Nothing But Trouble (A Saratoga Falls Love Story Book 2)
Page 36
I shake my head. “I’m disappointed in you. Classic is classic, there’s a difference between what’s currently ‘cool’ and what’s ‘classic.’”
Jesse doesn’t bother looking up at us. I’m beginning to pick up on a pattern with him, so I don’t take it personally that he doesn’t really look at me. At least he’s not tapping on the table anymore, which makes me feel better, like maybe he’s warming up to me a bit more.
“Cool verses classic, huh?” Bethany says with amusement. “You seem very certain of this.”
I shrug. “Of course I am.” I drop my spoon in my dish and sit back in the booth. “Queen, the best band of all time, is classic; and The Goonies movie is another classic, one I think even you would like, Jesse, since you’re so keen on adventure.” It’s a harmless dig, but true given his midnight outing and penchant for taking off once in a while. “And of course, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade is a motion picture classic to everyone.”
“Maybe to people born in the 90s,” Jesse clarifies and he finally looks up at me.
Eyes wide, I gape at him, then at Bethany. “A sense of humor? I didn’t see that one coming.”
“Sometimes,” she says. She smiles and runs her fingers through his brown hair.
Though Jesse doesn’t seem to take much notice to her attention, I get the feeling she’s the one person in the world he probably cares most about. There’s something calming in the way they are together, putting Jesse more at ease. I’ve only been drip-fed information about her parents over the years, but they seem like cold-hearted ass-hats. And, after tonight, learning how careless they’ve been with Jesse, I doubt his relationship with them is half as easy as his relationship with his sister.
He stares thoughtfully at his sundae. “They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame,” he says, catching me off guard.
“Who was, Queen?” I ask, and lean my elbows on the table. “How do you know that?”
“And they received the Lifetime Achievement Award this year at the Grammys.”
I look at Bethany, who’s smiling from ear to ear. “I told you, he loves pop culture.”
Chuckling, I lean toward him a little bit. “And how is it that you know so much about Queen—wait, how do you know who Queen is at all?”
He glances at Bethany. “My sister listens to them sometimes,” he explains. “She listens to a lot of music.”
My eyes widen with surprise. “Does she, now? I had no idea.” I look at Bethany and our eyes meet for a brief moment. “This gets more interesting by the second.”
Bethany rolls her eyes. “Oh, please. It can’t be that surprising. You barely know anything about me.”
“I guess.” I know enough, though. I know that every time I think I have her figured out, she throws me a curveball, and that every time I tell myself I’m done thinking about her, she does something surprising that hooks me in again, making thoughts of her inescapable.
I lean back in the booth, my sundae long gone. “All right then, so you guys are awesome and like my favorite band, but what about this Indiana Jones business?” Watching Jesse lick his fingers, I settle in for another debate. “Which is your favorite—wait, let me guess … Raiders of the Lost Ark?”
Jesse’s blue eyes meet mine and hold for a brief second. “How’d you know that?”
Suppressing a triumphant smile, I shrug. “Maybe a lucky guess. Or, maybe I figured that since you like dinosaurs”—I nod to his Jurassic Park shirt—“you’re partial to the snake scene—reptiles, that sort of thing.”
Jesse smiles a little, but I’ve lost his gaze again. “Yeah, you’re right.”
I clap my hands together. “What can I say, nothing gets by me.”
“But,” Jesse continues, “paleontologists say dinosaurs were a mix between warm and cold blood. So, they weren’t actually reptiles, like snakes.”
Bethany smiles again, with pride this time, and shakes her head. She’s beautiful when she’s like this, when she opens up and lets her walls down. It’s her crinkled, stormy gray eyes that have stuck with me all these years, making it nearly impossible to forget about her, no matter how many times I’ve tried.
“So, you’re a smart guy, huh?” I say. “I dig it.”
Jesse shrugs. “I read a lot.” He stirs what’s left of his sundae around in his glass.
My phone buzzes on the table beside me, and Savannah’s name fills the screen. I frown down at it. “Uh … Give me a sec, would you?” I look at Bethany, whose eyes are on me as I excuse myself from the table and make my way to the door.
I answer the call as I step outside. “Hello?”
“Hey!” Savannah shouts, laughing into the phone. It’s her drunken laugh, her happy laugh. “Happy New Year, Nicky!”
I let out a relieved breath, glad she’s just tipsy and not crying or depressed on the other end. Leaving Saratoga Falls—me, her job, and her friends—to go back home to take care of her parents has been more difficult for her than she’d expected, and for me, if I’m honest. “Happy New Year, Red. Where are you?”
“Umm, I’m at a bar in Hannington Beach with a couple of new acquaintances. It’s my new hangout. What about you? Is Brady being a mean ol’ bastard and making you work all night or did he let you off the hook to meet up with Mac for New Year’s?”
I glance inside the restaurant, through the window at Jesse and Bethany as they sit, tucked away at our booth. “I’m at Denny’s, actually, of all places.”
She laughs. “That’s … unexpected.”
“Yeah, it is.” Savannah has no idea.
There’s movement on her end, and she’s huffing and puffing before the commotion dies down in the background. “I miss you, Nick,” she says quietly. “I just—I wanted to hear your voice. It’s weird being here, when I really just want to be there, with you.”
I clear my throat, the timing of her call while Bethany is inside, waiting for me, shrinks the world in around me a little, and I feel uncomfortable. “You didn’t want to do the long-distance thing, remember?”
“Yeah, but …” she sighs. “That was before.”
“Before what?”
“Before I knew how hard this would be.”
