by Magan Vernon
“Can you pick me up?” I yelled over the blaring of some Shania Twain song.
“What?” she asked.
“Can you pick me up at the Q Ranch? I know, I know, but I didn’t know who else to call, and my car’s not here and … please?” I sighed. This was beyond desperate, even for me.
But I had no one else.
The girl who I thought was one of my best friends was sleeping with the guy who I thought was my boyfriend. And the guy, the one who I thought was going to be my forever, the one I was going to move to New York with, well, he knew all about it and kept it from me for a month. He probably never planned to tell me.
I’d never asked my future stepsister for anything. I’d barely even spoken to the girl, and now, I was asking her to get out in the middle of the night and save me from a party.
I expected her to hang up and laugh in my face, but she surprised me by sighing then saying, “Yeah. I’ll be right there.”
***
I ended up sitting on the brick patio in the front of the building next to some metal armadillos.
The alcohol had finally taken effect, and I couldn’t move, so I just stared at the stars.
“Mind if I take the seat next to you?” a gravelly voice said.
I had expected Jordan to follow me, but instead, I looked up to see Clay Carrington smirking down at me.
“No one else is here,” I motioned to the brick spot.
Clay plopped down, his long legs stretching in front of him. “Both those douchebag guys are still back there, but I told them I was going to talk to you before either of them did. And if they came before I was done talking, I’d put my boot up their asses.”
“My knight in shining steel toes,” I muttered, pulling my knees to my chest and putting my head between them.
“You’re not gonna puke like your redheaded friend, are you?”
I shook my head as much as I could. “I think I’m far past the puking point. Though I may go into ugly cry mode.”
“Well, if anything I caught wind of from you yelling at those two douchebags is true, I think I’d be going for dick punching rather than crying. Teach them both to keep it in their pants.”
I sniffled, snorting a half laugh. “Joey was the one who slept with Teagan. Jordan just knew about it and lied.”
“That’s some fucked-up shit,” Clay grumbled.
I lifted my head up, my temples already pounding. “Tell me about it.”
“Well, I can’t tell you what to do, Abbey, but I can tell you that I wouldn’t take it out on the guy who tried to spare your feelings by not telling you.”
I shook my head. “If he wanted to be a good guy, he would have told me instead of keeping it a secret.”
Clay blew out a deep breath. “Sometimes, other people’s secrets aren’t ours to share.”
I was going to ask him what he meant by that, but I heard the clicking of heels behind us. I expected to see Christy bounding toward us, but instead, I heard the harsh Korean accent of Christy’s mother, Tomiko.
“Clay! The downstairs bar is out of rum. What are you going to do about it?” Tomiko was tiny like both of her daughters, but we nicknamed her the dragon lady with her permanent scowl and hair that was pulled so tightly back it made her nostrils flare.
“I’ll head to the cellar to see if we have any more, ma’am,” Clay said, nodding up at her.
“Good. Make sure it doesn’t happen again,” Tomiko grumbled before stomping back toward the party.
“The boss awaits,” Clay mumbled, standing up and dusting off his jeans. “But if you need anything else, you holler at me, okay, Abbey? Text Noah and he’ll get in touch with me.”
“Thanks, Clay.” I smiled up at him before he disappeared into the night.
My phone buzzed, and I looked down to see a message from Sofie.
I’m here.
Slowly, I stumbled to my feet, but before I could go face-first into the brick patio, a warm arm was around my waist, and a very familiar hard stomach pressed against my back.
“I don’t want to talk to you right now, Jordan,” I mumbled, trying to twist out of his grasp.
“Then just listen.” His breath was hot on my ear.
I stopped moving, mainly because the world was spinning, and I closed my eyes, trying to right myself.
“I told you that your friends treated you like shit. I just didn’t know how bad it was until I gave Teagan a ride home. That’s when she told me about her rendezvous with Joey. I was so pissed off at them. I wanted to tell you that next morning, but then one thing led to another, and instead, you ended up in my bed. Then I didn’t want to ruin the moment. Ruin our happiness. So I pushed it to the back of my mind, knowing it wouldn’t change anything if you knew.”
