Chapter 13 Maisey
MAISEY
As much as I wish there was a record scratch or time came crashing to a stop with my comment, it doesn’t. I mean, it was good, but it wasn’t that good.
Still, it was enough to leave Gus dumbstruck. Not something you see every day.
“I thought Ewan said you’re back in town because your contract was canceled,” he rebuts, as if that’s some kind of argument.
“It was.”
Ewan looks at me from over the back of the couch and I smile, reaching down and squeezing his shoulder.
Something is eating at him—has been since Anton made that pub crawl remark—and while I know he’ll tell me when he’s ready, I want him to know I’m here.
And we aren’t going to be playing the “let’s gang up on the baby brother” game today. Baby brother brought backup.
“So, you’ll eventually accept another, at which point—”
“Gus!” Margeaux calls from the kitchen. It’s a mix of loving and chastising at the same time, in a way only a partner can pull off.
Holding up his hands in surrender, Gus throws himself back onto the couch. I can’t help but feel a small sense of victory.
“Fine, fine, we don’t have to talk about it now. Just promise me that before you accept anything and you two take off to parts unknown, we will have a discussion and make a plan. Okay?”
My victory fades at his words, quickly replaced by something else. You two…
My heart leaps, pulse skittering through my veins, making my head feel dizzy for a second. His concern wasn’t about me leaving Hickory Hills or Ewan. About breaking his heart all over again. It really is all about the business, because he thinks my leaving means Ewan leaves too.
The two of us. Together.
Tears prick at the corners of my eyes, trying to force their way out. I swallow hard, fighting to keep them back, and rush over to where Gus is sitting, throwing my arms around his neck.
It takes him a second, but he hugs me back, whispering, “I’m not a monster.”
“No,” I laugh. “Just a big brother.”
“The way you say that actually makes it sound worse,” he grumbles.
“Only some days. Not today though.” I squeeze him again before letting go, not wanting to make this too weird.
“Boys!” Willa exclaims, announcing her presence as the front door slams behind her. “Your assistance is required outside.”
“All of us?” Hux asks.
“Yup, Nash needs your help unloading the truck.”
“It’s raining,” Jace comments.
“You are not the Wicked Witch of the West; you will not melt, princess,” Anton snarks, shoving the second youngest brother as he heads for the door without question.
“Depending on which canon you subscribe to, Elphaba didn’t actually melt, you know.”
Wait…what?!
Dumbfounded, I look to Ewan as he stands to head outside, trying to make sense of what I just heard. Jace has always kept us on our toes, but that comment was straight out of left field.
“Jace reads romance novels, and likes to brag about it,” he tells me, squeezing my hip gently as he turns to go.
I start to reach for him, sensing a distance in him—a wall that he’s thrown up—and starting to worry that it’s more than just Anton’s comment. That somehow mixing me into family time isn’t working.
“Either way,” Willa continues, clearly annoyed her brothers aren’t following her orders. “There are dahlias, soil, and all sorts of other stuff that need out of the truck. And if you get a move on, y’all can have it in the shed before it starts raining again.”
I watch them go, wishing I knew what was going through his head.
Taking a seat at the counter between Sawyer and Brenna, I let out a long exhale, trying not to think about it.
Because if I know anything about Ewan, this is who he is—introverted and intensely private.
Playing everything close to the vest is his specialty, carefully choosing who he lets in.
I am once again the lucky one he’s chosen.
“We’ve actually had the perfect amount of rain this spring,” Sawyer says, pulling my attention back to the conversation.
“I mean it when I say it has been the perfect spring. Everything about this has been optimal, textbook even, leaving us with the exact right numbers across the board. Temperature, weather, moisture levels, all of it. It’s been really exciting. ”
“I’m just glad there is someone else out there who finds it as exciting as Anton does,” Miss Belle coos.
“Because the rest of us are sick of hearing about it,” Willa adds on.
“But am I going to get peaches?” Dolly asks, looking over at Sawyer like a little girl who just asked Santa for a pony.
Beaming from ear to ear, Sawyer nods. “If this continues, you won’t be able to move for all the peaches. We’ll be giving them away or inventing new things to do with them.”
“Can ’em,” I tell her. “We can them when we have an overabundance. It’s a whole thing.”
“We all end up in Aunt Paula’s basement—that’s Maisey’s mama,” Dolly explains, her eyes going wide with excitement. “For a canning party. It’s messy as fuck, but so much fun.”
