“With his compliments and he wanted you to be sure it’s the most expensive bottle in the house.”
“How expensive are we talking?”
“Lily!” Jenny burst out laughing, just as Lily-Grace took the bottle and made a show of looking at every detail of the label. She looked over at Pleasant’s table, where Jesse was suddenly very interested in his own menu.
“Never mind. Thank you so much. You can just leave the bottle.”
“Absolutely.”
“How messed up would it be if I sent back a glass of lukewarm tap water?” Lily-Grace said as soon as the server was out of earshot.
“You’ve been back for like an hour. How do you have a whole feud going with Jesse?”
“Girl, I don’t know, but I was starting to get bored sitting at home, so maybe torturing him will give me something to do.”
“Send him a picture of your tits. That’ll shake things up.”
“Don’t tempt me.”
Chapter 5
Jesse couldn’t sleep. His thoughts were too loud for the sounds of music or any TV show to calm him down. He’d spent the time his grandmother had spent ignoring him at dinner, filling his stomach with the best cuisine the Charming Inn had to offer. Baking always took his mind off things, but he was too full to eat a whole cake, and his family wasn’t in the mood to accept late-night baked goods from him at the moment. He could take some laps in the pool, but he wasn’t in the mood to get wet. He’d have to shower and lotion up again, and that seemed like too much work. He sat on the edge of his bed, thinking about how his brothers always turned to the stables in moments like this, taking their horses out on the trails to clear their heads. Solo rides, or together, always without him.
What had Lily-Grace said? Had he been fitted for his martyr robes yet? Maybe she was right. Sort of. He knew sometimes he overreacted, but sometimes he didn’t. And always, it was always true that most people had no idea how he felt, what it was like to be him. They didn’t understand the anger that simmered under the surface most of the time, and the completely reasonable places that anger came from.
Before he realized what he was doing, he walked over to his closet and put on a fresh sweatsuit and a pair of sneakers he’d only worn twice. Clementine watched him dress from her dog bed in the corner, but when he nodded toward the door, she ignored him and went back to sleep. Her brief kidnapping by Lily-Grace must have been enough excitement for one day. Jesse grabbed his keys and walked through his sprawling empty home. He’d offered his parents the larger of the guest rooms as a formality; he knew his mother would prefer the inn.
Outside, the night was cool and the sky was clear. This was what he needed, quietandfresh air. He made it halfway down his driveway before he saw Evie walking up the road, bundled up in one of Zach’s hoodies that was about three sizes too big for her. Sugar Plum was trotting a few feet in front of her. The dog ran toward Jesse as soon as she saw him. He stopped and scratched the dog on the head while he waited for Evie to catch up.
“Hey,” she said, a sad smile lifting her cheeks. “Thanks for tonight.”
“For what?”
She lifted her shoulder, shrugging. “I can tell you’re trying.”
“I don’t follow.”
Her expression blanked out. “Really, Jesse.”
“I don’t.”
“Miss Leona is pissed at you. Zach is still kinda pissed at you, and I know all of that makes you want to grind your molars down to dust.”
“To dust, eh. What brings you out here on this lovely evening? Where’s your beau?”
“My beau.”
“Well, since we’re both talking like it’s the 1880s.”
“I told him I needed some me time. It was a long day.”
“Hmmmm.”
“Anyway. I know you’re still upset, but I can see that you’re trying to make this week good for us. One small glitch aside.”
“I was caught off guard.” Jesse almost said it wouldn’t happen again, but he couldn’t promise that.
“I—I uh, don’t take this the wrong way, but I forgot what your mom was like. She’s a lot.”
