Chapter Fifteen
The next Saturday, Carly headed to Tenacity Grocery.
Things were pretty quiet in town, even for a place as small as Tenacity.
It was different than earlier in the week, when there was a buzz in the air leading up to the district football game.
A lot of people had decided to tailgate over to the stadium, leaving most of Tenacity like a ghost town. That worked fine for Carly.
Whenever she made her way into town, she always had people coming up to her to ask her about the upcoming Fall Dinosaur Days since word got out that she planned on performing at the rodeo.
If they weren’t asking about that, they were asking about Jesse.
She was happy to smile and take pictures when it came to anything regarding the rodeo.
But Jesse was a subject she wasn’t as eager to talk about.
Things were fine since she’d advised him to give Oscar some space. Perfectly…fine.
They’d texted throughout the week, though not as much as they had been.
She’d asked him if everything was okay at one point, and he’d said he was busy painting his house.
That was fair, even if it felt like there was a growing distance between them.
She hadn’t asked him what he ended up deciding regarding Oscar going with the football team, but Jesse had texted her earlier that morning asking if he could come over and talk.
She’d stared at her phone for a whole five minutes before she finally responded that she’d get some snacks. He’d responded that he’d bring a pizza. Pizza had to be a good sign, right? She didn’t know what kind of talk Jesse wanted to have, but what kind of sadist dumped someone over pizza?
Carly pulled into an available spot outside of Tenacity Grocery and put her car in Park. She walked out and headed toward the brick two-story building. Two elderly men sat outside, shooting the breeze with one another. They stopped talking as she approached.
“Howdy, Ms. Hawkins,” the one man said. He had salt-and-pepper hair that was mostly gone and wore a flannel shirt. He looked at her over the rim of his glasses. “What brings you to town this beautiful fall afternoon?”
His companion elbowed him, and the man guffawed.
“What do you think she’s doing at a grocery store, you ninny?” the other man said. This one was tall and gangly with a gray mustache.
“I’m just making conversation.”
“You’re being nosy. You just want the scoop on what’s happening between her and Jesse Abernathy.” The taller man looked at her. “Forgive Gary—he’s been married to my sister for too long. They’re both busybodies.”
Gary glared at his brother-in-law. “I’m going to make sure to tell her you said that, Richard.”
Richard gulped. “You wouldn’t dare.”
Carly shook her head and left the men to their squabbling as she entered the store. A bored teenager behind the counter waved to her, and she smiled back.
She grabbed a basket and walked around the store getting some microwave popcorn, licorice, and a case of hard seltzer. If Jesse planned on breaking up with her, she was going to binge-watch TV while stuffing her face with as many empty calories as she could.
“Hello!” a woman called from behind the meat counter, her voice bright over the low hum of the coolers. “Are you excited for the upcoming rodeo?”
“Very,” Carly replied, offering a polite smile as she adjusted the grocery basket on her arm.
There was a good chance this rodeo might be her last, and she wanted to enjoy it.
She owed herself that much. Still, the thought carried more weight than she wanted to admit.
Rodeo had been her world for so long. But lately, when she thought about her career—the endless travel, the pressure to stay at the top, the constant spotlight—retirement sounded more appealing than ever.
She was tired. Not just the kind of tired that a good night’s sleep could fix, but the deep, bone-level exhaustion that came from years of being on.
Always performing. Always smiling. Always needing to be the best. Somewhere along the way, the joy had started to slip through her fingers.
Especially after the disaster with Fletch.
“My whole family’s planning on attending,” the worker continued as she wrapped a package of steaks in brown paper for a different customer. “It’s not every day we get to see a celebrity perform.”
Carly’s lips curved politely. “Thank you for attending.”
The woman beamed. “We’re all huge fans in my household. My daughter was just heartbroken when you and Fletch Alistair broke up. She’s been following your career for years! She honestly thought you two would get married—”
Carly’s fingers tightened around the basket handle. A dull ache stirred in her chest, but she kept her tone steady. “No, neither of us planned on that. I—”
“That’s what I said,” the woman cut in with a cheerful shrug. “Besides, Jesse Abernathy is much cuter, in my opinion. And he’s local.” She gave Carly a knowing wink.
