She giggled. “Got it.”
I snatched another beer while I was inside. When I returned and sat next to her, I pulled up an image of the wild fig trees in South Africa near Echo Caves. “Looks like an ordinary fruit tree, right?” I was about to get all philosophical—not really my cup of tea, but this was one thing I firmly believed. I’d heard it years ago, and it had stuck with me.
“I suppose. I don’t see a lot of those in the city.”
“Point is, it doesn’t look like anything great. I mean it’s a big tree, but what you see above the surface isn’t what makes that tree so different from any other. To anyone who doesn’t have knowledge of just how special it is, it looks like any other tree.”
She nodded, even though the confusion in her expression indicated she didn’t have a clue where I was going with this.
“Roots. That’s what makes it extraordinary.”
Her brow quirked and her head tilted to the side.
“Most trees have root systems that spread out like a fan under the dirt.” I talked with my hands to indicate what I meant. “To support the weight of the trunk and branches, the roots extend out past the diameter of the tree. And while they go out for dozens of feet, they’re only a couple of feet deep. They can be the most beautiful trees you’ve ever seen, but if bad weather comes through, they’re easy to uproot, and they die under the pressures of the storm.”
I was losing her. The faraway gleam in her eyes and her furrowed brow indicated her confusion.
“The fig trees”—I held up my phone again to remind her which tree I was talking about—“may not be as pretty above ground where they’re exposed to the storms and everyday weather, but you can’t pull up something with roots that go four hundred feet below the surface. God plants us where we can grow deep roots. Unfortunately, most people are too busy pruning the bushes to water the soil.” I shrugged and took a long draw from my beer.
She swallowed hard. “I’ve never stayed anywhere long enough to grow roots.”
“Darlin’, roots aren’t about location. They’re knowing who you are at the core. And that, is about your soul.”
“I wouldn’t have pictured you as the religious sort.”
“That’s because you’re looking at the foliage and haven’t had time to see the roots. The fig tree was a sermon that stuck with me in high school. But religion doesn’t have to be Bible thumping and speaking in tongues.”
I’d perched in a church pew every Sunday from the time I came into this world until I graduated; in middle school and high school, there wasn’t much to do if you weren’t involved in youth group. Yet even when I was doing stupid shit as a teenager, the roots had already taken hold and shaped who I was, refusing to let me sway too far—my dad made sure of that. It was important to him.
She swatted at my arm playfully. “I know that. I guess it’s different, depending on how you were raised.”
I finished the third beer I’d had since we got here. I needed to slow down. Between what I’d consumed at Sadler’s and these, I felt pretty good. It wouldn’t take much more before I’d need to call Masyn to babysit—and that wouldn’t go well at all.
“I can’t deny that. I can only tell you that at some point, you have to give up your hope for a better past, embrace your present, and change your future. Just because your roots aren’t deep now doesn’t mean they can’t grow.”
Peyton looked at me like I was the only person who’d ever told her she could have value; she just had to find it and harvest it. Her mind tried to protect her and tell her other people defined her worth even though her heart was winning the battle, wanting to believe me. It was a lot to read from facial expressions and body language, but I’d dealt with enough insecure women in my life to recognize the signs. And the few women I’d met from big cities were the worst—everything was a competition: their looks, weight, job, salary, house.
Foliage—not roots.
It was another one of those things that drew me to Masyn. Before tonight, I’d never seen the petty bullshit women pulled. She didn’t try to be anything other than exactly who she was—and that wasn’t a carbon copy of everyone else. Whether Masyn recognized it or not, she didn’t try to blend in and be just like the next girl—her quiet confidence was one of her most attractive traits.
Something shifted in Peyton’s eyes, a flash of fear I would have missed had I not been looking. She wasn’t afraid of me; she was terrified of the ideas I’d planted. As they settled, they rocked her. “I should get going.”
