Tilting my head to the side, I watched her as she looked around the room, avoiding my eyes. “Bexley, you were dealt a blow that shattered any illusions of security you had here, and I was the one who did it. Staying away was how you protected yourself and found ways to get that security back. Was it the right idea not to come home? Fuck knows. We can’t predict what would’ve happened if you’d come back straight after college—”
“I lost time with him, Logan.” She sounded as tortured as she looked when she finally met my gaze. “If I’d come home right after college, I would’ve had at least one or even two of those years back.”
The guilt was almost suffocating me. “It’s my fault, and I’ll never be able to put into words exactly how sorry I am, honey. I fucked it up for everyone. The shittiest thing is that I didn’t even mean what I said, I was just a massive dick back then.”
Closing her eyes, she shook her head slowly. “I know that, and it would’ve come out sooner or later. At least it happened when I had to leave for college and not once I came back. I don’t know if I could’ve handled the blow from that and losing Pops too.” Lifting her free hand to move a chunk of hair that’d fallen out of the messy bun and onto her face, she gave me a small smile. “He never blamed you, you know. He always said there was a reason for everything happening and that what didn’t break you made you stronger.”
“He said the same thing to me as well. I kept asking him why he didn’t beat the tar out of me, but he’d just repeat that the reason for it all happening would make itself clear in time, and that at least you were pursuing your dreams with fire in your soul instead of just going through the motions until you graduated from college.” I stopped and then decided to fill her in on a funny part of the story. “Although, most of the time when he saw me, he’d pull his finger across his neck and whisper, ‘you’re a dead man.’ Then there were the erectile dysfunction pamphlets, natural cures for it, emails, boxes of the magical little blue pills, and shit like that which kept arriving. I’m thinking what he had to say about it depended on the day.”
Bexley burst out laughing at this, and I knew I’d made the right choice adding it in. “He sent you erectile dysfunction stuff?” she wheezed.
“Sure did. And also taught his dog to hate me.”
Still laughing, she nodded her head quickly. “He did a thorough job there.”
Tugging her with me to the kitchen, I didn’t let go of her until we were in front of the bag of food. Pressing my palm against her stomach, I gently pushed her in the direction of the cupboard behind her. “Get some plates, baby. I really don’t want this to go to waste.”
Snorting, she did as I asked. “You always hated your food going cold. Remember that time we drove to the new Mexican restaurant in Palmerstown and reheated it when we got home?”
“How could I forget? I ended up in the hospital with food poisoning. That’s why I don’t reheat takeout.”
“I told you to have the beef, but you just had to go for the chicken and seafood tacos.”
Shuddering, I pulled out the tacos I’d bought for us—ironically, they were chicken—and made sure they were still warm enough for me.
“They got shut down six months after they opened for repeated violations and multiple reports of food poisoning. I think you need to maybe change your way of thinking to you being lucky not to get food poisoning, too.”
“You’re probably right,” she murmured, unwrapping two of the tacos and putting them on her plate. “It wasn’t even good food.”
Yeah, two tragedies had occurred that day: bad Mexican and food poisoning. It was criminal.
Frowning, she looked down at the taco she was just about to bite into. “Is this restaurant better? I haven’t heard much about it.”
Taking as big of a bite as I could, I nodded as I chewed. “Yeah, they’re family-owned. They used to sell the stuff they made at a small shop with a stall outside when it was warm, but they received a start-up cash injection to open the restaurant. It’s one of the best things to happen to Piersville.”
Finally, she gave in and bit into it, groaning when she tasted it, and I paused with my mouth open just as I went to take another bite of my taco. Closing her eyes, she moaned and chewed, making me shift slightly.
“Okay, now this is a good taco.” Opening her eyes back up, she incorrectly read the expression on my face. “Please tell me it’s not a taco fluke and that they’re all as good as this?”
Swallowing awkwardly, I took another bite and took my time chewing and swallowing it. “No, this one’s always awesome, so the odds are probably in our favor.”
Finishing them off was a test in restraint and patience, and by the time it was over, I’d made a mental note to avoid getting tacos again in the near future.
While we were moving furniture out into the garage so we could shrink-wrap more flooring, she told me about her plans to meet up with Ava. They’d been best friends since they were little as well, even though she was eighteen months older than Bexley.
She also filled me in on the English teacher vacancy at Piersville High that she’d applied for.
“I emailed my CV in to the principal, and it only took them like twenty minutes to call me about it,” she explained as we set down a wooden cabinet on a dust sheet in the garage.
“I’ve got an interview in three days. Lucky for me, there isn’t a lot of demand just now for small town living, so they’re going to do the background check and whatever else they need to do between now and then. After it, I’m flying to Boston to pack up and give it all to the company moving my stuff, and by the time I fly back, they should have an answer. If the timing works out right, I’ll have everything here by the time I start. If not, then I’ll just pack some work clothes until the rest arrive, and I’ve got Pops’ Toyota 4Runner to drive around in.”
It was crazy how it was all falling into place, but what sucked was the fact it’d taken her losing Lawrence for it to happen.
