Chapter 29 #2
“What’s going on? Did it freeze again?” Winnie asked, scooting closer to Bridger so she could glance at the screen from where she sat between us. “What is this? His poetry?”
“This isn’t fucking poetry,” Bridger hissed, turning the screen so both of us could see it.
The laptop had a file named “The Taylor Tea,” with endless docs inside labeled by date, which appeared to be weekly.
“Oh my gosh,” Winnie whispered as she leaned over and opened one of the docs. And then another. And another. “Uncle Oscar is the author of ‘The Taylor Tea’?”
“Fucking Oscar. I should have known. The dude is the pulse of this town. He’s at that restaurant every damn day, just listening to all the conversations.” Bridger threw his hands in the air. “And it’s been a fucking dude the whole time? I thought it was a woman writing that bullshit.”
“I mean, the guy is a New York Times bestselling author. He knows how to tell a story.” I had to laugh, still stunned by the revelation.
Winnie’s eyes were wet with emotion as she looked between us.
“I think he misses writing, but he doesn’t want to write books anymore.
He found an outlet that makes him happy.
And he never wanted anyone to know who he was even when he was a famous author.
His anonymity was so important to him, so I’m guessing this was a way to have an outlet without anyone knowing it was him. ”
“So he just gets to spread gossip about all of us, and we’re supposed to keep it a secret? Why would we protect him for calling everyone out?” Bridger was on his feet now, pacing in little circles in front of the table.
“Listen, I’m not going to tell you what to do.
I know you hate that column, but from my perspective, it’s done good things for this town,” Winnie said as she sniffed a few times, her eyes were wet with emotion.
“It’s something most locals look forward to every week.
I mean, your family reads it every Sunday at dinner together.
Lulu wakes up and can’t wait to pull it up. ”
“Why are you upset, beautiful?” I asked her, pulling her close to me and wrapping my arms around her.
“I think it’s just the fact that I know he’s missing something that he loved so much, and he’s found an outlet for it, mixed with the guilt that I asked for help fixing his laptop and just exposed his secret.
One he probably loves, because the man loves a little drama, and he’s created it in this small town where people are always talking about it and waiting for Saturday to roll in. And now I just ruined it for him.”
I glanced up at Bridger, who blew out a strained breath and crossed his arms. “Didn’t he just write about you two? Was that not offensive to you? The man was talking about your personal life.”
I laughed. “He said that Winnie and I were seen together often, and that we’d gone out to dinner and left hand in hand. Anyone could have said that because it was true. I wasn’t offended by it. Hell, I want everyone to know I’m crazy about my nanny.”
She smiled up at me. “I didn’t care, either. And the girls were excited about us, so his column made it easy to fill them in on what was happening.”
Bridger pulled out the chair and sat back down.
“And what about exposing Emerson’s wedding disaster and Rafe shopping for an engagement ring for Lulu?” He waited for a response.
“If you recall, there was an apology the following Saturday about Rafe shopping for a ring, and it stated that he’d thought the proposal had already happened because he heard Rafe and Lulu talking about wedding plans.
And Emerson’s wedding…” I paused and ran a hand through my hair.
My cousin Emerson, who was now married to the love of her life, Nash, had been dating Collin Waterstone, and they were all set to be married when she found out he was having an affair with her maid of honor, Farah.
It was the biggest news in Rosewood River at the time, and “The Taylor Tea” did not hold back.
“Dude, everyone in this town was invited to that wedding. It wasn’t like they didn’t know it was called off.
And those articles were all defending Emerson and calling out Collin and Farah, not by name, of course, but everyone knew who he was talking about.
And Emerson moved to Magnolia Falls and found Nash and Cutler, so it all worked out.
‘The Taylor Tea’ did not cause her wedding to explode—it just reported on it. ”
“Fuck. I hate small-town gossip,” he grumped.
“It’s going to happen whether that column is there or not. Hell, Emerson told me she reads it every Saturday, and she doesn’t even live here,” I said with a laugh.
He glanced over at Winnie. “Let me guess, you don’t want me to expose him.”
“I’m not going to ask you to do that,” she said as she blew out a breath.
“Look at me, Winnie,” he said as he stared at her. “Is that what you want? You want me to keep it a secret?”
“I want my uncle to be happy. He’s a really good man, Bridger. He’s the reason that I was able to start this new life, and he encouraged me to write when no one thought I should, outside of him and my father.” She shrugged. “So, if it were up to me, I would just pretend I never saw this.”
“Well, you make my cousin very happy. You make my niece Melody very happy. Hell, you make my future wife very happy with the books you write. You’re part of this family now, Winnie. So if that’s what you want, that’s what you’ll fucking get. Even if I hate that fucking column.”
My eyes nearly bulged out of my head. “Who the fuck are you, and what have you done with my broody cousin?”
“Hey, what can I say. I have a good woman keeping me in check and a therapist who reminds me to stop and think before I react.” He shrugged.
Bridger had been seeing his therapist ever since he and Emilia got together because he realized his childhood trauma had caused him to be very guarded.
He’d been through some shit, and he’d made huge strides over the last several months. I was proud as hell of him.
Winnie moved forward and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Thank you, Bridger. It means the world to me that you are willing to do this for him.”
He hugged her before she slipped back into the seat beside me.
“I’m doing this for you, not for him. So it stays right here, between the three of us.” He looked between us.
“Deal,” Winnie said, glancing over at me with a big smile on her face.
Damn. She really was part of this family.
I couldn’t tell when it had happened, but Winnie Smith was not only a part of this family, but she was also the woman I was crazy about.
She had me thinking about a future that I didn’t even know I wanted.
But now I wanted everything.
And that was all because of her.
She wasn’t only Melody’s Winnie.
She was my Winnie.
She was mine.