11. Chapter Eleven
Chapter Eleven
Maggie
I pulled back from Trent and examined his face. His dark-brown eyes were different from Grady’s, a shade lighter. They’d never sucked me in the same way, even though I’d tried once or twice to drown.
“You need my help?”
“More like I want to offer my help.” A small smile played at the edges of his lips. “This used to be my town too.”
I nodded in agreement, but my attention strayed from Trent to Grady’s back as he wandered down the street in the direction of Sabrina’s nail salon. A gaggle of women approached him with clipboards and Taste the New badges proudly displayed. I pursed my lips and tried to push down the annoyance threatening to rise.
“We’ve got the GoFundMe going already.” I was only half following the conversation.
“Yeah.” Trent turned and tracked my gaze. “Did I interrupt something between you and my brother? It seemed kinda tense.”
“No.” I stiffened. “Well, yes. It was tense. Grady was being Grady.”
Trent scratched the back of his neck. “Anyway, I saw the GoFundMe, but I also drove around town. Place is a mess.”
I forced myself to stay present with Trent. Before Grady had returned, I never had a problem focusing on a conversation. Lately, it felt like my attention was constantly divided. “I’m sure Grady is looking for a way to make a difference too.” Trent gave me a blank look. “Since he’s also running for mayor.”
“Grady?”
“Go talk to him. I’m sure he’d welcome the help.” Inside, I cringed. I told Emily I’d only suggest Trent work with Grady if I was honest with him about my reasoning. But seeing him in person and knowing he wanted to help the town, gently prodding him in Grady’s direction didn’t seem too wrong. Just a little wrong.
“No.”
“Trent.”
“I went to jail, and he turned his back on me. There’s no fucking way I’m helping him.”
“He’s here now. Maybe you should bury the hatchet.” At least this part was honest. Their damaged relationship was a sore spot for Trent. One of them needed to close the gap.
“The only place I want to bury it is in his back. I don’t care that he’s here, just like he hasn’t cared at any point during the last six years since I got out of jail.”
I crossed my arms and let my gaze drift to the windows and to Grady holding court down the street. I hated how tall he was, how broad his shoulders were, how the late-August breeze caught the tips of his hair, ruffling them artfully. But mostly, I hated how guilty I felt because Trent and Grady drifted apart. They’d been tight when I first started hanging around them with the banter between them sharp but affectionate.
“If I could go back, Trent—”
“Nah, Mags. We’re not doing that. Last time you tried to play the what-if or if-only or what-the-fuck game, I told you to cut it out. What’s done is done. None of it was ever your fault.”
“Do you think we should have been more honest with people back then? Not that I wasn’t grateful.”
Trent laughed. “You got that persistence thing going for you. Not doing it. Here’s the bridge.” He lifted his hand in the air. “And here’s the torrent of water underneath.” His other hand ran in a back-and-forth motion. “You didn’t want to be honest with them, and I wasn’t even honest with you. Right? There’s no point in going down this river.”
I sighed. Trent was right. Looking back didn’t do us any good. We’d both made questionable choices, and it had led us here. Our relationship had been forged in a firestorm of lies.
“We’re not the same people.” My reasons for getting involved with Trent had been so flawed.
“Exactly,” Trent said. “Grady needs to get over himself. You can’t do that for him, and I sure as hell can’t. The truth doesn’t matter. Whatever pickle is up his ass, he needs to shit it out on his own.”
“You’re so articulate.” I laughed.
“Shut up.” Trent grinned. “I didn’t live for books and culture like you.”
“I’m sure your mom tried.” Outside the pharmacy from across the street, Grady cast another glance my way, and my heart thudded in response. Sabrina waved in the distance, drawing his gaze away, and my pulse rose into my throat.
Both of the men were rough around the edges, but Grady had spent enough time away from this place that he and Trent didn’t resemble each other so much anymore. Where one lacked books and culture, I suspected the other had eaten them like candy while he traveled the world.
