Chapter 18: Chapter 17

THE BOOKSTORE HAD BEEN open for a few days, and we’d been busy from the time the doors opened until they closed. Today would be no exception because the infamous Ashlan Thomas was coming to Love Ever After, and it’s all everyone in town was talking about.

“Even Midge freaking Longhorn is excited about this,” Ruby said, as she helped me finish putting out the cookies and treats that I’d ordered for today.

“Yeah, that’s because Midge got back together with her ex, Doug. So she’s in her romance feels,” Peyton said, as she added some strawberries to the large glass dispenser we’d filled with water.

“Who knew Midge even had feelings?” Ruby laughed.

“Yeah, she already called this morning to ask what time the doors were opening. Apparently, she’s reading everything Ashlan’s ever written.”

“Damn. Romance books really bring the world together, don’t they?”

“Well, for the sake of my business, I hope you’re right.”

“I’d say your first week in business was a huge success,” Ruby said.

My phone vibrated, and I looked down to see a text from Demi.

Ruby chuckled at how nervous Peyton and I were, just as the door from Demi’s coffee shop opened, and they walked into the bookstore. I’d met Demi’s future sister-in-law, Brinkley Hendrix, before, but I hadn’t met the other two women.

“Hey, are you ready for the big day?” Brinkley asked.

“Yes,” I said, and my voice shook, which made it clear I was nervous.

Demi smiled and then turned to the women standing beside her. “You all know Brinkley, and this is her sister, Georgia Lancaster. She is in the book world, as well, and her family owns Lancaster Press. And this is the infamous Ashlan Thomas. Well, that’s the name she writes under. Her real name is Ashlan King.”

“It’s so nice to meet you both, and I’m happy to see you again, Brinkley. I can’t thank you all enough for doing this,” I said.

We took turns making rounds and hugging one another, and they appeared to be as excited as we were about the event.

“This is so cute,” Ashlan gushed. “I need to take pictures of this setup. My girls would love how adorable this all looks.”

“Are they still bummed they couldn’t come with?” Brinkley asked.

“Yes. But Hadley had soccer practice, and Paisley had dance class, so Jace was taking them to their activities today. Monroe is just happy to be along for the ride with her sisters.”

Ashlan smiled, and it was easy to see how much she loved her girls.

“They sound adorable. And how’s your little guy doing?” Demi asked Georgia.

“Oh, he’s doing so great. About to have his first birthday next month. I can’t believe how fast it’s going.”

They both opened their phones and showed the photos of their adorable kids. I was immediately relaxed, and all the nerves over meeting Ashlan were gone.

“There is a huge line forming out front,” Peyton said as she looked out the window.

“Let’s do this.” Ashlan took the chair behind the table that I’d set up for her to sign books today. She’d had a few boxes of books sent here for the signing, and we were ready for business.

I pushed the door open, and my eyes widened when I realized the line wrapped around the block. Everyone was here to meet her, and I couldn’t be happier.

Romance was alive and well in Magnolia Falls.

Ashlan was a champ, signing books while making small talk with readers.

When Midge approached the table with Janelle from Sweet Magnolia’s, I was just bringing Ashlan a fresh glass of sweet tea.

“So give me the dirty details, Ashlan. Where do you get your inspiration for the sex scenes?” Midge asked, and I shot her a look, making it clear that I was horrified.

Janelle’s head fell back in laughter. “Midge, that’s a bit much, even for you.”

“Come on, now,” Midge said. “She writes romance. We’re all grown-ups here. I follow you on social media, and I’ve seen that hot husband of yours.”

“Oh my gosh, Midge. Stop.” Demi shook her head and then used her hand to contain her laughter.

“It’s fine.” Ashlan shrugged. “I get my inspiration everywhere. But yes, my husband is one sexy man, isn’t he?”

“Damn, she’s getting better at handling these questions,” Georgia said to just me and Brinkley, who were standing to the side now.

“She’s so easy to talk to. I can’t thank you both enough for setting this up.” I was beyond grateful to them for putting this together.

“Don’t give it a thought. You’re family to Demi, which makes you family to us. And our cousin Ashlan is as nice as they come. I knew she’d do it in a heartbeat to help you kick off your grand opening,” Brinkley said.

“This is so fun. And we were thrilled to come to Magnolia Falls for the day.” Georgia was as down to earth as her sister. Demi had told me that Georgia’s husband had a private plane, and they’d flown in for the day with Ashlan from Honey Mountain.

Apparently, it was nothing for Brinkley, whose husband was one of the most famous quarterbacks in the NFL, and she flew all over the country with him, as well.

“Well, it means the world to me. And I’m glad we’ll have time to grab dinner before you head back tonight.” I was looking forward to relaxing and hanging out afterward, as I’d been anxious about getting everything ready for today. But if I were being totally honest, I was very distracted about tomorrow. I’d be going to see my father and his family, and I was nervous about it. The fact that Kingston was going with me made me feel much better, but that was another issue I was struggling with, too.