I didn’t argue or try to convince her to stay. Instead, I helped her off the cement and grabbed her a towel even though she was mostly dry at this point. When I let her into the house, she scurried down the hall with her head down, not saying a word. I hung out in the kitchen, waiting for her with another beer in my hand. If Peyton was leaving, I was safe to collapse in my bed without worry.
She emerged a few minutes later, carrying her heels in one hand and the towel and Masyn’s swimsuit in the other. I took the towel and bikini and tossed them into the laundry room.
I joined her in the foyer and opened the door. Peyton didn’t walk through it immediately.
“Thanks for making today not so…awful.”
I smirked. She was cute. “Anytime, darlin’. If you end up staying in town, let me know. I’ve gotta work, but I get off at three every day. Beau, Masyn, and I can entertain you while you’re here if you’re up for it.”
She chewed on her lip, and then her tongue snuck out, swiping moisture over them in a perfect sheen to highlight their fullness. This was why the fourth beer was a bad idea. Apparently, I’d stared too long or given off a vibe I hadn’t meant to. The next thing I knew, Peyton’s hands were on my hips and her lips on mine. Everything about it felt good, yet nothing about it felt right.
I pulled away, worked up and breathless. “I can’t.” My Adam’s apple bobbed when I swallowed hard. The knot in my throat almost choked me.
She’d misread a signal I hadn’t tried to send, and now rejection colored her cheeks a rosy red. “Oh my gosh, I’m sorry. I don’t know what I was thinking.” If she could’ve found a place to hide, she would have.
“Don’t be. You’re a gorgeous girl—”
“You’re just not interested,” she muttered under her breath, defeated.
I grabbed the back of her neck and pulled her forehead to my lips where I placed a kissed. I took her chin in my fingers—still holding my beer at my side—and smiled. “Let me know when you’re leaving town. I’d love to hang out, and I’m sure Masyn and Beau would, too.” I wasn’t quite as certain about Masyn, though I knew Beau, at any cost, would want to escape the hell of his parents’ house. And it was my way of confirming she was correct.
I was only interested in her friendship.
Chapter Eight
“I hear you had an eventful night.” Beau’s shit-eating grin had me concerned.
“No clue what you heard or who you heard it from. I went home.”
“Yeah, with Peyton.”
“You knew that. You watched me leave with her, moron.”
Beau hadn’t even let me get out of the truck at Ty’s house before he bombarded me. As tempted as I was to accidentally shove the door into him when I hopped down, I refrained and glared instead.
“Yes, however, you didn’t mention a night-time swimming excursion under the stars.”
I slammed the door behind me. “You sound like a travel agent. Don’t you have something other than me to worry about? Like a lawsuit.”
“Yeah, that’s being taken care of, and since I now have no life of my own, I’m interested in yours.”
“Don’t be. Nothing happened.”
“There’s a pissed-off brunette who disagrees.” He nudged his head toward Ty’s house where Masyn stood with her hands on her hips, glaring at me.
“Oh, that’s rich. She’s ticked? Did she mention who brought her by my house? Speaking of, why didn’t you take her home?”
He shr
ugged. “She wanted to go with him.”
“And you let her?”
Beau scoffed and scrunched the left side of his face. “I’m not her keeper.”
“Any idea why she’s mad?” We hadn’t moved, and neither had Masyn.
I kept her in my line of sight without making eye contact. Her body language led me to believe she was on the verge of detonating, and I had no interest in being near her when it happened.
“I answered that last night.”
“I meant, has she specifically told you what has her panties in a twist?”
Beau pulled a pack of gum out of his pocket and took a piece out. He began to unwrap the foil when I swatted the damn thing out of his hand. “Beau!”
His brow drew in with irritation. “Lee!”
“What good is it to have you as the go-between if you don’t know anything?”
“Here’s an idea. Man up and talk to her.”
There was no way in hell I’d go within striking distance of Masyn Porter when she was angry with me. “I’d like to keep my balls another day.” I chanced a front-facing glance, which I instantly regretted. “Not to mention, she went home with Toby. I don’t know why we’re standing in Ty’s driveway talking about this. She’s never cared what I did with any other girl. Peyton shouldn’t be any different.”
