Nate rose slowly and nodded, smoothing a hand down his wrinkled shirt.“Of course.Everything’s great.”Apparently he was just adding to the pile of lies he’d already spewed that evening, but he was too confused and numb at the same time to talk about the truth of the matter.
Before his brother could ask any questions, Nate fled from the room, trying to outrun the lie he’d just uttered.Not bothering to go back to the table with his family or look behind the bar for fear that the moment he saw Lottie again, he’d beg her forgiveness, Nate rushed outside.The cold night air was like a slap in the face.It was less than he deserved and wasn’t nearly enough to detract from the pain he felt in his heart.Pain he had no one to blame for but himself.
Chapter Four
Lottie
“Hopelessly Devoted to You,” had never been Lottie’s favorite song from the movieGrease, but it was the one that seemed to best encapsulate her mood lately.The line about her head telling her to forget Nate was especially apt with Lottie having downloaded and deleted the Apples to Apples dating app from her phone at least a dozen times in the last two weeks, wondering if maybe she wouldn’t finally be able to find someone else to take her mind off the man of her dreams.There were always other men around, men from town and tourists who seemed willing to give her a bit of their time, but even if she’d taken advantage of that in the past for a hook-up, she couldn’t seem to get herself to do it again.
Lottie was a relationship person through and through, and even though she’d never managed to have one that lasted very long because of her commitment to remain in the tiny town she’d grown up in, she had always thought that she would end up in one with someone like-minded.It had always been her belief that she would find someone who loved to devote themselves to Applewood and the people of it the way she had, but apparently she wasn’t as psychic as her friends made her out to be, at least when it came to herself.
Sniffling, Lottie scooped another spoonful of whipped cream into her mouth and watched Olivia Newton-John sing her heart out for a man who so obviously didn’t deserve her.It was like staring into a mirror at herself, only she knew that Nate deserved her, he was just too stubborn and afraid to let himself see it.The reason for that seemed to be the one thing Lottie was destined never to find out in a town where everyone had told her their own story and then some.
The evidence of some of that constant outpouring was currently spread out onto her coffee table where it had remained untouched for the week.It hadn’t been since the winter of her second year home from leaving the University of Florida that Lottie had missed putting out one of her newsletters, but she just didn’t have it in her to do the work this time.
Getting a taste of what she had been wanting since she was eighteen only to have it taken away again had broken Lottie’s already battered heart to the point where she didn’t think it would ever heal again.When Nate had done it on the night of graduation, it had hurt, so much so that she attended a whole other university just to not be near him, but she always thought he would come to his senses eventually and they would finally get to be together.What should have been their long-awaited reunion ended up being another way for Nate to show her what things could be like between them only to tear the rug out from under her.Well, no more.Lottie may have been hopelessly devoted to him most of her life, but she was done.That’s what her head was saying anyway.Her heart remained a different matter.
“Uh-oh.I know that face.”Willa walked into the house from the garage, smiling sadly at her before taking a seat on the couch.Frowning, she pulled the nearly empty bowl of whipped cream from Lottie’s hands and placed it on the crowded coffee table.“Who are we killing and do I need to have Beckett help us bury the body?I can’t do much heavy lifting,” she said, patting her baby belly.
Lottie laughed humorlessly.She highly doubted Willa’s husband would want to aid and abet the destruction of his younger brother, but Beckett was so in love with Willa that he just might if she asked him to.“No killing this time.”She nodded to the slightly protruding baby bump on Willa’s stomach.“We can’t start the little one off with a felony conviction straight away.”
Willa smiled and leaned closer to her friend.“A little light misdemeanor then?Maybe we can toilet paper the person’s house instead.”Lottie nodded absently, the knowledge that Nate lived in the apartment building downtown that was an impenetrable fortress not stopping her from wishing she could toss a roll over his balcony.“Hey, what’s up?You’ve been hanging around the house a lot more lately, and I know I’ve been busy looking at houses with Beck, but I’ve definitely noticed you seem less like yourself.”
Turning to Willa, Lottie tried to smile at her friend’s concerned expression, but she felt it slip from her face before she even got one corner of her mouth up.“You know how I made all those predictions last month?”
Willa nodded.“You knew I was pregnant and confirmed a bunch of other things about everyone else there.What about it?”
Wiping her nose that had started to run with her increased emotions, Lottie pressed on.“Well, I said that it was my curse to wander alone knowing everyone else’s fate, but I never believed that, not until recently anyway.”Willa scooted closer and wrapped an arm around Lottie, urging her to go on.“I always thought I would end up with the guy I fell in love with in high school.”
Willa looked at her dubiously.“The guy you said took your virginity and then left you high and dry?The reason you came to Florida in the first place?”Lottie nodded as Willa continued to stare at her for a moment, the realization of who exactly that person was finally dawning on her after trying to get the information out of her friend for the last year and a half.“Oh my God.It’s Nate?I feel so dumb for not putting that together.”
Lottie nodded and shrugged.“Don’t feel dumb.I kept it pretty well hidden, and yes, it’s Nathan.It was always going to be him, at least that’s what I thought.I guess I was wrong.”She swallowed the thick lump of sadness caught in her throat and flicked a few tears from her eyes.“I thought that if I just stuck around long enough and made myself totally unavoidable, that he would see me and remember how things could be between us.Sometimes it seemed like he would, but after the other night...”Lottie shook her head, willing the memories of the kiss that set her soul on fire to stay away.“He’s well and truly done with me.”
Willa’s expression went from shock, to thoughtful, to shocked once again, until finally it settled on disbelief.“No way.I mean, I know you push his buttons, but—”
Lottie raised her hand to cut her off.“It seems like I pushed them a little too much this time.”Sighing, she nodded to the screen.“You know how all of the actors in this movie are in their thirties and forties?”
