Chapter 21
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
“What do you want to do today?” Magnolia cut the last mini donut in half.
She popped one half into her mouth before pushing the plate with the other half across the table to Tully.
“We could go shopping in Dallas. We could give each other facials. We could go skinny-dipping in the river. Or we could just hang out in the bookstore and read smutty romance. I read that book with the tattooed bad boy, and let me tell you what, it was well worth the five hundred and twenty-six pages. That hockey player knew how to use his . . . stick.”
Before Tully could ask exactly how he used his stick, Arlene, one of the A-Sisters who ran Grounds For Divorce, showed up at the table to refill Tully’s coffee cup. “I dated a hockey player once.”
Adele yelled from behind the coffee counter. “Field hockey!”
“Field or ice, he still knew how to use his stick!” Arlene yelled back.
Maggie’s eyes twinkled with interest. “Was he one of your husbands, Arlene?” Maggie loved to hear the A-Sisters stories about their many husbands.
“No. He never proposed. And with good reason. I heard he married one of his teammates and they’re living happily ever after in Alabama.
” Arlene stared out the front window. “Which explains so many things.” She snapped out of her thoughts and smiled at Tully and Magnolia.
“You girls let me know if I can get you anything else.”
Once she was gone, Magnolia looked at Tully.
“I wish the A-Sisters would write their memoirs. Now those would be good reads.” When Tully didn’t say anything, she sighed.
“This was a bad idea, wasn’t it? I shouldn’t have forced you out of your house when it’s obvious you’re still in the mopey stage of your break up with Jaxon. ”
Tully couldn’t argue the point. She was in the mopey stage.
And even more so after going to the Hennessy’s house and offering the money she’d borrowed from Birdie to finish the renovations.
She thought for sure Jaxon would contact her.
If not to take her up on her offer, to at least thank her.
But she hadn’t heard one word. Not a house call. Not a phone call. Not even a text.
Even after she deposited the money in Jaxon’s damn account!
Now she wasn’t just in the mopey stage. She was in the pissed-off stage.
Maybe she had acted like a little girl who couldn’t own up to what she wanted, but he was acting like an immature asshole who thought it was perfectly okay to ghost women he’d given multiple orgasms to. And not just orgasms, but cuddles and kisses and sweet words that had made her melt.
“He acted like he cared.” She popped the other half of the donut in her mouth and viciously chewed. “Really cared. But it was all a lie. And I should have seen it coming. Why would Jaxon Hennessy be interested in me when he could get any woman he wanted?”
Magnolia placed a hand on hers. “Maybe because you’re beautiful and smart and kind and have the best hair I’ve ever seen in my life. I’d sell my soul for your curls.”
“Thank you, but my point is that he just used me for the money to renovate Honky Tonk Heaven.”
Magnolia squinted. “But I thought you told me you had to convince him to take money from you.”
Good point. “But if that isn’t the case, why hasn’t he tried to contact me?”
“Oh, honey.” Magnolia patted her hand. “That’s a million-dollar question.”
“A lot of men have ghosted you?”
“Well . . . no. But being on the other side of ghosting, I can tell you that it probably has nothing to do with you and everything to do with them. Maybe Jaxon has commitment issues. When things get too serious, it makes him feel like his entire insides have broken out in an itchy rash he can’t scratch.
The more serious the feelings, the thicker the rash.
Until finally he thinks up some stupid excuse to break things off and runs for the hills. ”
When she noticed Tully staring at her, she waved a hand.
“Not that I do that, but it happens. So you shouldn’t blame yourself for something that’s wrong with him.
Although I don’t think you should let him get away with it either.
I was always woman enough to break things off with my exes face to face.
Jaxon should be man enough to do the same. ”
Tully threw down her napkin and stood. “You’re right! Let’s go confront an arrogant jerk.”
Except on the way to the Hennessys’ in Uncle Otis’s old Volkswagen microbus—that was a moving billboard for Time To Read with a row of classic books painted on the sides from fender to fender—Tully started to lose her nerve.
“I don’t know. Maybe it’s best if we just let things end. I’ll stay away from the Hennessys . . . and Honky Tonk Heaven.”