“And where you will be caught up on all the town’s gossip, courtesy of Hattie Burch,” Willa adds, grabbing a drink.
I groan, the thought of Aunt Hattie jabbering on like she has all the answers to the questions we never asked ruining the idea of a canning party before we even start.
We’ve successfully avoided her since the wedding, but I know that won’t be the case for long.
Especially once she gets wind of Ewan and me being back together. Or my agreeing to work with Landon.
“She came into the drug store the other day, telling me all about you patching up Kendall Farlow when she took a tumble in the middle school parking lot,” Brenna comments, nudging me.
“How does she even know that? She wasn’t there.”
I don’t know why I question this. Hickory Hills is a small town, and things get around. And Aunt Hattie has a way of making sure she is at the center of it all.
“You think something happened in this town and Hattie Burch doesn’t know about it?” Miss Belle gives me the softest side-eye that ever existed, spreading veggies out onto a plate on the island. “Maisey, I know you have been gone, but you should know better than that.”
Miss Belle has a point. I do know better.
“I’m surprised she isn’t blowing up your phone over you and Ewan. It’s not like you two have been quiet about it,” Dolly says, her emphasis on the word quiet clearly code for something I’m not picking up.
As is the waggle of her eyebrows.
I look to Sawyer and Brenna, hoping maybe they understand what is trying to be communicated, but neither of them seem to have even caught on to the code. Not helpful.
“She’s probably saving it for in person,” Margeaux adds. “Waiting until she can corner you in the produce section or something.”
“She didn’t…” I say, my disbelief barely scratching the surface. Because let’s face it, she did.
Margeaux turns around to face the group, a massive smile on her face. “To be fair, she wasn’t questioning me about Gus, because we were still a secret at the time, so she was trying to play matchmaker and set me up with Jake Wright. As I picked up bell peppers.”
“Is there a better time?” Brenna jokes.
I sigh, shaking my head, my insides feeling as light as champagne. It’s the same feeling I had the other day at lunch with these women, all of us instantly clicking, even though we’re vastly different individuals. Everything about this moment feels exactly as it should be.
Like family.
Just like when I was a teenager and came over for dinner, the warmth manages to surround you in a way that you know you’ll never forget.
At the heart of it all is a simple meal, although it’s a lot more of a production now—with a lot more women in attendance—but the feel is the same.
The love is still there. The laughter still flows.
It’s still Dolly flitting around the kitchen making us all try different recipes she’s come up with—only now she has a partner in crime in Margeaux.
Looking to my left and right at Sawyer and Brenna, I bet I’ve got partners in crime with them too if I want them.
“If she didn’t learn her lesson after Noel told her off, then she never will,” Willa remarks.
Err…come again?!
“Wait, Noel Keller told her off?” I choke out my question, whipping my head over to Willa for confirmation, not sure those are words I ever thought I’d say. She nods, smirking, her pride for her husband’s twin brother shining through.
“Oh, yes.” Miss Belle smiles, her own version of the devious Hayes smirk making an appearance. “I know it may seem like things are the same, but you missed some stuff while you were gone.”
No kidding…
“Well, I don’t plan on missing anything else for a while. I didn’t tell y’all on Friday because it wasn’t officially official, but I agreed to fill in as an EMT with the fire department.”
“So…you’re staying?” Brenna asks hesitantly.
I nod, nerves swirling in my tummy. This announcement feels like a rehearsal for letting the rest of Hickory Hills know. For preparing myself for the reactions of everyone I know to have comments about this news.
“There’s still a lot to figure out, but…yeah.” I shrug, trying to keep it nonchalant, even though I’m feeling anything but inside. “It’s time for my next chapter, and that chapter is here.”
With Ewan…
A chorus of squeals and yays bounces off the kitchen walls, filling me to the brim. Like I can finally exhale and stop waiting for someone to ask why I left all those years ago.
“Your parents must be thrilled,” Miss Belle coos.
“Yeah, Mama, no one was thinking about Chief Phillips’s reaction,” Willa snarks. “Ewan’s, on the other hand…”
I press my lips together, trying to hold in my reaction. Miss Belle rolls her eyes, ignoring her daughter’s comment.
“Was Ewan over the moon when you told him?” Dolly asks. “Did y’all celebrate? Loudly?”
Her emphasis is there again, and this time Margeaux catches it and gives her a look, but it still doesn’t make any more sense.
