saying them far too often, and there were only so many times I could say them before they lost all meaning entirely.
I was on a path to self-destruction, and I was dragging her down with me. This beautiful, angelic woman who deserved so much more than this. So much more than I could give her.
She’d been through enough shit, and yet I didn’t care. For my own selfish reasons, I had clung to her, keeping her within my grasp. Because during the lucid moments, when she was there, when I was with her… they were the best moments of my life.
But those moments were no longer enough to keep her holding on like this. For a man that didn’t deserve her.
That was the only way. Because I had no self-control when it came to Roxy. She was the balm that soothed me. The light to my darkness. The chance at happiness that had always seemed to elude me. And now it was too damn late.
“You need to go on home, Rox,” I said gently. “Please.”
“No, Bentley.” She held her chin stubbornly, looking up at me with those tear stained green eyes. “I know what you’re gonna’ do as soon as I leave. I can smell it on your breath. You need to stop. You need help…”
“Dammit, Roxy,” I hissed, thrusting my hand through my hair in frustration as I pulled away. “Don’t tell me what I need, you are the last person in this town to know what I need.”
Her chin wobbled, and I could tell my words had the intended effect, but she still didn’t move.
“Just tell me why,” she pleaded. “Is this about Annabeth?”
I stared down at her, her vulnerability laid wide open for me, and I shook my head. It would be so damn easy to tell her it was. To hurt her that way, making her think she wasn’t good enough. But I wouldn’t do that. Not that way.
The truth was, this had nothin’ to do with Annabeth. This guilt was somethin’ I’d been harboring for so damn long, nobody in town even realized it. My time in the military and then the fallout with Annabeth had only added to it.
I’d wasted so much time chasing something I thought was my chance at happiness, that I’d never stopped to look at what was right there in front of me all along. Roxy was my breath of fresh air. My soft place to land. She was home to me.
I’d never felt anything like what I felt for her, but it scared the hell out of me. And the longer we spent together, the more she discovered about me. The things I didn’t want her to know. The darkness and the anger and the pain.
It wasn’t fair to pull her into that vortex, because I couldn’t be fixed. And Roxy was a fixer. She thought she could help me, I could see it in her eyes. She thought if she just persisted, I would get better.
But I was never going to get better. And I realized in that moment that I needed to make her hate me. To make her never want to look at my face again. To make Bentley Daniels, the one person she’d never speak to again.
Chapter One
Roxy
“Hey sugar,” Amy called out from the front, the bell on the door announcing her entrance. “I brought lunch!”
“I’ll be out in a minute,” I shouted.
Finishing up my inventory list, I shoved it back into the filing cabinet and gathered up my purse. I made my way to the front of Bits N’ Bobs, where Amy was leaning against the counter chatting away with Reagan.
“You wanna’ head down to the park?” I asked. “I could use some sunshine.”
“Sure thing, darlin’.” Amy grinned.
“You’ll be alright for an hour, Reagan?”
“I got this.” She smiled and waved me off.
I nodded and walked out the front door, satisfied that the store was in Reagan’s capable hands. She was my younger sister, and even though I worried about her, she could pretty much always take care of herself. A product of being raised with a mom like ours, I guess.
Amy and I walked down the sidewalk, soaking up the fresh Spring air. Now that the weather was nice, everybody in town was out here enjoying it.
We sat down in the grass in Belle Pont’s local park, which wasn’t much of a park if you asked me. A couple of swing sets and picnic benches, yet the square patch of grass was packed with locals tryin’ to make the most of it.
Amy opened up her messenger bag and pulled out a couple sandwiches from Jollys, shoving one in my direction.
“Turkey on Rye,” she said.
“You know me too well.” I teased.
Amy and I had been lifelong friends, which meant a lot to me, especially in this town. A lot of the folks here had their own opinions about me, and I let them think what they wanted to. At the end of the day, it was people like Amy who had my back.
“Soooo….” she drawled, munching on a pickle from her sandwich. “I was thinkin’ we could head on down to the Bodega in Lafayette tonight when I get off work.”
I saw the strange expression on her face and frowned. “But tonight’s Saturday,” I protested. “We always do karaoke at Murphy’s.”
“I know.” She shrugged. “I just thought it’d be fun to mix things up a bit.”
I knew Amy well enough to know that she was hiding somethin’, but I didn’t want to call her out on it yet. Whatever it was, I was sure she had her reasons. She’d recently broken up with her boyfriend Kyle, and I knew he’d been hanging round Murphy’s tryin’ to win her back.
“Okay,” I agreed. “We’ll go to the Bodega then. Seven sound good?”
“Sounds…” she trailed off, her brow furrowing as she glanced across the park.
I looked up, tryin’ to see what she was lookin’ at, and it didn’t take too long. There was Bentley, just staring at me from across the way with that damn sad expression of his that tore my heart out.