“Absolutely not!” Magnolia shifted gears and the grating noise had both women cringing.
Magnolia claimed to know how to drive a shift stick, but it was obviously an exaggeration.
“You can give up a sexy bad boy, but I refuse to let you give up your dream. You want to own an infamous dancehall, you’re going to own an infamous dancehall.
” She winked at Tully. “Besides, I’m looking forward to being friends with the owner of a country bar and getting free admission whenever I come into town to visit. ”
Just the thought of Magnolia leaving made Tully feel even sadder. “I wish you didn’t have to go back to California at the end of the summer.”
“Oh, I have to go back. My daddy would be all alone if I didn’t.
But as soon as I get him married off to the right woman, I might just decide to come live in Promise Springs and hang with my bestie at her dancehall.
” Her gaze shifted to the passenger side window.
“And speaking of the dancehall, isn’t that Jaxon’s truck? ”
Tully glanced out the windshield and sure enough there was Jaxon’s classic truck parked right in front like it had been the first time she’d seen it. The doubt she’d been having about confronting him grew.
“Don’t stop, Maggie. I mean it. I don’t want to talk to him, after all.” She wasn’t ready to know for certain that what they’d had was over.
But Magnolia didn’t listen and pulled into the huge lot, parking directly behind Jaxon’s truck.
“Don’t worry. We’re not going in, but he shouldn’t get away with ghosting you without some form of retribution.” Magnolia smiled the same smile she’d given Tully when she’d suggested they steal the Nutty Buddys.
“You are not going to pull a Carrie Underwood on Jaxon’s beloved truck, Maggie.”
She flapped a hand. “Of course not. I’m not that vindictive. I’m just going to let the air out of his tires.” Before Tully could stop her, she was out of the car and heading to Jaxon’s truck.
Tully would have gone after her, but her door got stuck and she couldn’t open it. She’d rolled down the window and was trying the handle on the outside when a blaring car alarm went off.
Magnolia popped up like a jack-in-the-box and started running back to the car. Tully was amazed at how fast her friend could run in five inch heels when one of those heels broke and she stumbled.
That’s when the front door of Honky Tonk Heaven opened and the Hennessys came flooding out. It only took a second for them to figure out what was going on.
Huck and Poppy started laughing. Dawson took off after Magnolia, who for some reason had changed course and was now hobbling toward the river.
While Jaxon just stood there and stared at Tully.
Which Tully understood. She was frozen in her seat staring back.
His jeans and T-shirt were covered in sawdust and most of his hair had fallen out of his ponytail and framed his beautiful face.
Yes, beautiful. Because as upset at him as she was, she still loved that face.
It broke her heart she would never wake up with it every morning and go to sleep with it every night
“Put me down, you hillbilly caveman!”
Magnolia’s yell pulled her out of her heartbreaking thoughts and she turned to see Dawson come around the side of the building carrying a struggling Magnolia over his shoulder. The sight had Tully kicking the door open and hopping out as Dawson replied.
“Not happening, Ditzy Barbie. I have to put up with your crazy when I’m at Time To Read, but I’ll be damned if I have to put up with it on my own property.”
“Put up with me? Ditzy Barbie? Why you—”
“Put her down, Dawg,” Jaxon cut in, although his gaze never left Tully.
Dawson put her down and Magnolia tugged her dress back in place.
“Dawg? Well, that’s appropriate. Here I thought the entire town was wrong about you and you were just a misunderstood sweet book nerd.
Boy, was I wrong. Just so you know, you don’t have to put up with me.
You can find another place to buy your precious books.
” She looked at Tully. “Come on, Tulls. Let’s get out of here. ”
Tully wanted to leave. She really did. She just couldn’t get her feet to move. Not with that golden gaze pinning her. Magnolia sent her a questioning look, then sighed.
“Okay, I get it. You have some unfinished business here. But I’ll expect you to call me later with all the deets.
” She hobbled to the microbus since her broken high heel seemed to be missing.
Before she climbed in, she looked back at the Hennessys.
