Chapter 6 #2
“What’s that?” Alex leaned over, his forearms on his knees.
“How are you going to make it all happen?”
“Me?” Alex exploded out of his chair, his hands raking through his hair. “That would be impossible. There’s no way—”
“I have every bit of faith that you’ll figure it out. Because that’s what you just promised Chyna.”
“I said no such thing.” He paced the small confines of Lacey’s office. “I’d never agree to that.”
“Yes, you did. And now it’s going to be up to you to make this happen.”
I couldn’t help the smug grin from spreading across my face. But as my smile grew, a tiny thought chipped away at my mind. Six weeks until the wedding meant I needed to get the dogs moved out as soon as possible.
“Wait a sec.” I leaned forward and met Lacey’s gaze.
“Yeah, I was waiting for you to realize what this means for the dogs. We’re going to need to move them.
There’s no way Alex can get his penguin habitat built and bring in the birds if you’ve got a ton of dogs living there.
” Lacey shuffled a few papers together. “I printed up listings for some alternate places. Unfortunately none of them look ideal, but we’ll have to figure something out. ”
I took the pages and riffled through them. “These are all over the place. Swynton . . . Bellsview . . . even Beaumont.”
“Like I said, we’re going to have to figure something out.” Lacey took in a deep breath and lifted her gaze to meet mine. “There’s something else, too. Something I need to ask you to do for me.”
“What?” Whatever it was, I would have her back. Lacey ought to know that. We’d always been there for each other.
“The doctor’s putting me on bed rest. I fainted again last night, and he wants me to take it easy, at least until I get through the first trimester.”
My heart raced at the news. With everything Lacey had going on, how could she afford to take time off? “How long will that be?”
Lacey glanced from Alex, who seemed to have gone mute at the talk of pregnancy, to me, who clenched my hands together so hard they hurt. “Oh, about six weeks.”
Alex groaned, his hands clasping behind his neck. “This isn’t good. Dammit. How are we going to make this work?”
“That’s where I come in.” Lacey’s lips shifted into an encouraging smile.
The same kind of smile she’d used when she tried to teach me how to ride a horse.
It was her you-can-do-it and just-keep-going smile that was supposed to inspire confidence.
It didn’t work then, and it wasn’t going to work now.
My knees bumped together, and my hands began to shake. “Oh no.”
Lacey reached out. “Give me your hand, Z. You’ve got this.”
“No, no, no.” If I said it enough times, I’d wake up. All of this would be a bad dream. The shelter roof collapsing, Alex Sanders coming to town . . . I’d close my eyes and wake up in my own bed with Buster the farting dog next to me. In an attempt to make it happen, I clenched my eyes shut tight.
“That’s not going to work, sweetie.” Lacey’s voice pulled me back.
“I can’t.” I opened my eyes.
“You have to. For the dogs, for the town. We don’t have a choice. There’s no one else.”
Alex must have realized if I didn’t say yes, he’d be on his own to face the formidable Chyna and her unrealistic demands. He sat back down and leaned forward, his elbows on his thighs. “I’ll help. We’ll work as a team. That’s the only way we can turn this around.”
A team. Me and Alex? I’d never heard such an awful idea in my life. The no balanced on the tip of my tongue. Hovered there, just waiting for me to open my mouth. But then Alex hit me with that dreamy blue-green gaze. I shifted my glance to catch a ridiculously hopeful expression on Lacey’s face.
Somehow the no fell away. “Fine.”
My stomach clenched as I spoke, already regretting my agreement. It wasn’t fine. It was a horrible, awful, terrible idea. We’d never be able to pull this off.
Alex
I rode the rest of the way back to the warehouse in a state of shock. For someone who rarely committed to anything, much less anyone, I sure had wedged myself into a jam.
“You okay?” Zina glanced over, and I could feel her gaze settle on me.
My cheeks burned. How could I have let myself be so cocky, so sure? All I’d wanted to do was make things right for Lacey. But she had to step down. Zina and I were in this together now. For better or for worse.
“I’m not sure what happened in there,” I admitted.
“I do. You overpromised something you’re going to underdeliver. And not just you, now it’s ‘we’ since you pulled me into it.”
She made it sound so simple, so final. “How can I fix it?” I turned to face her as best I could in the front seat of the truck.
