I rammed my hand into the candy bin in front of me and then dropped three Snickers and a Butterfinger onto the counter.
“There,” I said, pulling out my wallet and handing over my card. “Can I have the bathroom key now?”
He shook his head. “There’s a five dollar min’mum on cards.”
I resisted the urge to strangle him and instead shoved my hand back into the candy bin. After he rang up my order with excruciating laziness, I held my hand out for the key.
“Are you gonna get gas too?” he asked, pointing to where my car was parked haphazardly in the spot.
I waved my hand.
“After. I just need to piss.”
He shrugged, slid off his stool, and bent to retrieve a tiny key hanging off a giant plastic keychain. I reached for it and ran for the door. Had I cared, I would have contemplated the origins of the sticky film coating the plastic keychain, but I honestly didn’t give a fuck.
Once I’d gone pee, found enough shitty food to fill me up for the time being, and paid for a full tank of gas, I nodded to the kid behind the counter.
“Do you know where Cherry Street is?”
He laughed. “Sounds like the name of a porno.”
I resisted the urge to ask his age.
“Is that a yes?”
He shook his head. “I’m from over near Whitewater. I don’t know anything ’bout Cherry Street.”
I assumed Whitewater was a neighboring town.
“Do you have any maps around here?”
He pointed to a cardboard rack near the door that was all but empty except for a Texas State Parks pamphlet that looked like it’d been used a few times, crumbled up, and put back.
Perfect. I’ll camp my way through the Texas hill country instead of finding Josephine.
“Thanks anyway.” I nodded as I pushed the door open.
“I’d try McAllister’s bar,” he called out. I turned and he pointed in the direction I’d just come from. “It’s a block off Main Street, just behin’ the courthouse. Most nights there’s a few guys in there. One of ’em should be able to help ya.”
Chapter Forty-Nine
Josephine
I had my face squashed up against the window as I concentrated on not throwing up. Every twist and turn we took in the truck made my stomach’s contents jostle in the worst way possible. I was about two seconds from throwing up all over my dad’s upholstery.
“Do you have to drive like a wild woman?” I moaned, clutching my stomach.
Lily glared over at me. “I’m literally going ten miles an hour, your highness.”
I stared back out the window, wishing I was back home, in my bed, sleeping off the beers I’d just downed like there was no tomorrow. It was the day after my father’s birthday and I’d needed some space from my family. I’d picked Lily up, grabbed a six-pack from a gas station in town, and together we’d driven out to the middle of nowhere so I could down them all.
“If you’re going to throw up, at least hand me your phone first,” she said.
I was still clutching it against my stomach. I hadn’t let it out of my sight since arriving in Texas in the hopes that it’d pick up a signal. The thing hadn’t buzzed in days.
“Fine. Take it. I have zero service in this godforsaken wasteland anyway.”
I huffed and tossed the phone in the center cup holder.
“I just want to call Julian! I haven’t spoken to him in two days. TWO DAYS!”
We passed the “Welcome” sign and continued on toward Main Street. Lily turned to the right and we drove down the side street, right past McAllister’s bar. There were two or three cars out front, not many. Near the door, under a street lamp, I noticed two guys talking. One was Louis Calhoun, the manager of the bar, and the other one was tall and dressed in black slacks and a button-up. He had to be from out of town. I squinted as Lily drove by, trying to make out his profile, and then suddenly, I recognized him.
“Julian!” I shouted so loud that even my own ears started to ring. “That’s Julian!”
Lily slammed on the brakes. “What? Where?”
“At McAllister’s! Turn around!”
She shook her head.
“If you think Julian is at McAllister’s then you really are trashed. I’m taking you home.”
“But if Julian is here, that means…where is New York?” I asked, turning back to the window and starting to roll it down, cranking it lower with both hands. “I’ll ask him.”
“JULIAN!” I screamed, practically throwing the top half of my body out of the truck. “JULIAN! Lily won’t turn around!”
Lily put the truck in park on the side of the road and yanked me away from the window.
“Dude, shut up. People are sleeping and you’re yelling like a madwoman.”