“Sorry about letting the air out of your tire, Jaxon, but you deserved it.” She turned, her gaze narrowing on Dawson.
“I’d watch my p’s and q’s, Country Thor, or I’ll do more than let out a little air in your tires.
” She got in and peeled out, with a grinding of gears and a spray of gravel.
Dawson blinked. “What the fuck?”
Poppy socked him in the arm. “I think you just met your match, Country Thor. Now come on, y’all. Like Ditzy Barbie said, Tully and Jax have some talking to do.”
But once the Hennessy siblings had gone back inside Honky Tonk Heaven, Jaxon didn’t say a word.
Tully might have turned around and walked home if not for the emotion she read in those warm honey eyes.
Regret . . . longing . . . and something that made her heart beat faster and her lungs feel airless.
Finally he spoke. But it wasn’t what she expected. “So now that you aren’t a deputy anymore, you’ve turned to a life of crime?”
“That’s it? That’s all you have to say to me?”
He took a deep breath before he released it. “No, but damned if I know where to start.”
Her heart sank because there was only one explanation for that.
“You don’t need to search for the right words, Jax.
I’m a big girl who can handle a break up—especially when you never made me any promises.
” She moved closer. “But you did make a business deal with me, which is a promise. So you can walk away from me, but you can’t walk away from our partnership.
Unless you want me suing your butt, we have a dancehall to finish. ”
She turned to leave, but his hand shot out and stopped her. When she whirled around, his eyes were confused. “Partners? That’s all you think I want us to be? Business partners?”
“Isn’t it? You called me a little tattletale and then ghosted me. What should I think?”
“That maybe I was working my ass off trying to make sure you got your dream.”
She stared at him. “What?”
He let go of her arm and looked away, running a hand through his hair and further pulling it from his ponytail. Sawdust sprinkled down from the dark strands and landed on his broad shoulders as he looked back at her.
“I’m sorry, Tallulah. I’m sorry for all the things I said the night of the fire.
And I’m really sorry I listened to Huck and Poppy’s relationship advice.
They seemed to think, since you love Honky Tonk Heaven so much, cleaning up the fire damage would be the perfect way to apologize.
And since words have never been my forte, I went along with their lamebrain idea.
But now that it doesn’t look like we’re going to meet the deadline, I should have just had enough guts to face you with the truth. ”
He stared at her with the heart-stopping, breathtaking look again.
“I love you, Tully. I don’t know how it happened.
All I know is one second my heart was cold and dark and the next it was flooded with warm light and I was happier than I’ve ever been .
. . until our fight. Then everything went back to dark.
I guess what I’m trying to say is that you are my light, Tallulah Gentry.
And I don’t want to live without you. I know I come with a lot of baggage—baggage you might not want to deal with.
Especially now that we aren’t going to make the deadline and I can’t give you your dream.
But if there’s any chance that you feel the same way—”
She threw herself at him and cut him off with a kiss. There was a moment when she was the only one doing the kissing, then his arms came around her and he started to participate.
It was hands down the best kiss of her life. Not because of the hungry slides of his lips or the sultry brushes of his tongue, but because of the love that was in each hungry slid and sultry brush.
When they finally drew apart, they were both breathing hard . . . and smiling.
“I feel the same way, Jaxon,” she said. “I didn’t know what true happiness was until you showed up into my life and taught me how to be who I really am. You helped me figure out what I wanted in life. And it’s not an old dancehall.” She smiled softly. “It’s you.”
He looked stunned. “Are you sure?”
“One hundred percent positive.” She hesitated. “Now that doesn’t mean I don’t want an old dancehall too.”
Disappointment filled his eyes. “I’m sorry, Tull, but there’s much more work to be done than time left to do it.”
The door flew open and Huck stepped out. “But that doesn’t mean we should quit.”
Dawson filed out behind his brother. “It would be a waste of time, Huck. We can’t do everything we need to do in a week.”
Poppy joined her brothers. “What would be a waste is all the time and money we already spent. Which is why I vote with Huck to keep trying.” She looked at Tully and smiled. “I guess that makes you the deciding vote, Princess.”