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Chapter 22
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2022-10-26 14:20:02Related chapters
Small Town Girl Chapter 23
I snatched another beer while I was inside. When I returned and sat next to her, I pulled up an image of the wild fig trees in South Africa near Echo Caves. "Looks like an ordinary fruit tree, right?" I was about to get all philosophical-not really my cup of tea, but this was one thing I firmly believed. I'd heard it years ago, and it had stuck with me."I suppose. I don't see a lot of those in the city.""Point is, it doesn't look like anything great. I mean it's a big tree, but what you see above the surface isn't what makes that tree so different from any other. To anyone who doesn't have knowledge of just how special it is, it looks like any other tree."She nodded, even though the confusion in her expression indicated she didn't have a clue where I was going with this. "Roots. That's what makes it extraordinary."Her brow quirked and her head tilted to the side. "Most trees have root systems that spread out like a fan under the dirt." I talked with my hands to indica
Last Updated : 2022-10-26Small Town Girl Chapter 24
"I hear you had an eventful night." Beau's shit-eating grin had me concerned."No clue what you heard or who you heard it from. I went home.""Yeah, with Peyton.""You knew that. You watched me leave with her, moron." Beau hadn't even let me get out of the truck at Ty's house before he bombarded me. As tempted as I was to accidentally shove the door into him when I hopped down, I refrained and glared instead."Yes, however, you didn't mention a night-time swimming excursion under the stars."I slammed the door behind me. "You sound like a travel agent. Don't you have something other than me to worry about? Like a lawsuit.""Yeah, that's being taken care of, and since I now have no life of my own, I'm interested in yours.""Don't be. Nothing happened.""There's a pissed-off brunette who disagrees." He nudged his head toward Ty's house where Masyn stood with her hands on her hips, glaring at me."Oh, that's rich. She's ticked? Did she mention who brought her by my ho
Last Updated : 2022-10-26Small Town Girl Chapter 25
Ty set his beer on the workbench and stepped to the door Masyn escaped through to yell, "Masyn, get your ass out here.""Jesus, Ty. Leave her alone." I should have kept my damn mouth shut. I wasn't any better than Beau."Nah, fuck that. She doesn't need to be anywhere near that cum stain. And where the hell were you, Lee?"The door burst open with a fiery Masyn blowing through it just as I said, "Since when is it my job to babysit?"Without turning away from his sister, he answered me. "Kindergarten. Own it." Then he lit into her. "Why the hell would you be alone with Toby fucking Hayes-ever?"She glared at me-not Beau-assuming I'd given Ty the insider information. I had, but that was beside the point. Beau could do no wrong. "I hate you, Lee.""You do not. You're just mad that I was with Peyton. Next time one of our friends stands his bride up at the altar, I'll make sure to keep you around to handle phone calls and deal with nosy guests."Beau raised his brow and stated
Last Updated : 2022-10-26Small Town Girl Chapter 26
"You should give her a call." Ty never made much sense-not when it came to advice and women. In one breath, he'd tell me I was responsible for his sister, and in the next, that I needed to dip my stick in any oilcan whose cap I could get off. If he had any inkling of what I dreamed about doing to his sister, he'd draw and quarter me. "I thought we were here to fix an alternator. Did I miss a memo?" I asked. "Nah, I'm just fucking with you, Lee. Enjoy this shit while you can. Once you walk down that aisle or bring a kid into the world, the days of freedom are in the past."Ty could say what he wanted about freedom and missing the past. There wasn't a woman on this planet he'd trade Donna for, and those kids were his world. He was a family man and always had been. As a kid, it was his siblings and parents. When he got married, the protective vibe shifted to Donna, although he still kept close tabs on Masyn-not that he needed to. She never did anything other than hang out with
Last Updated : 2022-10-26Small Town Girl Chapter 27
I'd searched for Masyn after I left Ty's house last night. Every place I could think of that she might be was a miss. No one had seen her, and she hadn't gone home-I dreaded hearing what rumors got stirred up about my frantic search for her. It was too much to hope that she'd gone to my house to wait for me to show up. I gave up around eleven, knowing I'd see her in the morning at work, although trying to sleep was as fruitless as my search for Masyn. I tossed and turned all night worrying about her. In all the years I'd known her, I'd never seen her act like this about anything. She went with the flow, regardless of who was involved-the more, the merrier. For the life of me, I couldn't figure out what her aversion to Peyton was. There was no way she was jealous, and I refused to believe Beau's theory might hold water, because if it were true, then I had bigger fish to fry than Peyton Holstein. The time clock glowed when I punched in a little before six. My shift didn't start for an
Last Updated : 2022-10-26Small Town Girl Chapter 28
Beau's BMW sat in my driveway when I pulled up. He leaned against the hood with his cellphone in his hand. I wondered if he'd ever considered having it surgically attached to his palm."Hey, man. What are you doing here?""Other than arguing with Felicity? Nothing much. Didn't have much going on, so I thought I'd stop by and see what you were up to." "Supposed to get together with Peyton, although you already knew that."He tried to act surprised and failed miserably. "Oh yeah, I forgot." Liar. "What are you two doing?""No clue. You're welcome to tag along." I walked by him and opened the front door. "Remind me why you lock this place up..."We lived in a small town where crime was non-existent. This was the type of town where neighbors shot people for being in places they weren't supposed to be, and then asked questions afterward. There was no threat to my house or my belongings; I just didn't feel the need to encourage uninvited visitors. "Are you still talking?"H
