Chapter 24 Dean
DEAN
Strawberry Springs Neighborhood Watch
Kerry Winsor: GUYS! Grace!! Pregnant! Dean!!!
Comments:
Marjorie Brown: Is this a puzzle or something?
Wren Hackett: @Jade Clark @Mollie Wilson
Mollie Wilson: Kerry, this is one of those things you should NOT be posting about. Admins, delete this. We’re not doing this again.
Kerry Winsor: You sound like Dean.
Mollie Wilson: Whatever Dean said, I agree with.
Wren Hackett: Same.
Jade Clark: If y’all gossip about my girl, it WILL be over for you all. Leave her ALONE. Admins, please get this trash out of the group.
My first thought was yelling at Brooke for what she’d done. I didn’t know how a person couldn’t care less about how they affected others, but she somehow did. When I got back into the bar area, I didn’t see her. Maybe it was better that way.
All eyes were on me the second I came into view of others, though.
Kerry tried to sneak past me, probably to find out more information, but I held my hand out.
“Nope. Grace isn’t available for questions.”
“So, are you then?” she asked.
Goddammit. “Back to the bar.” The words were forced out, my voice deeper than I ever let it get.
Kerry’s eyes widened and she scurried away.
I hated these kinds of people. I hated that they were always trying to get information. I hated that this kind of thing was huge news. I hated that I had to do this.
But I would for Grace.
“So, what’s the plan?” a woman whispered to me. She was the one who I’d seen Grace talk to many times. They were close. “We probably need to get Grace outta here and then we figure out how to minimize . . . damage.”
Damage. That word irritated me. We were grown fucking people. Grace could do what she wanted, be with who she wanted. She shouldn’t be terrified of what they all thought.
I pulled a chair out and stood on it before thinking.
“Hey! People!” I didn’t need to yell. All of them were watching me anyway, but it felt nice to raise my voice.
“Are you finally ready to tell us what happened?” Kerry asked, pushing her way to the front of the crowd. “Because I have plenty of—”
“This isn’t about gossip,” I snapped. “This is about Grace.”
“We just want the story!”
“You all do realize she’s a real fucking person, right? She’s not a story.”
Her face slowly paled, but someone else took over. It was Tammy, the woman I’d met outside. I’d seen her in the diner and she’d barely given me a second look. I had a feeling she didn’t like me all that much.
“Hang on, you come to our town and tell us how to take care of our own? We’ve known Grace longer than you, buddy!”
Now I knew she didn’t like me.
“Oh, yeah,” I snapped back. “You know her. And she knows you well enough to hide from you because she’s terrified of what you’ll think. You’ve clearly done a real good job of making her feel safe.”
“And how do you know that?”
“Uh, Tammy?” Mark spoke this time. “He was the first one to go after her.”
Tammy’s jaw dropped and her questions stopped.
Kerry took over. “You can’t blame us for having questions. We’re owed an explanation.”
“We don’t owe you shit.”
“This town’s like a family,” Tammy said. She must have processed what Mark had said and was right back to it. “Not that you’d know much about that, city boy.”
I was already on my last straw. This sent me over the edge.
“First of all, I grew up in a town like this. You all think you’re family, but then don’t give a flying fuck when someone’s hurting.
It’s all about the gossip. All about some info you need.
The second someone doesn’t do what you want, they’re ousted.
You’re not fucking doing that to Grace.”
“You think we’re gonna oust her because she’s pregnant?” Kerry asked, her voice growing high. “God, no! This might be a shock, but she needs extra help right now!”
“I would’ve given her extra food at the diner!” Tammy said.
“I need to stock more sizes of diapers at the store!” Dale yelled.
“And I would’ve guessed she had an aversion to the smell of alcohol.” Mark shook his head. “No wonder she kept avoiding it.”
I paused. “You’re not gonna ostracize her for having a baby with me of all people?”
There were some whispers, most of which I couldn’t tell who they were from.
Well, it’s not the best idea.
How do we know he’s actually gonna stay?
What if she gets hurt?
And that was when I saw it. The issue wasn’t with her. They all cared about her. Genuinely.
I was the issue.
It shouldn’t have annoyed me as much as it did. I could play the bad guy, and I would.
“All right, here’s what we’re gonna do. If you actually care about Grace’s well-being, then leave her the fuck alone about this. She needs space. Do not pester her.”
“But how will I know how far along she is?” Kerry whined.
“You don’t get to make that choice!” Tammy yelled.
“I’m saying for you all to pester me. I’ll answer your questions.”
“But you just said you don’t owe us shit!”
“I don’t,” I said firmly. “I’m not telling you because I owe you. I’m telling you because you all seem to care about her. There’s a difference. If you wanna know how to help out, I’m your guy.”
“Thank God!” Kerry exclaimed, and then she unleashed her barrage. “How far along is she? When did you find out?”
“Are you gonna stick around this time?” Mark asked.
“He better not be an absent dad!” Tammy snapped. “If you do a breed ’em and leave ’em, I swear—”
“She’s eighteen weeks. We found out two weeks ago. I’m gonna stick around for her, and then we’ll figure out custody once the baby’s here. And for your information, Tammy, breeding was not the intended goal, and I’m gonna do the right thing.”
She crossed her arms and I doubted she believed me.
I already regretted giving them permission to do this. I was so tense that I wondered if I’d be sore the next day.