I was attracted to him.

Ridiculously attracted to him.

We’d already crossed the line multiple times, and I was frustrated that he wouldn’t just give in to it and let things happen naturally. Just like any other relationship. There were no guarantees. But it bothered me that he thought Hayes should have a say in this.

We were both adults.

Two consenting adults.

“Saylor, I’ve got a question for you.” Midge walked toward me, with Janelle and Peyton right behind her, and they were both already laughing.

“Should I be worried?” I asked.

“Don’t mind these two prudes.” Midge shrugged.

“I can assure you that no one has ever called me a prude,” Peyton said, not hiding the fact that she was offended by the comment.

Demi came up behind her with a big smile on her face. “She’s right. No one has ever called her a prude.”

Midge waved her hand around as if they were all annoying her. “Anywho, I’m wondering if you could label the books by spice level as well as genre.”

“You want me to label the shelves by how sexy the books are?”

“Correct. Sometimes a woman wants something spicy to liven things up in her own bedroom. And other times I want something serious. Closed door. So how about you help a girl out?” Midge crossed her arms over her chest.

“Midge Longhorn, you have lost your mind since you got back together with Doug.” Janelle chuckled and shook her head.

“You might be right, but a lot of people are pleased to see that I’m in a much better mood than I used to be.”

“This is you in a good mood? You snapped at me for not getting you a glass of ice water quick enough just fifteen minutes ago, and then you called me a prude,” Peyton said.

“Well, you weren’t very fast, and I was calling Janelle a prude, too.” She raised a brow.

More laughter. Brinkley and Georgia were watching with complete fascination.

I noticed Ashlan out of the corner of my eye, and she was walking up beside me. The crowd had died down, and I was relieved to be closing up soon. I turned my attention back to Midge.

“I don’t know if giving a spice level to all the books would work, honestly.” I shrugged because it was the truth.

“And why is that? I’ve heard that people use a chili pepper system.” Midge pressed. My God, the old horndog could judge her own heat level on her books.

I was flustered by how to answer her, and I tried to think of a good response just as Ashlan put a hand on my shoulder and leaned in. “I think the reader should make that assessment for themselves because the heat level is very subjective. Some readers give me one chili pepper, and others give me three or four.”

I smiled at her in thanks because it was clear that Midge thought Ashlan walked on water. “You know what? You’re right, Ashlan. I can’t trust some stranger to decide if it’s sexy enough for me. Your books have just the right amount of steam. Doug and I listened to your latest release on audio together last night.” Midge whistled. “Let me tell you, we had a very good night.”

“Oh, wow. Good to know.” Ashlan’s face turned bright red, but she shook it off quickly.

Brinkley and Georgia were laughing hysterically, and we all joined in.

Midge and Janelle left shortly after, and we spent the next few minutes cleaning up.

“Let’s go get some food and cocktails. I’m starving,” Ruby said.

Everyone agreed, and we locked up and spent the next hour and a half laughing endlessly about everything from Midge Longhorn to the fact that Oscar Daily had come in and bought a book, but he’d worn sunglasses and a baseball cap to hide his face.

I was grateful that I’d completely forgotten how nervous I was about my upcoming road trip to see my dad tomorrow.

Ruby spent the night at our house to keep me distracted, even though I told her multiple times that I was fine. She would be moving out soon, and I knew she’d only agreed to keep renting the other room to help me out. She stayed at River’s almost every night. But we’d stayed up late talking, and I was grateful that I was so exhausted when my head hit the pillow that I didn’t have time to second-guess if I was doing the right thing.

My phone buzzed in the morning, and Hayes’s photo filled my screen. I’d sent him a text in the middle of the night to check on him because they couldn’t seem to get this wildfire contained, and it was still blazing with a force.

“Hey,” I said as I ran my fingers over the charm on my necklace out of habit. “How are you doing? Are you okay?”

“Hey, Say.” I heard the exhaustion in his voice. “This fire is still out of control, but we’re not backing down. Just had a few minutes to check in and saw you’d texted pretty late last night.”

“Yeah, I woke up in the middle of the night and checked the app, and I just got worried. How long are you going to have to stay there? Are you eating? Sleeping?” I dropped to sit on the bed and chewed on my thumbnail. I hadn’t slept well because I’d woken up shortly after falling asleep last night because I was anxious about Hayes, and I’d checked the fire update. That had me tossing and turning for hours.

“I’ll be here for probably at least two more weeks. Maybe longer. It depends on what the weather decides to do. This damn wind keeps shifting, so every time we make progress, the weather makes things worse again. I’m eating and sleeping just fine. Don’t worry about me. I’m good. Tell me about the book signing.”

