Hotshot and Hospitality by Nora Everly

Chapter 24

Molly

We were halfway back to Green Valley, each of us lost in our thoughts. I wasn’t sure what I could possibly say to make him feel better. Mainly because after a shock like this, no words would be adequate. Not to mention the fact that this was one of the weirdest days in the history of ever. “Are you okay?” I broke the ice.

He blew out a breath. “I feel weird not being there with them, even though we saw for ourselves that he’s pretty much fine now. Sitting up and smiling like nothing happened—”

“He’s going to get through this. The doctor even said so when we got in the room. And you know the second your mother gets home, she’s going to head straight to the pantry and throw away all his pork rinds and beer. No more biscuits and gravy on Sunday mornings for Mr. Bill Monroe. She’s probably sitting in his hospital room right now ordering a treadmill and plotting ways to lower his cholesterol and force him to exercise. Your dad has no choice other than to recover—Becky Lee won’t accept anything less. You know it, Garrett. And don’t forget Barrett is there tonight too. I would not want to get on the wrong side of his bossy ass. He’s going to back your mother up so hard your dad won’t know what hit him.”

He chuckled. “You’re right. It was just—”

“It’s scary to see your parent that way. I know.”

“Yeah, you do know, and I’m so sorry, Molly.”

“What for?”

“This has been your life for years and now I—I have gotten a little taste of it, and I feel like my heart is about to break—”

“It’s—I wish I could say you’ll get used to it, but that would be a lie. Parents are people too. They get sick. Sometimes they die, or just go away . . .”

“I thought I understood how you felt back then. I tried to imagine what it would be like to lose my mom or my dad so I could talk about it with you, to help you. But at the end of this, my father is going to be okay and my imagination didn’t even come close to how terrible it felt to see him in that hospital bed. I’m so sorry, Molly, I—"

No. I couldn’t listen to any more of this or I’d make it all about me instead of him and then I would have to jump out of the car and run away. “Do you want to go home? Should we stop for food? Are you hungry? No one really ate much lunch at the baby shower.” I changed the subject immediately. It was so obvious he had to know what I was doing.

I didn’t have to look at him to know he was smiling that knowing smile. The one that said he understood the game I was trying to play. This was why I was pretty sure he was perfect for me. But that didn’t mean he wasn’t infuriating at the same time. “I want to go home,” he said, playing along with me. “Will you stay with me tonight? I don’t feel like being alone. Stan’s good company, but his lack of conversational skills sometimes leaves me feeling lonely.”

“Aw, Stannasaures Rex! You know how I feel about that fluffy little chunk. Yes, I’ll stay with you. Anything you need and I’m there.”

“I—what changed, Molly?”

I spared a quick glance in his direction. “What do you mean?” I knew what he meant. I just needed time to think of a good answer.

“What changed between us? Why, after all this time are you—” I saw him drive his hand through his hair in frustration. I quickly looked back at the road. “Why after all these years are you letting me into your life again? I need to know we’re on the same page here, or at least in the same book.”

Wow, he was determined to take a deep dive into the bottomless, screwed-up pit of my psyche and push all my buttons today. I was trying so hard to be there for him; I couldn’t let myself turn into a blubbering mess because that would be selfish. Luckily, I was good at digging holes to bury my feelings inside of. But it seemed like he had his own shovel for my dirt, and I needed to get rid of it so he would quit unearthing my secrets.

I took in a long breath before I answered. The truth was in there somewhere, so I dug it out to answer him. “I guess when I saw you walking toward me at Genie’s, I sort of remembered all the times you were there for me in the past, growing up and stuff. And how after all these years of me being a bonehead, you were still showing up for me. You never gave up on me even when I was lost in my head. And honestly, Garrett, I still get lost. I get caught up in my feelings sometimes and—”

“I know you do, Molly. I do it too. Why do you think I still can’t sleep?” He reached out and squeezed my thigh, leaving his hand there as I drove us home.

The dirt went flying as I shared more truth. “Uh, if I’m being honest, there was also that first kiss that I only eighty percent remember. That kind of shook me up a little bit too. Oh, and your beard. You look super-hot with a beard. And in the continued spirit of honesty, I will add that as long as we’re un-dating each other, you have to keep it. I’m afraid it’s a requirement. No shaving allowed.”

He chuckled as he cocked his head to the side. “I’ll keep the beard. I’m sick of shaving anyway. And yeah, that kiss shook me up too. I can’t get you out of my mind.”

