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CHAPTER 7
Jimmy
Ayawn claimed me as I pulled into the back parking lot of Southern Comfort. After Bella’s second disappearing act yesterday, I’d spent the night tossing and turning until my alarm went off at 4 a.m.
I was trying not to take it personally that she kept taking off without so much as a goodbye. It was easier to do when it had only been the one time.
The second vanishing act definitely stung. One second she was there, right beside me, and the next she was nowhere to be found. I’d stayed on the pier looking for her for almost an hour before I gave up and went home. I told myself it was because I wanted to give her earring back to her, which I’d completely forgotten about when I’d seen her out of the blue, but the truth was, I’d just wanted to see her.
I was actually glad that I’d forgotten to return the jewelry. I felt like that gave me an excuse to track her down, which I planned on doing after this meeting. Firefly Island wasn’t that big, and I knew everyone. Someone, somewhere knew something about where she was and who she was, and I planned on finding out. After that, it was anyone’s guess.
I had no clue whether she would welcome me in or shut the door in my face if I showed up on her doorstep. I couldn’t get a read on what was going on in that beautiful head of hers. We had a connection, that much was obvious. I was convinced that it wasn’t one-sided, considering the activities that we’d engaged in.
So why did she keep leaving without a word?
The mystery was driving me crazy. I hadn’t been able to think about anything else. Not even food. I’d forgotten to eat breakfast before I left the house for my sunrise charter at five in the morning. That was a first.
As my shoes hit the pavement, I exhaled loudly, trying to shake off the uneasiness that had been stirring in my chest for the past few hours. I wasn’t sure if my anxiety was because of Bella, or if it was because of the letters that Billy had discovered. It could really have been either.
In just a few minutes’ time, we were going to be telling Cheyenne about our suspicions. I hoped that this wouldn’t make her feel any less a part of this family. It was bad enough that she’d grown up away from us, but we’d just gotten her back and I wasn’t ready to let her go.
I tugged open the heavy oak door and walked inside to find my brothers seated at the bar. They both gave me the same looks that they had the day before. Yesterday they’d said it was because I hadn’t asked about the food. Well, as far as today went, there was no way that they’d be able to say that since I’d literally just shown up.
“What?” The question came out sounding a lot more defensive than I’d meant it to.
“You’re…” Hank started to explain.
“Cranky,” Billy supplied. “I’m guessing it has to do with the unnamed woman. The one you’re so all-fired sure I don’t know because she hasn’t come into the bar.”
All my life I’d been an open book. Growing up in a house with an alcoholic, non-functioning parent and two older brothers that had been there, done that, and bought the T-shirt didn’t leave a lot to the imagination. No one really cared what shit I got up to, so I’d never had to hide anything.
But there was something about Bella that made me protective. She wasn’t just some girl I’d hooked up with. She was a girl that I’d hooked up with twice, both times ending with me practically sending out a search party for her.
“Did you see her again?” Billy questioned.
The town was too small for me to get away with lyin’. I was sure that our brief but scorching hot interaction had been tracked on somebody’s radar. Chances were, word would get back that I’d been at the pier with someone—and a gorgeous someone, at that.
“Yeah.”
“And?” Billy prodded.
“Since when did you two turn into Pastor Roberson?” I pulled up a barstool and sat down.
“Who?” Hank’s eyes narrowed at me.
“He’s from Married at First Sight,” Billy explained, then did a classic brother pit maneuver to shift the spotlight to someone else when the heat got too much. Turning to me, he infused his voice with a disgust/pity combo. “I can’t believe you watch that trash TV show.”
“Me?” I pressed my hand to my chest. “You’re the one that started playing it at the bar on Wednesdays.”
“It was requested,” he defended himself.
“Really? I don’t recall anyone requesting it last week. Or the week before that.” I didn’t mention the fact that I’d come in to have a beer last Wednesday night, and the Wednesday before, because it felt weird to watch the show at home by myself.
Billy shrugged, leaned his hands on the bar and came clean. “I had to find out if Zach cheated with Mindy’s friend.”
Hank exhaled through his nose. It was the way our eldest brother communicated to us that he was irritated. It had been the same move since we were kids. He didn’t have to say anything to communicate his annoyance. His face said it all.
“Where’s the food?” I changed the subject, satisfied that Billy had revealed himself as a down-low MaFS fan.
