Penny's head whips around to me. "What? What choice?"
I shake my head, silently askin' her to just drop it. "Don't you have a job to do, or do I pay you to just stand around all day?" I snap. The moment the words are out of my mouth, I regret them.
Penny's face falls. She slaps the grocery list against my chest. "You don't have to be such an asshole all the time, Colt," she hisses as she brushes past me and walks away.
Tucker's lips turn up into a wide smile. "Oh, yeah. I think we both know who she's going to choose." He claps me hard on the shoulder before sittin' back down in his seat.
My hands tremble with anger. I want to scream. I want to punch somethin'. But moreover, I have an overwhelmin' sense of dread. Penny could be walkin' out of my life forever in the matter of several weeks. And the way I feel about that fact scares me, because I don't want her to leave. I didn't realize it before, but that empty spot I had inside of me for so long after the accident was suddenly filled when she came back into town. And if she leaves again, that spot will be empty once more. She's the only one who can make me feel whole. I can't let her leave.
Tucker wants me to push Penny right into his open arms. Well, that's not gonna happen.Ever. And if that means competin' with Tucker Hayward to win her heart, then so be it.
Let the best man win.
CHAPTER 22
PENNY
IT'S SATURDAY NIGHT, and Buddy decided to close the bar early. There's a country dance on the outskirts of town, and Shelby Rae and I decided to double date with Tucker and Buddy. I'm looking forward to a night out. The past week with Colt has been terrible. He's so up and down that I'm having a hard time keeping up with his mood swings. It doesn't help that I'm having second thoughts about New York. I have voiced my concerns with Tucker, but he assures me that I'm just getting cold feet and that once I'm in New York those feelings will go away. I'm not so sure about that. But the more erratic Colton acts, the easier it is for me to think that New York is where I need to be.
Shelby Rae comes over two hours before the dance is to start. She's rifling through my closet looking for a suitable dress for me to wear while I sit on the bed, moping with a glass of wine in my hand. Mythirdglass of wine.
"You have nothin' country in here," she says with a huff. She pulls a pantsuit out with a look of disgust on her face. "You couldn't pay me to live in New York. I would miss the country too damn much." Shelby Rae puts the pantsuit back in the closet and sits down on the other side of the bed. She picks up her own glass of wine and takes a sip, grimacing at the taste. "You don't have any beer?" she asks. When I shake my head, she says, "Fancy wine, fancy clothes, fancy purses. You turned into a city girl."
"A city girl?"
She nods her head emphatically. "Uh-huh. You even lost your twang."
"Mytwang?" I ask, confused.
"Yep. Your twang is almost all gone. I remember when you had so much twang I could barely understand the words that were comin' out of your mouth."
I chuckle. "Sure. Like you didn't have as muchtwangas I did."
Shelby Rae and I were attached at the hip growing up. When I wasn't with Colton, I was with Shelby Rae and vice versa. She was the best friend I ever had, and I regret that we lost so much time together over the years. At least we're making up for lost time now.
"You're lucky I brought a few extra outfits," she says, hauling a heavy bag up onto the bed. She shuffles around for a while before her hands suddenly stop and her breath hitches in the back of her throat. "Oh," she gasps. "I didn't know I brought this one." She pulls out a beautiful dress and crushes it to her chest. Tears instantly fill her eyes. "I wore this to Matt's viewing," she whispers, her voice breaking.
"Oh, Shelby Rae." I pull her to me, holding her as she cries in my arms.
After a while, she pulls away and composes herself. She picks up her glass of wine and takes a long sip before wiping away any stray tears with her free hand. "You know, when Matt died in the fire, I felt like a piece of me died that day too," she says solemnly. She stares into her glass of wine as if she'll find the answers in the dark, red liquid. "But I couldn't fall apart. I had our baby girl to think about. Matt wouldn't have wanted me to fall apart anyway. He would have wanted me to be strong…and so here I am," she says with a sad smile.
I lean over and place a supportive hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry I wasn't there for you. I screwed up a lot in my life by leaving for New York."
Shelby Rae pats my hand with hers and looks at me. "You're here now, aren't you? That's all that matters." She sets down her wine glass and stands up. "All right. Enough mopin' around and talkin' about stuff that we can't change." With a big grin on her face, she says, "Let's bring out that country girl inside of you that I know is just waitin' to break out."
* * * * *
IT'S ALMOST TIME for the guys to pick us up, and Shelby Rae pulls me in front of a mirror to take a look at my finished look. She just finished up with my makeup and hair, and I'm still coughing from the exorbitant amount of hairspray she used. I'm afraid to open my eyes, thinking my hair is going to resemble the Bride of Frankenstein's do, but I'm pleasantly surprised by my reflection. My hair is in a cute and curly updo with little tendrils framing my face. She went light with my makeup, making my gray eyes burst with pink, glittery eye shadow and pairing it with a peach blush and pale pink lip gloss.
My eyes venture further down the mirror, and I turn from side to side admiring my outfit. Shelby Rae's dress looks great on me and fits perfectly. It's white with a flirty skirt and modest neckline, and I'm totally rocking her pink and brown cowgirl boots.
I'm putting on a necklace and some bracelets when Shelby Rae comes up behind me, whistling low. "Damn, girl! Tucker's gonna be hornier than a two-peckered billy goat when he sees you."
Laughing, I turn to look at her. "You have a way with words, Shelby Rae." I reach out and hug her, pulling her close. I realize how much I'm going to miss my friend just as we were starting to build our friendship back up to where it used to be. Pulling back from her, I tell her, "I'm gonna miss your sassy mouth when I leave."
The big grin on her face slips a little at my words. "If you don't leave, you won't have to miss me."
I smile sadly at her. I want to tell her the truth --- that I'm having second thoughts, that I secretly don't want to leave and that I think I might be making a big mistake if I go. But before I can say anything else, a horn honks from the parking lot.