Cracking the kink out of my neck, I focused on the wall over her shoulder as I asked what’d been weighing on me. “Do you think you’ll enjoy moving back here? It’s different to living in a place like Boston, and the school’s—”
“The same one I went to,” she interrupted. “I know it better than the one I was working at, and I have family here that I’ve missed. I’ll probably miss some of the things I had in Boston that we don’t have here, but I figure having friends and family only five minutes away from me will more than make up for the lack of Starbucks.”
I dared to look away from the wall to make sure she wasn’t lying, but the expression on her face was serious. “Really? That’s kind of a big sacrifice.” I shook my head like I was mulling it over seriously. “Then again, there’s a Starbucks twenty minutes away now.”
“Yeah, in the wrong direction to Piersville High, though.”
“Fair point.”
Walking back into the house, she said over her shoulder, “I don’t know until I try it, right? And if it doesn’t work out, there’ll be something else out there.”
I missed a step as what she’d registered. “Wait, why wouldn’t it work out here?”
Shooting me a grin, she explained, “Well, you might have a new secret to divulge that alters the course of my life again. You and one of the Townsends could be in love and planning to elope in Vegas and want the land Pops’ house is on.”
My mouth opened and closed as I tried to figure out what the hell she was talking about. “I’m fairly certain they’re all happily married, Bex.”
Raising her eyebrows, it was her turn to be shocked by my reply. “I was talking about Layla. Why would you assume we were talking about one of the guys?”
Because I can’t get away from them? The Townsend family were like herpes. First you came across one, then another two popped up behind them.
I was about to say that to her, but she gasped, “Oh wow, are you gay? That’s so cool.”
“What? No. Why are we even talking about this?”
/>
Throwing her arms up in the air, she snapped, “I don’t know.”
There was a brief pause, and then both of us burst out laughing. It felt good to have this with her, being able to laugh shit out like we used to.
“Oh God, your face when I asked if you were gay,” she gasped, holding her side.
Still laughing, I shook my head to clear it. “We’ve had a lot of random conversations over the years, but that one might just be at the top of the list.”
I’d been looking at the ground when I said it, and when I glanced back up again, she was watching me with a soft smile on her face.
“We’re getting it back, aren’t we?”
Knowing exactly what she meant, I took a shaky breath in. “Yeah, babe, we are, and I’m so fucking relieved about it.”
Reaching her hand out with her pinky extended, she waited for me to hook mine around it before shaking them like we used to when we were kids.
“Bro-hoes for life.”
There was a problem with that part of her plan.
I wasn’t sure I wanted to be bro-hoes again. Bexley Heath had been a huge part of my life for as far back as I could remember, even when she wasn’t here. I wanted her to be an even bigger part of it now, though.
I just didn’t know how to convince her.
Chapter Six
Bexley
Three days later…
“I think you’ll get it,” Ava repeated as we got out of the car in front of the Piersville Police Department. “You’re the best there is.”
Smiling wryly at her over the roof, I pointed out, “You’re biased, you have to say that.”
Shutting our doors, we walked toward the entrance, still discussing it and our plans for Boston. Logan had made me promise to tell him how my interview had gone, and because Ava had come with me, she was tagging along before we went to collect her stuff for our trip.
The blast of ice-cold air from the air conditioning hit us as we entered, making both of us shudder.
Almost like it was a coordinated move, every available head lifted from what they were doing and turned to look at us, making me and Ava take a step back.
Without even realizing I was doing it, I shouted, “I didn’t do it.”
“Way to go making them suspicious,” Ava hissed in my ear, making me want to kick myself.
The sheriff, Dave, walked out of the office at the very back. I’d only met him a couple of times and didn’t know how to take him, but his wife was one of the sweetest people I’d ever met, and I was looking forward to hopefully working with her at Piersville High.
“You looking for Logan?”
Blinking, I glanced at Ava for her approval to answer, making her roll her eyes. “Of course you can answer that question. You’re already fucked anyway, so maybe they’ll rule you out of whatever crime they’re working on if you tell him why we’re standing here like idiots.”
Harsh… but true.
Clearing my throat, I stuttered, “Y-yeah. Do you know where I can find him?”
The sound of hinges squeaking drew our attention to a door on the far right of the room, and the man himself walked through it, his eyes fixed on a piece of paper in his hand.
“Yo, you’ve got a visitor, Richards,” Dave called.
Raising his head, Logan frowned until he saw me standing there, no doubt looking as awkward as I felt.
Lips twitching, he changed directions and came over to us. “Why do y’all look like you’re about to be sentenced to life?”
Glancing nervously at Dave, who was standing there with his arms crossed over his chest, his eyes narrowed on the two of us now, I whispered, “Because he looks like he knows every secret I’ve got.”
Smirking slightly, Dave shrugged one of his bulky shoulders. “Because I do.”
Holding her arm out, Ava said, “Congratulations, by the way. That election took a while to get sorted out, but I’m glad you won.”