Last Updated : 2022-10-26Small Town Girl Chapter 29
Beau knocked on my door. "You ready? I got everything in the truck."I swung the door open to let him in while I grabbed my keys and phone. "Did you find a swimsuit?""For Peyton?"I nodded and prayed Masyn had some hideous thing I'd forgotten was in the drawer. "Yeah, although I doubt it's what you're hoping for.""Two-piece?" I questioned."Yeah. Why does it matter? No guy in their right mind would encourage a woman to wear more on the water, or hell, anywhere for that matter."I glared at him like he was an idiot. He was an idiot. We didn't have heart-to-hearts about me drawing our initials and flowers around Masyn's name on napkins at the bar, but that didn't mean he didn't know what I hadn't confessed. He just chose to ignore it because Masyn did-salt in an open wound kind of thing. "I'm surprised you'd want to see your ex-fiancée's sister half-naked and wet. Isn't that incestuous in some twisted way?""Gross. I don't have any intention of touching her. That do
Last Updated : 2022-10-26Small Town Girl Chapter 30
Peyton put on a brave face and forced a smile as Beau helped her onto the deck. I dropped the bag and small cooler onto the floor of the boat and hopped in. Normally, I sat in the seat next to Beau while he drove-his boat, he was captain-but since Peyton situated herself up front, I joined her. When Beau started the engine, she chewed on her lip and grabbed the seat cushion and edge of the boat as soon as we started moving.I tried to mask my humor, although I did a shitty job. "Once we get through the no-wake zone, he'll pick up speed.""Was that meant to comfort me?" She might choke on her nervous laughter. I pointed to the very front of the boat, currently sitting high in the water. "When we're moving faster, the front will come down, so we're sitting flat on the water. You'll be able to see where we're going-so yes, it was meant to comfort you. You can feel every bump when the water is choppy and the boat is moving slow. At faster speeds, the boat doesn't hit the waves the s
Last Updated : 2022-10-26
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Small Town Girl Chapter 66: Masyn-Epilogue
"Mama, this dress isn't going to work." "Masyn, honey, you're walking down the aisle in five minutes. It's going to have to work.""I don't know how I let you talk me into this. The courthouse would have been much simpler." Not to mention cheaper. After Lee asked my daddy for his blessing, my mama had gone hog wild planning the only wedding she'd ever get to be involved in. It didn't matter that I wanted to keep it small or that I wasn't interested in having a ceremony in a church. In her mind, there was only one way to do things, and now, here we sat, six months, two weeks, and four days after Lee proposed.We were in the same church Lee and I had bailed Beau out of seven months earlier, and I sat in the same room I had that day, as well. Only this time, I wasn't surrounded by snotty women who wore too much makeup and thought Harden was the armpit of America. My aunts and cousins were all here, and Peyton had fussed over me all morning the same way my mom had. I didn't ge
Small Town Girl Chapter 65
It turned out that Masyn's family wasn't as opposed to a wedding as she believed they'd be, and all those men she swore had no interest in attending a ceremony had a real issue with not seeing her walk down the aisle. After spending the week with Beau in Atlanta, the three of us came back to Harden worn out. My dad was getting stronger each day, but he had an uphill battle to fight. If it weren't for the drill sergeant responsible for his physical therapy, he would have had everyone on that floor living in fear. But, Patty didn't put up with my dad's shit or his sass. I didn't want to leave him, and we'd argued over my need to be there-in the end, I lost. My dad thought it was a waste of my time and insisted we go home. Although, he didn't have a problem with us coming back every weekend so he wouldn't be by himself. I didn't stand a chance in hell of telling him no. Masyn was practically doing cartwheels at the thought of spending the weekends in Atlanta.By the time we'd spent t
Small Town Girl Chapter 64
Waking up, I still had Masyn in my arms, but she was flat on her back, and I was wrapped around her. She had her hand extended in front of her, tilting it from side to side and staring at the ring I'd put there last night."You regretting your answer?" My eyes were still clouded over and my voice groggy."Nope. Not at all. It's beautiful, Lee. I can't wait to thank your dad.""About that..."She dropped her hand and turned to me, unsure of what I was about to add that I hadn't told her last night. In my defense, she had been naked-and still was-and telling her she couldn't move in wasn't at the top of my priority list. Getting inside her was. Granted, I was only heeding half of the old man's advice, but I wasn't sure how she'd take the conversation at all. I wasn't willing to stop showing her how much I loved her body and taking her to places where she screamed my name like I'd never heard. So, not living together before we got married might sound like a copout. "What?" s
Small Town Girl Chapter 63
