Chapter 28
Rainey
Like a phoenix risingfrom the ashes—but with way less grandeur—I poked my head out of Grandma Gertie’s room on day three of my sleepover. Grandma informed me the residents would be engaging in a TikTok dance challenge that morning, so I knew the coast would be clear. I headed for the kitchen, needing fiber and water. Grandma was great about feeding me while I’d been squirreled away in her room, but I was starting to have questions about her diet of sugar and more sugar.
I had my head in the fridge, looking for anything that resembled fruit or animal protein when a squeal and a groan broke the silence. I wheeled around to see Vander plopping Marlo up on the island, her legs locked around his waist and his hands…well, his hands were no longer visible, seeing as how they were under Marlo’s clothing. I hated to be a buzzkill, but I wasn’t sure how to walk out of this room silently before they rounded third base. I cleared my throat.
Vander yelped and Marlo almost slid right off the counter. Vander ended up steadying her with a hand to her stomach, pinning her to the granite while he aimed an angry expression my way. I held up my hands, one of which had an apple in it.
“Sorry. Hi. I’ll just go so you can keep on…doing…things.”
“Rainey?” Marlo gasped, pushing away Vander’s hand and getting her feet on the floor. Her black blouse was unbuttoned a little lower than she’d normally wear it, but I didn’t think I should point that out. As one of Zeke’s closest friends, I figured Marlo seeing my face at all wasn’t exactly welcome.
“Yep.” I shuffled my bare feet, feeling all kinds of awkward. “I, uh, have been staying with Grandma for a few days. Just until I can figure a few things out.”
The two of them gaped at me, but Vander recovered first. “You’re welcome to stay as long as you need.”
“I thought you left,” Marlo said right after. “The Wacky Walters spread some rumor about divorce papers and Zeke’s gone into hibernating-bear mode, so no one’s been able to get him to talk. And since we hadn’t seen you either, we figured you left Blueball.”
“No,” I snapped. Everyone expected me to just tuck my tail and leave. A girl leaves town once and suddenly she’s pigeonholed as a runner? Fuck that. “Zeke served me divorce papers but I haven’t left. I’m not leaving.”
As soon as I said it, it felt right. It was no longer up for debate. I wasn’t leaving Blueball. Not because Zeke dumped me. Not because I was a foolish girl wanting to see if the grass was greener elsewhere. No, I was finally staying because this was my home, dammit, and I had every right to live here.
“Wait, Zeke served you divorce papers?” Marlo’s voice had gone so high-pitched Vander winced. “That’s it! I’m digging the hole!” Marlo pushed off the countertop, but Vander put his arm around her waist and held her back.
“Hold on there, duchess of darkness. Let’s hear Rainey out first, huh?” Vander had to rear back as Marlo reached up with a claw for a hand, acting like she was going to scratch his eyes out. “Save that for tonight, my little black kitty.”
My nose wrinkled, but who was I to criticize them as a couple? A girl with divorce papers really had no room to talk. “It’s fine. Really. I’m not happy about it, but I don’t blame him. I was just getting married to get my inheritance. He was just giving me my freedom like I’d originally asked for.”
Marlo untangled herself from Vander, stepping so close she peered down into my face like I was a funny-looking bug she was about to squash with her heavy boots. “But you love him. Don’t you?”
I nodded; I couldn’t get my throat to release the words. Not to Marlo. If I said them, they’d be to Zeke’s face. “Which is why I’m staying in Blueball. I already have a job with Lawson. I figure it’ll be torture to stay here and see Zeke, but maybe one day he’ll see I’m serious about staying. Serious about us.”
Marlo suddenly clapped her hands, that beautiful grin taking over her face. I jumped back. “Go take a shower and get dressed, Rainey. I’ll call the girls and bake the brownies. We’re going to circle the wagons and come up with a plan.”
Vander backed out of the room. “I don’t want any part of that. You ladies are kind of scary when you’re on a mission.” He touched my elbow on his way out of the kitchen. “I’ll see if us guys can talk some sense into Zeke. Don’t get your hopes up though. His skull is pretty thick.”
I smiled, thinking about Zeke, even if that thought also hurt. “I know. It’s one of the things I love about him.”
“Shoo, woman! We’ve got big plans to make!”
Feeling suddenly hopeful for the first time in days, I ran back to Grandma’s room and showered off the funk I’d been wearing like a cloak the last three days. By the time the girls all showed up, the residents were arguing that Milly only won because she cheated using her cane like a stripper pole, and Vander had to bring out the whistle to get everyone to settle down. We headed out back to sit on the porch with spiked lemonade and a sheet of brownies Marlo had just pulled from the oven.
I had to retell the story of Zeke presenting me with divorce papers and tell them about the inheritance all over again. They seemed to brush over the marriage-of-convenience aspect with surprising grace.
“That boy’s in love with you. There’s something else going on in that head of his,” Paisley drawled, licking her fingers after allowing herself exactly one bite of brownies.
“Seriously,” Keva agreed.
“Told you,” Marlo smugly said.
Audrey reached over to hold my hand. “You just need to stay and prove to him that this is what you want. Once he knows you mean to stay, he’ll rip up those divorce papers. Guaranteed.”
I squeezed her hand in appreciation for the support. “Actually, I was going to call you. As kind as Marlo and Vander have been to let me crash with Grandma, I need to rent an apartment. Can you help me?”
Audrey smiled. “Lets go right after this and check some out. We’ll get you sorted, girlie.”
