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“Are you ready?” Sawyer asked, pushing open the door with her knee.
“Not even a little,” I muttered, stepping outside into the moonlight and into the scrutiny of my two former best friends.
We set the salad on the table. “Can you open this for me?” Sawyer asked as if she couldn’t sense the tension all around her.
“I think I need to say something,” I said before I sat down.
“I think that’s wise,” Miller quipped.
“This is Sawyer’s housewarming dinner. I think we should enjoy it and if you’re up for it, afterward I’d like to talk to both of you. If not, we enjoy a great meal and go our separate ways.”
“Did I mention it’s my first time making a lasagna?” Sawyer chimed in.
“It smells great,” Josh said, taking the wine glass Sawyer handed her. Seemingly agreeing to the offer I just made without acknowledging it. Miller opened a cooler by his feet and grabbed a beer. He twisted off the top and was about to take a sip when he paused and set it on the table, sliding it over to me.
“This is for you, shithead,” he muttered, grabbing another beer and cracking it open.
“Thanks,” I said, taking a sip and setting it back down.
“You should bash it over his fucking skull,” Josh muttered.
“What was that?” Sawyer asked.
Josh switched gears and smiled up at Sawyer. “I said I can’t wait to taste the lasagna. What kind of dressing is on the salad?”
Sawyer and I both sat and she beamed across the table, practically glowing with excitement. “It’s Bebe. She makes it and sells it at the farmer’s market in Brillhart County. She said it’s supposed to be like the dressing from one of those big chain Italian restaurants, but I’ve never been to one so I can’t really compare.”
“It’s better,” I offered, taking a bite. Bebe really did make the best dressing. It was slightly sweet with a tangy bite.
Miller and Josh both nodded and nobody spoke again until the salads were done and I helped Sawyer plate the lasagna and serve it.
“Are you not going to try the wine?” Josh said, pointing to Sawyer’s still full glass even though Josh’s was still full as well.
Sawyer smiled and turned her shoulders inward. “I’ve actually never had wine before. I saw a picture in the general store of a big feast and they had wine and I really liked the way it looked,” she admitted.
Her confession made my heart constrict. I coughed into my fist and pointed to my food like I had a bit of pasta caught in my throat.
“How have you never had wine?” Miller asked. “I mean, Josh told me that your family was all Waco and shit but don’t cult people drink?”
There was a bang under the table. The pasta sauce on my plate jumped.
“Ouch, what the hell?” Miller asked, glaring at Josh.
“It’s okay. My family wasn’t in a cult. They lived in regular society but they are what you’d call…” she searched for the word.
“Extremists?” I offered.
“That’s it,” she said and I could tell she didn’t want to talk any more about her past so I tried to think of something to change the subject but luckily Josh was thinking the same thing.
“I love your new house. How are you liking being a homeowner?” Josh asked.
“Honestly?” Sawyer looked up at the house. “I’d like it better knowing that Sterling wasn’t the one who bought it for me.”
“Sterling bought it for you?” Miller asked, scratching his head. He and Josh exchanged knowing glances. “What makes you think that?”
“He…he said the investor bought it for me. The one whose been helping all the people in town keep their houses. And since he and Finn were the only ones there that day when…” she trailed off as the realization took hold.
Miller winked and Josh chuckled.
“It was you,” Sawyer said, glancing over to me. “How? Is it your job or something?” Her confusion was downright adorable. “You bought me a house?”
All I could do in response was smile. My heart was swelling as her smile grew. Initially I had no plans to tell her, but I couldn’t let her think that shit-bag Sterling had bought it for her and associate it with him every time she looked at it.
“Finn don’t need to work, he’s the largest land owner in three counties. He leases land to the government,” Miller said between bites. He grabbed another roll from the basket and tore it open down the middle.
“What?” Sawyer gaped. “But you live in…” she looked over my shoulder toward the swamp shack.
“That’s not my house,” I said, pulling her down on my lap when she stood up from her chair.
“That’s just his hiding place,” Josh said. “And a lousy one at that. Miller and I have known where you were from day one.”
“We have?” Miller asked, sounding confused.
Josh just shook her head and chuckled. “Okay, I knew where you were,” she amended.
“So, is that your job? Or is it more of a passion of yours?” Sawyer asked innocently. I kissed her jaw and felt her shiver on my lap. I also felt the stares from across the table as Josh and Miller put their own two and two together and learned firsthand how serious I was about Sawyer.
“My passion is you,” I told her, watching her cheeks heat between the freckles. “I have a property management company that handles everything. I get a paycheck. And sometimes I use that paycheck to invest in other properties.”
“You bought me a house?” Sawyer repeated like she couldn’t believe it. “When?”
“The day you saw it in the junkyard. After I dropped you off at Critter’s, I went back and talked to Sterling. Set it all up that afternoon.”
“Thank you,” she said, her eyes dancing with wonderment. She looked up at her new house like she was seeing it again for the first time.
My heart swelled. Something inside me was shifting, and for once, I didn’t hate the way the new emotions were slowly moving guilt and self-hatred more and more to the background. I wanted Sawyer. And more than that?
I wanted to make Sawyer happy.
I also wanted to make her come again. And again, and again.
The vision of her coming apart in my arms during the storm was playing on a loop in my brain. I’d never seen anything so beautiful as when her body finally let go.
“Speaking of Sterling,” Josh started. “He won’t be bothering you ever again. You can be sure of it.”
“What did you do?” I asked.
Josh smiled and tossed her hair over her shoulders, her gold bracelets clanked together and her heavy earrings swayed. “Let’s just say I did the unthinkable. The darkest, dirtiest shit you can do to someone in the south,” she said, ending on a whisper.
“Oh shit,” Miller gasped, covering his mouth and speaking into his hand. “You told his mama, didn’t you?”
“I sure as shit did,” Josh smiled proudly. “She’ll do worse to him than I ever could by locking him up.”
“Thank you,” Sawyer said, reaching out and giving Josh’s hand a squeeze.
“No need to thank me. We’re family now.” Josh looked from Miller to Sawyer and then finally to me. “Right?” she asked with a tip of her chin.
“Right.”
It was a simple exchange. Only tw
o words spoken. But with those
