23. True
I stayed with my grandparents Thursday and Friday nights. I wasn’t avoiding going home, not really . But staying with them had its advantages. I was able to bribe Ruby Jean to go to her physical therapy appointment Friday afternoon.
And Friday around four o’clock, I went to the cabin and grabbed an outfit to wear to the Fall Festival Saturday. Neither of my neighbor’s trucks were home when I got there and I made my escape without being discovered.
My group chat with Noah and Greyson had been blessedly quiet, but Noah had message me privately, asking if I was okay and where I was.
Noah:
where are you, mama? Did you leave Bliss Peak? Are you okay? Just let me know you’re good
Guilt pulled at my heartstrings. I’d disappeared the day Greyson said Noah was having a bad day and I hadn’t been in touch with him since. After all the days he’d unknowingly cheered me up just by asking me to dinner, I’d abandoned him. I needed to get my shit together.
Speaking of shit I needed to get together, Greyson Wolfe was currently standing in front of my grandmother’s stall at the Fall Festival looking finer than he had thirty-six hours ago. He’d traded in the suit for a pair of dark jeans and a sweater that fit his muscular physique like a glove.
My throat bobbed at the sight of him and he smirked, telling me without words that he’d noticed.
“You look good, Red.” He raked those slumberous eyes over me, igniting heat in places I couldn’t handle in public.
I knew I looked good. That was the reason I’d put on the black body suit that was sheer enough to show my red bra and the mini skirt that was short enough to show off the thickness of my thighs. Even though they were covered in tights and knee-high black boots.
“Thanks, I’m a ladybug,” I told him, drawing attention to the pipe cleaner headband I’d made last night. Yesterday was Halloween but a lot of people had shown up at the festival in costume anyway. I was proud to be in that number.
Greyson bit his lip and unearthed the damned dimple that stole my breath.
“Where’s Noah?” I asked instead of losing myself in memories of what we’d done in the back of Noir.
He cupped the rim of his glasses and adjusted them, looking me in the eye the whole time. “Funny because he’s been asking me the same thing about you for the past day and a half.”
More guilt mounted before my grandmother bumped my shoulder and I remembered where I was.
“Can I help you?” After that, I recited the menu of items we had and waited for his response.
“I’ll take a basket of apples.”
A devious smile worked its way across my face when I realized my grandmother was now out of earshot and helping another customer. “Coming right up.”
Then I bent down behind the display table, grabbed what I was looking for and hopped back up.
“Here you go. That’ll be ten dollars.”
Greyson didn’t look at the apples I’d just given him and handed over a fifty without a second thought.
“Keep the change,” he murmured. “When can we talk?”
“About?”
“You know what, True. We didn’t do anything wrong. And I need you to come home. We miss you.”
He knew what he was doing by saying that and some of my bravado leeched out of me.
“I’ll be home tonight. After this.”
“Good.” A genuine smile graced his lips and my heart did a somersault. “What do you want for dinner? It’s my night to cook. I can make whatever you want.”
“It’s always been whatever you want. You just had to ask.”
His declaration from two nights ago played in my head and I blinked, trying to focus. “I think I’ll eat alone tonight.”
“True, don’t play with me.”
Thankfully, another customer walked up and Greyson stepped aside. But not before he said, “I’ll make stuffed shells and grab another case of the wine you like. See you at dinner.”
I didn’t confirm, but he turned away with a satisfied smirk anyway.
“I saw that,” my grandmother chided in my ear once we’d helped the next few customers.
“Saw what?” I asked, feigning innocence.
“You sold that boy a basket of bruised apples and charged him twice as much for them.”
I grinned, pulling the fifty from its hiding place in the waist of my skirt.
“We made forty-five dollars. I call that a win.”
“Girl, I ain’t foolin’ with you.” She shuffled over to her chair to sit down and I followed behind her.
“Didn’t he look happy with his purchase?” I asked with a brightness in my voice I didn’t have to feign.
My grandma kissed her teeth and shook her head. “You just like your damn mama. Got these men wrapped around your finger so tight they don’t know which way is up.”
“Hmm,” I hummed. “Isn’t that what you did to granddad?”
An impish smile broke across her wrinkled features and she waved off my comment. “Oh, gone on somewhere. Go take a lunch break.”
“Are you sure you can handle the booth while I’m gone?”