Carly blinked, caught off guard. “Oh—well…it was nice talking to you.” She shifted her basket higher on her arm. “I should get going.”
She turned down the nearest aisle before the woman could respond, her pulse quickening.
The overhead lights hummed softly, and for a moment she just stood there between the shelves of coffee and cereal, trying to breathe.
She hadn’t realized her life in Australia had made such an impact here—that strangers, halfway across the world, still followed gossip about her and Fletch.
And just like that, the walls she’d built between her old life and this new one felt a little thinner.
Once she was done with her purchases, she headed back outside. Gary and Richard were gone, and she wondered if they’d gone to rat each other out to Gary’s wife. It was almost too bad. She could have used the distraction.
After she got home, she quickly tidied up the house.
Carly wasn’t inside much anyway, considering she spent a majority of her time outside working on her potential school and practicing for the upcoming rodeo.
Time was also ticking away on her getting back to Dex, but she’d worry about that tomorrow.
If Jesse told her tonight that he was done with her meddling, then maybe she would take her agent up on his offer.
At least for a little while. It wouldn’t be running away by any means. Just…a return to her roots.
She went into her room to get ready, deciding on yoga pants and a pullover sweatshirt that hung loosely over one shoulder.
She figured she might as well be comfortable tonight, especially depending on how things turned out.
She thought about ditching her bra, but her breasts were big enough that it’d be too noticeable.
Then again, this might end up being a really short conversation, so to hell with it.
She was just pulling her hair into a loose ponytail when there was a knock on the door.
She ran to answer it, wanting to get the evening over with.
“Hey,” Jesse said, holding a box from Pete’s Pizza and a six-pack of beer.
“Hi,” she said before stepping back so he could come in. Carly headed to the kitchen and knew that Jesse was following. He set the pizza on the black dining table while she grabbed some plates from the cupboard.
When she turned around and saw Jesse taking in her casual clothes, his gaze lingering on the lack of bra strap that her loose sweatshirt revealed, her eyebrow raised.
He tore his eyes away and flipped open the pizza box.
On one half was pepperoni and mushroom; on the other was pineapple and black olives.
She grabbed a seltzer out of the fridge and walked back to the table.
Carly sat in one of the orange chairs at the table and pulled one of the slices toward her that was slathered in pineapple.
She took a bite, taking a second to appreciate the salt and sweet deliciousness.
“I don’t think I’ve known someone who likes pineapple on pizza before,” Jesse said as he reached for a pepperoni slice.
“Have you ever tried it?” she countered.
He looked disgusted. “Absolutely not.”
“Maybe I’ll convert you yet,” she said before licking away the sauce that was lingering on her lips.
He stilled before saying quietly, “Maybe you will.”
She looked up at him and saw that he was staring at her mouth. Carly cleared her throat, wanting—needing—to get any impending heavy conversation over with. She cracked open the can of hard seltzer and took a swig before she said, “What did you want to talk about?”
She held her breath waiting for him to say that despite the looks he was giving her tonight, he wanted to end things. That she’d stuck her nose into his business one too many times. He was done with her. The story of her life.
Jesse grabbed a beer and twisted the cap off, taking his own drink before answering. “I wanted to say you were right.”
Her forehead scrunched. “What?”
“You were right. About Oscar. I worry about him. All the time. I’m doing everything that I can to help him succeed, but I know I’m holding on too tight sometimes. I can’t seem to stop worrying though.”
“About what?” Carly asked, her tone gentle.
“That something will happen that he won’t bounce back from. The idea of anything happening to him makes me crazy.”
Carly fiddled with the tab on her can. “You can’t keep him in a bubble forever.”
“I know. You helped me realize that.” Jesse took another swallow of his beer. “That’s why I said he could go to the game.”
Carly’s eyes shot to his. “You did?”
“I did. He’s currently at a hotel with his team as we speak.”
“What’d he say when you said yes? How’d he react?”
The side of Jesse’s mouth tilted up. “I haven’t seen him that happy in I don’t know how long. It was the right call to make. And I wanted to make sure you knew that I’m aware I was wrong. And that I appreciate what you said.”
Carly took a couple of breaths in and out before she buried her face in her hands.
Jesse jumped up from where he was sitting opposite her and hurried around the table. “What is it?”