by Zoe York
“Great.” Logan’s gaze swept over me, eyeing the darn dress I’d put on to impress Jake. “Sure is good to see you again.”
“Bye, y’all.” I lifted my hand in a wave before moving toward the door. Jake might not be eager to talk, but he couldn’t avoid me forever. And now that I’d be involved in the baseball fundraiser, he’d at least have to spend some time in the same room with me. Phase one of my master plan had begun.
Jake
“Then what happened?” I leaned forward, resting my forearms on my thighs while Haney moved papers from one side of his desk to the other.
“Then she said goodnight and left.” He shrugged. “What’s the big deal? I thought you and Misty were done for good?”
“We were. I mean, we are,” I corrected myself.
“Then why so curious about what went down at the Dive Inn last night?”
“I’m just trying to figure out what she wants. Last time we talked she couldn’t wait to get out of here. Seems odd that she’s back.” Odd didn’t begin to describe it. Misty’s reappearance had rattled me to the point that I couldn’t sleep last night. I’d been on edge since I saw her at the front desk yesterday and no closer to figuring out what she wanted or why she’d found it necessary to return.
“She said she had to use up some vacation time. Do you think she’d ever be up for moving back for good?”
“Hell no, that would be ridiculous.”
Haney nodded in agreement then took off to deal with an aggressive goose situation.
On the way back to my office those two words reverberated through my brain. For good. Just thinking about Misty moving back for good made me feel like I’d just been whacked upside the head—a throwback to those old cartoons I’d watched as a kid.
There was no way Misty would be interested in moving back to Swallow Springs for good. Not when she couldn’t wait to get out of town. She’d had her reasons. Being the only child of Pastor Greene meant she was always under the spotlight. And she’d been a hellion in high school. Always pushing the limits, testing the boundaries with her parents, and blowing through any rules or restrictions they tried to lay on her. She’d secured her freedom the day she blew out of here. I couldn’t imagine her giving that up.
I entered my office to find Misty herself sitting in the one chair I had for guests.
Her back was to me so I paused in the doorway to take a long look. Her hair was longer than it used to be. She had it arranged in waves that fell over her shoulders. I used to love it when she’d straddle me and let her hair hang down like a curtain, shielding us from the outside world while we made out at the park or on the beach of Stockton Lake.
She must have felt my gaze on her because she turned. The briefest hint of surprise shone in her eyes.
“Jake.” My name left her lips on an exhale, making me all too aware of how long it had been since I’d had the pleasure of hearing her say my name so soft and sweet.
“Misty.” I cleared my throat, shoving away any emotion. “Two days in a row. Wow.”
She reached for me as I rounded the desk and took a seat in the chair. I pretended not to notice her outstretched hand. She let it linger before pulling back and dropping it into her lap.
“What brings you in today?” Drawing myself up to my full seated height, I summoned a look of indifference. She didn’t need to know I’d been up all night reliving our past.
“I wanted to talk to you about the baseball fundraiser.” Her hands twisted together in her lap. She might be just as nervous as me.
“What about it?”
“Some of the guys were talking last night and it sounds like you need to find a new location for your car wash.”
“Yeah. But I’ve got an in with someone at the Piggly Wiggly. We’ll probably end up using part of their parking lot. Thanks for checking though.” I leaned against the back of the chair.
“Oh. Because Logan said—”
“Look, Logan doesn’t know what’s going on. I don’t know what he told you, but I’ve got everything well under control.”
“Haney mentioned you might need some help with marketing. I’ve been working at an agency up in Omaha, and would be happy to pitch in while I’m here.”
“And how long do you think that will be exactly?” Crossing my arms over my chest, I evaluated her with what I hoped was a frosty stare. Seemed only fair to know how many sleepless nights I had in my near future.
Misty looked down at her hands. “That kind of depends on you.”
My heart skipped a beat, ricocheting off the sides of my rib cage. “What do you mean by that?”
