Chapter 23 Mac
23
MAC
Last night with Penny hadn’t left my mind. I walked her home, almost kissed her, and then spent the rest of the night tossing and turning like a man caught between two timelines—the past we shared and the future we might still have.
There’d been something in the air between us, a flicker of what we used to be. That effortless rhythm. The unspoken pull. It gave me hope—dangerous, addictive hope.
But I knew I wasn’t out of the doghouse.
There were still things I needed to do, things I wanted to prove. I had plans tucked up my sleeve, and patience tucked somewhere deeper.
When she agreed to stay after closing, I nearly cracked. Every part of me wanted to show her how happy that made me. But I held it in, kept my cool, and played it safe. Still, something had shifted. I felt it in the way she moved around me, in the way her eyes lingered a little longer than before. The spark was back.
God, I wanted to kiss her. So badly.
But I hadn’t earned that right, not yet.
A sudden knock on my apartment door jolted me out of my thoughts. I blinked, glanced at the book I’d been trying to read while finishing my lunch. It sat on the table, still open, pages fluttering from the breeze drifting in through the cracked window.
Brushing the crumbs from my fingers against my jeans, I crossed to the door. No one ever really showed up unannounced, especially not in the middle of the day. Cautiously, I turned the knob and cracked it open.
Boone stood in the narrow hallway, arms crossed, no cowboy hat in sight—just his usual white tee and worn jeans.
“Oh, hey, man.” I opened the door wider, stepping aside. “What’re you doing here?”
Boone didn’t usually make daytime appearances. He spent most of his days out on the ranch, and when he did stop by, it was late during the bar scene.
He gave me a shrug and stepped in. “Thought I’d check in.” A sly smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. “Plus, now that I’m the boss, I can do what I want.”
I snorted as I shut the door behind him. “Fair enough.”
Boone pulled out a chair from the small kitchen table and dropped into it like he owned the place. I followed and flopped into the seat across from him, my legs stretching out under the table.
“So how’s it going? The whole taking over the ranch thing?” I asked.
He ran a hand through his hair and exhaled. “Good. I’m liking it. It’s a lot, but it feels right.”
Boone had officially taken the reins from his dad, giving his parents the freedom to finally enjoy some rest. His mom stepped away from teaching, and they’d been off doing the retirement dream thing—this weekend, it was a road trip in their new RV to some lakeside campground a few states over, right on time for Mother’s Day.
A brief ache stirred in my chest, sharp and familiar, but it faded as quickly as it came. It always did.
“I’m glad it’s working out,” I said, meaning it.
Boone leaned back, lacing his hands behind his head. “Yeah, yeah. But I’m not here to talk about me. I’m here to talk about last night.” His smirk deepened. “What happened with Penny?”
I laughed, shaking my head. “Not much.”
Boone rolled his eyes like I was giving him nothing, which, in all fairness, I kind of was. “Seriously? She stayed behind. I thought for sure I’d be driving all three of them home, playing chauffeur.”
“I don’t know,” I admitted. “I asked her to stay on a whim, and she said yes.”
It wasn’t some grand plan. It was instinct. A last-second choice I wasn’t sure she’d go for, but she had. Those stolen hours with her, just the two of us, had been everything. Quiet. Easy. Familiar.
“It’s gotta make you feel good, yeah?” Boone asked as his head tilted just enough to read me.
A slow smile tugged at the corner of my mouth, and I shrugged, trying not to let too much show. “I guess it did.”
“What’s next on your list of ways to win her back?” Boone asked.
I let out a heavy breath. I was always looking, searching for some spark of inspiration. And today, finally, it struck.
“I’m planning to make a few drinks at the bar,” I said, watching his reaction. “Name them after her. Subtle stuff, things only she’d pick up on. Kind of like a secret code.”
Boone arched a brow, curious now.
“I wanna pull ingredients from memories we’ve made, her favorite liquors, the flavors she’d always gravitate toward. Then give them names only she’d understand. It’s not some big public declaration, but it’s personal. It shows her I remember.”
It felt like the perfect in-between with just enough to say, I still see you, without screaming it to the whole damn town.
If I thought she’d be okay with it, I’d climb on top of the bar and shout to the world how gone I am for her. But that might be… premature.
Boone gave a small nod, pressing his lips into a line like he approved, though something in his eyes flickered with caution.