I jerked my eyes away and brushed the crumbs off my clothing as I stood abruptly.
“You wanna’ get out of here?” Amy asked.
“Definitely.”
Chapter Two
Bentley
“Hey stranger.” Annabeth sidled up to me, clutching her growing belly beneath her sundress. She was working her way through baby number three already, and she looked happy as a clam.
“Hey AB,” I said, distracted. “How’s that baby treatin’ you?”
“Can’t complain.” She smiled.
My eyes darted across the park, to where Roxy was walkin’ away. I wanted to chase after her, just like I always did, but I knew nothin’ good would come of it. I’d seen more of her back in the last two years than I had my entire life, and not in a good way. Whenever I entered a room, she was sure to be leavin’ it real soon after.
Annabeth’s gaze followed me, and she glanced at me with a sad smile.
“You ever gonna’ tell me what you did to earn yourself a permanent
mark in the bad books?” she asked.
“Just bein’ a dumb shit.” I shrugged. “As usual. Making stupid decisions like I always do.”
“That ain’t true,” she said softly. “I know you’ve turned a new leaf, Bentley. Archer and I are real proud of you. You’re daddy too. Hell the whole town is. You’ve come a long way in two years.”
I just shrugged and shook my head. That might be true, but the only person who didn’t seem to care was Roxy. The one person that I needed to.
Annabeth seemed to sense my reluctance to agree on that subject, and changed it real quick.
“Charlotte’s birthday is on Sunday,” she said. “We’re puttin’ on a barbeque if you want to come.”
I took in her hopeful expression and nodded. Things weren’t nearly as awkward between us as they used to be, and I was grateful for that.
“Sounds real nice, AB. I wouldn’t miss it.”
***
Roxy
At six o’clock I walked into Murphy’s, determined to see for myself what was goin’ on with Amy. I was sure I’d find Kyle there, bein’ a real dipshit as per usual, but when I looked around the bar I didn’t see him.
Amy was there in a hot minute though, and she had a panicked look on her face.
“Rox, what are you doin’ here?” she squeaked. “We’re sposed’ to meet at my place, remember?”
“I remember.” I shrugged. “Just thought I could use a pre-drinks, drink.”
“Well… I really don’t think that’s a good idea…”
She trailed off when somethin’ across the bar caught my eye, and all of the blood drained from my face. The blonde that seemed to haunt all of my nightmares was there with an apron on, her head thrown back in laughter.
That laugh. It was like a playlist to one of my worst memories. Every time I thought of that day, seeing the image play through my mind, that laugh was what filled the background noise. Playing over and over in my head. Not only had Bethany Francis slept with my husband Corey while we were married, but she’d slept with Bentley too.
“Oh hell no,” I ground out. “You have got to be shittin’ me. Did Tino actually hire that…”
Amy had me by the arm and dragging me out the front door before I could cause a scene.
“Yes,” she said once we were outside. “He hired that damn bimbo, against my every protest, Rox. I’m so sorry, I tried to warn him. I told him she’d be wreckin’ marriages left, right, and center… but he’d hear nothin’ of it.”
“Well… shit.”
It was all I could manage. I’d finally just gotten comfortable gracing Murphy’s on a regular basis, and now I was gonna’ be faced with that every time I walked in there.
“I’m gonna’ need a stiff drink.” I sauntered off down the sidewalk towards the liquor store.
“I’ll catch up to you,” Amy called after me. “Just let me tell Tino real quick.”
We didn’t make it to the Bodega that night. I’d made it as far as the park once I bought a fifth of Vodka and a bottle of Cranberry juice.
Amy was sittin’ beside me on the picnic bench. We’d long since ran out of Cranberry juice, and were now down to drinkin’ pure vodka.
“Blech.” I took another swig, passing the bottle back to Amy. “That tastes awful.”
She busted up laughin’, and then I did too, though neither one of us knew why. Just a couple of drunks, sittin’ in the park, laughin’ our asses off. I laughed so damn hard I nearly fell off the picnic bench, and then before I could even understand what was happening, my laughter had turned into tears.
“Rox, are you alright?” Amy asked, the smile falling from her face.
“Oh I’m just fine.” I waved it off. “Just havin’ a little breakdown is all. I am entitled to them, bein’ that I’m Roxy Hart, you know. The idiot homecoming queen who had nothin’ but her looks and never did anything with her life.”
“Roxy,” Amy admonished, pulling me in for a hug. “You know that ain’t true. You just let everyone think you’re an idiot because that’s what they wanna’ believe. You own your own business for God’s sake.”
“But I am stupid” I said, pulling back to swipe at my tears. “Because I let myself fall for Bentley Daniels and his shit. After Corey, after everything… I let myself get destroyed again. And now I can’t escape it. I see him everywhere I go, and that’s one thing. But to see Bethany Francis now too? Well that’s a whole different story.”
Amy cleared her throat in that way of hers that meant she wanted to say somethin’ but wasn’t sure she should.