A tear fell down my cheek that I didn’t even bother wiping away. “But you knew, and you kept it from me. It wasn’t your secret to have. It was the thing that broke me.”
Jordan whirled me around, and I opened my eyes, staring into his endless blue ones. “It didn’t break you, Abbey. It made you stronger. Hell, you may have ended up drinking your sorrows away that night you found out about Joey, but then you ended up at my grandma’s. You ended up coming back to me. Fate put us together somehow. I’m not saying Joey and Teagan did that, but I am saying that they’re the past. You and I have a future together in New York.”
“I don’t know if I can go to New York with someone I don’t trust,” I whispered, the tears flowing freely from my eyes as I walked backward, my shoes getting stuck in a few bricks.
“Abbey, wait!” Jordan put his hand out.
I shook my head and pointed my finger at him. I could see the reflection of Sofie’s car lights against the stucco building. I didn’t want her to see this argument or to have to explain it to her and her perfect swimmer boyfriend. It was time to say goodbye.
“I’m done with this conversation, Jordan. If you need someone to talk to, why don’t you go talk to Teagan and Joey? Y’all seem to be pretty good at keeping each other’s secrets.”
I didn’t even wait for his response and turned, stumbling toward Sofie’s car and throwing the passenger door open before getting inside.
“You okay?” she asked meekly, her hands still on the wheel. She looked so tiny in her blue sweatpants and a tank top. The only hint she was pregnant was the little round belly that just looked like she ate too many burritos.
Before I could respond, a knock came at the open window, and I turned to see Christy staring at us. “Sofie! What are you …? Holy shit!”
Christy’s eyes widened, and she looked down at Sofie’s stomach. “It is true; you’re PG!”
“Yeah. Looks like I did something before you did, Christy,” Sofie muttered.
“Christy, I’ll text you when I get home, okay? Tell Jordan not to text me either,” I quipped, not wanting to deal with anyone else. I just wanted to sleep off the epic hangover that was sure to come with downing a ton of alcohol. “Just drive, Sofie,” I huffed as her gaze moved past Christy to Jordan still standing behind her. His mouth was open, but he didn’t move. He didn’t say a damn thing. The one who got away would leave again, I knew it. This time it was probably going to be forever.
I didn’t bother to say goodbye to Christy, and Sofie didn’t ask any questions as she pulled out of the driveway.
“Thanks for coming,” I muttered once we were finally out of Jordan and Christy’s line of sight
“Are you going to tell me what that was all about?” Sofie asked, glancing at me out of the corner of her eye.
I blew out a breath. “Nope. Are you going to tell me why your boyfriend isn’t shoved in the back seat for this little joyride to pick up your pathetic soon-to-be stepsister?”
“First off, you aren’t pathetic; second, Johnny’s not in town right now. The swimming thing,” she trailed off at the last part.
“Right … right …” I nodded. I remembered Dave saying something about that.
We were silent for what seemed
like forever as we drove down FM 6 and the silence was killing me more than anything, so I decided to make small talk.
“He seems like a cool guy. I mean from what I’ve seen of him when we met, which hasn’t been much. You two kind of tend to avoid me and my mom like the plague,” I said with a hiccup. “Sorry, drunk Abbey rambles more than sober Abbey.”
“It’s fine. I can ramble too, but uh, you know, sober. Definitely sober,” she said, rubbing her stomach.
“Yeah. Congrats on the whole baby thing, I think. I may have said that before, or I was pouting. I’m kind of a pouter, you know? It’s my thing. I stomp off like a kid. Even though I’m a very big kid at six-foot,” I said, laughing at my own joke. The first time I’d laughed in the past hour at least. “Thought it was funny as hell to see Christy look at your stomach. Like holy shit, Sofie White is totally pregnant and totally with a hottie boyfriend, and Christy’s just hanging out at the ranch, throwing parties like we’re still in high school.” I didn’t know where that dig at Christy came from, especially when she revealed something was definitely going on with her. That maybe her glory days were in high school and she was never going to get that back.
