She reaches out a manicured hand to me, and I reluctantly shake her hand. "You must be Penny. I'm Ruby Sue."
"Nice to meet you," I say, lying through my teeth. I have no idea who this girl is, but she walked in here like she owned the place. I'm pretty certain she's not falling into the friend category with Colton, so that can only mean one thing. This could be Colton's girlfriend. The only thing that's keeping my hackles down is the fact that Ruby Sue has no idea who I am or what I am to Colt. I'm sure he didn't tell her anything about me since he didn't even know who I was until a few weeks ago.
"So you're working at Crawford's Bar now?" Ruby Sue asks in an attempt at small talk.
I nod. "Yeah. I needed a job and a place to stay, so Buddy helped me out."
Her eyes widen. "Oh! Are you and Buddy…?"
I raise my eyebrow, and then realize what she's trying to imply. "Me and Buddy? Oh, no," I say with a chuckle. "No, Buddy and I are just really good friends."
"And you and Colt?" She asks the pointed question without flinching.
"Friends," I force out.
She nods as if she's satisfied with my answer, but there's a hint of an expression on her face that tells me she doesn't totally believe me. "I've been with Colt on and off for about three years now. More on than off, though." Then she quickly adds, "And on right now."
Three years. My entire world feels like it's crashing down around me. He's had a girlfriend for three years and never bothered to tell me about her. I've seen her in the bar a few times, but I just figured she was a customer, a stranger. Never in a million years would I have imagined she would be dating Colton. She's not even his type. But then the realization hits me that maybe I was never his type. Let's face it. He has changed a lot over the past few years. I stare at the tattoos on her arms and wonder if she's the one who got Colton into tats. He sure as heck never liked them when we were together…but a lot has changed since then.
"That's really, ah…that's really nice," I manage to say. My fingernails bite into the palms of my hands to keep me from losing it. I'm ten seconds away from breaking down and crying in front of this girl.
Colton joins us in the kitchen. He looks nervous as his eyes dart between the two of us. Ruby Sue slowly struts over to him. She drags her hand down the front of his shirt, before bunching the material in her hand and pulling him in for a slow, wet kiss. When they part, Ruby Sue looks over at me with a smirk.
If she's trying to stake her claim on Colt, she's doing a hell of a good job. Feeling flustered, I begin to gather the pies and cakes that I had finished and quickly say, "Well, I better get going."
"Nice meeting you," Ruby Sue calls after me as I hightail it out the front door.
Tears blur my vision as I practically fly down the porch steps. Mack races off the porch after me.
"Penny! Wait!"
I stop at the sound of Colton's voice, but I don't dare turn around. I'm seconds away from a breakdown, and I don't want him to know that. The realization that he has moved on without me is almost too much to bear. Why has he been kissing me if he's seeing someone else? Is he intentionally trying to hurt me? If he is, he's doing a great job at it.
Colton walks around to face me, but I stare at the ground, unable to look him in the eyes. "Penny," he says before gently putting his fingertips under my chin and forcing my gaze to meet his.
I keep the tears at bay and give him a watery smile. "She seems really great," I say, forcing my voice to stay as steady as it can. "I'm happy that you found someone, Colt."
I pull away from him before I completely lose it and start towards the bar down the hill. Mack follows me, but I stop in my tracks and quickly tell him to go home. He listens and immediately turns back the way he came. Colton stares at me with a weird look on his face, but I tear my gaze away and continue walking.
Steeling my emotions, I manage to make it to the bar and open the back door without dropping any of the cakes and pies in my arms.
Buddy turns to see me and hurries to help. "Did you roll around in the batter before you got here?" he asks, joking.
I can't even crack a smile at his joke. I stand there, feeling numb and devastated. And when he asks me what's wrong, I confess, "I just met Colton's girlfriend." I look up at Buddy with tears in my eyes. "She's really pretty." I shake my head and quickly correct myself by saying, "No. She's not pretty. She's freaking gorgeous," I say, my voice cracking on the last word.
Buddy walks over to me and pulls me into his arms. I hold onto him like he's my lifeline. And right now, he is. His mouth is at my ear as he whispers, "She can't hold a candle to you, Penny." I scoff at him, but he holds me tighter and shakes his head. "I'm serious, Penny. You're naturally beautiful while she's all smoke and mirrors. I'm sure she looks like the Loch Ness Monster under all those gallons of makeup and false eyelashes she's got on."
His words make me laugh at first, but then it quickly turns into a sob. "Why didn't he tell me he was dating someone, Buddy?"
"I don't know, Penny."
I pull back and look him dead in the eye. "Why didn'tyoutell me?"
"It wasn’t my place to tell you. It was his. And besides, I've been rooting for you guys to get back together. I figured Colt was going to cut all ties with Ruby Sue since you came back to town." He shakes his head and mutters, "He's such an idiot."
"I second that opinion," I say with a sigh.
CHAPTER 8
