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No More Hiding
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Collide What Could Go Wrong?
“Thanks, Sofia,” Levi said distractedly, not even looking up as his burger and fries were placed in front of him. “Well, well, look what the cat dragged in,” Maggie said dryly, crossing her arms over her chest.Levi hunched almost imperceptibly and slowly turned to face Maggie. “Uh, hey, Maggie,” he said trying to use a friendly tone, “kept hearing such good things about this place, I couldn’t stay away.”“Glad you finally made it in,” Maggie motioned to the chair opposite him silently requesting an invitation to sit.Levi scrambled up halfway from his chair, remembering his manners at the last second, “Please, have a seat.”Maggie sat and crossed her legs. “JT told me you had moved back. Are you staying?”Levi nodded. “Yeah, it was time. I’ve started a new breeding program. Time to get out of beef cows. And the city was starting to wear on me.”When Maggie continued to watch him placidly without comment, he rushed to fill the silence. “Uh, and my mom wanted to move over to that new
Collide Chemistry
“Goddammit straight to hell!” Levi cursed, dropping his hammer and shoving his thumb into his mouth. He’d been trying to work on framing up the new bathroom in the bunkhouse but had spent more time hammering his thumbs and yanking out crooked nails than making any progress. All because of Dani.He couldn’t focus. His mind kept drifting to seeing her sitting there right in front of him in Maggie’s café. It still felt like a dream – looking into her burning green eyes, putting his arms around her and holding her close again. He’d never felt that thrum of electricity with anyone else in all these years. Her hair even smelled the same, like coconut and citrus.He’d checked his phone multiple times today making sure his ringer was on and he hadn’t missed a call from her. “I’m acting like a teenage girl,” he muttered, disgusted with himself but unable to stop.Why didn’t I make her give me her number? He hadn’t wanted to push too hard, didn’t want to spook her or make her shy away from him
Collide Friends Divided
She sat there staring out the screen door until the sun was on its last descent, casting long shadows from the trees onto the front porch, the cicadas’ song gaining volume. “What am I going to do?” she questioned out loud to her freshly painted walls, walking to the kitchen to find her cell.As she listened to Maggie’s phone ring, she retrieved a half empty bottle of pink Moscato from the fridge and a jelly glass from the cabinet. She hadn’t gotten around to unpacking her ‘kitchen’ box yet but had found a few old jelly jars she had washed and was using for glasses.Maggie finally answered just as Dani was preparing the message in her head that she wanted to leave on the voicemail. “Hey, girlfriend! Sorry, I was going over menus with JT and left my phone on the charger. What’s up?”Dani decided the direct approach was best. “Levi just left here. He kissed me.” Her voice sounded flat to her ears.“Whaaaaaat?” Maggie shrieked into the phone. “No, don’t say another word. I’m on the way o
Collide Triage
Dani woke up feeling like she had spent the night in the honky tonk on the edge of town and knew it wasn’t from the one glass of wine and a couple of sips of margarita she’d had the night before. It was from making her best friend cry and generally being a monster to Maggie when she was just trying to help. She really hadn’t meant to be such a bitch. She really had to make it right asap. She was just all in a kerfuffle. Between moving, taking care of her aunt, working all hours on the house and now Levi swooping in and churning up emotions that were best left buried, she was caught in an undertow and didn’t know which way to swim to fight out of it. Damn him anyway! She’d been fine, more than fine, all these years. She’d had a very nice life. She had a steady, rewarding job. Nice things. A rich, successful boyfriend. Even though he wasn’t her dream guy, he was predictable. Everything nice and planned and predictable just like she liked it. So why did all that now seem so boring and g
Collide Every Lady Needs a Chaise
Maggie lay on her blush pink silk chaise longue in her bedroom. Her mother had insisted that all Southern ladies needed a chaise longue in their bedrooms. Maggie had never really gotten a good answer as to why since she, herself, had never felt the need to swoon. Usually, it was just a place to lay her clothes while she was ironing or hanging up laundry but today, today she guessed she needed it. Her head was throbbing and her eyes were bloodshot after staying up through most of the night crunching numbers. They didn’t really need to be crunched, she knew, as she kept meticulous books, but her mind wouldn’t settle, and rogue tears kept escaping her eyes. She continued to work the numbers over and over until she was literally too tired to keep her eyes open. She had run into JT leaving the house to go get the kitchen set up for the breakfast rush at 4 AM. He could tell she had been crying, of course. “Maggie!” he’d cried out in surprise as he almost ran into her in the darkened kitchen
Collide A Tale of Two Kitchens
Levi sat at his mother’s new kitchen table stirring his coffee and studying the grain of the white-washed wood. His mom had been sharing stories of her new friends’ antics at Gladewater Terrace and feeding him at their regular Sunday brunch but he was having trouble focusing. “And Mary Belle told Louise she was having an affair with her husband and they were going to raise elephants in Africa on a plantation,” Wanda concluded, picking up her coffee and watching Levi over the rim of her cup.“Huh, what?” Levi quit stirring and looked up in surprise as Wanda finished her story with the ridiculous.“I was wondering what it would take to get your attention.” Wanda patted his hand. “Now what’s got you so in a knot this morning?”Levi tried to play off his inattention. “Nothing, mom. Just tired from all the work I’ve been putting in at the bunkhouse. I told you I’m putting in a new bathroom right?”Wanda narrowed her eyes at him skeptically. “Oh, honey, please. You practically have a pictu
Collide Southern Manners
After her goodbyes to her family, Dani decided she’d better head to the store to at least get some staples to avoid getting herself into more problems just because she needed to eat. The HEB parking lot was relatively empty. She’d forgotten what a great time Sunday afternoon was to shop. Sunday after church was spent at home with family and then watching whatever game was on that afternoon, not shopping.“Great! I can get in and get out,” she thought as Pearl beeped when she hit the black fob.Once in the store, however, she realized she had no idea what she wanted to buy. Salad stuff, maybe? Lettuce, tomatoes and cheese could live in the fridge and didn’t need actual cooking. Salad fixings went in the cart. Packaged tuna? Oh look, flavors!As she was digging through the little boxes on the shelves that held the myriad of Charlie the Tuna’s selections, she heard a now familiar, deep voice behind her.“Well don’t you look pretty enough to break hearts today,” the voice said.She brief
Collide A Dinner to Remember
She followed Levi into the bunkhouse and immediately saw the kitchen to the right of the large one room building. She’d never been to the bunkhouse before. When she and Levi had been together, the bunkhouse was empty of hands. Levi’s dad wouldn’t employ any, preferring the free labor he got from his son. She thought it may have been used for storage. It was a large space with four bunk beds lining two walls to the left. One bed appeared to be in use with pillows and a beautiful old quilt folded on top. Next to the bunk space was an open space with some ratty recliners, chairs and side tables. She could see where a TV had probably stood at one time on a TV table at the back. On the other side was a large, open kitchen area and a long wooden table. The appliances looked new and stood out amid the tones of avocado green of the counters and the dark pine cabinets. She assumed a bathroom was behind the only other door next to the kitchen.Everything looked like it had seen better days but
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