“I don’t want you to get me out of your mind. I like being on your mind. I’d also like to think it gets pretty dirty in there.”

“When it comes to you, it’s been getting downright filthy.” He responded in that growly voice that tickled me in the best places.

I shot him my grin/giggle combo; it was my second-best flirt move. “Filthy is my favorite. I have a good imagination.”

“Is that a warning or a promise?”

“Feel free to take it as both,” I answered.

His big hand squeezed my thigh again, this time up my dress and I shivered. “I should have taken a shot with you years ago.” The growl was back, ripe with promise.

“You know, I think maybe it’s good this is happening now,” I mused. “Maybe we had to drift apart so we could drift back together. Sort of like those crazy-big icebergs that smash against each other, then apart, then end up making one big-ass iceberg together. I dunno . . . that was a lame analogy. I mean, if we got together a few years ago, or even back in high school, I would have driven you away real quick. I was a total pain in the ass back then.”

“Just back then?” he teased.

“Ha ha ha. I admit, I can be a handful, okay?”

“Don’t worry, I like having my hands full of you. And I can be too quiet sometimes. I get stuck in my head and forget how to communicate. I don’t do that with you.”

I peeked at him from the corner of my eye. “I don’t think we could ever have been one of those couples who fell in love as kids and got married at age eighteen. I would have driven you crazy and wrecked it all. Probably during junior year of high school. And you should know that I still might wreck it. You have to watch out for me, Garrett. I’m nothing but a high-maintenance pain in the ass,” I twirled my ponytail and flipped it over my shoulder. I couldn’t stop flirting with him even when I tried. See? Trouble.

I busted him rolling his eyes during a quick glance over at his face. “You’re not high maintenance, Molly, you were just with the wrong guys before. But thinking back to high school? Yeah, you, Clara, and Sadie were pretty wild together back then, with poor Leo always trying to keep y’all from getting caught.”

I nodded my head. “The whole boyfriend-girlfriend thing wouldn’t have worked for us in high school. Clara and I set the record for most cuts in one school year—that wouldn’t have meshed well with your goody-goody student council thing. Like, we spent more time drinking under the bleachers than we did in actual school, Garrett.”

“Yeah, I know. Everybody knew about y’all.” He put his hand on the back of my seat and leaned in. “But, did you know Leo called me a few times to pick you two up when you were drunk behind the library and couldn’t make it to the school bus to go home?”

“Shut up!” I gasped. Because, no, in fact, I did not know that. In a lot of ways, Clara, Sadie, and I were lucky to be alive. We were also lucky we’d had a friend like Leo. Garrett too, apparently.

“I’d have to borrow Barrett’s car to do it.”

“Shut up even more!” I gasped.

“Barrett made me take his chore schedule for a week every time too.”

“Dang, Garrett, I’m sorry—I owe you a beer or maybe a handy or something.”

He burst out laughing. “See? Only you could make me laugh the same day my father had a heart attack. Maybe I needed a little of your wild in my life, Molly.”

“And maybe I needed a little of your steady.”

“Or, like you said, we could have driven each other crazy.”

“At least now we both know what else is out there, which is not much. I mean, we’ll never wonder if we could do better with anyone else.”

“I don’t think I could do better than you.”

“I agree, I’m a great catch. Just don’t ask any of the Chrises in town about me and my wacky ways.”

“Okay, avoid all the Chrises. Anything else I should take note of?” he asked.

I shook my head and flopped a hand against his chest with a laugh. “Uh, well, you already know my feelings about your cat, your beard, and pie. How do you feel about bubble baths? For or against?”

“For.”

“Good, that would have been a deal breaker. As my official non-boyfriend, I expect us to have an un-date in your big tub. I haven’t forgotten about it. Let’s stop at Daisy’s for dinner,” I said as I swung into the parking lot.

“Looks like Everett and Willa are here too. There’s Willa’s van.” I pulled into the spot next to her van. “Maybe we can join them?” he asked.

“Sounds good to me,” I agreed. But they were leaving with takeout as we were almost to the door.

“Hey, y’all. Going home?” Garrett asked.

“Yeah, man. Willa needed to meet her daily meat quota.” He smacked a kiss on her cheek as he teased her.

She beamed up at him. “I swear, y’all, this baby is going to come out and demand a T-bone. I can’t seem to get enough.”

