by Josie Kerr
Courtney swallowed hard. “Nice to meet you, Ms. Douglas,” he said nervously before turning to Ace and Bunny and bobbing his head. “Nice to see you again, Bunny, Ace.”
“Tell your mama and ’em ‘hello’ for me.” Rob grinned. That feral smile caused Courtney to nod and bolt out the door, though Tally noticed he let Chloe exit in front of him.
About thirty seconds after they saw the red Jeep drive away, Bunny and Ace collapsed into helpless laughter.
“Oh, shit, Robbie Mac,” Bunny wheezed. “That was the funniest thing I’ve seen in ages. I take back everything I said to you earlier.”
Tally cleared her throat. “Excuse me? What is going on? I have about had it with men going over my head and talking around me and being all . . . secret man-clubby.” She picked up the bags she’d set down earlier and got her keys out of her purse. “Now, if you will excuse me, I am going home to have some alone time.” Ace began to splutter, but she held up her hand. “I will tell you all about my spectacularly bad day later. I just can’t even deal with all of you right now.”
Then Tally spun on her heel and stomped out the door.
“Well, hell. I wonder what she meant about all that man-club stuff.” Ace frowned at his great-niece’s retreating back.
“I bet it had to do with that fuck Chad Bryson,” Rob growled. “I can’t stand that guy—haven’t been able to since high school, when he pinned stealing beer from the Quickie Pickie on me and I almost got some hard jail time.” He was tempted to go right over to that little pink-and-yellow house and get all up in Tally’s business, but he knew better, so he just shook his head and, with a clap of his hands, moved toward the back door of the shop.
“Where the hell do you think you’re going?” Ace’s voice boomed from behind him.
Rob, who was headed out to the salvage area to retrieve the arbor, turned around and was met with two sets of furrowed brows and scowling faces. “What?”
“I mean, you’re headed in the wrong direction. Right about now, you should be heading over to Tally’s to see exactly what’s going on.” Ace tapped a finger on the counter as he studied Rob. “Yeah, you need to go over there. We’ll deal with the arbor another day; besides, you’re nuts if you thought you’d be able to move that thing by yourself. You’re going to need at least three people.” Ace leveled him with a look. “Go on over to Tally’s.”
“I . . . I don’t know if that’s a good idea,” Rob stammered.
“Go. She needs someone to talk to that’s not her mama,” Ace interrupted. “Go. And if she throws a fit, well, you can blame me.”
Rob snorted. “Oh, don’t worry. I will.” He scratched the back of his neck. “You sure?”
Both Bunny and Ace nodded, so Rob blew out a breath and headed out to his car.
The house was quiet—too quiet—so Tally flipped on the radio. She’d promised herself that she was going to put all the events from her crap day out of her mind for the evening, so even though she knew she wasn’t really going to read anything, she browsed the overflowing bookshelves. The very act of running her finger over the spines of her books and plucking one off the shelf soothed her, gave her a sense of normalcy at the end of this very unnerving day.
She’d just bundled herself into her favorite chair with the chosen book and a very small glass of Robbie Mac’s muscadine wine when there came a knock on the door. Having just attended a neighborhood watch meeting wherein she’d been advised to never pretend she wasn’t home, she reluctantly hauled herself out of the chair and answered the door.
“Rob!” She blinked at the man, who grinned at her from the other side of the screen door.
“Hey, Tally.”
Tally unlocked the screen door and pushed it open, inviting Rob inside the house, where they stood in the small foyer and looked at each other until Tally asked Rob if he’d like some wine.
“I mean, it’s yours, so you probably have it all the time,” she babbled.
Rob huffed a laugh. “I actually don’t drink all that much.”
“Oh, okay.” Tally shifted her weight from one foot to the other, suddenly shy and very, very aware of Rob’s big body in the little house. “So, what brings you by? Where’s Lily?”
“Penny picks Lily up from the bus most days so I can finish up distilling or decanting, and she’s with her now, so I can’t stay too long, but I got the feeling that you might need . . . I don’t know . . . something? A sounding board? Someone to vent to? Or something, anything, else?”
