I always thought getting a good job and climbing the corporate ladder was what you were supposed to do. Eventually, I would have time to live outside of work, right? I could maybe settle down with a man. I never really thought about having kids, but they could be in the mix too, I guess. Being back in Bluebell Falls makes me see how messed up that way of thinking is.
I may not be one-hundred-percent happy here, but I already have a better work-life balance than I’ve had in over a decade.
“Well, Mom is giving me the ‘it’s past your bedtime, and you’re about to be in trouble’ look, so I’ve got to go. Can we play again next weekend?”
“We can play whenever you want to, Gav.”
“Thanks, Aunt Ains. You know, you can always text me and talk if you need to,” he says in his far-too-serious-for-his-age tone.
“I do. The same goes for you, bud. I’ll talk to you later.”
He signs out, and my eyes fill with tears. How is a thirteen-year-old my moral support right now? And how is he the best human ever, outside of his parents?
His words swirl around in my head.Make an effort to be who I want to be.Maybe it’s time to embrace small-town living and figure out what I really want with mylife.
Chapter 6
Ledger
Yesterday was a mess. Running into Ainsley at the nursery while my sister was working? Absolute shitshow. And Rina glared daggers at me the entire day after our awkward interaction, where I stuck to the name Dean.
What is wrong with me?
The answer is I have no fucking clue.
I want to be the guy I thought I was—the one who isn’t the shy, gangly teenager without the balls to go for what he wants. But giving Ainsley my middle name and not coming clean sure feels like I’m back in high school. My thoughts turn back to the embarrassment that was high school for me.
Ainsley walks through the front doors, and it’s like one of those movies where all the spotlights are on her. I’ve watched her all year, and she’s mostly kept to herself.
It’s not like she remembers me, anyway. If she had, she would have called me on my bullshit immediately.
So why am I so hesitant to tell her who I really am?
It can’t be just because she works for me. She’s virtual, and we don’t see each other daily—just messages here and there throughout the day.
My phone dings on the coffee table.
Rina:
So, you guys will never guess what our dumbass eldest brother did yesterday.
Fuck.They knew about my high-school crush on her and haven’t let me live it down now that I hired her.
Lennox:
Oh, this I gotta hear.
Me:
What the hell, Rina?
Willow:
Well, share the gossip. It’s not often our goodie-two-shoes brother has some dirt on him.
Rina:
Ainsley came by the nursery yesterday to pick up some stuff, and Ledg walks out from the back and interrupts me from introducing him to say his name isDean.