Misty stood. She had on a polka dot navy blue dress that nipped in at the waist, drawing my attention to her midsection. My hands itched to wrap around her middle, pull her up against me, and feel her body aligned with mine.
She moved closer, stopping in front of where I sat behind the desk. “I mean, I didn’t come back because I needed to take some vacation. I came back for you.”
“I don’t understand.” I shook my head back and forth. All the time I’d wished and hoped for her to come back to me—it had always ended in some iteration of this exact scenario.
She moved closer still, turning my chair so she could stop right in front of me. My gaze lined up with her chest. I could see the outline of her breasts under the snug bodice of her dress. Blood rushed south, stimulating a certain part of my anatomy that didn’t need any extra attention. Not now. Not with Misty stepping between my knees, sliding her fingers into my hair, pulling my head to rest against her chest.
Her scent drew me in. The mixture of flowers, earth and musk that I’d never found anywhere else. My arms ached to wrap around her back, yank her into me, and lose myself in her embrace.
But the hollow heartache I’d felt when she walked out on me sideswiped me. I jerked back so fast I sent my chair rolling into the table behind me. “No. We can’t.”
Her eyes, usually bright and sparkly, dimmed. “Can’t we just talk?”
“I’m not sure what you’re trying to do, but whatever it is, I don’t want any part. You ended things when you walked away. As far as I’m concerned, we’re done.” I stood then moved past her to the doorway, assuming she’d follow.
She slumped, leaning a hip against the edge of my desk, her shoulders curved forward. Her hair hung down the sides of her face, obscuring my view.
“Misty? I think it would be best if you left now.” There, I’d done it. I’d held my ground, hadn’t succumbed to the temptation of having her back in my arms. Whatever happiness I found with her today would be gone when she left again. She’d probably just felt a little nostalgic and came looking for an emotional pick me up. There was no way she was back for good. No freaking way.
Finally, her spine straightened. As she stood, she ran her fingertip under her eyes. Dammit, she’d been crying. I didn’t mean to make her cry. For a moment, my heart softened. I wanted to go to her, pull her against me and run my hands up and down her back, wiping away all of her sadness.
“Let me know if something happens and the Piggly Wiggly can’t host your event.” She thrust her hand out at me like she wanted to shake on it.
“Yeah, okay, I will.” I took her hand, wrapping it in mine. Skin so soft—it brought memories of times better left forgotten to the surface.
“This conversation isn’t over, Jake.” The tears were gone, replaced by a resolve I’d seen in her eyes before. Misty wasn’t some soft-hearted gal who didn’t put up a fight for what she wanted. I’d seen her go after things that should have been well out of her reach. She was scrappy, tough, sexy as hell, and never backed down from a fight.
She gave my hand a final squeeze as she rose onto her tiptoes and pressed a kiss against my cheek. My fingertips brushed the area where her lips seared my skin.
Then she whirled toward the door, grabbed her purse from the back of the chair, and disappeared.
Misty
“So you’ll make sure to have everything ready for Saturda
y’s event?” I’d double checked the details of my plan yesterday too. It was too important to leave things to chance. “Thanks, Mrs. Cahill.”
I hung up the phone, pretty pleased with myself. Mrs. Cahill confirmed that the garden club could set up their annual plant sale in the Piggly Wiggly parking lot. That meant Jake wouldn’t have a spot for his car wash and would end up crawling back, begging me to use the church parking lot.
Good news traveled fast in a town the size of Swallow Springs. It wasn’t even an hour later when my screen lit up with Jake’s number.
“Hello?” I layered so my voice with so much sticky sugariness, it practically dripped with honey.
“Who did you sweet talk into booking the Piggly Wiggly parking lot for Saturday?” he asked.
A smile spread across my lips. “I’m sorry, who’s this?”
“You know perfectly well who this is and what you’ve done. The kids were counting on the fundraiser to make up a bunch of the funds we need to finance that tournament this summer. Why did you do it?”