Rob’s confession from their late-night dessert picnic came rushing back to Tally, and she felt her face get hot when she remembered what he’d said he wanted to do to her. She swallowed hard and blew out a breath.
“You okay, Tal?” he asked.
Rob’s face scrunched with concern, and he looked like he was poised to run to do whatever she asked him to do. Seeing his worried countenance and being witness to his absolute deference to what she wanted broke her, and Tally found herself crying. Not delicate, ladylike tears, but big, snotty, gulpy sobs that she knew would devolve into an embarrassing round of hiccups, because that’s what happened when she got overwhelmed with emotion like she was right now. Then he pulled out a handkerchief and began gently wiping her face, and she sank into his arms even as he pulled her onto the couch and nestled her under his arm.
“Yeah, you’re okay,” he said after a long moment. “Yeah.”
Tally felt him press his lips to the top of her head, and she couldn’t resist leaning into him just a bit more.
“Thank you,” she murmured against his chest. She inhaled his woodsy scent before raising her face to find him looking down at her. “I think I’ve snotted all over your shirt.”
He shrugged the shoulder of the arm that wasn’t holding her to him. “It can be washed.”
A sound of a familiar ringtone coming from inside her purse caused her to jolt. When she continued to ignore it, Rob cleared his throat and said, “I take it that’s not Chloe.”
Tally shook her head. “No, it’s Greg. He’s . . . been calling. He’s not supposed to call me directly.” She moved away from him, just a bit, before continuing. “So the last time we talked, Greg called immediately after, ranting and raving, threatening me about custody because we left California without him knowing. He said he was going to sue for sole custody.”
“Whoa. He’s nuts, kinda, right?”
Tally barked a grim laugh. “After that last time? Yeah, he’s nuts.” Tally plucked a few tissues from the box on the coffee table and blew her nose. “Sorry. I realize that’s incredibly sexy.”
Rob laughed and gave her a squeeze, and she smiled at him again, but that grin soon disappeared. “Billie noticed I was rattled this morning, so I told her the whole story. And Billie, being Billie, immediately drew up an addendum to my protective order, barring all ‘telephonic contact’ except through our attorneys. She said she was going to try to fast-track it.”
“And?”
“She did. She managed to get me in front of a judge this afternoon.”
“Well, that’s good, right?”
“Not when it’s a judge who is all ‘father’s’ rights’ blah, blah, blah. He told me he wished he’d been the judge sitting when the original protective order had come across, because he would have denied it.” Tally shook her head and scoffed. “And all the while, that . . . jackass Chad Bryson was smirking like a . . . a . . . big, smirky thing. Ugh.”
“ ‘Big, smirky thing’?” Rob raised an eyebrow at her, and she flopped backward against the back of the couch.
“I couldn’t think of anything else to call him.”
“Asshat? Bunghole?” His lip twitched. “Douche Canoe?”
The phone started ringing again. Tally leaned forward with her elbows on her knees and pressed her fingers against her eyes. “I need a new phone number, don’t I?”
“Might be the simplest solution.”
Her phone buzzed, and Tally reached into her bag, saying, “It might be Chloe.�
� She glanced at the phone, huffed a little laugh, and tapped out a response before putting the phone down on the coffee table and turning to Rob. “It was. She’s at Jet’s, just where she told me she’d be.”
“She’s a good kid.”
“She is, but I worry.”
“You’re a mom. That’s your job.”
Rob clapped his hands together. “You’re okay,” he said once again. “And I need to retrieve my munchkin from Penny’s house before it gets too much later.” He patted her on the knee and stood up, and Tally scrambled up behind him. He stepped aside and walked slightly behind her as they walked to the front door.
Rob stepped out onto the porch and turned. “Tally?”
“Yeah.”
“You know you can call me anytime, right? Day or night, for any reason or no reason at all.”
“Yeah.”
Rob leaned down and placed a soft kiss on her lips. “See ya, Tallulah,” he said after he finished kissing her.
She pressed her hand to his chest and felt his heart thrum. “Later, Rob.”
