Chapter 13
Chapter thirteen
LEE
The look on her face when I mentioned wanting to become a partner in the bar was priceless. Her emotions flickered from shock to wariness to genuine happiness in seconds. But eventually, her expression softened into concern.
My phone buzzed repeatedly in my pocket. I hopped off the stool and walked around the bar, wrapping my arms around her in a long, tight hug. Something I had wanted to do from the second I saw her in Clary’s.
“Just think about it,” I said gently, as I prowled backwards out of the bar, keeping my eyes on her the entire time.
She stood, frozen in her spot, watching me exit with her mouth wide open and her eyes locked on mine.
“I’ll call you later,” I shouted before closing the door to the bar and skipping down the street.
Strutting back toward my hotel on the river, I grabbed my phone out of my pocket. Six missed calls and twelve text messages—all from Janelle.
Fuck. I totally forgot about Janelle in all of my scheming and plotting.
A pang of guilt gnawed at me. Maybe I should have let this “situationship” run its course and call it quits.
Was I ever really interested in her anyway?
That wasn’t fair to her. Being back in Maggie’s orbit had my head spinning. I dialed her number.
“Hey, I am so sorry. This has been the craziest weekend,” I said gently when she answered the phone.
“That’s alright, baby,” she said slowly, but I could hear the anger in her high-pitched tone.
I’d heard it multiple times when she was trying to not lash out at her staff or her handlers in public—or at me when I didn’t pose for the perfect Instagram photo.
“I was just about to call your momma and put out a search party, darlin’.
You scared me, that’s all. How’s Savannah? ”
I wanted to tell her about my plans to save Maggie’s bar, and about hanging out with my friends and how real everything felt for the first time in a long time, but I decided to wait on that and give Maggie time to make up her mind.
“Savannah is great. I’ve seen some old friends, and I’ve gotten a workout in here and there.” That would appease her. “And Momma has me set up to sing some background music for her bridge club tomorrow. It will be nice to see some old faces.”
“Aren’t you flying home tonight?”
I stopped in front of Charlie’s studio, watching him in the backroom, door open, working on a piece.
Sutton sat, legs crossed, on a stool, plugged in to something on her iPad, but chatting away while Charlie nodded and laughed at whatever was coming out of her mouth.
My heart swelled. This was more than just Maggie. I missed my people. My tribe.
“I’m actually hoping to stay for a little while. There’s some great material here. Not too much longer, though. Hey, I have to run. I’ll call you tonight.”
I clicked off the phone before she could fight with me on that and slipped it back into my pocket. It immediately began buzzing with text messages.
The door to Charlie’s studio jingled as I pushed it open, and Charlie and Sutton both looked up and smiled—like a warm, across the room hug that I had been missing for so long.
“So, let me get this straight,” Sutton said, carrying in takeout bags of charcuterie from next door. “You have a girlfriend, she’s not going to want you to stay—like, at all—but you’re going to invest in Magnolia’s bar because…”
“Because he still loves her,” Charlie mused, standing over the sink to wash his hands.
“No, not because I still love her. Not like that anyway,” I lied.
“I think it’s a good idea.” Charlie dried off his hands and stood back to admire his work so far. “She really needs the help—financially, of course. Your brother is going to blow a gasket, though.”
“Don’t tell me that feral creature you dragged into Savannah is staying with you, too,” Sutton said, plating the cheese platters and turning her nose up at the thought of Ryan.
I watched Sutton closely as she arranged the cheeses and meat cuts on a plate with such care.
Still so classically beautiful with her sharp features, cool-blue eyes, and flowing blonde curls.
Of the lot of us, she had aged the least. It was no wonder Ryan couldn’t shut up about her.
She still had no clue how beautiful she was, after all these years.
“Ryan will probably be down to stay.” I poured us all a round of white wine from Sutton’s next-door haul and passed out the glasses. “He’s my writing partner. If the label lets me stay, he’ll stay.”
Sutton popped an olive into her mouth and chewed slowly.
I could hear the wheels in her head churning away.
“I’m just worried about you staying home and Dane losing his mind over it.
You know they’re already struggling to keep their shit together as it is.
Her giving up the bar was his ammunition to finally gain control over her wild ass. ”
The way she said it was comical, but all of our faces fell. Maggie sounded like a captive with Stockholm syndrome rather than a woman in love. Charlie’s shoulders slumped as he picked at his plate.
I needed honesty from my friends—our friends—if I was going through with this.
“Dane is leaving for a two-week trial in Atlanta tomorrow. I’ll head to Momma’s and break the news tonight over Sunday dinner. If he has an issue with it, he can tell me rather than her. He doesn’t—how do I say this without sounding like an ass…”
“He doesn’t beat her. He’s not abusive toward her if that’s what you’re worried about…
” Sutton’s voice was quiet, contemplative.
She rattled her head as if she was shaking off the thought of saying more but stopped herself.
My blood was already boiling. “I mean, physically anyway. He’s just…
Dane. He’s a lot like your father in the way that they want what they want and they’ll do anything to get it.
Even if that means buttering you up real good before dropping you on your head and asking you why you’re so slippery, if you catch my drift. ”
I chewed on that for a second, thinking of my parents’ relationship.
The way my dad would love and dote on Momma, then in the next moment, blame her for a trial gone wrong because the sheets weren’t crisp enough and he slept like shit.
My momma was as strong-willed as they came, but Daddy had always been, and always would be, in charge.
“I’ll take care of it. Momma has a way of making sure that what she wants is pushed through.
And she loves Maggie. She would want what’s best for her, I hope. ”
Charlie nodded and finally looked up, meeting my eyes. “I hope you know what you’re doing here, Lee. This is my sister we’re talking about.”
His sister, who, after all these years, I would still do anything for.