Chapter 6
Chapter Six
Lena
H ow could he think for a second that I would believe Henry told him to leave town?
Henry would never. His boys were his life, his pride and joy. He was devastated when Gavin left. But then again, the Wells men have never been good about letting their feelings be known.
Being this close to him isn’t a good idea. I take another step back, putting as much distance between us as possible. I need to be able to think, and I can’t do that with him this close. I take a few steps away from him, going to stand in front of the window that overlooks Main Street.
My body is on fire, begging him to kiss me again.
I had no clue Henry put this stipulation in the will, but knowing him as well as I do, there’s a reason he did it without telling either of us.
What did he know that I don’t?
If Gavin stays, then Jayla will keep the farm in the family. It’s what she’s always dreamed of. I want that for my baby girl.
Even if it means avoiding Gavin at all costs for the next year.
I turn around to tell Gavin that I want him to stay for Jayla when Michael walks back into the room. He sits in the large chair behind his oversized mahogany desk.
“The will stipulates you have a week to decide and make arrangements.”
“A week?” Gavin’s voice is tight.
He’s barely keeping his temper under wraps. His hands clench the back of the chair he’s standing behind as if he’s about to throw it at any second. He would never, but…I can’t imagine any of this is easy for him to hear.
I can’t believe I flinched when he lifted his hand. I know that he’d never hurt me physically, but I still have fears from when I was married to Aaron. He’d never hit me, but he definitely threw a lot of things other than insults around.
Gavin stares at Michael as if waiting for him to say he’s joking, but Mike shrugs solemnly.
“That’s right,” he answers, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. “You’ve got a week to decide what you want to do, Gavin. If you choose not to stay, the farm, along with everything on it, will go to auction. That includes the contents. There won’t be any removing memorabilia that belonged to your mother. The money will be donated to the hospital’s partial scholarship in your mother’s name. They’ve already earmarked a scholarship fund for the school in Aaron’s name.”
I flinch at the mention of Aaron. His name still hurts even though it’s been two years. Gavin, too, goes rigid beside me, his knuckles white. Aaron has always been a sensitive topic for him.
The people of Hicks Creek wanted to do a scholarship in Aaron’s name. I always found it laughable that they chose the school, making him out to be some great sports dad or human being.
He wasn’t the doting husband and father they all thought he was, but who am I to shatter that memory for them?
Gavin runs a hand through his hair, his frustration mounting. “This is… I can’t stay here for a year, Mike. You know that. I have work, responsibilities—”
Michael raises a hand, cutting him off gently. “I understand, Gavin. I do. But these are the terms. Your father was adamant about this. It’s not just about you. This is about the farm, about the legacy. He wanted to make sure it stayed in the family.”
“If that were the truth, he wouldn’t be trying to bully me and blow up my life right now.”
I take a deep breath, trying to calm the nerves twisting in my stomach. This farm wasn’t just a piece of land or a relic from our past; it was where Jayla felt closest to Henry and remembered Aaron the most. I have so many memories there, too. The thought of it going to auction, strangers tearing it apart, makes me feel sick. I glance at Gavin, who still looks like he wants to bolt out the door.
He's being so stoic about all of it. Doesn’t he care?
Tears prick at my eyes. I should have known he’d fight about this. Aaron was right; Gavin is so selfish that he’ll probably let strangers have everything.
“Gavin, Henry isn’t trying to blow up your life. He’s always been incredibly intentional about everything he did. There’s a lesson here whether you want to see it or not. Also, Aaron and Henry always told Jayla that the farm would be hers someday. She’s grown up with that idea, which means the world to her. This place is more than just land. It’s where she feels closest to them both.” I pause, searching his face for any sign of understanding, but his eyes are distant, lost in his own thoughts. “It’s where you always felt the happiest at one point in your life.”
His eyes flit to mine as if I let out a secret to the world that no one else knew. He shakes his head and turns around to look out a window.
“I get that this is a lot,” I continue,“but… maybe it doesn’t have to be all or nothing. You can do your work remotely most of the time, right? You could go to the city when needed, but you could stay here. Be part of the community again. Get to know Jayla better. She’d love for you to watch her play basketball and… She hardly knows you, and you’re her only uncle. We could work something out together.”
He lets out a bitter laugh, shaking his head. “Lena, I can’t run a farm. I wouldn’t even know where to start. I don’t have the time, and honestly, I don’t have the skill set anymore.”
I lean forward. “Henry had staff to help him. He didn’t do it all himself. He managed things, sure, but when it got to the point where he couldn’t physically do it anymore, he hired people. You wouldn’t have to break your back every day; other people handle the hard labor. You’d just be telling them what to do. You’ve always been good at that.” I can see a small fraction of a smile tugging at his lips. “It’s about keeping the farm in the family, preserving what your mom and dad and your grandparents cared about.”
He rubs his temples, clearly frustrated. “I left this place for a reason. You’re also asking me to take on a liability; running a farm isn’t cheap.”
