Chapter Thirty-Six
Rhett didn’t know whether he was coming or going. There’d been a quickie layover in Newark and a glimpse of Manhattan. Jesus. Pepper wanted to live in a place like that? And yet, why not? He’d be able to get a job there. It wasn’t what he was used to, but neither was love. By the time the plane had touched down in Maine he’d amped himself up so hard that it was practically impossible to wait for a cab to take him to the hospital address Tuesday had begrudgingly provided.
“My sister’s too good for you,” she’d snapped while Beau idled in the car.
“I know.”
“Do you? Mr. I Hide the Best Woman Ever under a Rock So That My Small Nosy Town Doesn’t Know What a Catch I’ve Made?”
“I was stupid.”
“You were.”
“I want to make it right.”
“I am seriously considering Chicago. If I asked her to, she’d come with me.” Tuesday’s voice held a challenge.
“What if I asked her to stay?”
“You want to see who she’d choose?” Tuesday taunted.
“No,” he said after a moment. “I wouldn’t want to hurt her like that. If she wants to live somewhere else and she’ll have me, I’ll go.”
Tuesday went silent. “I’m impressed, Valentine,” she said at last. “You might live up to the romantic promise in your name yet.”
“I’m working on it,” he answered.
But when he reached the hospital—no Pepper. He met her dad and the girlfriend. They were kooky as hell, but nice people. Everland types. The realization warmed him deeply. He and Pepper were from two different parts of the country, but their roots were the same. Before he raced back to the airport, her dad had clapped him on the back, called him a “good guy.”
He was trying to be.
His phone had died and he hadn’t packed a charger in his hurry, so he couldn’t call. All he knew was that she was heading back to Georgia. He had to find her. A sympathetic agent found him a last-minute ticket on the flight from hell. He visited Pennsylvania, Virginia, and North Carolina before catching a puddle jumper home.
There was a pay phone at baggage claim—the damn things still existed—and he called Beau, who came and grabbed him but shook his head at the request to be delivered to Love Street.
“No can do. It’s the night of the silent auction fundraiser. I have to be on hand, and you’re coming with.”
“Shit. I forgot. And Lou Ellen is going to kill me because there’s no way in hell I’m going to be Mr. Scallywag.”
“It’s fine. She found someone else.” His tone was tight, repressing something that sounded curiously like laughter.
“Who?” Rhett glanced over at Beau. “Not you?” Beau wouldn’t be laughing if he’d been roped in.
“Hell no.” Beau grinned. “Your father.”
“Bullshit.” Rhett made a strangled sound. “Doc?”
“Yeah. I saw them at Smuggler’s Cove at lunch. And here’s the surprising thing: the surly old bastard looked upbeat about the opportunity. Anyway, you don’t want to go home. Pepper’s at the auction, too.”
“How could you possibly know that?”
“Her sister’s been posting photos of them on Instagram.”
“Tuesday?” That took him back. “You two are friends?”
“That drama queen? No.” Beau flexed his fingers on the wheel, as he turned them into an open parking spot by Everland Plaza. “Why? She say something about me?”
“Not a word.” Curiouser and curiouser. “It sounds like you want her to, though.”