“You know it ain’t my place to say anything Roxy…”
“Just spit it out.” I gave her a sad smile. “You know I’m a big girl. I can handle it.”
“Well, I know Bentley screwed up and all. And with your history, hell I don’t blame you if you never wanted to speak to him again. But I can see the way he looks at you darlin’. That boy ain’t touched another woman that I know of since that night. He quit drinking too, ya know.”
I did know. The whole damn town knew. They were all abuzz with the rumors when Bentley put himself in the hospital six months back. Turned out, he’d been drinkin’ real heavily for years and nobody had even known. Everyone in town was shocked by the news.
But not me. Because I’d figured out Bentley had a drinkin’ problem not long after we started hooking up. Didn’t take too long to figure out, the longer I spent with him. And lookin’ back now, I don’t know how he managed to hide it so well from everyone else.
Then again, I had a nagging suspicion that he was probably at his lowest point around that time. Just figures that I’d get sucked into that storm. If there was a man with issues in a ten mile radius, I was sure to find him.
At the time, I’d attributed Bentley’s problems to his heartbreak from Annabeth, but it turned out he had some other issues. Never said nothin’ to nobody though. Especially not me. And surprisingly enough, Archer was the one to help him through that difficult time.
Amy cleared her throat, reminding me that I was staring off into the distance in the middle of our conversation, just like I always did.
“Look Amy,” I said. “I am relieved to no end that Bentley’s quit drinkin’, but it still doesn’t change anything between us. And now that Bethany’s back in town…”
“I truly think it was just a one-time thing,” Amy interjected.
“One time was enough,” I retorted bitterly.
The cool evening air filled with silence, and even though I was still drunk, I wasn’t in a happy place anymore. The alcohol had the intended effect of makin’ me forget at first. But that was the trouble with alcohol, is you always remembered later on. Once that numbness wore off, you remembered.
Just like I’d been remembering Bentley all night. And Bethany Francis too.
“You know I went over there that day,” I said. “Like a love sick puppy dog. I don’t know what I was thinkin’. That Bentley and I had hooked up a few times and that it meant anything to him. We didn’t have any kind of commitment, and I wasn’t stupid enough to believe that we did. But contrary to popular belief, I’d only ever been with Corey, and Bentley was my second.”
“It seemed special to me, but thinkin’ back on it, that’s probably why. I mean I never felt that way when I was with Corey, but with Bentley… it was like fireworks. I never knew anything could feel like that, and even though I knew Bentley was in a bad place, I kept goin’ back for more. Because I’d been head over heels for Bentley Daniels since freshman year, and in my mind, he was the perfect gentleman. If only I could get him to notice me.”
Amy kept quiet, waiting patiently for me to carry on. I’d never told her the full details of that day, even though she’d asked me about it a million times. It was just too painful to relive. But right now, I wanted to purge them. To spit the words out, and never think of them again.
“I had to cover the night shift at the store that day,” I continued. “So I had to cancel our plans. Wasn’t really a
plan though. Unless havin’ sex at his place or mine constituted plans. Anyway, bein’ the idiot that I was, I wanted to surprise him. I went home after work, put on some lingerie and that ridiculous black trench coat, and drove to his house.”
“I took off my coat and snuck down the hall, thinkin’ he’d probably be asleep, and that I’d wake him up. But when I opened the bedroom door, I got the shock of my life.”
Amy sniffled, and when I looked up at her, she was cryin’. Cryin’ for me, which only made it hurt worse, because I knew just how pathetic I sounded. She squeezed my hand, urging me to continue.
“Bethany was down on her knees, and well, I probably don’t need to fill you in on what she was doin’. I felt like I was gonna’ vomit, and she just looked up and saw me standing there in my lingerie for Bentley, and she started laughin’. She started laughin’ so damn hard, she couldn’t stop, even when Bentley yelled at her.”
“Can’t even begin to tell you how ridiculous the whole situation was. Me standing there in a black negligee, and Bentley with his junk hanging out while Bethany rolled around on the floor. It took me forever to move. Way longer than it should have, but I was just frozen there, watchin’ the scene play out before me. I’d never been so embarrassed in my whole life Amy. Even with Corey, at least he had the decency to never let me see that shit firsthand, you know?”
“God, Rox,” she sobbed. “I’m so sorry. That is just awful.”
She pulled me into a hug, and I let her. Surprisingly, releasing those words had been cathartic in a way. It didn’t change the fact that I’d probably never trust no one again, or that I was the town joke. But I had Amy and Reagan, and I had Bits N Bobs, and maybe that was all I really needed.
“So do you understand now?” I asked. “Why I can never give Bentley another chance?”
“I do.” She nodded. “And scout’s honor, I ain’t ever gonna’ mention it again.”
Chapter Three
Bentley
Louisiana Sky (Love in Belle Pont #2) Page 1
