Page 45 of Bourbon Bliss
June
Word spread like wildfire in Bootleg Springs. Whether it was good news or bad, nothing stayed quiet for long. Not unless we were all in agreement that we needed to keep our mouths shut, or that one of our own needed protecting. But idle gossip, particularly where anyone’s love life was concerned, was fair game.
Within a day of George deciding to stay in Bootleg I found myself at the heart of the second-biggest story in town. The first, of course, was still the reappearance of Callie Kendall. But talk of the famous football player courting June Tucker had tongues running a mile a minute.
I wasn’t accustomed to being the center of so much gossipy attention. When I’d come up with the plan to get rid of the media by spreading a false story, I’d received my share of pats on the back, nods, and hat tips. But we’d been keeping that quiet, so the praise had been subtle—the way I preferred.
This was different. Aside from an unfortunate stint with Hank Preston in high school, I’d never dated someone in town. I’d always kept my romantic interests—such as they were—quite separate from my community. And most people in town seemed to have decided I was destined to be single forever. It was never my name being paired up with someone in the paper. No speculation as to who would show up and sweep June Tucker off her feet.
People had talked about Cassidy and Bowie, especially when word got out that they’d been dating in secret. Jameson had declared his intentions with Leah Mae for the whole town to see by stopping his truck in the middle of the street to kiss her. That had certainly generated a number of conversations. Scarlett had caused a stir when she’d started seeing Devlin. But Scarlett caused a stir all the time, so that hadn’t been unusual.
None of that had ever spilled over to me. I’d always been on the sidelines, quietly observing. Now the talk was about me, and it was weird.
I’d been seen with George already. We’d danced at the Lookout, and shared meals at Moonshine. But something about the news that he had decided to stay in Bootleg Springs had set off the gossip wagon. Now it was rolling down the street right through the middle of town. On fire.
I ignored the look Sierra Hayes gave me as I walked to the Bootleg Springs Spa. She glanced around as if wondering why I was out and about alone now that I was part of a couple. If she had asked, I would simply have told her that George was with the Bodine men.
Bowie had invited George to hang out with him and his brothers—and future brother-in-law, but I tended to think of Devlin as one of the Bodines now, despite his having a different last name. They were a unit, and they’d assimilated Devlin into their clan. I wasn’t sure what their planned activities entailed. Bowie had deflected by sayingman stuff. That sounded to me like watching sports, which was something I would have liked to be included in.
But I understood the concept of male bonding—in theory, at least—and Cassidy had invited me for a spa day. Spa treatments had numerous health benefits, and Lula ran the best spa in town.
And I had to admit, Lula’s treatments did make my skin look very soft and… touchable. It wouldn’t be terrible if it made George more interested in touching me.
I was the only one precisely on time, so I waited in the lobby, thumbing through a magazine I’d brought with me. Lula’s waiting area was decorated with soft colors, wispy curtains, and comfortable furniture. Quiet music played in the background—something instrumental and soothing. A hint of citrus hung in the air—just enough to make it smell fresh, yet calming.
Leah Mae arrived, and a few minutes later, Cassidy and Scarlett. When our little group was all accounted for, Lula took us back. We donned fluffy bathrobes in the changing room and took our places in the treatment room.
The air was warmer here, but dressed in just a robe, I was comfortable. I took a seat in a reclining chair, put my feet up, and pulled out my magazine.
“Maybe we should go visit her,” Scarlett said out of the blue.
Cassidy settled into a chair. “Who?”
“Callie Kendall,” Scarlett said. “I can’t stop thinking about her.”
“Same here,” Leah Mae said. She twisted her long blond hair into a bun and wrapped a hair tie around it. “Her disappearance was one of the defining moments of my life. It seemed like everything changed after that. And now it’s just… over.”
“Exactly,” Scarlett said. “I’m still trying to wrap my head around it.”
“I’m not sure what to think, either,” Cassidy said. “Seems like we should give them privacy, though. It’s not like any of us knew her all that well. Unless you did, Leah Mae.”
“Not really,” Leah Mae said. “We were in the same grade, but I mostly hung out with Jameson when I was here summers. I didn’t run around with Callie all that much.”
“Did anyone know about her guy?” Scarlett asked. “Because I sure as hell didn’t. Not that I would have. I probably seemed more like a little tag-along kid to her, not someone she’d confide in.”
“I didn’t know, either,” Cassidy said.
Leah Mae shook her head. “Me neither.”
Callie was my age, as well, just like Leah Mae. But none of them looked to me to ask if Callie had shared her secret boyfriend with me. I’d socialized because Cassidy had insisted, more than because I’d wanted to—especially back in high school. I’d never sought out friendships with the other girls my age. They were fine—girls like Callie Kendall and Leah Mae Larkin had always been nice to me—but I didn’t have the need for a best friend or asquad, as they said. I’d had my parents and my sister, and by extension I’d had Scarlett. All the Bodines, really. They’d always been enough. More than enough, sometimes.
“I guess it goes to show, you never know what’s going on behind closed doors,” Cassidy said. “People can hide all sorts of things, if they have a mind to.”
“Maybe all that stuff about her being troubled and depressed was true,” Scarlett said. “Her parents kept insisting on it. I suppose they’d have known. We only saw her summers, and some holidays. They were with her day in, day out. Maybe that had something to do with why she ran away.”
“She could have been hiding all sorts of things from the rest of us,” Leah Mae said.
I didn’t have a hard time believing that Callie Kendall had disappeared because she’d run off with a man she’d met online. I hadn’t known Callie well enough to judge whether that was consistent with her character. But I’d seen many of the girls I knew make bad decisions when it came to men. A teenage girl getting caught up with a guy who turned out to be trouble was common. Even I hadn’t been immune to that.