“Whatever, man. Your funeral.” He bent down to pick up the piece of gum still securely tucked in the wrapper he hadn’t gotten off before I’d knocked it to the ground. With the same devious grin he’d given me upon arrival, he popped it into his mouth and started chomping away.
“Maybe we should have let you marry Felicity after all. Chewing like that, you’ll never get another date.”
He laughed and turned toward the garage. I had no idea why he was in such a good mood. Maybe Beau was thrilled to be rid of the noose that had strangled him for the last few months…or he was enjoying watching me dance around Masyn—probably both.
“Hey, man.” Masyn’s oldest brother and I were close. We hadn’t been as kids with a six-year age difference between us. It wasn’t until I started working at Farley’s that we spent any time together, and at that point, eighteen and twenty-four weren’t all that different.
“What’s up, Ty?” I extended my hand, which he took and pulled me into his chest in a cross-body embrace.
“Not much. Just working. And apparently bailing my sister out.” Ty and Masyn had a love-hate relationship. He was protective as hell of his youngest sibling—he also didn’t hesitate to tell her where to stick it. “Not what I had planned for Sunday.” He griped about working on her car, yet if she’d taken it somewhere, he’d be pissed she wasted her money.
“Any idea what’s wrong with it? With the tornado Beau brought into town, I haven’t had a chance to look at it since we left it at the shop on Friday.”
“Alternator.”
“At least it’s an easy fix.”
“Yeah, I got the parts yesterday. There’s beer in the fridge if you want to grab one. Donna put ’em in last night, so I’m sure they’re cold.” He glanced behind me at Beau. “You’re welcome to grab one, too. You need me to get you some gloves, pretty boy?”
Ty loved to give Beau a hard time. Ty had always been well liked and quite popular. He’d played football in high school, and we lived in a town where football reigned and Ty was the king. Beau had been awkward and shy until junior year when puberty happened, and then so did the girls. Unlike Ty, Beau had never been a jock, he’d been preppy—Ty hadn’t been a huge fan of sissies or preppy guys. Beau had been the exception—which probably had more to do with Masyn than Beau himself—and he’d enjoyed giving him a hard time.
“I’m not working on that thing. That’s what mechanics are for.” And comments like that did little to endear Beau to a blue-collar man, who happened to be a mechanic. Thankfully, Ty was immune to Beau and thought his cracks were jokes instead of cuts. “At what point does the car become so worthless that fixing it doesn’t make sense?”
Ty threw a rag at Beau, who didn’t even attempt to catch it, and in fact, watched it hit his chest and then fall to the ground before looking back up and staring at Ty in wonder. I shook my head. Beau was clueless, not cruel.
“When the owner can afford to replace it, and this one can’t.” Masyn huffed and stomped back into the house.
I hadn’t realized she was in the garage listening to us. Any other time, she’d be under the hood with her brother, not inside chewing the fat with her sister-in-law.
“She’s been in a shit mood since she got here. What the hell has her in an uproar?” Ty asked as he twisted the cap off a longneck.
“Lee.” Beau had a death wish, and I might make his dreams come true.
I held my hands up, careful not to drop my beer. “Don’t look at me. She left Sadler’s last night with Toby Hayes.”
Ty set his beer on the workbench and stepped to the door Masyn escaped through to yell, “Masyn, get your ass out here.”
“Jesus, Ty. Leave her alone.” I should have kept my damn mouth shut. I wasn’t any better than Beau.
“Nah, fuck that. She doesn’t need to be anywhere near that cum stain. And where the hell were you, Lee?”
The door burst open with a fiery Masyn blowing through it just as I said, “Since when is it my job to babysit?”
Without turning away from his sister, he answered me. “Kindergarten. Own it.” Then he lit into her. “Why the hell would you be alone with Toby fucking Hayes—ever?”
