Chapter 9
Nine
Baylor
The roads are clear, but my head is not. How could it be when I woke up in his arms? His gruff, “Good morning” in my ear, and his sexy ass making me breakfast. Last night was a surprise, and I’m still not sure how I feel about everything Macklin dropped on me.
However, the day must go on, and I’ve already received a slew of text messages from my nosy sisters, asking whether I’m going to be working today or holed up with Macklin.
I’ve ignored every single one of them, because, yes, of course, I’m working, and as for Macklin, how do I tell them everything we talked about last night?
Shaking out of my thoughts, I take a quick glance in the foggy bathroom mirror.
I rushed home on, thankfully, now-clear roads.
The county workers must have worked all night to make that happen.
Heroes, I tell you. Anyway, I raced home for a shower and a quick change of clothes, and now, I’m tugging on my boots and hurrying out the door.
Thankfully, I don’t run into my sisters or my brother-in-law, which gives me false hope, because when I step inside my office, I find all three of my sisters with coffees in hand, each munching on a muffin—from the smell of it, blueberry—camped out in my office.
“I expected you to look more rumpled,” Courtlynn says, taking a massive bite of her muffin.
“Rumpled?” I ask, tossing my purse onto the small filing cabinet, before leaning against it. Ellison’s in my chair, the other two are in the guest chairs, so this is my only choice. Besides, maybe not sitting will encourage them to get out so I can work.
“Yeah, you know, rumpled from your walk of shame.”
“There is no walk of shame, Court. I had dinner at Macklin’s.
The snow hit us both unexpectedly, and he threw a hissy fit, telling me that if I was going home, he was driving me.
I’d never forgive myself if he were in an accident going home, so I relented and stayed.
” All three of my sisters nod. They know where my fear of an accident comes from.
The four of us live with the outcome of that phone call on a stormy night that changed our lives.
“A hissy fit?” Ellison asks, raising her eyebrows.
“Fine, maybe not a hissy fit, but he was very stern with his ‘if you go home, I’m driving you,’ so I stayed.” I shrug as if it’s no big deal.
“And the dinner?” Leighton asks.
“It was dinner.” I pick a piece of lint from my oversized sweater off my black leggings.
I have several pairs, because they’re the best invention ever.
They go with everything, every season, and they’re a staple in my closet—my sisters’, too.
It’s nice to be able to wear them all the time rather than the pencil skirts I used to wear to work every day.
I don’t miss those at all. Not even two full weeks, and I’m still finding things about my life in New York that I don’t miss. Todd is the biggest.
“What kind of dinner?” Courtlynn presses.
“And why didn’t we know you were having dinner with Macklin?” Ellison asks.
“I thought you were on maternity leave?” I deflect.
“Not yet, little sister.” She grins. “Come on, tell us what’s going on,” Ellison says, her voice softer.
She sounds just like our mom used to, which has me swallowing back a lump in my throat.
I miss our parents every single day. That’s part of why I wanted to flee Magnolia Ridge, and I know I need to deal with the emotions I ran from at some point, but today is not that day.
“It’s nothing. I went out to the stables yesterday. Macklin was there. He invited me to dinner to catch up.” I’m lying, and my sisters can see right through me.
“And what else?” Courtlynn asks. “Because if you expect us to believe that’s all, you’ve been in the big city far too long.”
She gives me a pointed look, and I glance over at Ellison, then to Leighton. These are my sisters, my family, my best friends, outside of Sophia, and I can tell them anything. I’m just not sure how I feel about it all just yet, but I guess getting their perspective might be a good idea.
“Fine,” I groan, rolling my eyes.
“Do we need more muffins for this?” Leighton asks.
“No.” I shake my head, grinning.
“Well?” Courtlynn prompts.
“I don’t know,” I groan. “Yesterday, he was all flirty and said some things.”
“What kind of things?” Ellison asks.
“Like, ‘he wants to make me fall in love with him’ things.”
All three of my sisters gasp.
“Back up the cookie truck,” Courtlynn says, raising her hand in the air. “Context, Bay, we need context.”
“What she said.” Leighton nods, also pointing at our younger sister.
“I’m with them,” Ellison agrees. “We need the conversation, not just bits and pieces.”
I exhale loudly and tell them what happened. I don’t leave anything out, not even going to get carrots from Alice. By the time I’m finished, all three of their mouths are hanging open, and I’m bracing myself for their thoughts on the matter.
However, the room is silent. My gaze bounces between the three of them, and still nothing. “Say something.” I fight the urge to stomp my foot, but they’re just staring at me, and it’s unnerving.
