Page 111 of Sundown Somewhere

“Dolly, what’s the issue here? I thought things were great between you two?” Alice questions. “And when we were at Ming Garden a couple of weeks ago, it was all ‘Hux is making me feel things I’ve never felt before…’ So, what gives?”

My lungs constrict, making it hard to breathe, as I think about how to answer that. As I try to put into words all my swirling thoughts and panic.

“He is. And this morning, while we were in the church vestibule and he was standing there, pouring out his soul like it was the only thing in the world he had to offer me, all while showing me this gorgeous playground he designed…” I sniffle, fighting back the wave of emotion trying to choke me all over again. “It was everything I could have ever dreamed of. He is everything I could ever want or dream of. All I could think about while he was showing me that playground was how I can’t wait to take my kids to play on it, then go home to the little white house, and how I want to do all that with Hux. But then…”

A silent sob escapes, sneaking up on me so fast I don’t even see it coming. I stumble backward, catching myself on the bureau, leaning against it for balance.

“I want to be able to trust my feelings,” I choke out.

“What makes you think you can’t?” Margeaux asks.

Her voice is soft, gentle, like she’s soothing a child who scraped their knee. If only this were able to be fixed with a Band-Aid and a kiss.

“I got it wrong before.”

A hush falls over the room, all of us as silent as a church mouse. My heavy words hang in the air like unwanted balloons, floating around, none of us knowing what to say next.

“Know what the worst part of all this is?” I babble, knowing that’s exactly what I’m doing, trying to fill the space. Pushing up off the bureau, the faux wood structure wobbles behind me. “I’ve spent all fucking day all up in my head about all this, trying to convince myself that I’m not crazy. And that I can trust myself and my feelings, and that it’s totally normally to be ass over tea kettle in love with someone after a month…and the only person I really want to talk to about all this is him. Hux is the one that I want to turn to and look at and have him wrap his arms around me and tell me that I haven’t lost my mind. But I can’t, because I freaked out and ran away from him.”

“I’m not an expert or anything, but I’m pretty sure that’s your answer,” Brenna comments.

“Huh?”

I stop dead in my tracks, swinging around to face her.

“Bren’s right,” Margeaux adds, her smile devilish and knowing. Almost as bad as that smirk all the Hayes men keep tucked away in their back pocket. “You just answered your own question. If he’s the only one you want to talk to, then that tells you everything.”

That tells me everything…

Because Hux is it.

Any future I try to picture has him in it. Kids, the little white house, forever. He’s the reason it never worked with anyone else. Because it was only ever supposed to work with him. The one who has been by my side since we were too young to know better.

The Clyde to my Bonnie. The yee to my haw. The milk to my cookies.

The Peter to my Wendy.

I look up at the girls, a new wave of panic hitting me. I need to go. I need to make this right. And I know exactly how. As long as I can pull it off.

“I need to get to my parents’,” I declare.

“Your parents’?” Rose questions.

I nod, grabbing my keys and heading for the door.

“Yup. I need to go break a promise.”

A pinky promise.

29

DOLLY

Throwing my Jeep in park, I’m not sure I pause long enough to even take a breath before I stumble out onto my parents’ drive. I should maybe be a little worried about how I got here, since I don’t exactly remember the drive—autopilot taking over and ensuring my safety as I made my way across town. Because Lord knows my mind was elsewhere.

Like actually managing to pull this off.

Thoughts continue to jumble in my head, mashing together all the things I want to say to Hux to get my feelings across with how I need to word this to my parents so that they don’t think I’ve completely lost my mind. Not that I think they are going to object, but my request is a little out of left field.