“I guess you’ve got two options.”
Good, she was willing to help. I’d do whatever she told me. “Go on.”
“Number one.” She held up her pointer finger and cast a quick glance my way. “You call Miss High-and-Mighty and tell her you made a mistake. That after considering everything, you realized that there’s no way you can give the bride the wedding of her dreams on such short notice.”
“You think that’s what I need to do?” My stomach clenched at the thought of backing out on the infamous wedding planner. “What kind of fallout do you think we’d get if I went that route?”
Zina shrugged. “I’m not sure. She might decide you’re telling the truth and convince the bride that she needs to wait.”
“Or?”
“Or she could cancel the whole thing, which puts all of us in a bit of a crisis, don’t you think?”
I groaned. “What am I supposed to do?”
“There’s always option two.”
“Which is?”
“Get your ass in gear, beg everyone you know, everyone you’ve ever met, and every stranger you come across on the street to help you make this happen.”
I groaned louder. “I have no idea what to do.”
“I’ll tell you what you shouldn’t have done.” She looked over again, no hint of humor in her eyes.
“What’s that?”
“You shouldn’t have put your foot in your mouth. You shouldn’t have undermined Lacey. You shouldn’t have made a promise before you knew what you were getting yourself into.”
I bit back the sharp retort that threatened to fly out of my mouth and took a deep breath instead. “That’s great advice. But it’s about ten minutes too late. How about we focus on the future instead of dwelling on the past?”
“Can you pull over here? I have dog food to pick up.” She pointed up ahead.
I brought the truck to a stop in front of the feed store, then got out and followed her inside.
The building looked like an old barn that could collapse at any moment.
An older man with a grizzled beard sat behind the counter.
One strap of his overalls fell across his chest. Zina didn’t hesitate; she wrapped the man in a hug, the smile on her face genuine.
“Hi there, Coop. You said you’ve got some dog food to donate to the shelter?”
“I heard you were in a bind. Figured a few bags of food might help.”
“It always helps. But I don’t want to take anything you can make money on. You need to keep your own rescue going.”
He grinned, revealing a smile that was missing a front tooth. “You’ve got a good heart, girl. We’ve got to look out for each other, us animal lovers.”
“You’re right about that.” She ran her hand over the back of an orange tabby cat that hopped up on the counter. “Coop runs a cat rescue.”
I didn’t think she was still speaking to me after the exchange we’d had in the truck. “That explains the cats.” I glanced around. Cats in all ages, sizes, and colors roamed the store.
Coop rounded the counter and shuffled toward the back. “Got it saved over here for you.”
Zina motioned for me to follow. “He saves any bags that pass the expiration date or break open during delivery.”
“That’s nice of him.”
“Sure is. Like he said, we look out for each other around here.”
I wondered what she meant by that. Sure seemed like a jab at me in some form. We reached the back of the store, where a tall pile of dog food bags stacked against the wall.
“Now, Coop. What’s wrong with those bags?” She leaned closer, looking at a label. “They’re not expired and don’t have any holes. You can’t donate those, you should put them out on the floor.”
“Would you just take ’em off my hands? I want to help.” The older man reached for the bag on top.
“I can’t. I appreciate your willingness to pitch in, but you need the sales.”
I didn’t wonder for a moment who would win that battle. My money was on Zina. All of it. Every single time.
The older man pulled something out of his pocket and sank it into the bag of dog food. “Well, will you look at that? Seems this one’s got a hole in it. I can’t sell that one. You’d better take it.”
“Coop.” Zina’s voice came out low, threatening. “Cut that out now.”
“This one, too.” He stabbed another bag. “Am I going to have to attack the whole stack or would you do me the favor of taking these off my hands?”
Zina’s expression changed. I watched the glow spread across her face. “You know I don’t appreciate it when you self-sabotage to help me out.”
“Just this once. You were such a help to me when I was about to lose it all, and I heard about what happened at the shelter.” He turned to me.
“You should have seen what she did when my building was on the line. They wanted to shut me down, but Zina helped me file to become a nonprofit rescue for these poor kitties. She’s an angel, don’t you think? ”
I studied the “angel” next to me. For someone who projected such a tough exterior, she appeared to have a whole lot more going on inside than what she wanted the world to see. “I agree.”