Rob patted her hand where it rested over his heart and then turned and went to his car.
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Rob pulled into one of the few parking spots that lined the sides of the square. He searched the clusters of people sitting on the benches and at the tables that were scattered around the sidewalk, until he caught sight of Chloe sitting with the Masters kid and two other girls. She was laughing, looking very much like her mother. He watched the group of teenagers for a few more moments and was just about to head home when he saw Chad Bryson stop at Chloe’s table. He watched hard as the lawyer talked to Chloe—and it sure seemed like he talked to only Chloe—before heading into the Hemlock Creek Tavern.
Rob tapped his thumbs on the steering wheel, debating, until he got a text message from Penny informing him that Lily was fed, bathed, and passed out in her own bed after a last-minute trip to frolic with Saffy’s menagerie. He tapped out a response and then made his way into the tavern.
He stepped through the door of the Hemlock Creek Tavern and spied Chad at the bar, talking to two giggly coeds. Rob was stalking over to Chad when Cal Harper, the proprietor of the tavern, caught him by the arm.
“Robbie Mac, buddy, you’re my best friend, so I’m gonna give you some advice. You need to think about what you’re getting ready to do. Okay?”
Rob snorted. “I’m just gonna talk to him.” Cal arched an eyebrow, and Rob grinned at his best friend. “Seriously.”
Cal made a noise in his throat but slapped Rob on the shoulder and made his way to the hostess stand. Rob continued over to Chad, who was in prime peacock mode, flashing his watch and his teeth, and laughing loudly.
“Chad Bryson!” Rob boomed and looped an arm around his neck. “I will say, doesn’t take you long to get over being dumped by your fiancée, does it? Oh, but really, having a fiancée didn’t stop you from dating, did it?”
The young women had stopped giggling and were now sneering at Chad. Rob tightened his hold on the errant playboy and wiggled his fingers as the women took their drinks and moved to the opposite end of the bar. Chad struggled in vain to shrug off Rob’s choke hold.
“I’m only going to tell you this once, Bryson. You need to stay away from Tally and Chloe. You have no business with either of them.” Rob moved closer to Chad. “Oh, I know you have your legal aid hours, but you can switch days. Do that.” Rob let go of Chad’s neck and pounded him on the back, hard. “Hopefully, I won’t see you around, Bryson.”
With a nod at the two coeds, he headed out of the tavern. He walked past the table where Chloe and her friends had been sitting, noting that the table was now empty, got into his car, and headed home to his daughter.
Tally was so angry her hands shook. She must have been insane, thinking she could be anywhere near Chad Bryson after Chloe had told her that he singled her out while her study group was at dinner.
“He was creepy, Mom. I thought it was just me, but Courtney and Tasha got the same vibe from him,” Chloe had said. “If you have to date someone, Robbie Mac is much better.”
Tally had paused when Chloe mentioned Rob but decided not to bring up his earlier visit. And then Chloe said that her father had called her cell phone twice that day—once during school and again while the study group was at dinner. She’d answered the second call but hadn’t talked very long.
“Daddy sounded . . . off, Mom. He was talking really fast, but slurred, and he seemed sad. He said he wanted me to come visit over Thanksgiving break. I didn’t answer him, because I don’t know how I feel about that.” Then she’d sighed, given Tally a kiss, and gone to bed. Of course, Tally had lain awake most of the night, fuming at both Chad and Greg and trying not think about Rob. By the time morning came, she was exhausted and spoiling for a fight.
So when Chad sidled up next to her in the break room after her first client meeting, before she’d had a chance to get properly caffeinated, and proceeded to insinuate that she didn’t know what her child was up to, with whom her child was associating, and that she should supervise her more carefully, well, it had taken everything in her power not to go into full-blown, shrieking-banshee, mama-bear mode. Now, instead of indulging in her more histrionic desires, she was hiding in a supply closet.
Tally had just managed to pull herself together and then the door flew open, blinding her and causing her to shriek.
“Billie! You scared the snot out of me!” Tally gasped, clutching her chest.