She glared at me—not Beau—assuming I’d given Ty the insider information. I had, but that was beside the point. Beau could do no wrong. “I hate you, Lee.”
“You do not. You’re just mad that I was with Peyton. Next time one of our friends stands his bride up at the altar, I’ll make sure to keep you around to handle phone calls and deal with nosy guests.”
Beau raised his brow and stated flatly, “I didn’t leave her at the altar.”
“Dude, really?” I questioned, and he shrugged.
“Enough.” Ty’s voice carried without his having to scream. “I asked a question. I want an answer, Masyn. Why the hell were you with Toby Hayes?”
“It wasn’t a big deal, Ty. He followed me to Lee’s and then dropped me off at my house. He never even got out of the truck.” She hated having to admit that in front of me. It should have made me happy, but all it did was tick me off even more.
“Stay away from him. He’s trouble you don’t need to get mixed up with.”
“Whatever, Ty.” She whipped around so fast her hair fanned out behind her, and then stomped inside and slammed the door.
“Are you going to help me or stand there with your dick in your hand?” Ty had a way with words.
“Yeah. Sorry.” I turned back toward the car and listened while Ty explained what he wanted me to do. Really, I was his wrench monkey and nothing more. Working on Masyn’s car gave us an excuse to hang out—he didn’t need my help. He did this kind of thing day in and day out.
Beau pulled up a stool and watched.
“Did you really leave your girl at the church yesterday?” Ty laughed and kept his head under the hood.
“There’s a bit more to it than that, but yes, that was the final result.”
“I gotta give it to ya, Chastain, I didn’t think you had it in you.” Ty never took his focus off what he was doing. He extended his fist, waiting for Beau to reciprocate.
Beau looked confused at first and then like he’d won the lottery and been brought inside the inner circle. I shook my head. He was clueless. He helped form the inner circle because he was closely connected to Masyn.
“She cheat on ya? Women are trifling like that. Can’t trust a damn one of them.” He was full of shit.
Donna doted on his ass like he ran the world, and she was as loyal as a hound—not to mention easy on the eyes, even after two kids.
“Not that I know of.” Beau gave him a brief history with more details about yesterday than the rest combined.
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Ty stopped what he was doing when Beau got to the part about the church. I had been there, although I didn’t have a clue what had happened inside the bathroom while I waited in the hall.
“She kept trying to deny it and make me feel like an ass for questioning her when she’d told me she was pregnant. As soon as she started crying, I knew Lee was right. I can’t stand to see a woman cry. That bitch thought she had me by the balls. I held firm and refused to move away from the door until she peed in a cup.”
“I don’t get females. Why not just confess that you’re full of shit instead of taking nine pregnancy tests that will only prove what a liar you are?” Ty leaned against the front of Masyn’s car, waiting to hear the end.
It was too bad Beau didn’t recognize that he had a captive audience, and Ty was the sole ticketholder. Ty liked Beau, but he didn’t know how to relate to him—that didn’t mean he didn’t care about his sister’s best friend.
“Got me. She didn’t move. She watched me dip every single test in that cup. And each one that came back negative only lit my fire even brighter. I took all nine of the negative tests and told her there was one for every person in our families she’d hurt, and I was going to hand them out.”
“Damn, the only decent thing to ever happen at a wedding and I missed it.”
“She followed me down the hall begging me to let her explain.” There was nothing to explain. “Then I left with Masyn, and Lee stayed at the church with Felicity’s sister, Peyton, to make calls and deal with guests who showed up.”
Ty lifted his head at me. “So, Peyton’s the girl Masyn’s been griping about with Donna all morning?”
I shrugged. I didn’t know Masyn discussed Peyton. I did know I wouldn’t get anywhere questioning Ty about his sister. He’d put his fist in my mouth before he gave away any of her secrets.
“Lee left Sadler’s with Peyton last night. Masyn wasn’t happy about it.” Leave it to Beau to fill in the gaps so Ty could form his own opinion.
“She took me home. It wasn’t a big deal.”
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