“Okay,” Sofie said, her face still.
“You’re so nice, Sofie. You’ve always been so nice. I don’t know why we didn’t hang out more when we were in school,” I slurred. And she was nice. She was always super nice. A little geeky, but she never hurt anyone. She was never a bitch and never slept with anyone’s boyfriend.
“Because you hung out with Christy,” she muttered.
I blew a raspberry. “Yeah, Christy’s pretty bitchy. I blame that on her mom, though. Remember Pee Wee cheer? Man, you would have thought that a bunch of five-year-olds in the competition was the be all, end all. She was so shitty to your mom, and my mom didn’t want to piss anyone off or get us kicked off the team, so she just kind of went with it. That was a really shitty thing.”
I thought back on our Pee Wee cheer days and how Tomiko used to complain that Sofie’s mom wasn’t a real Texan or a cheerleader and shouldn’t be allowed to coach. This was coming from a woman born and raised in Korea.
Sofie raised an eyebrow. “Um, I know you’re drunk right now, but I have no idea what in the hell you’re talking about.”
I laughed for far too long, realizing that Sofie probably didn’t know about any of this, so I let out a deep breath. “It was totally a long time ago, but your mom wanted to help out, but you know, since she wasn’t one of these born and bred Texas cheer moms, she was the outcast. Even though, like, she was totally the only other mom who volunteered to help the squad since she had the time. Anyway, Christy’s mom didn’t like her questioning her decisions or trying new things, so basically, she talked shit about her to all the other moms and got your mom removed.”
“What? How in the hell do you know that?” Sofie asked, almost fully facing me.
“I wasn’t that dumb at five, and we all would hear Christy and Teagan’s mom talk shit. They didn’t even wait for us to leave the room. Christy even told us her mom said you had lice so we couldn’t play with you at school. From there, it spiraled to Christy’s craziness. Truth be told, I think she really did like you once upon a time, but her mom’s a freaking psycho nightmare,” I said, searching through my purse. At least I remembered to grab that and I had my camera. I also needed a mint or something, so Mom didn’t ask too many questions. God, I should have told Sofie this years ago. Was I keeping secrets from her? Of course not, she just never asked. It wasn’t like I was trying to hurt her.
“Is this all true?” Sofie asked softly.
“Yeah. Wow. You didn’t know any of this?” I shot my head up, tilting my chin slightly to the side.
She shook her head.
“Holy hell. I should have told you this years ago. I just thought you were being a bitch back to us, but really, you probably thought we were all bitches because of Christy’s cray-cray mom,” I said, laughing at myself because it was easier than crying. I was so pissed at Jordan for not telling me about Teagan, and I hadn’t told Sofie why Christy was such a bitch to her for so long.
But I told myself that wasn’t the same. Jordan was the one who betrayed me. Jordan—who was supposed to love me.
“By the way, don’t tell my mom or your dad about the guy. They don’t need to know Jordan was there,” I said, putting my hand on her arm as she pulled into the driveway of my house.
“Jordan? Oh. Didn’t you date him in high school?” she asked, raising her eyebrows.
I blew out a breath. “Yeah. That’s a long story.”
“Okay. Your secret’s safe with me,” she said, parking in front of the house illuminated by the porch light.
I smiled at my soon-to-be stepsister. “You’re really great; you know that, Sofie? Johnny’s super lucky to have you as his girlfriend, and I’m totally super lucky to have you as a stepsister.”
Before she could respond, I pulled her into a hug. She smelled like bacon, and I kind of wanted to lick her in my drunken state.
“Thanks, Abbey,” she squeaked out.
I released her and grinned. “I’ll see you at the next family dinner. Thank youuuuuuu, sissy.”
I stumbled out of her car and slowly crept up the front porch, righting myself until I found my key and got inside.