“Holy hell, woman! You need to audition for a screamer in horror movies. Good Lord.” Billie looked around and then stepped into the small room, closing the door behind her. “Okay, lady, tell me what the hell went down in that courtroom yesterday? Daniels didn’t extend your protective order?”
“Billie, it’s okay—” Tally started to murmur, but Billie cut her off.
“I knew I should have gone in there with you. If I’d known that misogynistic asshole Daniels was filling in for Judge Lilburn, I’d have not been in such a hurry for you to get that last spot on the docket,” the lawyer said, shaking her head.
Tally shrugged a shoulder. “It’s okay, though I’m considering lodging a complaint, but I don’t know if it would do me more harm than good. Anyway, I bought a new phone with a new number and blocked the numbers Greg usually calls from. I think I’m good for now.” Billie narrowed her eyes, and Tally chuckled. “I am.” She sighed. “But . . .”
Billie raised her eyebrows in question, and Tally told Billie about Chad being at the back of the courtroom and his encounter with Chloe in the square.
“What in the world? I knew he’d asked you out, but this is beyond inappropriate. You need to report him.”
“And say what? That Chad Bryson talked to my daughter in a public place? Oh my God. The nerve!” Tally threw up her hands. “We both know how effective that will be.”
Billie made a rude noise but nodded in agreement. “Still. I don’t like it.”
“I know. And then there was the scene at the restaurant. I mean, I wasn’t even there for the whole thing, but what I caught was ugly.” Tally exhaled noisily. “Rob and Chad do not like each other at all.”
“Rob? As in Rob McFerrin?” When Tally nodded, Billie began chuckling, which turned into laughter and then evolved into snorting guffaws. “Oh, girl. You have gotten yourself into quite a pickle. No, Robbie Mac and Chad Bryson do not like each other.”
“Why?”
Billie clucked her tongue. “Oh, that’s not my story to tell. You’ll have to ask Robbie Mac.”
“Oh.”
“Honey, I think you should take the day off. Go home and relax until your girl gets home. We don’t have any transcriptions or interviews, and I can take the walk-ins.” Tally began to protest, but Billie put her hands on Tally’s shoulders and looked her right in the eye. “Go treat yourself to something yummy, something you don’t normally get. Always makes me feel better.”
“Oh, I don’
t—”
“Don’t argue.” Billy opened the storeroom door and nudged Tally out. “Go. Scoot.”
Tally knew better than to argue with Billie Lanier.
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Tally wheeled her mini grocery cart through Hemlock Creek’s only chain grocery store. She’d taken Billie’s advice to heart, and there was a small container of chocolate ice cream and a jar of lemon curd, lemon and chocolate being her favorite combination—“Completely disgusting, Mom”—and a bottle of hard lemonade. She’d debated getting a jar of macadamia nuts, but that was just too extravagant. Instead, she’d gotten a package of rippled potato chips and pickle dip—"How can you eat that, Chloe?”—and a bottle of fancy cherry limeade soda. A few bits of actually needed groceries made their way into the cart, and then she set off to the self-checkout.
She was humming a tune and swiping the items across the scanner when she felt, rather than saw, someone come up and stand very close to her. Tally subtly moved over to regain some of her personal space, but the person at her back inched along with her.
“Is there something I can help you with?” Tally snapped, turning to face a woman, who, when Tally turned, jolted and seemed surprised that Tally would speak to her. The woman’s surprised expression morphed into something calculating and mean.
“You’re Tally.”
“Yes,” she answered, knowing that the woman knew exactly who she was and also irritated that she didn’t know the woman. “And you are?”
“You’re seeing Robbie Mac.”
“That’s not your name.”
“You didn’t deny it.”
Tally blinked, scrunched up her face, and then shook her head in disgust. She didn’t have time for this foolishness. She bundled her groceries into the small cart and walked away from the woman without another word.
The woman followed her.
“You didn’t deny it,” she repeated.
“You didn’t tell me your name,” Tally shot back.
“You should be more careful about whom you associate with, given you’re a single mother. Town this size, people talk. You wouldn’t want anything to blow back on Chloe, give her a . . . reputation she doesn’t deserve.”