“He’s—” I catch myself, stopping midsentence. Dolly’s taunt from the bakery earlier this week slides into my brain, lighting up like a marquee on a dark night.
Because I promise you, Ewan is dying to give Willa some payback.
I gasp, pointing at my cousin. “You owe me an explanation!”
Dolly throws her head back, a loud, boisterous guffaw bursting out of her. Her expression turns mischievous as she looks to Willa and then me, like she can’t wait to spill the tea.
“I missed something,” Sawyer comments.
“I think we all did,” Brenna replies.
Dolly shrugs, still playing it coy. “I’ll give you a hint. It’s why you moved out of the loft.” She points to Brenna, before turning to Margeaux, her smile growing wider. “And you are very excited Hux and I are all but moved out.”
“Ohhhhh.” Brenna giggles, leaning over to look at Sawyer. “Be happy Anton lived alone.”
Sawyer shakes her head. “True, but I lived here when I first came to town, so…”
My head bounces between each woman like a hacky sack making its way around the circle, trying to follow along. They’ve all caught on. I seem to be the only one left in the dark.
“Not that we were really up to anything…at first,” Sawyer continues.
“At first,” Willa scoffs. “Who knows what that bedroom has seen now.”
“Willa Mae,” Miss Belle chides. “You have no room to talk, young lady. I have said it before, and I will say it again, do not think for one second that I am unaware of what my children are doing. Or I suppose in your case, it was who.”
My mouth drops, hanging wide open so I could catch flies, as my mama would put it. Because of all the people on this planet to call out Willa Hayes on her behavior, there is really only one. And that is her own mama.
“You didn’t actually know we were sleeping together, just that I secretly had feelings for him,” Willa replies, trying to defend herself.
“Ewan knew though,” Brenna quips.
I whip my head to her. Say what?
Brenna nods, then launches into the story, or at least the version she heard from Milo.
Each woman takes a turn adding in details from the version of the story they got, Willa trying to defend herself along the way, until I have a perfect picture in my mind.
Suddenly the idea that Ewan might be itching for payback makes a lot more sense.
My insides clench, much like they did earlier today, at the thought of Ewan’s mouth on me again.
Heat crawls up the back of my neck, and it’s all I can do to hope and pray that I’m not blushing as I sit here and think about how good it felt to have his hands all over me.
About how I can’t wait to try other things with him.
Things I’ve been waiting a long time for.
“Just remember, Wills, payback’s a bitch…” Margeaux coos.
Willa shrugs, as if she’s not worried about it. “Bring it on, Maisey.”
I nod, not knowing how to react to that. Especially with their mama right there. Although, to be fair, Miss Belle does not seem to care one single lick that we’ve sat here for the last few minutes discussing the sex lives of her children in front of her.
“Oh, did I tell you what I’m making for the welcome party for Reel Madness?” Dolly asks, shouting out her question to no one in particular. “It’s so on brand.”
From sex talk to fishing tournaments—if that’s not the randomness of girl time, I don’t know what is.
“Did you figure out how to make a big mouth bass out of pastry?” I quip, not sure how food can be on brand for a fishing tournament.
“Not yet, but don’t tempt me,” she snarks. “Plus, Alice has the bass on the rod cookies, so that might be a little too much.”
Bass on the rod…
The light bulb goes off in my head and I look at Brenna, her wide eyes telling me she had the exact same thought I did. How no one has ever made that joke for all the years Ewan has owned the shop, I have no idea. Especially after he named it The Booby Trap.
I guess that’s what I’m for. To make all innuendos.
“How fast can we have shirts made?”
“Ummm, depends on what kind and how many,” Willa says, her boss babe brain kicking in. “And if you have a design ready. Why, what do you need?”
“Think we could get some ready by Reel Madness?”
I hold my breath, my heart rate kicking up as I wait for Willa to reply. We have two weeks until the event, so that might be pushing it. If I can get a design worked up, and something rushed through though, even conceptually, then I’ll make it work.
Because this will be a hit.
I don’t have to have enough to stock the whole store. Just enough to get everyone talking.
“I’m sure Bronwyn’s got someone up her sleeve that can produce something in that amount of time. What are you thinking?”
I smile, feeling so alive that I could burst. The design is already forming in my mind, so all I need is someone with some actual artistic talent to draw it out. Should be simple. I hope.
“Can y’all keep a secret?”