Feels Like Home

by Kelly Elliott

  I leaned in a bit closer to her and said, “No, no, honestly, I’m not getting where you’re going.”

  “Hell, even I see where you’re going, Pearl,” Terry said.

  “I’m glad you both are on the same page, but I’m a few chapters behind, so could someone explain it to me, please?” I asked.

  Pearl sighed. “If Anson turns down Annie, and she thinks you’re the reason behind it, she won’t do business with you.”

  It felt like a bolt of lightning had hit me in the chest. “Surely, she wouldn’t be so vindictive. That’s crazy.”

  “Trust me, Bristol. I’ve been listening to her talk, and I don’t have a good feeling about this.”

  I shook my head and thought about it for a few moments. “Just tell her Anson’s busy. She’s leaving tomorrow, so all we have to do is keep her away from him until then.”

  Pearl nodded. Then the door to the kitchen opened and Mindy walked in.

  “We really need some cool code names for when we have situations,” Mindy said. “We could even have them modeled after tea like ‘we have a code chamomile’ or ‘code oolong is headed our way,’ you know, something like that.”

  “Get to it, Mindy. What’s wrong?” I asked.

  “Ida called Anson.”

  “What!” Pearl and I nearly screamed at once.

  “Yeah, let me tell you. I really hope having your tea in her box is worth it, because I don’t like her.”

  “See, it’s not just me!” Pearl added.

  “What happened? I’ve only been in the kitchen a few minutes!” I exclaimed.

  “Pearl got up and came in here, stating she needed to find baking soda for her shirt. Well, Annie turned her attention on Ida. Started talking about Anson. Then the conversation got lower, and with all the chatter around the room, I couldn’t hear what they were saying. Damn Renee started talking to me about some Mother’s Day out program and how if I was interested I needed to sign up that second. Anyway, the next thing I knew, Ida was calling Anson on the spot because Annie said she was leaving town tomorrow and would be really honored to meet him.”

  “So Ida actually called him?” Pearl asked.

  Mindy nodded. “Ida made arrangements for the two of them to meet over dinner tonight.”

  My hand went to my stomach, and Pearl groaned. “Oh, no. This is not good.”

  “I know! One look at Annie, and Anson will probably take her in the bathroom,” Mindy said with a laugh. Pearl and I both stared at her.

  “Not saying you’re not beautiful, Bri. You are. But have you seen her boobs? Even I have a girl crush on her.”

  “Ugh. You’re just horny because you can’t have Drake,” I mumbled.

  “Um, what?” Pearl asked as her eyes bounced back and forth between me and Mindy.

  “Thanks a lot, Bristol,” Mindy said before she turned to Pearl. “It’s okay, Pearl. Drake and I are friends. I mean. Yes, every time he comes near me, my body heats up and I want to beg him to touch me. But I don’t. ’Cause I’m pregnant. With another man’s baby. Even though that man is dead to me. But I obviously come with a seven-forty-seven worth of baggage.”

  I gagged, and Pearl smiled. “I always thought you two would be cute together.” She walked up to Mindy and said, “Honey, you can have fun with a man without having sex. Be creative. Maybe a little watching while the other…you know.” She waggled her eyebrows, and I had to wonder what fresh new hell I was in.

  Mindy, on the other hand, looked like someone had just told her the best idea ever.

  “Oh, that’s good. What if he isn’t down for that?”

  Pearl chuckled. “Trust me, Sweetheart. He’ll be up for it. Pun totally intended.”

  The three women in the kitchen all laughed.

  I slammed my hands over my ears and stomped my feet like a child. “I am not hearing this. I’m not!”

  The sound of Pearl laughing made me drop my hands and stare at her.

  “What?” she said with a half-shrug, “just because I’m older doesn’t mean I don’t know things.”

  I clasped my hands together. “God, please, please, make this conversation go away.”

  “Hey! I need you out here!” Anna said as she poked her head into the kitchen.

  “Right! Coming!” I said as I quickly followed her into the tea room. Things were starting to wind down, so I helped Anna clear off the plates from the table.

  “Bristol! You’re never going to guess who I’m having dinner with!” Annie said.