“You two stop it.” Zina’s cheeks flushed. “I’ll take it. Just this once though. For the pups.”
“For the pups,” Coop agreed.
“Can I help you get this loaded?” I asked.
“That would be great.” Zina hefted the top bag into her arms, being careful not to lose any kibble through the hole Cooper had cut into it.
I grabbed a bag under my arm and tossed one over my shoulder, then followed her out to the truck. “He seems like a nice guy.”
“He is. Too nice. The man would give you the shirt off his back if you asked him for it.”
I didn’t need the shirt off anyone’s back, but I did need to rally the people of Ido if I wanted to make good on my promise to be ready in time for the Munyon wedding. “Is he any good at wrangling penguins?”
Zina scoffed. “You can’t be serious about trying to make that date.”
“What’s the alternative? You said yourself that if I back out now, I risk them pulling out of the wedding. I can’t afford to have that happen.” I hung my head. “Not to mention y’all are counting on me.”
“Wait. What’s that?” Zina cocked her head to one side as she set the bag down on the tailgate.
“What?” I let the bags fall from my grip and slid them to the front of the bed.
“Is that the sound of a heartbeat? I wasn’t sure you had one in there.” She poked at my chest.
I captured her hand in mine. “I’m not some heartless money-grubber who’s only out to make a buck, you know.”
“Good.” She squeezed my hand. “Then you’d better start recruiting. Coop’s devotion can be bought pretty easily. He’s a sucker for a good fried catfish dinner down at the Burger Bonanza.”
“What about you?”
“What about me?”
“What are you a sucker for?” I caught her other hand in mine and held them both together. “You’re the one who can make or break this.”
Her chest rose and fell as she took in a slow breath. “You’re giving me too much credit.”
“Don’t kid yourself. I’ve seen the way you get things done. Folks around town notice it, too. They’ve got nothing but praise for you.”
Her jaw clenched. “You’ve been asking around about me?”
“Nothing bad. Just wanted to know who I was getting involved with.”
“Oh, now we’re involved?” She eyed me through those long lashes, and I wondered what they’d feel like fluttering against my cheek. Or better yet, my chest.
I took a half step closer until only a few inches separated us. “Would you like to be?”
The moment stretched, my heartbeat pounding through my ears.
Her gaze lingered on my lips, and she opened her mouth like she wanted to say something but then closed it just as fast.
Every part of me screamed not to fuck up the fragile alliance I had going with the one woman I needed to help me succeed. Every part of me but one.
“I’d like to kiss you now. Would that be okay?” I couldn’t believe I had the nerve to utter the words.
Zina lifted her gaze to meet mine. She nodded, the movement so slight, I wasn’t sure if she meant it.
Only one way to find out. I leaned in, brushing my nose against hers. My breath caught at the contact.
She angled her head, lifting her mouth to meet mine. Our lips touched. My whole world spun out of control as I reached behind her, cupping the back of her head with my palm. She tasted like the peppermints we’d grabbed from the candy dish on Lacey’s desk on our way out.
Before I could take the kiss deeper, a horn blared, reminding me we were standing on the side of the road.
She pulled away, her gaze searching mine. “What was that?”
Honestly, I didn’t know what the hell had just happened. I couldn’t exactly tell her the truth, which was that I felt like a piece of me that had always been missing just slid into place. “Depends. Do you regret it?”
“That’s for me to know and for you to maybe find out.
” She pulled her hand away, but the tinge of pink flushing her cheeks made me think she might have enjoyed that kiss just as much as I did.
“How about we get the rest of that dog food? I’ve got a couple dozen hungry pitties to feed and don’t you have that appointment with the contractor this afternoon? ”
“Sure do.” I followed her back into the feed store to pick up another load.
There was something about her that tugged at a piece of me deep down inside.
She knew what it was like to be left. From what I’d learned about her story, her mom died a few years ago and her dad bailed when Zeb came home a broken version of the hero who’d gone off to war.
We were two of a kind. The only difference was she stuck around to fight her battles while I made myself scarce, hoping to outrun the wounds of my past.
All of a sudden, I was sorry the wedding date got moved up. If only because it meant I wouldn’t have a reason to stick around Ido once it was over.