Still, the question buzzed in my brain like static. Would this be enough? Would she see what I was trying to do?
If I let doubt keep steering the ship, I’d never move forward. I had to trust my gut and keep going.
“Penny’s not the kind to hold a grudge,” Boone said after a beat. “If you put in the effort, I can’t see her not giving you another shot.”
“Oh, I am putting in the effort,” I said with a huff of a laugh, and he smiled.
“I know you are.” There was a pause before he added, “Still can’t believe you were married.”
I rolled my eyes and leaned back, hands behind my head, spine cracking with the stretch. “This whole marriage thing? Needs to be behind me already. I’m so fucking tired of it being the center of every goddamn conversation.”
“Can you blame us?” Boone leaned in, resting his elbows on the table. “I find out my best friend’s been secretly married? And the woman you’re trying to get back with finds out, too?”
Groaning, I grabbed the white cigarette box, fished one out, and lit it. Inhaling deep.
“I get why it’s being talked about. Doesn’t mean it’s not frustrating as hell.”
Another thought had been gnawing at me for days—one I hadn’t said out loud yet.
“It’s not just Penny,” I said slowly. “I think that drunk mistake is why my sister’s being an ass about the bar, too.”
Saying it out loud released something. I’d been carrying that weight since the night her and I fought. Which also happened to be the last night we’d really spoken, actually. Since then, I’d done what I do best—avoid.
Boone’s brows shot up. He turned his head like he was trying to make sure he heard me right. “Go on.”
“We were arguing, again, and she said she couldn’t give me the bar. Not that she didn’t want to, but like something was stopping her.”
I’d been running it through my head since. But the only thing that made sense? She knew. She knew about the marriage. After Dad died and the bar became hers, she somehow knew and kept it in her name.
“No shit…” Boone murmured. “But how would she even find that out?”
I took a hard drag from the cigarette and tapped ash into the tray. “No fucking clue.”
“It never made sense why she stayed in Faircloud,” he added, voice low. “She always looks miserable behind that bar.”
A quiet laugh slipped from my throat. “That’s her default expression.”
“Have you talked to her about it?”
“Nah.” I exhaled a cloud of smoke. “A civil conversation? That’s never gonna happen. She’s impossible.”
Boone hummed like he wasn’t convinced.
I squinted at him. “What?”
He threw his hands up like I was accusing him of something. “Nothing, man.”
Bullshit. I could see the gears turning behind his eyes.
“Spill it.”
“I just think… maybe you both make having a civil conversation impossible.”
My head tilted. I didn’t love the way that landed.
“I’m just saying,” Boone continued, cautious, “every time I’ve seen you two talk, it’s like watching two firecrackers light each other up.”
I didn’t argue. I couldn’t because deep down, I knew he was right. No matter what the topic was—bar business or personal—we always ended up at each other’s throats.
I crushed the cigarette in the tray and didn’t say a word.
“Did you know,” Boone said, changing gears fast—thank God, “Logan’s going to Petal Pusher tomorrow to help Penny?”
I straightened, leaning on my elbows. “Logan?”
That was my job. My thing.
When Penny needed help with Sandy, I was the one she called—whether it was cleaning vases or making deliveries during peak seasons.
A flicker of jealousy burned through my chest. She’d asked someone else.
“And you’re telling me this… why?”
Boone glanced down at his phone, thumbs idle. “Just do what you want with that information.”
“Wait—”
“I should get going,” he said, rubbing his palms on his jeans. “Can’t leave everyone alone too long, even with Rhodes holding down the fort.”
Logan’s going to help Penny…
I sat with that thought a second longer before something clicked. I looked up at Boone, a slow smirk spreading across my face.
He was already watching me, grinning like he knew I’d finally caught up.
“Thanks for stopping by,” I said, standing to see him out. “Even if you did interrupt my lunch.”
“And the romance book you’ve got sitting on the table?” he teased, nodding toward the pink paperback, cartoon couple mid-kiss on the cover.
“They’re not half bad,” I said, shrugging. “You should try one sometime. The stuff you learn…” I gave a low whistle. “It’s a goldmine.”
“My girlfriend writes them,” Boone said with a cocky grin. “Trust me. I know exactly what’s in those pages.”
I laughed. “Fair point.”
We said our goodbyes, and once the door clicked shut behind him, I reached for my phone, opened my messages, and pulled up Logan’s number.
Time to send a text and make myself busy this weekend.