  All conversation in the tea room stopped, and everyone’s eyes were on me. I forced a smile and asked, “Who?”

  “Anson Meyer! The country singer! You didn’t tell me he was from Comfort!”

  I laughed. It sounded so fake to me, but with the way Annie’s eyes glowed, she hadn’t noticed. “Well, you never mentioned you liked country music. Not sure how I’d bring that up in a conversation about tea.”

  Annie giggled. “Well, I hate country music, truth be told. But Anson Meyer?” She glanced around the room. “Girls, is he hot or what?”

  Oh my God. Had she really just asked a room full of people, half of whom were related to Anson or me in some way, if he was hot?

  A few nodded, a few shyly looked away. I could always count on Mindy, though. She was the first to speak.

  “Well, it’s hard to get our thoughts to go that way regarding Anson. Half us grew up with him, and the other half are related to him somehow.”

  “Oh, how funny! Small towns, I guess!” Annie said. Then she looked at me. “What about you, Bristol? Are you on the friend-side or the related-side?”

  Again, all eyes swung to me. My mouth suddenly went dry. I opened it to answer and nothing came out. So I closed it. Smiled. And tried again.

  “The friend-side, definitely the friend-side,” I managed to get out.

  Her smile grew wider. “You should come to dinner with us tonight then!”

  “Oh, hell,” Mindy mumbled from behind me.

  “Dinner?” I asked. I was positive she heard the shake in my voice.

  “Yes, we still need to talk business, so we can do that as well. I’m sure Anson wouldn’t mind a little five-minute conversation about tea.”

  Five minutes? Five? That was what she thought I was worth? A whole five minutes?

  “Goodness!” Ida said as she stood. “It’s way past the time I thought it was. I must get going.”

  That sparked at least six other women to stand. It was clear they all wanted out of the tea room in case there was a showdown between me and Annie.

  Annie stood and gave Ida a small hug. “Thank you so much for setting that up for me, Ida.”

  I paused to watch Ida leave. She smiled back at me, a gleam in her eyes. Had she really just set Anson up on a date with a potential business partner in my freaking tea room then smiled at me about it? Maybe she was pissed because of Saturday night. Everyone surely thought I came to Josh’s rescue. In truth, I knew Anson would beat him to a pulp, and I didn’t want to see him sitting in a Texas jail when he had just gotten out of one in Nashville.

  Terry, Mindy, and my mother finished clearing off the tables as I stood at the door to the tea room and wished everyone an amazing afternoon and evening.

  Soon, it was only Annie left.

  “The tea was lovely, Bristol. I plan on posting about it as soon as I get back to the hotel room. I took a few photos; I hope you don’t mind.”

  I smiled, and a rush of excitement raced through my body. “Of course I don’t mind. Please, post away! Feel free to tag the tea room as well as the hotel. I’m sure they would love it.”

  Mindy chuckled. “Trust me, my folks would love that.”

  Annie smiled warmly at Mindy, then looked back at me. “I didn’t think you would mind.”

  “What did you think of the tea?” I asked.

  “It was divine. Some of the best lavender tea I’ve ever had.”

  My body instantly relaxed. No matter what happened this evening with Anson, it soun
ded like Annie loved my tea. I felt like I was on cloud nine. Being featured by her would really put me on the map for tea rooms in central Texas.

  “I think I’m going to go on back to my hotel. I need to prepare for dinner tonight.”

  And my happy feeling suddenly vanished. “Right. Um, about me going.”

  Annie reached for her purse and then turned back to me. “Don’t even think of backing out. We need to talk shop, and honestly, I’m too exhausted to talk now. My goodness, those women all talked so fast and it was hard to keep up. I so enjoyed it, though. Plus, I need to redo my makeup if I’m going to meet Anson Meyer tonight!”

  My eyes searched her perfectly done-up face. “You look beautiful, Annie.”

  She waved me off. “Stop it! I need to put on my night face. Besides, you never know, if I’m lucky Mr. Meyer might end up in my hotel room tonight.”

