Itake one last look around the dated motel room that will be my home for at least the next few days, smooth down my skirt and blow out a deep breath of air into the stale smelling room. I turn to the door to leave but I need another minute to face what’s on the other side of it, my past. A huge yawn overtakes me and my tense shoulders droop at just how tired I am and so not up for what comes next. I need to go out there, face up to my daddy’s death and all the baggage I managed to pack away for the last ten years. This is a small town and that means within an hour of me stepping out of this room, everyone in it will know I’m back. I need to get my game face on and armor up for it. I squeeze my fingers into fists and feel the bite of my engagement ring. It’s meaningless now but I’ll use it as a prop, a shield if you will. One more smoothing of my skirt, shoulders lifted and straightened and I reach for the doorknob. I can do this. First though, I need coffee.
The mid-June morning is sunny and just pleasantly warm but I know the temperature will climb much higher by the afternoon. From the brief glimpse I got of the town on my drive through last night, nothing much has changed and that means there will be only one place for me to get a cup of coffee, Dolly’s. I get a few curious looks on my walk to the diner and one double take but I keep my eyes fixed on the prize of coffee ahead.
When I swing the door open and step inside, I’m assaulted by the smells of burnt coffee and too many things fried in oil. It brings a cascade of memories with it of milkshakes with friends and snuggling in the worn red leather booths with…them. I blink a few times to clear the vision away and fix my gaze on the counter, not ready to meet the looks that I know are casting my way. Dolly tilts her head at me with a small smile that grows as she takes me in.
“Well, Rainy Rawlins, look at you, all grown up and beautiful. Welcome home, sweetheart. I’m so sorry about your daddy.”
My heart gives a little lurch but my smile grows too. “My goodness, Miss Dolly! You don’t look like you’ve aged a day. You’re as pretty as the last time I saw you. Still keeping that handsome husband of yours on his toes?”
Her cheeks pink up and she waves away the compliment so I plow on. “Can I get a large coffee to go, please?”
Her gaze slides past me and narrows at all the eyes I can feel burning into my back as she nods and reaches for the take-out cups but I stay facing ahead. Until I suck back at least half that cup she’s pouring, I can’t deal with anyone else. I pull a card from my wallet without looking to tap out the transaction as I take the first sip of the bitter brew and try not to wince. The machine beeps and Dolly’s face falls.
“Um…Rainy, honey. I think something might be wrong with your card. It…um…says here that your card is stolen and I should confiscate it?”
My body goes rigid at such a petty, petty move and I curse him under my breath. I swallow the embarrassment and fix a smile on my face.
“Oh, so silly of me. That card expired. I forgot to switch it out! You go ahead and cut that up for me, Dolly. I’ll just grab another card to pay for this.”
I don’t even have time to slide another bank card out before a big, tanned hand slides past me and drops a few bills on the counter.
“I’ve got it. Just add it to my bill, Dolly.”
I suck in a breath at his voice so close to me and that’s a mistake because the smell of him comes with it. He smells like summer hay and sinful spice. My hand shakes as I reach for the coffee cup again and I can barely choke out a blanket, “thank you” to both of them before I’m pivoting away and making a break for the door.
I manage to make it almost to the other side of the street before he calls my name and to hear it after so, so many years, it makes my knees want to give out.
“Damnit, Rain. Hold up!”
I don’t want to but the last thing I need is for him to yell my name even louder causing a scene so I come to a stop when I step back up on the sidewalk. I keep my back to him and my eyes down. If hearing him say my name had such an effect, I don’t want to know what seeing his face will do to me. When he steps up beside me, he doesn’t say anything at all but I can feel the burn of his eyes on my face.
Chase finally sighs as if in disappointment and reaches into his pocket to pull out a card for me. It takes everything I have not to look up at him and keep my hand steady as I reach for it. The second my fingers close over it, his other hand snakes out and captures mine. His thumb slides over the diamond ring and then stretches further to brush across the ring of bruises on my wrist.
My mouth goes dry and a ball of anxiety chokes off my throat when he growls, “Is that the price of putting bruises on a woman these days?”
My eyes flash up to meet his, a denial trapped in my throat, and the fury I see in his hard, turquoise-blue eyes has me pulling my arm away and stepping back. His freed hand forms a fist before lifting and unclenching to swipe through his hair. He shakes his head at me and I can practically feel the disgust radiating off of him.
“Call the number when you want to book an appointment to go over your dad’s affairs.” He says curtly through a clenched jaw and then spins and stomps in the opposite direction.
My fingers curl around the card until the thick cardstock bites into my palm. I suck in a shaky breath and turn away, walking down to the park in the center of town. I find a bench to sit at, my legs feeling shaky after the encounter and force down the bitter coffee to try and steady myself. I have things to do today. I need to go to the funeral home and finalize things, reach out to the pastor about the service and a reception after. But right now, I need a minute, a minute to reconcile the boy I loved with all my heart with the man he grew into.
Chase and his twin Rex had always been good looking but he’s so much broader and filled out than when I left. I’m not a short woman at just over five foot eight but I had never felt small next to him like I did just now. It felt like he towered over me but that might just be the intimidation I feel at seeing him again.
His dark blond hair is cut shorter than it used to be. Tight on the sides but still long enough on top to wave back from his face and eyes the color you see in Caribbean vacation pictures. Girls have been swooning for those Kingston eyes since we were kids. They’re just a lot harder than I remember them being. He’s beautiful and it makes my heart ache that I missed seeing him grow and turn into the man he is now.
I look down at my clenched fingers and frown at the bruises encircling my wrist. I should have worn a long sleeve shirt to cover them or at least a bracelet to disguise them. That wasn’t the first time Jason left his mark on me but it’s the worst. He could be forceful at times, dragging me by my arm, but he’d never hit me. If I let myself think back, all the red flags were there but that’s not something I want to think about today so I open my hand and lift the card higher to read the print on it.
Chase Kingston, Attorney At Law.
It has his office number and cell on it as well as an address that I recognize as just off Main Street. I let out a gasp of surprise. My rough farm boy became a lawyer. A small smile tugs at one corner of my lips. I’m not surprised he became a lawyer at all. He was always the one who like to argue and debate with me but still managed to be the peacemaker of the group. My stomach does a flip with nerves as I drop my hand back into my lap knowing I’ll have to be face-to-face with him again if he’s the lawyer handling my daddy’s final wishes.
The sound of shoes slapping against the concrete pathway has me glancing up to see a woman running right toward me. My body tenses up again when she comes to a stop about ten feet away and she pins me with a glare. Her wavy auburn hair is just as big and wild as it used to be and seeing her makes my heart lurch in a different kind of way. Her lip curls up in a smirk as her hands settle on her hips.
“As I live and breathe, Rain Rawlins, daring to show her face in our little town once again! I didn’t believe it when my phone blew up with half the town’s busybodies texting me. I just had to see it for myself! Tell me bitch, how big are your lady balls to come back here after all this time?”
I arch a brow at her and stare her down. Just as the first fizz of uncertainty starts to brew inside, I see her lips press together and tremble as she fights back a grin. I launch to my feet and stomp towards her throwing my arms wide.
“HUGE…huge balls, baby!”
