Chapter 11 #2
The door to O’Malley’s burst open, pulling us both out of our trance, and Sutton strolled through with her arms full of my momma’s signature takeout containers.
“Who’s hungry, bitches?”
“Me. I am starving,” Ryan hiccupped, eyeing Sutton up and down as she placed the containers on the counter and dropped into the seat next to him, giving him a quick one-over.
She leaned back in her chair and reached across Ryan to rub my back a bit. “It’s good to see you here.”
Magnolia had gone to work fixing Sutton a drink, and we all dug into the leftovers.
“Save some for me,” Charlie called out, coming from the back hallway that led to the apartment. He took the seat to my left and patted my shoulder.
“Magnolia, I put an extra case of wine in the back hallway. It’s leftover from the party, and Jordan said you can just sell it off.”
“Thanks,” she offered, but her voice held a soft, somber note.
Between bites and refills on our drinks, the four of us fell into an easy rhythm, the kind that only came from years of shared stories and memories.
Charlie leaned back in his chair, shaking his head as Sutton launched into a tale that had Magnolia laughing so hard she had to wipe a tear from her cheek.
I couldn’t help but smile at the sight of her like that—completely at ease, her laughter spilling out like she didn’t have a single care in the world.
The bar hummed with an energy I hadn’t felt in a long time, the kind that only came with being surrounded by people who knew every version of you and loved you anyway.
The sound of their voices, the overlapping chatter, felt like stepping into a song I hadn’t heard in years but still knew all the words to.
Ryan, on the other hand, was trying his best to follow along, nodding too much and laughing a beat too late. It was clear he was out of his depth, and maybe a little too drunk to keep pace, but no one seemed to mind.
“Lee, why don’t we take him into Cole’s old room to lie down for a bit,” Maggie offered, coming around the front of the bar. “There’s a TV in there, and I just changed the sheets.”
She pulled a key ring from her back pocket and padded down the hall as I helped Ryan off his barstool and across the room.
Cole had added an extra bedroom for himself when Maggie and Charlie got a little too old for their bunk beds.
Charlie took Cole’s old room, and Maggie had her own space as a teenager, something I took advantage of as much as I could.
I set Ryan down on the full-sized bed. “Bathroom’s over there,” I pointed, dragging a waste bucket across the room and placing it by the bed. “Just in case.”
Ryan’s eyes had shut quickly, and Maggie and I both felt the electric charge of being together, somewhat alone, in a small, confined space.
“Remember when you were going to turn this space into a green room?” I said, looking around. My eyes fell on a picture frame housing a snap of Magnolia and Charlie the year they moved to Savannah. Knobby knees, freckles, and wild curls covered both siblings.
“I had big plans for this place. Turns out, I’m probably going to have to sell it.
” She opened the door that led into Cole’s office, now belonging to her, and crossed the room to sit behind the big steel desk.
She opened up the bottom drawer and took out a capped bottle of Maker’s Mark and two rocks glasses and poured us both a finger of the warm, amber liquid.
“Sell it? Why would you do that?” I took the seat across from her and sipped slowly on my drink, keeping one eye on her. This was the first time all day that she looked relaxed around me.
“Well, as you can see, it’s 10:30 on a Saturday night in Savannah, and there’s not a soul in sight that doesn’t belong to me personally. I mean, except for you and your friend.” She shrugged, pulling back on her own glass.
I cracked a small, sideways smile. “I don’t belong to you, huh?”
Magnolia snorted and leaned back, looking up at the ceiling. “Sometimes I wonder if you ever really did.”
The words stung, but she was being honest, and it had been a long time since the veil lifted between us and she could speak freely.
The fall when we got together changed our communication style.
She was no longer my best friend who could say anything.
She’d turned into a girlfriend, for the first time ever, and had begun to choose her words wisely.
It was one of the greatest downfalls of our relationship. It was what ended everything.
I went to open my mouth to tell her that I did belong to her when the office door flew open.
“What are y’all doing back here?” My brother, drunk as a skunk, teetered in the doorframe, casting both of us a suspicious look through slitted, half-open eyes.
“Talking, clearly. With a desk between us. Not quite sure that warrants the dirty look you’ve got plastered on your face right now.” Maggie’s tone was calm, yet firm, and I knew she was trying to shut down an argument before it began. A situation I was very familiar with.
“You really couldn’t help yourself, could you?” my brother slurred, shooting daggers at me. He went to take a step forward and tumbled to the side, knocking over some photos Maggie had lined up on a bookshelf.
“Dane, get out of my office. Now. Get in an ride share, go home, and you can talk to us tomorrow when you’ve slept it off.” Still in her chair, Maggie spun around to face the back wall, effectively turning away from her drunk boyfriend looming in the doorway.
“It doesn’t surprise me in the least that you’d go slumming the second you had the chance,” Dane spat before slamming the door and stomping off. I heard him crash into a table, and Sutton’s gentle voice as she led him away from Maggie’s office.
“Maggie, please tell me you do not allow that man to talk to you like that ever?” She’d swiveled back around and topped off both of our drinks.
Her eyes were glazed over with a thin film of tears.
“Every single one of us has been acting a little out of character since your plane landed in Georgia, Lee Wilder. I know we’re all glad you’re here, believe me, but I think you need to remember that when you left, you left different versions of the people you’ve seen today. ”
“That’s not true. Dane’s still an asshole,” I laughed, but that laughter didn’t reach across the desk whatsoever.
“I like your brother, Lee. I’ve been having a great time getting to know him on a relationship level. He treats me kindly, he supports me, believes in me, and he gives me the space and freedom to be myself.”
She said the words, alright, but I knew Magnolia Pruitt better than anyone.
She didn’t believe a damn word of what came out of her mouth.