  I must have done a good job hiding my feelings at that comment. You know, the feelings of wanting to pull her by the hair and tell her to back the fuck off from someone who no longer was mine. She winked at me, giggled, and whisked her beautiful self right on out the door.

  Slowly, I turned around to see Mindy and Terry standing there.

  “What. A. Whore!” Mindy nearly shouted. “Oh my gosh. Seriously? Did she seriously just hint at sleeping with Anson? If he even thinks of having sex with her in my family’s hotel, I’m going to kill him!”

  “I’m so sorry she said that, but I honestly don’t think Anson will be the least bit attracted to her,” Terry insisted.

  I cleared my throat and nodded, not really able to articulate what I was feeling at the moment. Jealousy? Anger? Sadness? Hell, it all mixed together. Anson hadn’t even been back in town a week, and my entire world felt like it had been turned upside down.

  As I made my way over to one of the tables, I grabbed the remaining plates then headed toward the kitchen. Mindy and Terry were hot on my heels.

  “Okay, we need to get you home, get you a bath to soak in. Terry, you’re in charge of hair, I’ll do your makeup.”

  My mother looked up from where she was cleaning dishes.

  “What are you talking about?” I asked. “I’m not going to try and compete with that woman.”

  “Why not?” Terry and Mindy asked at once, then both said “Jinx” and laughed before focusing back on me.

  “Listen, I appreciate y’all trying to help out, I really do. My main goal with this dinner is to get her to agree to have my tea featured in at least one of her boxes. That’s it. She doesn’t care what my hair looks like or what type of eyeshadow I wear tonight.”

  “But—” Mindy started, and I held up a hand.

  “No. Once she agrees to feature my tea, I’m going to come up with an excuse and leave.”

  The three women all stared at me. Two of them with looks of utter disappointment. My mother gave me a soft smile and a nod, as if she had a window into my heart. Then she said, “Let’s get this place cleaned up. Terry, honey, please make sure the closed sign is on the door.”

  As the four of us busied ourselves with getting the tea room cleaned up and ready for tomorrow, I couldn’t stop thinking about dinner in a few hours.

  The sick feeling in my stomach grew as the clock ticked loudly on the wall. And even though I tried to come up with every excuse under the sun, it looked like I was heading to dinner tonight to seal a deal…and seal my fate.

  Anson

  ONE QUICK LOOK at myself in the mirror and I let out a breath. I had been dreading this stupid dinner all afternoon, but I knew this Annie was someone Bristol was trying to do business with. Grams had already spoken to me about how Annie mentioned wanting to meet me. Grams thought it might win Bristol some points if I went to the dinner, so how in the hell could I say no? If it helped Bristol, it was the least I could do.

  I grabbed my light tan cowboy hat and headed out of the guest house and over to where Grams and Granddad sat on the back porch.

  “It’s a beautiful day to be outside,” I stated.

  “Yes! It is, indeed!” Grams said with a smile.

  “You look dashing, Anson,” Granddad said.

  I tipped my hat and replied, “I learned from the best.”

  A truck pulled in behind me, and I turned to see my father drive up. I hadn’t seen him since the poker game the night before last. Dad got out of the truck first, then walked around and held the door open to help my mother out.

  “You’re just in time. Dinner is almost ready,” Grams called out.

  My mother walked up to me and smiled as I pulled her into a hug. “Why, Pearl Meyer, you are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever laid eyes on,” I said.

  She laughed and tapped me on the back. “Save your charm for someone else, Son.”

  When she drew back and my father walked up, I smiled. He nodded and walked past me. I closed my eyes and sighed.

  “Dad, do you have any free time tomorrow for us to talk?” I asked.

  He stopped and faced me. I couldn’t read his expression.

  “I’ll be in a meeting tomorrow for most of the afternoon, but if you want to stop by in the morning, we can talk.”

  I wanted to smile but didn’t. I just nodded.

  My mother patted my arm and said, “Have a nice dinner with Annie.”

  I groaned and headed toward Granddad’s truck.

  “Say hi to Bristol for me too!” my mother called out.

  With a sudden jolt to my heart, I turned and called out, “What do you mean, say hi to Bristol?”

