Chapter Twelve

The so-called pre-Fourth party was basically an excuse for everyone to meet up, eat, and drink. A time for the locals to enjoy the festivities before all the tourists showed up. The tiny square was packed with the whole town, Gen was convinced, as she pushed through everyone, saying hi and hugging those who recognized her. Some even asked for her to sign something, which she found incredibly sweet. When she was asked by the librarian of the town, Ambrosia McElroy, who was also Old Man McElroy’s youngest child, to come sign Zoe Jayne books at the library, she found herself saying yes. It made her laugh, though. She didn’t even know what she was doing with her life, but she was making arrangements? She was insane. Her life was insane, and she knew her mom and dad were probably still calling her. She’d need to answer them. Tomorrow. Tomorrow would be a good day for that.

With her arm hooked through Delaney’s, Gen made her way through the crowd to where Delaney said everyone would be waiting. And they were—her mawmaw, her cousin, Holden, their great-aunt, Jackie, along with Theo. Gen stopped suddenly, tapping Delaney’s arm. “Don’t tell Theo.”

Delaney paused. “Huh? What?”

“Don’t tell Theo about me breaking it off with Montgomery.”

She eyed Gen, but soon Delaney nodded her head. “Of course.”

They were almost to where everyone was sitting when Theo saw her. His eyes met hers, and a little grin pulled at his lip as he drank her in. It was so overwhelming, the pounding of her heart, that she had to look away. But when she did, her gaze met that of Old Man McElroy.

“Genevieve Stone, why haven’t I seen you up at my distillery?”

Letting go of Delaney, Gen wrapped her arms around the big man as he gobbled her up in a hug. He was a very large man, tall and round with bushy red brows and even brighter red hair. His nose was always red, from sunburn probably, but his personality was bigger than the town. Gen adored him. “I may not have made it up there, but I’ve drunk a lot of your whiskey since coming here.”

He laughed, a big, booming noise, as he let her go. “That doesn’t count! I want you in my distillery, on my land, drinking with me. Ya hear?”

“I hear you,” she laughed and he smiled.

“Now, girl, you know I got three sons and a daughter. So if you’re looking for someone, I have both sexes.”

Gen laughed harder, shaking her head. “Thank you, but I’m fine.”

Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, she saw Theo getting up and heading to the bar. She watched him, her body catching on fire as she shook her head in disgust at herself.

She was pathetic.

But Old Man McElroy must have seen her because, with a roll of his eyes, he whistled loudly and boomed, “Still held up on that boy, I see? I guess, when it’s love, it’s love.”

Gen laughed nervously. “No, not at all.”

“Don’t lie to me, sugar. I know a woman in love. I’ve been married sixty-two years. Haven’t we, Shirley?”

“We sure have,” his lovely wife yelled back with a grin on her face. “Hey there, Genevieve.”

Gen waved before she looked back at Old Man McElroy. “Let’s both agree to disagree, okay? And tell me when you want me to come up.”

“Anytime! I’m always there. Hell, if you don’t want me to show you around, have Theo. He knows that place better than my oldest boy, for sure,” he said, shaking his head. “If that boy would come home and follow in my footsteps, life would make sense. Instead, he wants to be a vet.” He laughed loudly. “Who wants to be shit on by animals all day?”

Gen just smiled, unsure what to say. She remembered when his oldest, she couldn’t remember his name, first said he wanted to leave. People around here treated him like he’d basically died. “And in Lexington? Who would actually want to leave this beautiful place? Our Spring Grove. Hell, you know that, right, Genevieve? You never wanna leave.”

She didn’t. She loved it here.

“Hey, Gen, come on,” Delaney called to her, and Gen nodded before looking back up at Old Man McElroy.

“I’ll see you soon, okay?”

“All right, sugar. Have a great night.”

“You too,” she called as she walked away, trying to get past the crowd, but it was tight. When she finally got through, Delaney was sitting with Holden, as Jackie and Mawmaw seemed to be in one heated discussion.

“I did sleep with him!”

“You did not!”

“Yes, I did. 1972!”

“No, I did in 1978.”

“Who are they arguing about?”

“Old Man McElroy,” Delaney said dryly, shaking her head. “They do this every time they drink his whiskey.”

Gen made a face as Holden rolled his eyes. Gen was confused though, and with a tip of her chin toward where Old Man McElroy was, she mentioned, “He just said he’s been married for like sixty something years.”