“My mom was too busy scraping two pennies together to check what Grady and I were up to. Food on the table, roof over our heads. Dad was the reader. He died, and I stopped trying so much. I guess I don’t need to tell you that. But Grady clung to his memory, had a book in his hand a lot of the time.”
I remembered. One of the things Grady and I bonded over was books. Perhaps bonded was the wrong word. A guy like Grady reading literary fiction and book club discussion books? Impossible. So, I’d grilled him casually at the dinner table over the book I saw him reading before we sat down. He answered all my questions, and then when Trent and his mother were lost in conversation that bored me, Grady winked at me, amusement dancing across his face.
That had been the start of our book club for two. Each week, I would go to the library to discover what book Grady had signed out. Then, I’d read it too. Did he still go to the library, or had leaving Little Falls given him the escape he’d so badly needed?
“Maggie?”
Trent’s voice yanked me out of my head, and I flushed. I needed to get a handle on my obsessive thoughts about his brother. Wasn’t doing me any good. Emily was right. I needed to find a way to detach from Grady and those memories. They were like a faucet which hadn’t been shut tight, each drip designed to drive me crazy.
“Sorry. I was thinking about the campaign.” I tucked a few strands of hair behind my ear and avoided his gaze while I tried to collect myself. “What were you saying?”
“Can I help you?” he asked.
“Um.” I floundered to come up with a reason he couldn’t help me and had to help Grady instead.
His gaze bored into me. “Are you okay? You’re acting weird today.”
“Yes, right. Sorry. There’s been a lot going on here. Um…”
The bell above the pharmacy door sounded, drawing my attention toward it. Lila strolled in, pulling her sunglasses off her face and dangling them in her fingers.
“Oh,” Lila said, seeing Trent. “Hey, Trent. I came to congratulate Maggie on her brilliant social media campaign for the town.”
Lila’s grin was so wide I couldn’t help smiling in response. “Liked that, did you?”
“So much. Have you seen Grady yet?” Lila leaned against my counter. “I would love to watch those fireworks.”
Trent narrowed his eyes. “Is that what I interrupted?”
“You were here?” Lila took out her lip gloss and pressed it to her lips. “Did the heat of their gazes melt you?”
Trent laughed. “You gotta be kidding me. The heat of their gazes?”
“It’s nothing.” I glared at Lila.
“If you didn’t come for the sexual tension show, what are you doing here?” Lila ignored me and sized up Trent. “Not that I’m ever sorry to see you.”
“Sexual tension show?” Trent frowned and turned toward me. “What the hell? You and Grady?”
“No. Nope. Not even a little bit.” I stared at Lila, avoiding his intense gaze. “He hates me anyway. Besides, we’re running against each other for mayor. Any tension is… hate and competition.”
Lila coughed into her hand, and I swore I heard the word “Liar.”
Trent sighed. “All I care about is figuring out a way to help the town. You know? Maybe win some people around who think I’m still the black sheep.”
“What’s that?” Lila perked up. “You need help?”
“Trent asked to help me help Little Falls.” I stared at Lila meaningfully, hoping she remembered the conversation we’d had over coffee the other week. As much as I loved Trent, he was a liability.
“Hmm. Right.” Lila twirled her glasses. “I’m always a fan of a good redemption arc. I’m sure we could find something for you.”
I bit my tongue so hard I worried it would bleed.
“I don’t want to donate money,” Trent said. “I don’t have much anyway. But I got a lot of sweat equity. I can build stuff, or I don’t know.”
Lila hummed. “There’s been a lot of damage to Little Falls. A couple of the houses literally floated away. The GoFundMe is great, but will it be enough?”
“What are you talking about, Lila?” I asked, frustration eating at me.
“Another fundraiser. A bit of…” She grinned at Trent. “Sweat equity. And, it’ll be great for community building as well as getting Trent back into the town dynamic.”
“Sweat equity? So, we’re going to build something, or…?”
“A Magic Mike show.”
“What?” Trent looked between me and Lila. “A magic show?”
I stifled a grin. We hadn’t talked about this, but it would definitely cause a stir. “Male strippers.”