“I been doing this for years, ladybug. And your granddaddy will be back around here in a few minutes. He went to get us some turkey legs. Go rest your nerves for a while. And when you get back here, don’t pull another stunt like that.”
“Of course not, Granny.” I bent to kiss her cheek. “We’re all out of bruised apples anyway.”
I wasn’t hungry, but I somehow ended up at the Sinful Bites tent and walked away with a red velvet cinnamon roll, a bag of praline pecans, and a warm cup of apple cider. I stuffed my face and wandered through the festival slowly, eyeing the different vendors in case I wanted to circle back later.
When I reached the front gate, I was about to turn around and start another lap when I noticed a familiar van that hadn’t been parked at the front earlier.
“Goldyn’s Bookmobile” was painted on a wooden sign, propped up against a pot of yellow and orange mums and an instant smile was on my face as I made my way over.
Goldyn sat inside, alone, her head buried in a book while Boys II Men played lowly in the background.
“Hey, Goldyn.”
She looked up at me with that signature light in her eyes. “Hey! Come sit with me.” She patted the cushioned bench beside her and waited for me to climb inside.
Because I’d been going to her shop so much, I knew she used to live in this van before she met her boyfriend. Or boyfriends . There were three of them, to be exact, and now they were living happily ever after in a mansion in the woods.
“This is cute,” I told her, looking around the cozy space. “You turned it into a little library.”
The smile on her face told me she was proud of herself. “Lorenzo helped me. And Romeo paid for all the books. I’m giving some of them away today,” she gestured toward a small display. “You should take one.”
I recognized some of the books from her poly romance display at the shop and arched a brow.
Making sure my snacks were safe on her tiny table, I reached for the slimmest book in the pile.
Sweet Heat by Lady Marie.
“Ooh, that one is good! It’s quick though. I wish there was more of them.”
Tucking the book by my side to keep for later, I studied Goldyn.
There was a question on the tip of my tongue, but she swooped in, shoving a hair tie in the middle of her page to hold her spot.
“You haven’t been to the shop in the past two days. Does that mean you’re finally writing?”
Ouch.
“How do you know I wasn’t writing every time I visited you?”
“Because every day you came in, you asked me to order you another craft book. Then you went upstairs and stared at your computer.”
“Damn. I’m that transparent?”
“Only because I’m a people watcher.” She leaned back and let her golden-brown orbs take me in. “Now I’m never gonna block my blessing and tell you to stop ordering books because it’s good for business, but what are you running from, True? What do you think you’re gonna read in one of those books that you don’t already know?”
“I don’t know,” I mumbled. “I think grief just rewired my brain in the worst way. I don’t know how to do any of the things I used to do so easily. I feel so directionless. Thought the books could help?—”
I stopped talking when that annoying lump formed in my throat. I was not about to vent to this lady or cry in front of her. I didn’t care how sweet she was.
“Oh, honey.” She scooted closer to me. “I didn’t know you were grieving. How long has it been?”
“A year, but…”
“But it feels like yesterday?” Goldyn finished for me.
“Yea.”
“Grief brought me to Bliss Peak, too. I floundered around this town for a year before I figured my shit out. And I’m so glad I didn’t leave before that because everything clicked into place so fast right when I was ready to give up.”
“What changed for you?”
Goldyn sighed before her expression turned mischievous. “Not much aside from time. But I kinda accelerated things when I broke into a house in the woods and the owners asked me to date them for the summer.”
“So the answer is finding three fine ass men to help my dreams come true?”
She hid a coy smile. “I didn’t say that, but it doesn’t hurt.”
“Hmm, I don’t know if my luck is as good as yours.” I told her about the “bat” and how the first time I met Noah I was half naked.
She couldn’t stop her fit of laughter and I joined in.
“So, yea, I think there’s a delay on my three Prince Charmings.”
“Looks like one of them has found you,” she muttered close to my ear before scooting away from me.
What was she talking about?
“Hi, my name is Goldyn. Feel free to take a book or sit for a while,” she greeted the newcomer, chipper as ever.
I was just about to gather my snacks and free book when a familiar tattooed arm landed in front of me.
“Noah.”
“True.” He didn’t waste time pulling me out of the van and engulfing me in his arms. “I thought you fucking left,” he said against my hair before pressing a million tiny kisses against my temple. “I’m so happy to see you.”