Holden laughed. He was a very tall man. His father, wherever he was, was almost seven feet tall from what they all said. Holden was thick with muscle and worked hard over at the distillery. He was a good old boy, messy brown hair, big brown eyes, and nice lips. There wasn’t much about him that was extraordinary, except that his mom tried to kill him when he was two, which was why Mawmaw had raised him. He was a sweet guy, though, real good to Delaney and her older sister, and also Theo’s best friend. Holden had told Theo not to get involved with the people who had given him the drugs, but at the time, Theo wanted the money. “He’s only like sixty. And even so, everyone knows he used to get around on old Shirley.”

Gen made a face. “That’s sad.”

“Hell, she was doing it too!” Delaney added, and Gen rolled her eyes.

“Crazy.”

“I should have been Mrs. McElroy.”

“Nope. I should have been.”

The two old ladies who favored each other continued to glare. Gen was a bit worried a fight would break out, but then five beers appeared and Theo said, “Or maybe both of y’all were supposed to be. Like sister wives or something.”

“Yes!” Holden agreed, taking a beer and tapping it to Theo’s. “Exactly. Good Lord.”

“Exactly,” Delaney agreed, rolling her eyes.

“Maybe, but I would have been the one he banged every night,” Mawmaw said, and both Holden and Delaney gagged as Gen just laughed.

Leaning toward her, Theo laid a kiss to her cheek. “You’re damn right, Pearl. The only one.”

“I never did like you, boy!” Jackie yelled, smacking him, but he got away, laughing as Pearl just beamed. Sitting down beside Gen, he tipped his beer to her and then took a long pull. She watched as he drank quickly, his Adam’s apple moving with the action. For some reason, it turned her on. She wanted to taste his neck, to touch him. But she couldn’t.

“Went and checked out Randy Goosemen’s house that’s for rent,” Delaney announced, which cut off all conversation for Pearl, who scooted closer to listen. “I love the patio. You were right, Holden.”

“Told ya. It’s a great house, and his grandson will give it to ya for cheap. I’m gonna rent the one at the bottom of the hill, on the other side of the town.”

“You’re moving out of Spring Grove?” Jackie gasped. “Why would you do that, boy?”

“My front yard will be Spring Grove, my back will be Lynchmount. I’ll be only four minutes instead of two from Mawmaw’s house. It’s fine,” he explained, but Jackie wasn’t convinced.

“Why don’t you move into the new house?”

“’Cause it’s farther from Mawmaw, and Del wants it.”

“No, she doesn’t,” Mawmaw said, shaking her head. “She just wants to piss me off.”

Delaney snickered but covered it with a cough. “I am not. I’m moving.”

That threw them into another argument that had Gen rolling her eyes. Leaning on the table with her elbows, she took a pull of her beer. The town was so beautiful at that moment. Lights hung everywhere, illuminating the whole area. The local restaurants were open for people to take their food out and eat. The dance floor was full of children dancing and having a blast. Everything was just perfect, except for the fact that she wasn’t wallowing over Montgomery.

Instead, she was wondering if Theo was watching her. Which wasn’t right. She should be heartbroken, unsure what to do about her newfound single life. In a way, she was, but at the same time, she wasn’t. She wanted to know if Montgomery had been cheating on her and why he didn’t care that she had broken it off with him. But other than that, she didn’t care. It made no sense. Five fucking years. How could someone seem so unaffected by breaking up with someone after that long?

She was still affected after ten years of being apart from Theo.

She should really consider taking into account why she wasn’t facedown in her bed crying over the loss of her five-year relationship. Why did she let it go on so long? She should have known. When the sex started to be expected instead of exciting, she should have known.

Damn it.

“You look pretty tonight,”

Gen’s breath caught as she looked over at Theo, who was, in fact, watching her. “Excuse me?”

He scoffed, shaking his head as his lips moved along the top of his bottle. “Ya heard me just fine.”

She eyed him and then looked away. “Thank you. It’s just a dress.”

“That’s driving me damn well insane.”

She inhaled sharply, biting the inside of her cheek as she tried to listen to Mawmaw and Delaney go at it. It was stupid, though, and she couldn’t help wanting to turn to Theo and asking him a billion questions about his life now. She knew it would be shitty of her, but man, she wanted it so bad. She looked over at him to find him still staring at her, a grin on his lips as he ran the tip of his bottle along his bottom lip.

“You know what you need?”

Her brows rose to her hairline. “What?”

“Someone to take you dancing,” he decided, placing his beer down and standing up. He was wearing a nice button-down shirt, a light blue color that set off his eyes. His jeans were dark and worn, of course, frayed at the bottom, meeting his boots in perfect harmony. His hair was brushed to the side, his beard so big and bushy. She was still on the fence about it, but boy, was it nice when they were kissing earlier. “You wanna dance with me?”

His words hit her like a sledgehammer. “Oh, no, I don’t dance.”