  My mother looked at Grams then back to me. “Has no one told you?”

  “Told me what?” I asked, my voice clipped.

  “I thought Ida would have told you,” my mother said as she walked up to me. Her voice was low so only I could hear her. “Annie asked Bristol to come tonight. She tried to get out of it, but she needs to make this woman happy.”

  “Grams mentioned something about Bristol needing to make a business deal with this lady and how important she was to the tea room. Who is she?”

  “She owns this company that does subscription boxes. She came across Bristol’s Instagram and they got to talking. Bristol is trying to arrange it so her Farmhouse Lavender Tea will be included in Annie’s boxes. Anson, be careful with this woman. She’s not a fan of your music. She’s a fan of…”

  My mother looked me over and then said, “I think you know what I mean. Mindy told me she hinted about bringing you back to her room tonight.”

  “What?!”

  She nodded. “And if you reject this woman, she might very well take it out on Bristol.”

  “Does she know we have a past?”

  “Bristol thinks she doesn’t, but I’m telling you, Anson, I smell a fish.”

  “You mean a rat.”

  “No, a fish. ’Cause they’re stinky.”

  I went to argue and then simply shut my mouth. “Got it. Don’t worry, Mom. I’ll make sure the evening goes the right way.”

  “She’s going to hit on you, Anson.”

  I winked. “I’ll take care of it. Trust me.”

  A smile passed over my mother’s face. “I knew you would.”

  When I pulled up to Peggy’s On The Green, which was a restaurant located in the historical Kendall Inn in Boerne, twenty-five minutes later, I had my plan formulated. I knew exactly how to deal with this Annie lady.

  I walked in and glanced around quickly. Then I headed over to the bar area. Sure enough, Bristol was sitting at the bar. I smiled when I saw her.

  Her light brown hair was half up and half down, with her curls falling softly below her shoulder. She had on a flowy, light green dress that reminded me of the dresses my grams wore back when she was Bristol’s age. I loved that my girl still had a thing for vintage clothes. Hell, it was probably a dress from Grams’ old trunk from up in the attic. Bristol used to pull out the dresses and hold them up to herself and spin.

  Just then, the bartender asked her something and she turned to answer. A smile came over
her face as she shook her head. Every time she smiled, it stole my breath.

  My God. She is so beautiful.

  Then she said something to the woman sitting next to her, who laughed. I frowned when I got my first look at this Annie Foster.

  She was blonde with her hair pulled up and done in one of those fancy twists. She wore a tight-fitting black dress that showcased her tits. From the way she was sitting, you could tell the dress was extremely short and she had on one hell of a pair of high heels. Bristol had on high heels as well, and fuck me if her legs didn’t look amazing.

  I pulled my eyes off of Bristol’s legs and looked back at Annie. She looked desperate, sitting next to Bristol, who looked stunning and classy.

  As if she could feel my eyes on her, Bristol glanced over her shoulder. Our eyes met, and she smiled. I couldn’t help the smile that instantly spread across my face. I was suddenly pulled to her like a damn magnet. The closer I got, the more my plan made sense.

  Bristol slid off the barstool and waited for me. I didn’t take my eyes off her. When she went to talk, I pulled her into my arms and kissed the living shit out of her.

  For a moment, she was stunned, then her body melted into mine like fucking butter on a fresh, hot biscuit.

  Holy hell, I missed this woman’s kisses.

  My hand moved around to her lower back, and I tugged her closer to me. I could feel my cock waking up, and I pressed myself into her harder. She moaned slightly, and I knew if we didn’t stop this, I’d risk taking her right there in public.

  When I drew back, her caramel eyes looked up at me in a daze.

  “I fucking missed that,” I whispered as I pressed another quick kiss to her lips.

  It took Bristol a few moments to get her wits about her, and I had to say, I was fist pumping internally knowing that I could still kiss her senseless like that.

  Then I looked over to Annie. “Sorry about that. I haven’t been able to do that for a while, so it was nice to kiss my girl.”

  “Your girl?” Annie and Bristol both said at the same time. Annie wore a smile. Bristol wore a stunned look.