“Do what? I figured it made more sense for the garden club to take the space at the supermarket. They don’t even have an outside water spigot. To hold the car wash there you’d have to run a hose clear around from the storeroom at the back of the store.”
“Doesn’t matter. The point is, you messed with my plans.”
“This way’s better, don’t you think? You’ll have the whole church parking lot at your disposal. We’ve got two outdoor spigots and plenty of room to set up your car wash as a drive-thru.” I knew what I was talking about. I’d been researching car wash fundraisers online for the better part of two days. If the way to Jake’s heart meant going through a bucket of sudsy water, I’d do it. There wasn’t anything or anyone who could stop me from winning back the man of my dreams. Not even the man of my dreams himself.
“Misty, go on home. I don’t know why you’ve decided to come back and jack around with my life, but I don’t need your help.”
“Your team seems to think it’s a good idea to switch the location.” Of course they did. I’d been working on Logan via text ever since I found out about it. If push came to shove, I had no doubt Jake’s buddies would take my side. At least on this particular issue. No doubt they’d have his back when it came to me suggesting we get back together, but one step at a time.
“I just wish you’d stay out of things.”
“I can’t, Jake. We need to talk. I don’t want to say I made a mistake when I left town, but I’ve had a lot of time to think about things.”
He didn’t respond so I continued.
“When I left, I felt like I didn’t have a choice.”
“You always had a choice. You just didn’t choose me.”
I sighed. A weight thunked from my chest into my stomach. He was right. How could I explain what I’d been thinking at the time? That I’d been suffocating. Before we’d even graduated from college, everyone had been looking at me and Jake like they knew exactly how we’d spend the rest of our lives. My mom had started looking at dates on the calendar for a wedding. Daddy mentioned how he had a parcel of land he’d bought just outside of town that he’d been holding onto for a wedding gift. If I didn’t break free, I’d have been married and bouncing a baby on my hip before the ink dried on my college diploma.
“I’m sorry.” He deserved an apology. “At the time it didn’t seem so much like a choice.”
“I asked you to marry me. I asked you to be my wife and spend the rest of your life with me.”
Shame wrapped its icy grip around my heart and squeezed. “I know.”
“Do you? Do you really know what it was like when you left? How long it took me to pull myself up out of the dark hole you left me in and try to start living again?”
A tear rolled down my cheek. I couldn’t erase his pain any more than I could have changed the answer I’d given him.
“I’m sorry, Jake. Can we meet for coffee? Or maybe breakfast at the Lovebird?” The question slipped out before I’d realized I’d suggested meeting up at the last place we’d seen each other—the place where he’d proposed.
His voice came through the phone, strained and tight. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. Why don’t you go back to Omaha?”
Why didn’t I go back to Omaha? Seemed like a logical thing to do based on the frosty reception I’d received in Swallow Springs. But when I thought of my lonely apartment, a wave of resolved crashed over me. I didn’t want to cause Jake any more pain. I’d put him through enough. He deserved to be happy. But I’d tried to move on without him and the truth, was, I couldn’t.
“I can’t leave yet. Not without having a chance to talk.”
“You wanna talk?”
“Yes.”
“And then you’ll leave? Go back to Nebraska and not bother me again?”
“I promise. Just give me an hour of your time.”
“Fine.” He practically growled out the word. “Tonight. Seven o’clock. We’re celebrating my Grandma Duncan’s birthday at the VFW. I’ll see you there.”
“Wait, that’s not—”
He’d hung up. I set my phone down in front of me. If he thought making me swallow my pride and parade myself around in front of his entire family would make me lose my nerve, he should know better. There was no question in my mind as to whether or not I’d go to the party. The only thing I needed to figure out was what to wear to his great-grandmother’s birthday party—a woman who wouldn’t be able to stand the sight of me.