I didn’t care. I unlocked the passenger door and hopped out, ready to run. Instead of the smooth ground meeting me at the base of the truck, I kept falling until my feet landed in a muddy ditch. I tried to pick up my feet, but they were stuck under a foot of muddy water. I’d somehow wedged myself in so far that I couldn’t get out.
“Lily! Help! I’m stuck!”
I tried to pick up my feet and kick off the mud, but there was no use. It was like quicksand and I needed Lily to help me if I was going to get out without getting even dirtier.
“Jesus Christ. I cannot believe you just did that,” she said, hopping out of the truck and slamming the door behind her. “I should just leave you in there after how you’ve acted tonight.”
I swatted at the gnats swarming my face and I swore two or three of them actually made it into my mouth. I tried to spit them out, but there were too many to keep track of.
“No! Please, you have to save me,” I begged, feeling tears building in the corner of my eyes.
I was so close to seeing Julian. He was at McAllister’s and I was going to die in a ditch before I got to him.
“Julian!” I yelled again.
A dog started barking and then porch lights flipped on behind me. I twisted around to see who it was as Lily slid down the ditch, careful not to get caught in the mud herself.
“If you don’t shut up, I’m going to leave you in here. You just woke up the Jensens and I really don’t feel like explaining this situation to Randy right now. That man is mean.”
On cue, Randy poked his head out of the front door with an angry scowl marring his features.
“Hurry! Hurry!” I said, reaching for her hands so she could help pull me out.
“Josephine? What the—is that you?”
I glanced up toward the deep voice and my heart dropped.
Julian was standing up on the street, right behind the bumper of my dad’s truck. Light from a distant streetlight encased him from above. His hair was disheveled and his shirt was half-untucked. He looked a little worse for wear, but he was there, standing less than five feet away from me.
“Julian?” I asked, holding my hand over my eyes to get a better view of him. “What are you doing here?”
Lily glared back and forth between us. “Wait. Are you kidding me? Julian was actually at McAllister’s? You’re Julian?”
He nodded, not taking his eyes off me.
“I’m stuck in a ditch,” I said.
The side of his mouth hitched up in an adorable smile. “I can see that.”
“Get off my lawn right now!” Randy Jensen yelled from his front door. “You hear me?! Imma go get my shotgun!”
Lily and I both screamed and Julian slid down the side of the ditch to grab my hand. Between him and Lily, it only took me a second to crawl my way back up to the street. We scrambled up to the truck, flinging mud behind us as we went. Lily flew around to the driver’s side door and Julian and I climbed in on the passenger side. I held my breath the whole time, waiting for the sound of a birdshot blast.
“Go, go, go!” I yelled, pounding the dashboard.
Lily stepped on the gas and the truck tires squealed against the concrete as we made our getaway.
“Did he really have a shotgun?” Julian asked, turning to look back.
I started to laugh, and then I couldn’t stop. Lily flew down the street, putting as much distance between us and Randy’s house as possible. I sat on the center of the bench seat with Lily on one side and Julian on the other, lost in a fit of laughter. The last twenty minutes had been too funny to be real. Randy Jensen had almost shot me. What a way to go.
“Can you believe that just happened?” I asked, trying to catch my breath.
“Your stupid ass almost got us killed,” Lily said, shaking her head.
“Me?!”
She shot me the evil eye. “Yes, you!”
Laughter gave way to a shit-eating grin as I stared out the front window. The night sky was expansive, surrounding us from every angle. Lights flashed by us like shooting stars, one after the other, granting my wishes one by one. I fell back against the seat and turned to find Julian watching me with his steady gaze. I found his hand on the seat and laced my fingers through his.
Not ten minutes earlier, I’d been daydreaming about him, wishing I could somehow talk to him, and suddenly there he was. He was sitting beside me, studying me with a bemused smile. Before I’d finished my thought, I was leaning closer, inhaling his cologne and pressing my lips to his. We fell into each other like a person falls into bed after a long day: with a heavy, happy sigh. I grasped the front of his t-shirt and pulled him toward me. He inhaled sharply. The kiss was soft and sweet. He tilted his head and gripped the back of my neck, holding me steady.