I peer out at the dark street, watching what few cars are on the road pass, at a loss for words. We’ve gone around and around about this so many times, and it always ends the same. We try it out, it’s too hard for her, so we put an end to it. We take some time apart and somehow, we keep ending up where we started. I can’t do it anymore. As much as I care about her, I need some sanity too. “It’ll just—it’ll take time to get used to everything,” I tell her. I feel like a broken record, but she’s buzzed, and I’m not sure anything I say will matter all that much. “But I’m glad you called, and I’m glad you’re having fun … You deserve that, at least.”
“It’s not the same though,” she says sadly.
Shoving my cold, free hand into my pocket, I glance inside again to meet Bethany’s curious gaze. She quickly looks away and brings her phone to her ear.
“Nick,” Savannah says, “I miss you.”
“I miss you, too, Savannah.”
“Do you, really?” she asks hesitantly. “You sound … different tonight.”
“Yes, of course I miss you, but this is how things are now.” You’re the one who left.
Whether it’s my tone or that she knows deep down this isn’t a helpful conversation to be having, she finally says, “You’re right. I’ll let you go.” After an exhale, she adds, “Happy New Year, Nick. Tell everyone I say hi, would you?”
“Of course I will … Happy New Year.”
We hang up after a few seconds pause, and just as I’m about to head inside, the door swings open and Bethany and Jesse step outside, adjusting their coats.
“What’s up?” I ask, glancing inside to see what the rush is all about. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah, everything’s fine. We just need to get home. My mom’s worried.” There’s an unexpected distance
to Bethany’s voice and all the walls she’d let down earlier, all the laughing and openness, is gone. “I already paid, so you don’t have to worry about it.”
“You didn’t have to do that.”
“It was Jesse’s idea to come here, and it’s the least I can do for all your help tonight.” She flashes me a smile, but it’s a smokescreen. The distance she’s putting between us is too reminiscent of the past. I don’t like it, not after everything that’s happened tonight.
“Our ride’s here,” she says and gently urges Jesse toward a blue sedan parked at the curb. “Climb in where it’s warm, J.” Her tone brooks no argument as she pulls her blonde hair out of the collar of her jacket.
“So, you’re leaving, just like that?” I’m not sure if I’m more upset or confused.
“I need to get Jesse home,” she says, digging around in her purse. “It’s late, and my parents—well …” She shrugs.
“They didn’t seem too worried earlier,” I remind her.
She’s tapping something into her phone as she walks to the sedan.
“Hey—” I say, and reach for her arm. “What’s with you all of the sudden?”
Finally, she looks at me. Her lips are pursed and her delicate eyebrows are drawn together. “Thank you for your help tonight, Nick. I don’t know what I would’ve done without you. I mean that.” But her brow furrows even more and she gets into the car without another word and shuts the door.
Just as suddenly as she appeared in my life this evening, she disappears again. And like always, I’m left standing there with my mind spinning and the all too familiar sting of disappointment.
I hope you enjoyed your excerpt of Told You So. Click here if you’d like to continue reading Nick and Bethany’s story.
Author’s Note
Hello again! I’m so happy you made it all the way through the story, and I hope you enjoyed reading Mac and Colton’s adventure—that you adored Casey as much as I enjoyed writing her, and that Cal, Nick, and the rest of the crew stole your heart as they often do mine. There’s something comforting in being immersed in this new series with characters I’ve created, love, and know so well; it’s like being with old friends, similar to how I felt working on The Ending Series. It’s heartening to know I’ve found that again with the Saratoga Falls crew.
Writing Mac’s story in ninety-nine-degree weather was a bit of a challenge, but as I write this letter to you now, the holidays are just around the corner and her story feels so perfect. I did realize something after writing Nothing But Trouble, though. I might have dystopian westerns, fairytales, and love stories up my sleeve for future books, but the Saratoga Falls clan, in a sense, is very much who I am. Perhaps that’s why I felt the need to write these stories now.
Sam’s story was sort of a homage to both the darker and more happier parts of my childhood—the despair and the horses, the scents of summertime and annual canoe trips. Mac’s story is almost a nostalgic revisiting of my own happily ever after—meeting my husband, the banter, and an interesting New Year together way back when. While he and I are not Mac and Colton, other than he’s a mechanic and I curse like a sailor, working at “the shop” was very much a part of who I was, who he is, and how we met. It felt natural writing this story, and I’m so happy I can finally share it with you.
Happy Reading Adventures!
Linds
P.S. If you have time, I’d be grateful if you would leave an honest review on Goodreads and/or your preferred retailer.
Can’t get enough of the Saratoga Falls crew?
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Also by Lindsey Pogue
Saratoga Falls Love Stories
Whatever It Takes
Nothing But Trouble
Told You So
Forgotten Lands
Dust and Shadow
Borne of Sand and Scorn - Prequel Novella
Wilt and Ruin (TBR)
Borne of Earth and Ember (TBR)
The Ending Series
After The Ending
Into The Fire
Out Of The Ashes
Before The Dawn
The Ending Beginnings Omnibus
The Ending Series: World Before
For more information visit: www.lindseypogue.com
About the Author
Lindsey Pogue has always been a sucker for a good love story. Having had a tumultuous childhood, she often lost herself in her writing, finally completing her first new adult manuscript in high school. Lindsey has been writing tales of love and friendship, history and adventure ever since. When she’s not chatting with readers, plotting her next storyline, or dreaming up new, brooding characters, she’s generally wrapped in blankets watching her favorite action flicks with her own leading man. Lindsey and her husband live in Northern California with their rescue cat, Beast.
www.lindseypogue.com