I let out a long breath. “You know, Mama was obsessed—obsessed—withPride and Prejudice. Calls it her Love Bible. And she means it.”
“It’s the greatest romance novel ever written,” Skip concurs.
“And my mother used it for all it was worth. Even made me memorize the most important parts. Like when Darcy tells Elizabeth, ‘You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you.’”
Skip sighs ecstatically.
“Mama would sigh just like you’re doing now.” I smile despite myself. “‘Would you listen to that?’ she’d say. ‘Thatis true love.Thatis a man showing real love and respect for a woman.’”
“So you’ve been sitting around waiting for your Mr. Darcy to show up in Texas?” Skip asks me.
I never should have had a beer. I certainly shouldn’t have practically chugged it. I already had that half a bottle by the cooler, and I’m not a drinker. One drink is enough to loosen my tongue. It always has been.
“No. Maybe when I was little. But once I became a teenager, I knew that marriage just wasn’t for me. Relationships aren’t for me.”
“Why not? What makes you different than anyone else?”
Again, maybe if I’d stayed completely sober, I wouldn’t have answered Skip’s question with—
“Love is always hard, but when you’re supposedly cursed, it throws a whole new wrinkle into it. I’d always vowed to be the opposite of my mother in romantic relationships—you know, I never wanted to lose myself in a man and in needing that man to be my everything. I didn’t want the world to go cold if he wasn’t there to keep me warm.”
“Beautifully said.” Skip types hastily. “But what do you mean—cursed? That sounds serious.”
“My mother’s word. She thinks I’m cursed.” I hold out my arm and show him the inside of my wrist. “A freak accident that gave my mother proof I’m destined to share the ghost of Jane Austen’s fate. Unless the soul mates free the ghost, Austen Macey Henwood’s heart will stay locked up as well.”
“And she believes this why? Sounds like she’s a bit theatrical.”
“She is. Who else would steal a page out of Vivian’s diary and make her oldest daughter hide it for fear of the town finding out she’s jinxed? Yeah, sure, the page says something about the eldest daughter of the jail keeper and a scar she bears, but so what? The whole thing’s stupid.”
Skip drops his phone onto the table. Unfortunately, it stays intact because I’ve just realized what I gave him. The hook of all hooks for a hungry reporter looking for a story.
“Oh, no.” I put my head in my hands.
“Oh, yes,” Skip’s excited voice says next to me.
Chapter Twelve
I end the interview right away, but I’m well aware it’s too late. My scar is going to be talked about by the entire town, possibly the state, as soon as Skip’s story is published on the first of July.
And Mama will absolutely have my head when she finds out. Luckily, Ginny’s wedding will have already happened, so if I need to hide from the public eye, I can.
I drift into a fitful sleep filled with lots of strange dreams—about catfish, a giant microphone in my face, and Skip floating face down in the creek.
Then I have a different kind of dream. A sex dream. About Logan and me. And it’s not for kids’ ears.
As soon as I wake up, I go to The Cowherd to give Ben the heads up on Skip coming by later, and then I stop by Ginny’s before she leaves for work. I tell her what’s going on with Skip, and I confess my dream.
“How X-rated was it?” she asks breathlessly.
I rock back and forth where we’re sitting on her porch swing. “Let’s just say it’s a good thing those jail cell bars are made of steel. Because I was holding onto them pretty good while Logan…” The image of Logan naked and driving into me from behind while I gripped the bars with both hands is too much to repeat. I stop talking as my face heats.
“Wow. That sounds like quite a dream.” Ginny looks at me. “Are you gonna tell Logan about it?”
“What? Of course not!” I lightly swat at her knee. “Why would I do that?”
She shrugs. “I don’t know. Just to clear the air before he…you know…marries somebody else?”
I glare at her. “No. I’m not going to tell him. I have to go, though. Skip’s coming by to complete his blackmailing of me.”