“Says the man who never stops worrying.” I chuckled, but it was forced. Because I was worried, and I had a valid reason to worry. He was the one in the middle of a wildfire. “The book signing was so great, Hayes. Everyone in town came out to meet her, and she was amazing in every way. Charming and sweet and funny. The bookstore has been really busy since we opened the doors. Today is my first day off in a while.”

“I’m proud of you, Say. You were determined to do this, and you made it happen. What are you going to do on your day off?”

I cleared my throat. I knew I needed to do it. The last thing I wanted was for my brother to worry about me going to see my father and his family, but I knew Kingston wasn’t joking when he said he’d tell him if I didn’t.

“If I tell you, can you just trust me on this?”

“If you’re going anywhere near Barry, I am going to lose my shit.”

“I have not seen Barry at all. Mom came to the book signing, and it was nice to see her. She looks good. And losing your shit has never helped anything.”

“Tell me.”

“I’m going to see Dad and Constance and meet our half-siblings. He invited me for lunch. And before you freak out, I told King that I was going, and he insisted on coming with me. He takes his babysitting job very seriously,” I said, making no effort to hide the sarcasm in my voice.

I wasn’t even slightly annoyed that Kingston was coming with me, but my brother didn’t need to know that.

“I’m glad he’s going with you. I’m surprised he didn’t tell me about it when I spoke to him yesterday.”

“He told me that if I didn’t tell you by the time we got on the road, he’d be calling you.”

“Ride or die. That’s the way we roll. Of course, he’ll drop everything and make sure you’re all right. That’s my brother right there. But I don’t understand why you make such an effort for a man who hasn’t been there for you. An entire family who hasn’t been there for you.”

A lump formed in my throat at his words.

“Everything is not black and white, Hayes. Dad made mistakes—I’m more than aware. But I don’t give up on people. We have half-siblings that I would at least like to meet. They didn’t do anything to us. Can you not give me a hard time about this? It’s just something I want to do.”

“Yeah.” He yawned. “I can do that. All I care about is you being okay. I know I’m a closed-minded prick sometimes, Saylor. But you’ve just always been so good to the core, and I guess I just want to protect you from the big, bad world. I don’t want to see him hurt you again. That’s all it is. I don’t hate his other kids because I don’t know them. I don’t like him because he left our mother and us and had an affair and started a new life with a new family—without giving one fuck about us. He made no effort to know us. He chose them.” I heard the frustration in my brother’s voice, and it hurt me, too. “And damn, Say, I was busy trying to be the man of the house after he left. Mom couldn’t handle jack shit at the time.”

A tear ran down my cheek, and I tried to compose my voice. “I know. And I want you to know that you have been more than a brother to me, Hayes. You’ve been my protector, my best friend, and the only solid parent I’ve ever really had. And I’m grateful for that. Having you for a brother is the best thing that’s ever happened to me. But you have to trust me to make decisions for myself, okay?”

“Yeah. I can do that. Just let me know how it goes. I’m glad you’ll have King with you. That dude can make the worst situations seem like a party.”

“Yes. He will definitely lighten the mood. As much as I was pissed off that you basically forced him to babysit me, I’m happy he’s coming with me.”

“Me, too. Be smart and be safe, okay? You got your necklace on?” he asked, his voice not hiding his concern. The necklace was an inside joke, as he’d always told me he’d protect me from all the evil out in the world, and when he wasn’t with me, I’d have my evil eye necklace to do it for me.

“Of course, I do. I only take it off when I sleep. And I’ve got this. You’re the one heading into a blazing forest fire. Let’s worry about you being safe.” I tried to keep my tone light. “I love you, Hayes.”

“I love you, too. Don’t ever forget it.”

“Well, don’t say it that way. That makes me think you’re going into this fire and not coming out.” I shook my head.

He chuckled and covered it with a cough. “Fine. I love you. I’ll call you later.”

We ended the call, and I just sat there, worried about my brother and nervous about what I was walking into today.

“Hey, hey! Are you ready for a road trip? I’ve got the snacks in the car already.” Kingston filled the doorway as he leaned against the frame, looking sexy as hell in his dark jeans and white tee. His navy baseball cap was turned backward, which just worked for him, and he held his gold aviators in his hand.

“I told you I’d bring the snacks.” I pushed to my feet and walked toward him.

“I told him that you bought the snacks already, too!” Ruby shouted from the kitchen.

“I’m more than aware that you were bringing your version of road trip food. But I don’t want fruit-flavored water and sliced oranges. I want an ice-cold fountain drink full of sugar, beef jerky, spicy potato chips, and red licorice.”

“That’ll give you a stomachache.” I walked past him toward the kitchen, where I’d packed up the healthy treats for our drive.

“You seem edgy. Are you nervous about today, Dandelion?” He asked.

I was actually worried, but not for the reasons he thought.

Because being alone in the car with a man I was painfully attracted to was going to be a hell of a lot harder than seeing my father after all these years.