Page 67 of Back in the Country
“She’s flying to Louisville for that meetin’ and then going back to Nashville with her boss, I think she said. She has a big presentation she’s giving for work. She said they want her back there to work out her new position.”
The blood in my veins turns to ice as my heart stutters in my chest.
She’s leaving? Now?
What about starting her company? What about her plans in Clementine Creek?
I can’t breathe. She was in my bed this morning. I woke her up with my head between her legs.
How could she not tell me?
I’ve been so focused on my shit that I haven’t bothered to ask her what she is doing. We are happy, and with her now talking to Sorren—I thought this was it. I thought she’d want to stay.
Sorren stares at me expectantly, and I shake my head.
“She said she was working on a presentation but not much else.”
He shrugs. “She said it’s a big deal and she’s really looking forward to the opportunity. Same question as before though, you bringing her?”
“I’ll uh,”—I swallow hard—“have to talk to her about it.”
He eyes me briefly before returning to the task in front of him. I’d love to run back and talk to Marlee now, but I can’t. Business has been nonstop, and between this and the garage, I can’t wrap my head around it most days.
Graduation had been a simple ceremony for our small class. My professor had presented each of us with copies of a prestigious business magazine. He’d paid for a full-page spread for each of our businesses.
I’m not much of a crier, but to see something I created with my own hands come to life and memorialized like that…it was almost too much. I’d blinked like a motherfucker to keep that shit in check even as pride filled my chest.
Marlee had shown me just how proud she was of me too that night. She’d come out of the bathroom in nothing but her college cap and gown and…wow. She lured me into the bedroom and completely blew my mind. Even now I could still feel the way her hot little body had gripped me as she took us both over the edge.
Remembering where I am, I discreetly adjust myself and then get to work. That article plus all the events and the previous custom orders have me almost needing to hire on someone, and that waswithSorren’s help.
We work in silence and I am thankful for it. Between my illicit thoughts of my best friend’s little sister—girlfriend or not—and the now issue of her leaving, I need time to think. I need a plan, and I hope like hell it will be enough.
27
MARLEE
Ifold the last shirt from the dryer and set it on top of the pile of clothes I’ve washed for Waylon and me at my grandparents’ house. He’d put up a fuss about my doing his laundry, but I was comin’ over here today to do mine anyway, and it seemed ridiculous not to just do it together. His T-shirts and socks mixed with my leggings and panties make me smile, and I wonder if I’ll always be this happy seein’ his stuff tangled up with mine.
It is probably silly but I don’t care. He is mine and I plan to keep him forever.
Grabbing the clean stack of clothes, I place them gently in the empty basket and then make my way with it through the house, turning off lights before I leave. Sorren said he was going to go help Waylon in the barn and he wouldn’t be back for a while, so I don’t want to leave them on.
My car door chirps as it tells me it is now unlocked—apparently being in Clementine Creek hasn’t broken that habit yet. I put everything in the backseat when I hear a car coming down the drive.
They are going faster than necessary down the unpaved road, and I am about to give the driver a piece of my mind when the car slams into park. My breath catches in my throat as the driver steps out and then squares off with me in my front yard.
“What in the hell are you doing here?” I snap, finally finding my voice.
“Marlee, don’t be like that. I missed you.”
An unladylike snort escapes me, and his eyes narrow slightly. “Not likely.”
Caleb tenses and then relaxes his posture before smiling. “Of course I did. We were so good together, baby. I know we can make it work between us.”
“We want different things, Caleb. There’s nothing to work out.”
My ex-boyfriend is handsome in the traditional trust-fund-baby kind of way with his expensive haircut and polo shirts. Instead of warm and inviting like Waylon, Caleb looks impatient and annoyed as the mask slips from his face.