“Oh, also—”
“That’s enough questions for now. I need to get Grace home and make sure none of you bother her.”
“Just who do you think you are, talking to us like this?” Tammy asked.
“There’s only one thing you need to know about me. I don’t play when it comes to my woman. I don’t care if you hate me. She’s not getting hurt or stressed out by you.”
For once, the bar was shocked into silence.
“Hang on, hang on.” Hugh slowly stood. I saw him when we first got here, but I still couldn’t look him in the eye since I’d seen him naked. “So, does this mean I win my money?”
“Why are you winning money?” I asked.
“He bet you two would get together,” Dale muttered. “And he obviously won.”
My stomach churned and I grimaced. “Oh, absolutely not. We’re not together.”
Even the thought made fear ripple through my body.
“Excuse me?” Tammy snapped. “Is there something wrong with the beautiful angel that is Grace?”
“N-no! She’s great. Just not for . . . me.” Tammy narrowed her eyes so much that I thought she might throw something at me. “The point is,” I said, “just leave her alone.”
“Yeah, leave your woman alone that you’re not dating.” Dale scoffed. “That makes sense.”
“Friend. I meant friend.”
A wave of whispers made its way through the crowd. I wanted to yell.
“Is everyone fucking clear on not bothering her?”
“Don’t worry, friend-of-Grace,” Mark said, clapping me on the shoulder. “We all hear your message loud and clear.”
I had a feeling he was talking about multiple things, but I didn’t care. I was done with these people and I needed to make sure Grace was okay.
“Back to business then. I’m getting her home. Continue with questions tomorrow.”
Grace didn’t say anything on the way home. It was only when we pulled into the driveway that she finally spoke.
“This is my worst nightmare.” Her voice was slow, and broke halfway through her sentence.
“Brooke telling everyone?”
“Everyone knowing. I’ve made it my life mission never to get in trouble like this.”
“Are you in trouble?”
She shook her head. “Not with you, I guess. But I don’t do things like this. I don’t sleep with someone and get pregnant. I don’t step a foot out of line because Brooke always does it for me. I can only imagine what they’re thinking.”
“Don’t imagine it.”
“I can’t help it. I bet they think I’m as bad as Brooke is. Or that I’m a complete idiot.”
“They’re not thinking that,” I said softly.
“Then what are they thinking?”
“That it’s a shock. But they wanna help.”
“Really?”
“The people in this town care about you. Even if they don’t understand how this happened, they’ll adjust. And it’s gonna be okay.”
Grace’s eyes were wet and she let out a long breath. “That’s . . . incredible. It’ll be hard to deal with them adjusting, but at least they’re not thinking I’m a failure.”
“You have nothing to worry about.” And I meant it.
I was happy that the town had reacted like they had. Even if they weren’t happy with me, they’d showed that they wanted the best for her. That was a good thing.
But for me, it felt a little like being punched in the stomach. This was the best-case scenario, but it still brought me back to being a teenager, where I was an outsider in the place I spent all my time.
“Were they hard on you?” she asked.
“Don’t worry about me. You just spent a night in a bar while you have a smell aversion to alcohol, and your sister did the most selfish thing I’ve ever seen. You need some rest.”
Grace side-eyed her home with a wary expression. “When I get in there, Brooke’s gonna act like she did nothing wrong. I don’t think I can deal with that.”
“I’ll handle Brooke.”
“You don’t even like her.”
“I don’t like most of the people here,” I said. “I’ll be okay.”
I didn’t give her a chance to argue. I cut the engine, got out, and walked over to her door to open it.
“Thank you, Dean. You’ve really helped me and I don’t know how to repay you.”
“Repay me by getting some rest,” I said.
I helped Grace out of the truck and we went inside. Just as she expected, Brooke was waiting for us, and she opened her mouth to say something that was probably going to piss me off.
Brooke was met with the iciest stare I could muster. And considering I wanted to throttle her, it was easy to glare. Her jaw dropped when she saw me, and the shock of how I looked at her had her quiet just long enough for me to get Grace to her room.
Brooke met me at the end of the hallway. “I need to speak with my sister.”
“The fuck you’re not.”
“I don’t know where you get the balls, buddy, but—”
“I don’t wanna hear it. You ruined Grace’s night and told everyone something she wasn’t ready for them to know.”
Brooke scoffed. “I did her a favor. She would never tell everyone from the way she was going.”
“So what? You don’t get to make a decision like that for her just because you think that you know what’s best.”
“But you sure try to.”
“I’m not a selfish bitch, so I can get away with it.”
“Fuck you.” She took a step toward me and raised her hand. “How dare you—”
“Do you want to lose your sister?” I spoke slowly, hoping she would understand.
Brooke paused in her tirade. “What?”
“Do you want to lose your sister? Because with the way you’re going, it’s very likely she’s never gonna talk to you again.”
That finally got through to her. I wasn’t sure if it were possible for Brooke to truly care about someone, but she wanted Grace in her life, whether that was to use her or to get a free place to stay.
“She wouldn’t do that. I’m her family.”
“Keep testing the boundaries then and we’ll both see what happens.
” I went to go to my own room, eager to get over the pressing anger that had entered every part of my body, but then I paused.
“Make her breakfast or something tomorrow. But leave her the fuck alone tonight. I already heard her lock her door just so you couldn’t bother her. ”
“Grace never locks doors.”
“Things are changing around here. You’re gonna have to grow up, Brooke. Or get left behind.”