“I may never understand why you never came back, but things are different now. You’re different. We all are. Just… think about it. For Jayla. For your mom. For Henry and Aaron.”
He doesn’t answer right away, and the room feels like it’s closing in on us. I can see the internal struggle in his eyes, the pull between the life he’s built in the city and the ties he still has here, even if he doesn’t want to admit it. I can feel the tightness in my chest, the anxiety of not knowing if he’ll stay or go.
Maybe he has a girlfriend there, and…yikes, I should have thought this through better.
“There’s plenty of room for you and your girlfriend.”
He snorts and shakes his head. “It’s just me. I can’t trust anyone else, clearly.”
It takes everything in me not to blow out the breath I was holding. He doesn’t need to know that I was worried about that answer.
Please stay. Please hear the words and stay, Gavin. Please.
The silence stretches on, and when he finally looks at me, his gaze is intense, searching, like he’s trying to figure something out.
Shit. I remember when he used to look at me like this. My vagina remembers, too. I can feel my panties getting soaked as the memories hit me.
Slowly, he stands from his chair, and I do the same, not knowing what’s coming next.
I know what I want to come next.
And then, before I can even process what’s happening, he closes the space between us. His lips crash into mine with a hunger that takes me by surprise. My body freezes for a second, but then I melt into him, my hands gripping the front of his shirt as if I’m afraid to let go.
Yes! This is what I wanted.
My heart soars, like I feel it practically beating out of my chest as…
Stupid, stupid, stupid.
I rip away from him and put distance between us, gripping the back of the chair. His breathing is ragged. I look between him and Michael, hoping to just let the floor swallow me whole.
Spontaneous combustion is a thing, right?
“This,” he whispers, his voice strained, “this is why I stayed away.”
I blink, trying to make sense of his words, but he pulls back farther, looking at me with regret.
“I stayed away because I knew, even back then, that Aaron was the better match for you,” he continues, his voice low but filled with emotion. “He was the one you deserved, not me. If I had come back, I would’ve ruined everything. I would’ve ruined my relationship with my brother… and with you. My father told me that if I chose you, I couldn’t come back. I chose you, and then…when I couldn’t explain to you why we couldn’t be a couple back in Hicks Creek, you left.” He stops what he's saying and closes his eyes to regain his composure. “Even my dad knew Aaron was better for you. If I couldn’t have you, then I couldn’t watch you live your happily ever after with my perfect brother.”
Perfect brother?
Why is he making this up? Henry wouldn’t have told him that.
His words are like a slap in the face, and I glare at him, my heart pounding in my chest. “Gavin, what are you talking about? Why are you lying?”
“We can’t even be in the same room without…being pulled toward each other. I couldn’t stay here, watching you two build a life together, knowing that if I stayed, I’d… I don’t know. You…”
How dare he try to blame this all on me?
I swallow hard, my emotions threatening to spill over. “Don’t you dare put this on me.”
“I wanted you, but so did my brother. I would have…”
“No, fuck you !” I hiss as I get up in his face. “Don’t you dare sit here and tell me that the reason you didn’t come back to Hicks Creek is because of some bullshit feelings for me! You made it loud and clear that I was nothing to you but a fuck buddy. You didn’t come back to town because you’re a selfish bastard who plays the damn victim!”
My finger is digging into his chest. He grabs my wrist gently. He stares at me, his face etched with something like pain, but he doesn’t say anything.He moves my arm away and lets it go slowly.
“I should…” Michael starts as he stands.
“I’ll go. I’ll be in touch,” Gavin hisses as he storms out of the office.
I fall into the chair, clutching my stomach before I bury my face in my hands. What is this, guilt or sadness? It’s the same pain I felt when he told me I was just a fuck buddy. Did I really tie all of this to him staying for me instead of the farm?
“What the fuck just happened? Why didn’t I…?”
Tell him I love him and beg him to stay?
“You got some ’splaining to do, Lucy.” Michael chuckles in a mock Ricky Ricardo voice.
“I think he made it pretty obvious.”
“You and Gavin were a thing?”
“I didn’t cheat on Aaron.”
“I wasn’t accusing you of it, just asking questions.”
“Aaron and I broke up when he left for the Army, and I was away at college, as you know. The distance was just too much, but…I felt like it was always on me to fix everything for him, you know? Like I was raising him, not dating him. My senior year, I was out at a bar and ran into Gavin. We were inseparable for a few months. When I asked him to go to a party with me back here, he told me that I was nothing more than his fuck buddy.”
“And you slapped him across the face and told him to go to hell?”
“No, I ran out of there and tried not to cry in front of him.” I laugh sarcastically as I shake my head.
“Did Aaron know?”
“Yeah, I told him before we became a couple again. You know, when he had convinced me that he had changed and I slowly realized he hadn’t. He knew that I loved him and had nothing but hatred for Gavin.”
But he made me pay for it constantly. The first time he cheated on me, he said it was because I fucked his brother while we were on a break, and now we were even.
“Did Henry know?”