Jake
“Dammit.” I caught sight of a head of shiny brown hair, so dark it bordered on black at times. Misty hadn’t backed down. I didn’t really think she would, but when I suggested she come to Grandma Duncan’s party, I’d expected a little resistance.
She had on a cherry red halter top that hugged at her curves and a pair of white shorts that showed off her legs. Legs I could remember wrapped around me, squeezing my mid-section as I rocked into her over and over again.
I cleared my throat, trying to erase the erotic visions playing through my mind. Misty and I had been hot together. Not just sizzling, but couldn’t-keep-our-hands-off-each-other hot. We used to take every chance we could get to spend some skin-on-skin time. Didn’t matter when or where, we were always ready to go. That feeling of wanting her, of needing her, hadn’t gone away. If anything, it had intensified over the year apart, especially now when she showed up in something like that damn halter.
Before Misty caught sight of me, my sister descended on her. Heather was a couple of years older than me and even though I towered over her now, she always considered me her baby brother. No one had been more gutted than me when Misty and I broke up, but Heather came in a close second. She and Misty had been friends—kind of like the sister neither of them had.
I stayed close to the edge of the room, moving around the perimeter to get closer to where the two women stood locked in a face off.
Prone to being a little overly dramatic, Heather clamped her hands to her hips. Her eyes widened while her mouth moved like someone had pressed a fast forward button.
Misty matched her stance. A full head shorter than my sister, what she lacked in height, she made up for in the way she used her entire body when she spoke. Hands flew, hips cocked, tongues wagged. If I didn’t get over there soon, they’d steal the limelight from Grandma Duncan and none of us would ever hear the end of it.
I approached Misty from behind. Heather’s gaze shifted from Misty to me as I joined the two of them in the center of the room.
“Who invited her?” Heather asked.
Misty whirled around to face me, her cheeks flushed with color.
“I did.” Grinning, I shrugged my shoulders. “Misty wanted to chat, and since we were busy tonight, I invited her to come along.”
“Speaking of chatting”—Misty put her hand on my arm—“can we talk for a few minutes?”
“Grandma’s about to cut the cake. It would be a shame for you to miss it.” Heather’s j
aw clenched.
Misty glanced from Heather to me. “I’m so sorry for the way things happened. I never meant to hurt you.”
“Didn't quite seem that way when you left town,” Heather interjected from behind my shoulder.
I sighed, dragging out an exhale. “The way I see it, we don't have anything left to say to each other, Misty. I think you covered it all when you walked away.”
Her hand tightened on my arm. “I told you I didn't have a choice.”
“You always have a choice.” I shook my head, gently pulling my arm away.
“Not at the time. If I hadn’t left Swallow Springs, we were going to end up stuck in a future that everyone else had planned out for us.”
Heather rolled her eyes. I ignored her, and tried to focus all of my attention on obliterating the hope that bloomed in my gut. “That’s a lie. We could have had something special, but instead you chose to leave.”
“Please…” She reached for my hand but I tucked it into my pocket instead. “What do you want me to do? What do I need to do to prove I'm ready to do this for good this time?”
I shrugged, not willing to get into it with her, especially not here. Not in front of my entire family. Inviting her had been a mistake.
“You must hate me.” Her words came out soft, making me want to ease her pain.
I met her gaze. “Go back to Omaha. There’s nothing left for you here.”
“Yeah, go back to Omaha and get a life while you’re at it,” Heather said.
“I do have a life there. A lonely life.” Misty looked from Heather to me. “A life without you. I've tried to move on but I can't. Do you think I wanted to come back here? Kneel at your feet and ask for forgiveness?”
I let out a soft chuckle. “Yeah, I’ve gotta say that's really not your style.”
Heather shifted close. “Jake, you're not buying this are you?”
“Can you give us a minute?” I asked my sister. While I appreciated the fact she wanted to shield my feelings, I didn’t need or want her help. I could handle giving Misty the brush off on my own.