“I can see it,” Leighton finally says, slowly nodding.
“He doesn’t date,” Ellison adds. “I’ve watched him turn down women at the Hideaway, and I’ve heard the guys tease him about a dry spell.”
“Wait.” Courtlynn leans forward in her seat. “You’re thinking he was waiting for Bay?”
Ellison nods. “It makes sense.”
“You had no idea?” Leighton asks.
“No. None. I mean, he was always around when I came home to visit, but all the guys were, even more so now that Ells and Cope are married.”
“Didn’t you have a crush on him?” Leighton asks me.
I sigh. “Yeah, I did, but I was thirteen. He was far too old for me, and it was a crush.”
“Well, he’s not too old for you now,” Courtlynn says. “That five-year age gap gets smaller the older you get.”
“Are you calling me old?” I pretend to be offended, and she laughs.
“All three of you are old,” Courtlynn teases.
“How do you feel about all of this?” Leighton asks, in her calm, soothing voice.
“I don’t know. On one hand, thirteen-year-old Baylor is bouncing with excitement. Then there’s adult Baylor, who feels like he’s come out of left field with all of this.”
“How does he see things progressing?” Ellison asks, resting her hands on her baby bump.
“Just what he said. He wants a shot,” I remind her. “He wants me to give him a chance to show me he’s going to show up for me.”
“Do you want to give him that chance?” Leighton asks.
“He’s sexy,” Courtlynn announces. “I say go for it. He puts Todd to shame.”
“Todd was handsome, but he was kind of snooty,” Leighton says, crinkling up her nose.
“Macklin’s a good guy,” Ellison adds.
“I know he is.”
“Only you can answer what you want,” Leighton tells me. “I think, after everything that went down with Todd, you owe it to yourself to just breathe and not rush into anything.”
“Life’s too short. I say seize the day, or the penis, whatever.” Courtlynn smirks as she shrugs.
Before I can answer, there’s a knock at the door. Looking up, I freeze when I see Macklin standing there. He’s in a pair of faded jeans, cowboy boots, a thick fleece-lined flannel, and a cowboy hat resting on top of his head. And from the smile on his face, he heard our conversation.
“Hey, Mac,” Courtlynn greets him.
“Court.” He nods at my little sister, but his eyes never leave mine. “Baylor,” he purrs. Yes, it sounds like he purrs my damn name in that deep, sexy voice of his.
“Macklin.”
He grins. “I had to stop at the gas station and fill my truck up. I brought you a treat.” He tosses me a red wrapper, and I already know it’s a KitKat bar. “Your favorite, right?”
I nod, because I’ve apparently lost the ability to speak. His grin never wavers, but his eyes soften.
“You’ve been keeping tabs, I hear,” Courtlynn blurts, and Macklin chuckles.
“Only when it comes to my girl.” He winks at me, and my body heats from his attention.
“What are your intentions with our sister?” Courtlynn crosses her arms over her chest, as if she’s being a hard ass, but it’s easy to hear the humor in her tone.
“Didn’t she tell you?” Macklin counters, his green eyes still locked on mine. He heard us. He knows that I did.
“I want your version,” Courtlynn counters.
“Fair enough.” He grins. “Courtlynn, Ellison, Leighton,” he addresses each of them, “my intentions are simple.” He pauses, and the heated stare he gives me fills the room. “I want to make her fall in love with me.”
“That’s a pretty big confession,” Ellison speaks up.
Finally, he turns his gaze from me to my oldest sister.
Macklin and Ellison have been friends for a long time, since high school, when she started dating Copeland, maybe even longer than that.
Macklin, Bowen, and Dixon were there for Ellison in a way my sisters and I couldn’t be when Copeland left town.
“Ellie, I think you know me well enough to know I don’t say things I don’t mean.” He holds her stare as his words settle between them.
“She’s my little sister.” There’s a warning in her statement. A line drawn. A subtle reminder to a man who has been one of her closest friends for a long time.
Macklin nods, and the air seems to shift. “I know who she is. I’m just hoping that one day, I’ll also get to call her mine.” The statement is delivered in a calm, soothing voice.
“Wow,” Leighton breathes, as if she’s just witnessed something spectacular.
“All right, then.” Courtlynn claps her hands together, the sound slicing through the tension. “Looks like we might be planning another wedding.”
A wedding. The words slam into my head harder than they should. Todd and I talked about marriage a lot in the beginning, but the last couple of years, his excuses ranged from, it’s not the right time, or after I make partner. I thought he would be the one I’d walk down the aisle to.