“I don’t think so. Aaron could have told him, but neither of them said anything to me.”
“You were really good with him. I’ve known Gavin most of my life, and I’ve never seen anyone be able to talk him down like that.”
“It’s a curse.”
“I hate to drop this on you, especially now, but we’re coming up on the two-year anniversary…”
“You think that I don’t know that?” I snap. “Shit, I’m sorry, Mike.”
He gestures to let me know it’s okay before he continues. “A lot still needs to be done with Aaron’s estate.”
“No, there’s not. Henry told me he took care of all of that,” I say slowly.
Should I really be surprised that a Wells man told me one thing and did another?
“Henry did his best, but I was contacted this morning and told he didn’t finalize some things.”
I collapse into the chair and bury my face in my hands.
So much crap has come to light since Aaron’s death, and now I feel like I’m financially drowning. Things that I thought were paid off aren’t. He hid money from me. He had so many debts, and they were threatening to leverage our house, my car, to freeze bank accounts. How can the mayor of a town have that happen to her and come out on the good side of it all?
“I’ll figure it out. I always do,” I say as I stand and hug him. “Thanks.”
I don’t want to deal with this today. I want to forget about everything right now.
“There’s more that we need to go over. But that’s for a different day. We can schedule a meeting for you to come in a few days from now. Also, Henry left letters for you, Jayla, and Gavin. Do you want me to deliver Gavin’s?”
“No, I have to run by the farm anyway. If he hasn’t skipped town already, I’ll leave it on the table for him.”
“Are you sure?”
No. No, I’m not. Part of me hopes that he’s long gone and that I never have to look at his gorgeous face again. And the rest of me wants him to kiss me again and never stop.
“Yeah, just know that I’ll be calling your wife soon to let her know it’s wine o’clock somewhere.”
“I already texted her as much,” he calls after me as I walk out of his office.
I half expected Gavin to be outside sitting by my car or something, but he’s not. I look down at the three letters in my hand.
Maybe I half hoped.
I’d give anything for him to come right back here, take me in his arms, and tell me that he doesn’t want to leave me ever again.
“I get why you did this, Henry, but…damn, I wish I was able to prepare a little better for it all,” I say out loud.
“Hey, Miss Mayor,” Hank says, walking out from behind my car.
I jump and put my hand out as if that will stop him. “Jesus, Hank. I didn’t see you there.”
“Oh, you didn’t? I waved when I passed you.”
“It’s been a long day.”
“Let me buy you lunch,” he offers.
“No, no thanks. I have errands to run.”
I scurry to my car, trying to get my heart rate back to normal.
Where in the hell did he come from? Why is he always everywhere without me realizing it until he scares the shit out of me?
I steer my car toward the farm, looking at the clock. I still have a few hours before I pick Jayla up from school.
Shit, it looks like it’s going to rain.
At the same time, my phone buzzes with a thunderstorm warning notification. Of course, it is definitely in line with the emotions coursing through me.
Here’s to hoping that Gavin isn’t at the farm and that I can get in and get out. After that kiss, I don’t know that I can hold back.
When I pull up to the farm, I see the shiny Maserati in the driveway, like it’s laughing at me.
”I have to give him props, Henry. I thought he would have ditched already.”
When I walk into the house, I find Gavin sitting at the kitchen table, staring out the back door. He doesn’t even notice me.
I put the letter down in front of him. He quickly glances up at me.
“You left before Michael could give it to you. Henry left us letters.”
“Thanks,” he replies gruffly.
“You’re welcome, sir,” I say sarcastically as I curtsy to add to the effect.
I roll my eyes and grab some of the plastic containers off the kitchen counter.
Heaven forbid the ladies at church not get their good Tupperware back. It might cost me the next election.
He’s still staring out the back window as if he didn’t just blow up my entire world with his kiss and his words.
I can’t stand the thought of him pretending I’m the bad person here.
“You know, you’re an asshole. I mean that wholeheartedly.”
“I thought I was a bastard,” he retorts.
“You’re that, too. I honestly can’t encompass all the nasty things I believe you to be in just a few sentences. You have a lot of damn nerve lying like that.”
“I didn’t lie.”
“Listen, I don’t know what happened between you and Henry. It’s none of my business. Aaron knew you and I had a fling, and he didn’t care. So your excuse of why you stayed away from Hicks Creek and your family is straight bullshit.”
“He knew?”
“Yes, when he and I started dating again, I told him. We told each other everything, Gavin. He was my husband.”
Well, that’s a partial lie. I told Aaron everything, and he told me lies.
“He didn’t…he wasn’t…”
“No, you lost the past eighteen years with your brother and your father for no reason. You barely know your niece. Don’t make the same mistake with her, too.”
As I walk toward the front door, I hear the chair in the kitchen scrape against the linoleum.
“Lena.”
I hesitate for just a moment, but when he doesn’t say anything else, I continue out the front door.
I want him to stay, I really do, because I want to believe that he could be that amazing man I used to know. But he was never that man to begin with.
I won’t be his fool ever again.