Marlo tried to force another brownie on Paisley but she wouldn’t budge. Said she had to get the baby weight off before they tried for another baby. “Vander said the boys are going to take turns going to Zeke’s house and having dinner with him. He might listen to one of them.”
“Do you really think he needs that? I mean, once he sees that I’m staying and I have a job, an apartment, he’ll change his mind, right?”
Marlo shook her head. “Oh, my sweet innocent dove. That man is as stubborn as those redwoods a few miles up the road. He went down the divorce path and won’t change his mind unless we plant some new ideas in that brain of his. I’d bet my favorite excavator that he thinks he’s doing something noble.”
Paisley nodded. “Yup. Zeke is loyal to a fault. We have to hit this on all fronts. Let the boys do their thing. You get your life set up, and then we’ll send him stumbling into your path and we’ll see what happens.”
I twisted my hands together. I never thought Zeke would push me away, and the fact that he did, had sent me into a bit of a tailspin. “And if that doesn’t work?”
Keva shrugged. “Then we regroup. Zeke might be the king of stubborn, but we’re the goddamn queens.”
Their confident grins boosted my hopes.
The work wasn’t hard, but keeping an upbeat smile on my face was. Lawson turned out to be a good boss, and he’d only trained me on a few tasks so far in the coffee shop, but my thoughts kept a dark cloud hovering over my head. I’d secured a one-bedroom apartment that let me walk to work. Eventually I’d need to buy a car and I had the funds to do so, but I found I enjoyed the walking. People waved hello and I started to say hello back. I was melding into the fabric of this town and I didn’t want a sealed car to come between us.
My head was constantly on a swivel, looking for a disheveled brown head of hair and a pair of shoulders that blocked the sunlight. I hadn’t run into Zeke yet, but the girls kept me informed of his whereabouts. He’d been working on a job outside of town and then crashed at his house at night. He’d gone into “hermit mode” as Marlo had coined it.
I greeted customers and chatted with Lawson. I nodded hello and traded pleasantries with people in town, but throughout it all, I felt like a shell of a woman. I did everything a friendly person would do, but my heart wasn’t in it. There was a part of me that was grieving and always would without Zeke, even as I started to blossom in this tiny town.
It was on my fifth day of my new job that it happened. I had on a pair of skinny jeans, a pink T-shirt with the Crazy Beans logo, and my favorite pair of sandals. My head was down as I walked along the sidewalk early that morning, reading a text from Marlo. The morning breeze off the ocean kept the temperature cool and made this my favorite time of day.
Marlo: Today’s the day.
I started to text her back to ask what she meant, but a shadow fell across my screen and I instantly knew. I felt him before I saw him. My head lifted and all the hope I’d been guarding close to my chest expanded.
Zeke stood frozen in front of me, just a few feet away on the sidewalk. His mouth was slack, his familiar blue eyes wide with shock. There were dark shadows under his eyes, but his hair was a sexy mess like it always was. He looked good in his T-shirt and work jeans, even if a bit tired.
My lips wobbled but managed a smile that I hoped looked unaffected. My hands were shaking, so I shoved my phone in my pocket and curled my hands into fists. Zeke’s mouth snapped shut and his jaw flexed, making his cheeks look like they’d been carved from granite by a master sculptor. The man was beautiful.
“Rainey?” His gravelly voice made my heart sing, even as I acknowledged that I’d missed him terribly. “What are you…doing here?”
I swallowed hard and lifted my chin. I’d practiced what I’d say, over and over again until I couldn’t possibly forget it. I just hadn’t realized I’d be so weak in the knees at seeing him.
“Just because you want a divorce doesn’t mean I have to leave Blueball.”
His eyes widened imperceptibly. “I thought that’s what you wanted. You said?—”
The open sign on the door to Crazy Beans clanged against the glass as it was pushed open, cutting him off. Lawson stuck his head out the door. “Is there a problem?”
I shot him a smile. I’d told him everything over a cup of coffee on our break a few days ago, and Lawson had been a good listener. He was not only my boss, but quickly becoming my friend. “I’m okay.”
Lawson glared at Zeke, then softened when he looked back at me. “You’re going to be late to your shift.”
I nodded. “I’ll be right there.”
I looked back at Zeke, needing just one more minute to soak in the sight of him. Tilting my head to the door, where Lawson had closed it, but continued to stand right on the other side with his arms folded over his thick chest while glaring at Zeke, I moved to go inside.
“I have to get to work, but it was lovely seeing you.” That was a lie. It was lovely but it was also torturous. To be so close, but not able to touch him. To not be able to slide my fingers into that thick hair and pull him down so I could kiss him one last time. To whisper how much I loved him and beg him to understand that I was his forever. It. Was. Torture.
The door swung shut behind me. Lawson put his hand on my back and steered me toward the back of the shop, tossing another glare over his shoulder at Zeke through the glass door. Zeke shook his head and then walked away.
“You don’t have to do that,” I said to my boss.
Lawson turned toward me, an impish smile on his harsh face. “I know, but it’s so much fun.”
I rolled my eyes and got to work, ignoring the butterflies in my gut that had taken flight upon seeing Zeke. On my break, I texted the girls to let them know what happened. They all agreed it had gone perfectly and we needed to shift into phase two. I had no idea what phase two was yet, but I was sure they’d inform me.
I just knew that seeing Zeke had confirmed everything for me.
I was here to stay in Blueball.
And my heart irrevocably belonged to Zeke.