“Sure ya do,” he said, and then she felt all eyes on her.

“No—”

“Now, go on, Genevieve. A good dance will do the soul good,” Mawmaw said, giving her a wink.

“And he’s a hunk,” Jackie added, and Gen snorted at that.

“Plus, if you don’t, he’ll just harass you until you do,” Delaney said, and Gen looked up at Theo to see him nodding.

“I sure as hell will. Now come on,” he demanded, holding his hand out for her once more. She usually hated dancing, but she took his hand. Her heart sped up in her chest as he led her through the crowd and to the dance floor as “Girl Crush” by Little Big Town filled the speakers. Spinning her out, catching her off guard, he brought her in, and she went flat to his chest. Taking her hand in his, he intertwined their fingers as his other hand rested at the small of her back.

And then they were dancing.

Slowly.

Everything was on fire. Her fingers were numb, her lower back tingling, but all she could do was look into his eyes. His beautiful blue eyes that took away every rational thought. Licking his lips, he smiled as he moved them around the floor in time with everyone else. She wasn’t doing the steps that apparently everyone knew, but she kept up, mostly because of him. He was almost carrying her.

She found herself asking, “Your girlfriend isn’t here?”

He chuckled. “No girlfriend.”

“Wife?”

“Nope.”

“Boyfriend?”

That made his face break into a grin as he shook his head. “None of that either.”

She nodded as she bit her lip. “So you’ve been working at the distillery all this time?”

“Yup. Working and hollering at the moon.”

She rolled her eyes. “You’re such a badass.”

“I know,” he said with a wink. “And you? Just writing?”

She looked away, nodding thoughtfully. “Yeah, lots of writing and then I’d go to events with Montgomery. But mostly writing.”

He nodded, his face turning into a scowl when she mentioned Montgomery’s name. “I’ve read all the books.”

Her eyes widened, her heart stopping in her chest. “You have?”

“Yup. They’re good.”

Montgomery never read her books, and knowing that Theo had set her body on fire. “Oh. Thank you.”

“Do you like your room?”

She swallowed hard. “I love it.”

“I do too, it’s my best room. Everyone loves it.”

“You did that?”

“I did.”

She just gazed up at him, rendered speechless as his eyes sparkled in the lights. When the song changed to “Losing Sleep” by Chris Young, everyone broke into their own little couples, dancing and being close with the person they were with. Theo and Gen just stayed in place by the corner of the dance floor, staring into each other’s eyes. When he cleared his throat, she held her breath as he said, “I won’t apologize for what I did earlier. I needed to kiss you, Genevieve Stone, but I will apologize for putting you in an uncomfortable position with Montgomery and all.”

Her heart jumped in her throat. “Did you mean it?”

“Yes. I’m sorry, but not for kissing you—”

“No, not that,” she said, cutting him off. “About still loving me.”

The passion in his eyes intensified, if that was even possible, burning into hers. “I said it, didn’t I?” he asked, those blue eyes flashing with promise. “When I say something, I mean it.”

Her eyes burned with tears as she slowly shook her head in confusion. “What does that even mean, Theo?”

“It means I’m still very much in love with you.”

She pushed him away, anger taking over as she shook her head. “Ten years, Theo! Ten.”

“And I never stopped thinking of you and only you.”

“Then why didn’t you come after me? You had plenty of chances!”

He stepped toward her, his eyes intent on hers as he yelled, “Because I wasn’t good enough for you. I wasn’t rich enough. I was just some poor, bastard-ass kid. I wanted to be more. I wanted to be worthy of a woman as smart as you. As talented as you.”

“That’s not fair. You don’t get to decide that! That’s my decision. I cried for you, my heart was broken when you told me you weren’t the one for me.”

“I lied!”

She threw her hands up. “Well, the damage is done, isn’t it? Ten years, we spent apart, and now you think we’re just gonna jump back in? Is that what you want?”

“I want a fucking chance. Is that too much to ask for?”

“Was it too much to ask for when I needed some closure?”

He put his hand on his hip. “Because I didn’t want you to have it. I wanted you to want me until I was able to give you the world.”

“You were my world!” she yelled, ignoring the fact that everyone was staring at them. Her heart was almost coming out of her chest as she glared up at him. “I had it all. For years. And I kept coming back, looking for you, but you hid like a coward.”

“And I’m sorry for that, but I wasn’t ready,” he said simply, and that’s when the tears started to fall down her cheeks.

“Well, now I’m not. Great job, Theo.”

With that, she left, with no clue how she’d ended up fighting with Theo at a party in the middle of the town square.

First, she’d puked on him, which got the town talking, and now, she’d fought with him.

No wonder Spring Grove never forgot Genevieve Stone.