“You want me to strip?” Trent eyed Lila.
A wicked grin broke out across Lila’s face. “I’d even pay money.”
“Naked?”
I shrugged, and Lila pretended to think. “Definitely down to your boxers or briefs. Right now, I’m imagining the classic boxer briefs, but I’m open to surprises.” She gave Trent a theatrical wink.
Trent chuckled, and his eyes trailed over Lila. “You’re not so quiet anymore.”
“I’m going to take that as a compliment.” Lila slid her sunglasses to the top of her head. “You’ll raise money, I guarantee it.”
“No one is going to pay enough money to build a house just to see me strip.”
I watched the exchange between the two of them with amusement. Lila was great at coming up with outrageous plans. Most of the time, she knew how to pull them off too.
“Leave the recruiting to us.” Lila met my gaze over Trent’s shoulder. “All you have to do is say yes.”
“Do you think this is a good idea, Maggie?”
“I have absolute faith in Lila. I have no idea what this will look like, other than you in your underwear, but I am sure we can pull something together that will bring you back into the town’s good graces.”
“We’re heading into the fall. People can only pick so many apples before they start looking for the pumpkin spice.”
“I don’t know what that means exactly, but I’m guessing I’m the spice?” Trent walked backward to the door. “Mags, you’ll call me with the details? Let me know what else I can do other than get naked?”
“We’ll work it out,” I agreed.
“Lila,” Trent said. “It’s been interesting.”
As soon as he’d ducked out the door, Lila turned. “Do you think I’m too smart for him?”
“Oh, Lord. Lila. He’s not dumb. Far from it. Please tell me you’re joking.”
“Something about the haircut and the tattoos and all those muscles.” She twirled her lip gloss around her fingers. “Seeing him naked will probably help me decide for sure if I’m interested.”
I rolled my eyes. “Have you always had a thing for him?”
Lila laughed. “No. He used to scare me. That’s why I was always so quiet around him. But my loins”—she circled her groin with her hand—“were feeling his look today. My ovaries went into overdrive.”
With a laugh, I moved around the counter toward my workspace. “I love you. But I also hate you for adding another thing to my plate. A Magic Mike show?”
“Actually, I was thinking we could combine it with a concert. Stripping and music go together like wine and cheese. Maybe you could sweet-talk Grady? Bat those chocolate-brown eyes at him a little?”
“No. I’m not asking him for anything. For one, I’m on a Grady detox. And for two, Trent wouldn’t be happy with me getting him involved.”
“Fine. I’ll ask him. I can plead ignorance to Trent, and I’ll get a front row seat to the Maggie-Grady show. And if Trent wants to take out his frustration on someone, I’ll volunteer as tribute.”
“I think your ovaries are exploding, and it’s impacting your brain.”
“Could be.” Lila slid her sunglasses over her eyes. “Either way, you and I have agreed to plan a strip show and concert to help the town see Trent in a new light.” She rubbed her hands together. “Now, I get to recruit. First stop, Tyler. Your brother needs a reason to start working out. He’s getting a little flabby.”
“Oh my God. Lila!”
“Your job is to pick a date—sometime in October would be good. That would give us four to six weeks to plan and advertise. And—added bonus—it should be fresh enough in people’s minds come election day.”
“Then no Grady, Lila. I’m serious. If we’re using it to prop up my campaign, no Grady.”
Lila strolled toward the front door. “Fine. But you’re missing out. I think he’d look good in his underwear too.” She peered at me over the top of her sunglasses as her butt connected with the pharmacy door. “You know you’ve thought about it.”
When the door clicked closed and silence filled the pharmacy, my thoughts zeroed in on Grady and his underwear. A flash of him, sprawled out in his bed, me crawling across his torso, rose up unbidden. Try as I might, I couldn’t shove the memory back down. My heart raced, and pinpricks of feeling burst across my skin.
Staring out the large pharmacy windows, I worried Lila wasn’t the only one with ovaries in overdrive.