I could hear the faint sounds of the television from Mom and Dave’s bedroom, but I didn’t stop. I didn’t stop anywhere until I got to my bedroom, where I flopped down on my bed like I had a few months ago and let a drunken slumber take over.
Chapter 17
I didn’t have a shift at the bakery the next morning, but I went in anyway.
I couldn’t sleep, and I knew a hangover would be coming in full force.
Carla, the cheery, redheaded, middle-aged owner of the bakery was in the back, putting a fresh batch of donuts in the oven.
“Abbey! I didn’t think I had you on the schedule today,” she yelled over a giant bowl of frosting.
“I’m not, but thought you could use some help with the before and after church crowd,” I said, smiling as I tied on one of the red aprons that I took from a hook by the back door.
“That or boy troubles again? Not that I’m complaining, but every time you get frustrated with that Bianchi boy, you always take it out on the dough. We get the best kneaded rolls every time y’all get in a fight,” Carol said, offering a small smile I guess to soften the blow of her words.
“Nothing with Joey this time—well, not directly—but I’ll gladly take out my frustrations on the dough.”
Carol nodded to the prep station behind her. “Have at it, girlie.”
***
Three hours of kneading later and I didn’t feel any better about my situation with Jordan, Joey, and Teagan, but at least I got some aggression out and now not only was I mentally and physically exhausted, but my arms and shoulders ached.
Slowly making my way to the front of the store, I pushed open the swinging door that separated the kitchen from the front and sulked toward the coffeepot.
“I think the gentleman caller that’s been causing you to beat my dough has been sitting outside waiting for you,” Carol said over her shoulder from where she stood behind the register.
My eyes trailed to the front window and the white bench where, sure enough, Jordan was slumped over.
I’d recognize him anywhere. Front. Back. Sideways. And that was what I hated. How I knew every angle and part of his body like the back of my hand and how even though I was pissed, my skin felt like it was on fire just from looking at the back of his perfect head through the glass.
“Are you gonna talk to him or do I need to call my husband and have him flash his fancy FBI badge?” Carla asked, raising her eyebrows.
My shoulders slumped as I sighed. “No scary FBI badge needed. I’ll go talk to him.”
Carol nodded. “Okay, let me know if you need backup. Just tug on your ear or something.”
I smiled, walking past her toward th
e front door. “I will,” I called over my shoulder before opening the front door.
Jordan looked up then did a double take before standing. “Hey, I wasn’t sure you’d ever come out. I went to your place first, and your mom said you were here. But I didn’t see you at the register, so I figured I’d wait,” he rambled, raking his fingers through his hair.
“Why are you here?” I asked point blank, crossing my arms over my chest.
He blew out a big breath. “To apologize? Not for not telling you about Teagan and Joey, because really, I knew that would hurt you, but the fact that I upset you so much for it.”
I shook my head. “That’s not an apology.”
He sighed. “I know, I know, and I’ve been up all night thinking about it. Instead of sleeping, I finished painting the upstairs at my grandparents so I may be high on paint fumes, but I do know what I did was wrong. We were just in such a good place, and I knew Teagan and Joey were shit, but I also knew telling you about it would just hurt more, so I just pushed New York further. Get us both away from this fucked-up town.”
“This town is not fucked up,” I grumbled.
Jordan licked his lips. “It’s not what I meant. You know what I meant.”
“No, I don’t, Jordan, but please, enlighten me now that you’re finally sharing all your secrets.”
He took a step closer, but I moved back. I didn’t want to feel his touch or the heat of his body on me because then I couldn’t be mad, and I had to stand my ground. He hurt me, and he knew it.
“Abbey, please. I didn’t want to tell you because I knew it would just upset you. I don’t know how many times I have to say it and what does it matter. You may have been born and raised in this town, but a lot of your so-called friends have always treated you like shit. Just in these past couple of weeks, I’ve seen a new you. For the first time ever, you were going for more than just hanging out in this town. You were planning a future in New York. A future with me. I knew if I told you about Teagan and Joey, you would just spiral into yourself like you’re doing now.”