After leaving the hospital, Masyn and I met Beau for dinner at a barbeque place down the street from his house. It was okay, but definitely not worth the price. Another reason Atlanta wasn't for me-paying more for lesser quality wasn't my idea of living high on the hog...it was just stupid."Dinner was good." That was Masyn's way of saying she didn't like it when it came up an hour later right before we went to bed. Caging her in against the dresser, I kissed her and said, "You're a shit liar."Her head fell back with laughter. "Okay, it wasn't great, and who pays that much for a pulled-pork sandwich?""It was probably that fancy roll it was on.""Yeah, they'd be better off to head to Piggy Wiggly and pick up a bag of generic hamburger buns.""The tea was tasty." "It was ungodly sweet, I don't know how you drank it.""That's how Southern boys like their tea." I nibbled her neck, not leaving her any room to move when she wiggled. "And their women.""Is that so?" Her
Small Town Girl Chapter 62
I had to put his address into the GPS on my phone. His house was easy to get to from Harden, but I didn't have a clue where I was in relation to it from the hospital. I sighed when I saw that an eight-mile drive was estimated to take over an hour with the current traffic. By the time I got back, he'd have Masyn taking a vow of celibacy and entering a convent to maintain her purity to keep her from allowing me to ruin her good name. There was probably nothing in the damn box. Knowing my old man, it wouldn't surprise me if he'd sent me on a wild-goose chase to give him time for a fatherly talk with a girl who wasn't his daughter. I thought about texting her to warn her, but Masyn loved my dad, and she'd blow me off anyhow, so I didn't bother. At the very least, my dad would tell her he'd sent me to run an errand and reassure her I'd be back. My phone started ringing when the GPS gave me my next turn, making it impossible to hear, and I nearly missed the ramp to get onto the interst
Small Town Girl Chapter 61
My dad moved down two floors, and we followed, even though he'd gone to sleep by the time they allowed us back in his room. At least now we didn't have to sit in a waiting room and stare at the walls...and there was no more Nurse Ratched to deal with, although I was certain every floor had their own version of her. This room was a little larger than the one in ICU and had a loveseat to sit on and a television to watch. Masyn flipped through the channels and settled on some talk show I wasn't interested in. It held her attention, which I was grateful for since I'd gotten lost in my thoughts and my father's warning. Sitting in the corner of the two-seater couch, I'd angled my body toward the TV slightly, and Masyn had situated herself with her back against my side. She played absentmindedly with the fingers on my left hand, and all I could think about was the weight of a ring on the fourth one she held. My future always included Masyn. I never knew if it would be as my wife, since
Small Town Girl Chapter 60
By the time we crawled out of bed the next morning, the house was quiet and we were alone. Beau had left a note on the counter that he'd gone to work and would call later. I wasn't sure if anything I'd said sunk in or made sense, however, I was glad to know he'd heeded my advice not to just bail but, at the very least, to figure out a plan. Even with GPS, I had to turn around twice while navigating the streets of Atlanta to get to the hospital. The same roads we'd traveled last night were quite different when they were bogged down with traffic and people driving like maniacs. Normally, it would have gotten under my skin, and I'd be hollering out the window at the morons causing problems, yet today, with Masyn next to me, it didn't seem all that important. It gave me a little extra time alone with her before I had to face whatever happened in the CICU. She took my hand when I clicked the button to set the alarm on the truck, as if we'd been doing this since the dawn of time. I had
Small Town Girl Chapter 59
The lights were off when I got to our room. I had to count the doors to make sure I was in the right place. If Masyn were asleep, turning the light on would likely wake her up. I softly closed the door behind me and waited for my eyes to adjust to the dark. Once I could see my hand in front of my face, I toed off my shoes and got undressed. Masyn had found the remote for the ceiling fan and turned the place into an icebox. As quietly as I could, I eased under the blankets. My head hit the pillow, and Masyn popped up like a weasel. "Jesus, you scared the hell out of me. Why didn't you tell me you were awake when I came in?""I was half-asleep until I felt the bed shift. Is everything okay with Beau?"I snaked my arm under her head and pulled her into my side, finding her completely naked. "No. But it will be.""Felicity really messed him up."I kissed the top of her head before responding. "I don't think it's just her. I think Beau's spent so much of his life trying to be
Small Town Girl Chapter 58
After I showed Masyn where our room was and got her towels so she could shower, I traversed the mile across the house to Beau's bedroom. The lights were on, so he was either still up and ignoring me, or passed out and unable to hear me. When I knocked and he didn't answer, I ventured in to the second set of doors and tried again."Yeah?" So, he was up."Can I come in?""Depends. You going to keep kicking me while I'm down? Beating me like a dead horse?" he pouted.That was the closest thing I'd get to an invitation, so I took it. "You know that's not my goal.""Then what is? I'm not going to cry if that's what you're hoping for." The sounds of my chuckling weren't what he wanted to hear, either, so I stopped. "All bullshit aside, it's like you flipped a switch this afternoon. I'm just trying to understand where you're coming from.""She drove three hours not knowing what she'd find or if she'd even be able to get to you.""Masyn?" My voice rose with surprise when I sai