Shaking it, he smiled back at her. “Thanks. I’ve been in the job for two years, but the fact the town hadn’t been able to elect me properly for the position was pissing me off. It took some time to talk the mayor into it because he thought it was an unnecessary use of resources, but we got there.”
“The mayor doesn’t do things the normal way,” Logan muttered. “If this uniform sticks for any length of time, it’ll be a miracle. And this morning’s ‘bullet clarification,’” he air quoted, “is giving my ass a headache.”
All of us blinked at his choice of words, but it was Dave who asked, “Why and how is your ass getting a headache?”
“When someone talks out of theirs, your ass is the area that listens. He talks out of his so much, my ass gets regular migraines.”
Frowning and shaking his head, Dave looked back at us. “Tabby told me you had an interview at the school today, I hope you get good news from them.”
“I think they’re going to ask you to do a background check on me, so just to let you know, I’ve never been in trouble with the law, I pay my taxes on time, I donate to charities, I even pick up trash on the sidewalk. I also just donated a ton of canned goods to the food bank because Pops was expecting the end of the world and had enough to feed ten families for a month…” I trailed off when his lips twitched. “Um, basically, I’m a good person.”
The people close enough to hear started snickering, or maybe they’d been doing it for a while, and I just hadn’t heard them?
“I’m sure you are. I’ll make sure to add that onto the paperwork when it’s completed.” And with that, he turned and strode back to the door he’d come out of.
“You looking for a sainthood?” Ava chuckled, nudging my shoulder. “The only thing you left out was the speech you gave in eighth grade demanding world peace and justice for the ozone layer.”
Why did people remember that shit? Seriously. I was passionate about it and thought when I was asked to give a speech to the school about world peace and the difference it would make, that I could add in the ozone layer and climate change. It wasn’t until afterward, when I was replaying it in my head, that I’d realized how much of a goober I’d sounded. I was also one of those people who woke up in the middle of the night and relived the embarrassment about stupid things I’d done. And that was one of the things that always came back to me, even now.
Laughing silently, Logan shrugged when I glared at him. “It was a passionate speech, Bex. I doubt anyone has ever forgotten it.”
Ass.
Shooting both of them a dirty look, I decided to move onto why I was here. “I just wanted to let you know about the interview.”
He immediately sobered up and straightened, his face looking serious now. “How did it go? I know you said they’d do a background check on you to DB but did they give any indication that you’d be getting the position?”
“They said that I was in a preferential spot for the position because of who I was and the fact I was already teaching high school English, but there’s no certainty until they call me with the job offer.”
“Tell him exactly what they said,” Ava hissed, nudging me harder than before.
Logan’s eyes were fixed on me, their intensity making me feel slightly weak. “Seeing as how Principal Teller’s still there, he said that so long as my background check and references are okay, he’d be offering me the job.”
“I’ll bet it was weird having an interview with the same principal who took the microphone out of your hand as you were lecturing us all about climate change and greenhouse gases,” he murmured through his grin.
“Yeah, you could say that. But I’m fairly certain everything will check out, and my school in Boston said they were sad to lose me, but they’d be giving me a glowing reference because of the work I’d done, so hopefully I’ll get the offer.”
Rubbing my shoulder, he pulled me into his side. “You’ll get it, Bex. Every job has formalities—well, some of them are delayed if you’re the sheriff of a small town wanting to have a free and fair election,” he sig
hed, rolling his eyes. “DB will get right on his side of it all, so it’s just your old school you’ll be waiting on.”
“They’ve been really good about giving me my vacation time and sick days, so I feel shitty leaving them in the lurch.”
“Like no one else in the school would do what you’re doing if an opportunity like this came up,” Ava huffed. “Honey, they’ve had a substitute filling in for you while you took time off, and with the amount of time you’ve gotten, you had to have skipped taking vacations for it to accrue.”
The school I worked for was a private school, and my contract allowed for ten vacation days on top of regular school breaks and a generous sick day package. Ava wasn’t wrong—I’d never touched any of them. I was also taking a pay cut to move here, but I didn’t have to pay rent anymore, so it kind of balanced out.
“Don’t worry about it so much. Life changes and people move on. The school knows that, so they won’t be pissed. They’ll be disappointed, but that’s a given,” Logan added, then looked at Ava. “You looking forward to going with Bex to help pack up?”
“Indeed I am. I’ve been dying to go to Boston, so this is the best excuse possible because I get to bring her back with me.”
Shooting her a grin, he turned back to me. “When do y’all leave?”
“We’re getting up at four AM to catch our flight at eight-thirty AM. We’ll be gone for four days, getting in at six-fifteen PM on Tuesday.”
I knew he was making a mental note of the times as he nodded. “How’s your car getting back here?”
“The company also transports vehicles, so they’re going to load it and deliver it with my shit. I don’t have a lot of stuff there because I rented my apartment fully furnished. It’s just some clothes and stuff like that, so it didn’t work out too expensive to add my car onto it all.”
Eat Crow (Cheap Thrills Series Book 6) Page 6
