Hotshot and Hospitality by Nora Everly

Chapter 10

Garrett

I wanted to hop in my truck and go after her and I resented the fact that I couldn’t. The thought of her off somewhere crying and upset made my heart hurt. Lacy needed to leave.

For years I’d felt like part of myself was missing, a nagging little hole in my soul that left me with the feeling that something big was out there waiting for me. Nothing I ever did filled that hole. Not racing cars in high school or enlisting in the Marines. Working for my father didn’t fill it and no woman had ever come close—until last night with Molly. Whenever I was with her my only thought was more. I wanted more of her time; I wanted it all. As a kid, she was the most fun, even more fun than my brothers. She made me feel like the person I wanted to be.

She had a wild heart and she used to live her life with it right there on her sleeve. By contrast, I had always hovered somewhere in between wild and staid; the pendulum never stopped shifting as I grew up and I liked it like that. I could be steady and safe with bursts of excitement whenever I needed them. After years in the Marines, the pendulum had swung heavily to staid. I had forced it to stay there and I hadn’t yet figured out why. Maybe I had become risk averse or maybe I was scared? Maybe I needed a spark to set me off again. Maybe Molly was the spark I needed.

“Garrett! Is she gone yet? I need to talk to you,” Lacy called from my living room. Why was she here now, after all this time?

I had built this cabin with my father and brothers, back when I’d needed peace and quiet. I thought I had found it here in this cabin with Lacy. She was easy to be with and we’d had a good time together, but after she left, I found myself not caring she was gone. It was then I knew what we’d had together hadn’t been right. Ask anyone and they’ll tell you she broke my heart, but when she left, it was a relief. It meant that I hadn’t had to end it myself.

Opening the door, I stepped inside to find her fraught with emotion, wringing her hands and pacing back and forth which was more emotion than I had ever seen out of her when we were together. “We need to talk.”

“It’s been almost two years, Lacy. You left a note and took off in the middle of the night for who-knows-where. I can’t imagine what we would have to talk about. Why are you here?”

Her eyes filled with tears. “I—aren’t you happy to see me?”

“Sure? I guess. How are you?” I stepped around her toward the kitchen. Stan needed his breakfast. And I just wanted her to leave. He came running when he heard his food hit the bowl. I gave him a pat and stood up. Unfortunately, she stepped in behind me and tried throwing herself at me again and, once more, hands at her waist, I set her back.

“I missed you. I think we should try again. Or maybe we could have one last time together for old times’ sake?” Her words burst out in a nervous rush. “We were good for each other, Garrett. Can we try?”

“No, we can’t try again, and we weren’t good for each other. Stop and think about it and you’ll see the truth. We weren’t meant to be, and I think you know it. It was why you left, wasn’t it? After leaving like you did, I can’t understand why you’d even come here.”

She studied my face with narrowed eyes. “Is this because of Molly? Are you with her?”

“No, not—"

We both turned as the front door opened and Barrett stepped through. “Hey, y’all.” His expression was set to solemn and suspicious. It had been his default ever since his divorce. He had been against my engagement to Lacy and had tried to talk me out of it.

“Barrett, hi. I’m going to go . . .” With a sharp pivot she marched toward the door to leave.

“Wait!” Barrett called to her. “He needs the ring back. It’s a family ring.” He had also tried to tell me not to give her an heirloom, but I hadn’t listened.

She struggled with the ring. “It’s stuck!” With a final glance in my direction, she dashed to the door, clearly embarrassed. “I’ll see that you get it. Goodbye, Garrett.”

“Take care, Lacy,” I said, sick with the idea of hurting her feelings even though she was the one who had left me. I hated confrontation and I would never want to cause someone pain.

Barrett looked at me, eyebrows up and shaking his head. “Willa texted Everett about Lacy being here. He’s at the shop. Was I in time? Did it get ugly?”

“No, just weird. Confusing. What the hell was she thinking?”

“She was probably thinking she could charm her way right down your pants again. I’m glad you didn’t fall for her shit.”

“She didn’t give me any shit. She never gave me shit, even when we were together. We just weren’t right for each other is all.”

“You need to be more careful about who you trust, Garrett.”

“And maybe you should be less careful, or less pessimistic at least.”

“I’ve earned my attitude,” he threw back. “You got home looking to settle down. She found you when she was looking for—” He stopped and turned away.

“What? Say it,” I demanded.

“Security, money, someone steady and safe? I don’t really know. But it wasn’t you she wanted; it was whatever she thought she could get out of you. I’m not trying to be harsh and I’m not even judging her because she gave you what you needed, too. You weren’t ready to be alone when you got back. People do that shit all the time out of convenience. But then you went and proposed to her when it should have been a fling. Deep down, you knew it. Don’t deny it.”

“Yeah, well, I didn’t want a fling. I guess I thought of it as the next step.”

“You want to be like dad,” he said in an unreadable tone that put me on the defense.

“Why wouldn’t I want to be like him?”

He held up his hands. “That wasn’t an insult. I wanted that too, but sometimes it doesn’t work out, for whatever reason.”

I drug a hand through my hair. “I need to find Molly.”

“She was at Everett’s with Willa and her sisters.”

“That’s just great. Half of them are nuts.” I threw up my arms. “Who knows what they’re telling her.”

He shot me a look. “They’re all nuts. But at least they’re upfront about it.”

“True. What you see is what you get with them. Why can’t everyone be like that?”

“I wish I knew. It would have saved me a lot of trouble in my life. But, enough about me. Your truck is at the Winston Brothers’ garage, so you need a ride. Dad is going to let you borrow his until they’re done with it. But first, let’s go find your girl.”

“I’m not so sure she’s my girl.” The words were a lie, considering the memory of holding her all night and our kiss this morning kept hammering into my brain that she would absolutely end up as my girl, and that maybe she always had been. I couldn’t stop picturing the stricken look on her face when she ran out of here. I felt compelled to fix it. To fix her.

Barrett studied my face. When he put his mind to it, he could figure us all out. “She will be,” he said with a grin.