“And I’m here to make sure you get it. I’ll go out and hunt down a cow if I have to.” He winked at her, thereby proving that all Monroe-brother winks were devastating to the entire female population at large. Well, three out of four, anyway. I had never witnessed Barrett wink at anyone—yet. Sadie had better step up her non-game. She was after Barrett the same way I had been after Garrett—through willful denial and an unwillingness to admit her feelings. I was still halfway in that space and was not in a place to judge her. Plus, that kind of approach oddly seemed to work on the Monroe brothers, so she was on the right track even if she refused to drive the car.

“Well, goodnight, you two. Let’s get takeout too, Garrett,” I said without thinking.

“So, the two of you really are a thing now?” Everett’s raised-eyebrow question caught me off guard and I cringed inwardly as his eyes teasingly bounced between me and his brother. It reminded me that I needed to put my guard back up. Why are secrets so difficult to keep?

Maybe because I shouldn’t keep this a secret?

I shoved that thought out of my brain. I wasn’t fond of introspection when I knew I was wrong. Ugh! It was better this way. When I eventually screwed this up, the less people who knew about it, the better it would be for both of us.

“We’re just hanging out. Like we used to,” Garrett replied, coming in for the save like a boss.

“Well, goodnight, you two.” Willa echoed my earlier words with a sly grin. I sighed; I was getting too comfortable with Garrett. It was so easy to be with him. And I had always been comfortable around his family—that had never stopped. Which made this whole un-dating thing super hard. I felt weird. Ever since I talked with Bill earlier today, my heart hurt. Could it be sympathy heart attack pain? I thought sympathy pains were something husbands told their wives they had so they could pretend to relate to labor pain.

I followed mindlessly behind Garrett inside of Daisy’s where he insisted on paying. He even ordered for me because I was stuck in a daze as I stood next to him contemplating my aching heart. When he laid a hand on my shoulder and asked if I was okay, it only made it worse. “We need pie,” I blurted out, making the waitress taking our order laugh.

“There you are, Molly. How’re you doing tonight?” she asked.

“Huh? Oh, I’m fine, thank you.”

“I guess you didn’t hear me, like usual.” She tapped her ear and mimed turning up a dial. She was new-ish, had a soft voice and was prone to mumbling. I had given up on ever hearing her and she never bothered to listen when I explained. So c’est la vie, or whatever. There were plenty of other awesome servers here, so I usually sat in one of their sections.

Garrett bristled next to me, but I put my hand on his arm so he wouldn’t say anything. I was used to this kind of thing, less so in town, but it still happened occasionally. I sighed. “I’m okay, it’s just been a long day. You know how it is,” I addressed her.

“I sure do. Two slices? What kind of pie?” This was why I preferred the Donner Bakery for my pie needs. Offering the entire pie was their default. Jeez.

“Surprise me.”

“You got it.” She turned away and headed off behind the counter to put our order in.

“I don’t like that. What she did was not okay. Why didn’t you let me say anything?” He bent to speak softly in my ear.

“She didn’t mean anything bad by it. And I’m just way over explaining myself. Unless someone is a total dick, I don’t bother. I’m not alive to be a lesson for people to learn. I’ve got my own shit going on and I’m not a damn teacher.”

“It goes against my nature to let shit like that slide. But since you want me to, I will,” he grumbled before pulling me in for a hug and kissing my forehead.

I shouldn’t let him hug me in public, let alone kiss my forehead. Forehead kisses sucked out my mental powers, they were dangerous, and people might get the wrong—right?—idea.But my heart had started doing that swirly pain thing again and hugging him felt necessary.

So, I allowed it.

I also hugged him back and touched the top of his left butt cheek with my fingertips. It was firm, like I knew it would be.

And maybe I also inhaled real deep so I could get a hit of his manly, clean-soap smell. He smelled like an entire forest had been shoved into a bar of soap, or maybe like he put on a leather jacket and rolled through a meadow after taking a bath. Basically, I wanted to rip his shirt off and lick him right now and it was hard to fight that instinct. The whole protective vibe he had going on was a turn-on. Who knew, right? None of my Chrises had ever felt moved to defend me.

The server brought us our order. I didn’t bother remembering her name since she couldn’t be bothered to listen to my explanation for my hearing, and I was okay if that made me a jerk. “Thank you,” I said.

“Let’s get out of here.” He took the bag and my hand, and we were off. Anticipation sparked through my body as I followed him out to my car, along with those pesky heart swirls pinging around my chest like a broken pinball machine.