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Overall, I’d have my turret, two bedrooms, and two bathrooms on the top floor, which was more than enough space for me. The second floor was where the bed and breakfast guests had stayed; there were four huge bedrooms, each with their own bath, and a sitting area. The ground floor was where reception, dining, and the kitchen were located.
When we were done, I’d have the top two floors to myself, and the bottom would be fully renovated into the apothecary store. I was anxious to get into the backyard and start working on a garden—mygarden. Shoving the curtains aside, I looked out over the yard, mentally planning where I would plant the herbs, flowers, and vegetables I was planning to grow.
“Holly Christine Barrett, we know you’re still here. We saw you go inside!” I jumped at the sound of the voice shrieking at me from downstairs. “Get down here!”
Shit.
The voice belonged to Owen’s wife, Ava, and I guessed her best friend, Maren would be in tow. We’d gone all through school together since kindergarten. They had bonded over hating me and apparently, weren’t done holding their petty grudges. Which was fair considering I hadn’t let any of mine go either.
Owen was supposed to be here with the dumpster right about now. But instead, I was about to be graced with the presence of my one-sided small-town nemeses. This was the downside of small-town life. Your reputation always preceded you wherever you went and mine wasn’t great for various reasons, only some of which were deserved.
I made it to the foyer to find them standing in the doorway. “What do you want?”
Ava’s hands hit her hips as she glared at me. “What I want is to warn you to stay away from my husband, you home-wrecking skank. Owen is off limits.”
“You know I’m no home-wrecker, Ava. Why are you really here?” The three of us had a few exes in common. Ava was now married to Owen, the ex-fiancé of doom. She was also with him before I was and blamed me for their breakup. Maren and I had unknowingly been involved with the same guy at the same time during our senior year of high school. Why she blamed me and not him for that, I did not know. Neither one of us had any idea what he was up to until it was all over, yet somehow, I had ended up the bad guy. They’d been spreading rumors and picking fights since. Obviously, nothing had changed while I was gone.
She stepped closer. “You know I don’t see it that way. He was about to come back to me before you stepped in. You stole him out from under me and then you broke his heart. Tossed him away like trash the day before your wedding.” She raised a pointed finger in my direction and made a face I assume she thought was intimidating. “And I’m here to tell you, do not mess with my husband. Consider this a warning. Don’t you dare try to tangle him up in your black widow web when he’s over here working for Luke. I mean it, Holly. Don’t even think about trying to hit on Owen and get him to go back to you.”
I almost threw up in my mouth a little. “Gross, Ava. The only way I’d ever hit on Owen is with a bat, okay? He’s a cheating, two-faced liar and a total creep. Now turn around and march your ass out of here before I make you.” The other facet of my bad reputation was I wasn’t afraid of a fight. The three of us, along with my best friend, Tess, had brawled our way all over this town before I left it. I was banned in every bar in Sweetbriar except for Holloway’s and that was only because my aunt and cousins owned it.
“We aren’t planning to stay and play catch up with you, honey,” Maren interjected, her tone laced with faux sweetness. “We just needed to get a few things straight with you now that her man is working here, okay?”
“We do not have anything to get straight. We have nothing to say to each other. I’m not a home-wrecker or a man stealer. And Maren, really? Still? All this crap between us happened in high school. Move on. I have—”
“You got that right,” Ava took another step toward me, wagging her pointed finger in my face. I fought the urge to break it off and poke her with it as she continued. “You sure as hell did move on! You dumped poor Owen at the altar, you bitch. I picked up the pieces. I was the one who put him back together but all he could talk about was getting you back—”
I threw my hands up in the air. “He was cheating on me, you idiot! Why would anyone want to marry a cheater? Especially one who would go crawling back to you the day after I left. I know the whole sordid story, okay? I dodged a bullet when it came to him. I feel sorry for you.”
Ava looked ready to spit nails. “You’re such a damn liar. You twist everything to make yourself look good.”
“Whatever, Ava. Look, the only reason I’m not raising a stink about him working here is because you have kids to feed. But if you push me, Iwon’tworry about your kids anymore, do you get me?”
“My god, you’re so horrible, Holly,” Maren accused. “I can’t believe you’d use her kids against her like this.”
“Typical Holly. Of course she’s gonna hold my kids over me. But you need to understand something. Everyone in this town knows how you operate. You go from man to man. Taken or not, you don’t care. What Holly wants, Holly gets, and we’re sick of it. You should have stayed gone. Sweetbriar doesn’t need the likes of you.”
I bit my lip and kept my mouth shut.
Was what she said true?No.
But I understood why some people felt that way. On the outside looking in, it seemed like the truth. And instead of defending myself, I left Sweetbriar. It had been easier that way and I’d had better things to do with my life. My ambitions back then hadn’t involved small town living. I still wondered why I had said yes to Owen’s proposal when I’d known I had dreams to chase, places to see, and adventures to have. “I’m not talking about this anymore. You’re both ridiculous. Get off my property.”
“Fine, come on, Maren, we’re leaving. But Holly, there’s one more thing. Owen won’t be here with the dumpster today. Unfortunately, he’s sick.” Her snotty grin made me want to knock it off her face, but I refrained because I was a fully grown adult now. I’d changed my ways, damn it. “Luke already knows.”
“Oh yeah? Keep this shit up and Luke will know a whole lot more. Consider that my warning to you.”
“Fine. Understood. But stay away from Owen.” She whirled and stormed out.
“And don’t even think of going anywhere near Jared.” Maren added before she followed Ava out the door.
She was into Jared?Just freaking great. That wasn’t going to bode well when it came to letting the drama between us die. Given his behavior the other morning, he was still into me.Ugh!
Reaching out, I slammed the door and locked it with a low scream. I shouldn’t have come back to Sweetbriar. My thoughts whirled as I paced my way in an angry circle.
No.I’d been ready to come home.
If wanted a life here, I either had to deal with all the high school and early-twenties bullcrap that was apparently going to follow me all the way into freaking eternity or let it go. Anyone I cared about knew the truth, so why should I care what a few small-town drama queens and their dumbass friends thought of me?