I wanted to climb onto his lap and wind my fingers through his hair. How else could I get closer? I wanted to touch him from every angle, put all the pieces together, and prove to myself that he was really sitting there beside me, that he’d come to Texas for me.
He gripped my shoulders and pulled back, breaking the kiss and staring down at me. I could feel my heartbeat in my stomach. I couldn’t ignore the kick drum feeling of excitement at having him right there in front of me.
I stared up into his hazel eyes and whispered, “You’re my knight in shining armor. I love you.”
And then I promptly clutched my stomach, leaned forward, and threw up all over his lap.
Chapter Fifty
Julian
I’ll be honest, I hadn’t anticipated that my trip to Texas would be marked by so much throw-up. I mean, sure, some throw-up is a part of life. However, the amount of vomit Jo could apparently produce seemed disproportional to her size.
I also anticipated meeting Jo’s parents over a quiet dinner, not while delivering their daughter home drunk after a crazy night out.
Yup. That’s right. I had the pleasure of delivering Jo back home, completely drunk and only half lucid.
I stood on her parent’s front porch and knocked, thankful to have Lily standing beside me for backup. My gut clenched when the porch light flipped on and a very tired woman answered the door with a confused scowl.
“Lily? Is everything all right?” the woman asked, shooting a glare in my direction. “Who are you?”
I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to comprehend how the situation could possibly look any worse.
Oh right. I was covered in throw-up and smelled like last week’s trash.
Her mom was still glaring at me, waiting for a reply.
“Oh, hi. I’m Julian. I work with your daughter.”
Her brow quirked in curiosity, but she didn’t ask for me to elaborate.
“Is she drunk?” Mrs. Keller asked, glaring at me as if I was the one who’d put her in that state.
In turn, I glared at Lily. Now would be a great fucking time to speak up.
“She and I were just hanging out and she had one too many beers. Julian found us and helped me get her home.”
Mrs. Keller stared down at Jo with clear disdain and then pulled the door open so I could carry her inside.
“C’mon,” her mom said, waving me down the hallway.
I dipped past the doorframe and did a quick onceover of Jo’s childhood home. My mother would have hated it. Unless a home had curated antiques from floor to ceiling, she thought it was tacky. I didn’t agree. Sure, the furniture was old, but there were photos of Jo covering every spare surface. She was framed around the room in various stages of life. As I trailed down the hallway after Mrs. Keller, I caught one gem of a photo where Jo was sporting braces AND lopsided pigtails. I held in my smile and locked the image away for blackmail purposes.
“Lily, you can go,” Mrs. Keller said with a tone that definitely warned against argument.
I glanced back and met her eye. Don’t leave me with her, I begged with my gaze.
“Uhh.” She froze and shot me an apologetic look. “Okay.”
I shook my head. No. She’d made this mess and she was not about to leave me to clean it up without her.
“Well, I’ll come back and check on her in the morning then…”
I mouthed, “Do not leave.”
“Julian? Are you coming?” Mrs. Keller asked, clearly annoyed.
I squeezed my eyes shut, worked up the nerve, and then turned back to continue carrying a now sleeping Jo to her childhood bedroom.
I turned the corner into Jo’s room to find Mrs. Keller pulling out pajamas for Jo. I walked toward her bed so I could set her down. She stirred as I placed her against her pillows but stayed asleep.
“How fortunate that my daughter had you to help carry her home,” Mrs. Keller said with a tone that said the exact opposite.
“I found her when she was already drunk with Lily, but yes, I’m glad I was there too.”
She tsked and shook her head. “Is this normal behavior for her in New York? She never acted like this when she lived here.”
I crossed my arms. “She’s never once been this drunk with me.”
Her eyebrows rose. “Oh, and is she with you a lot?”
“Nearly every day.”
She glared at me and I knew she wanted me to elaborate.
“We work together. I hired Josephine when she first moved to New York.”
She grunted and dropped Jo’s pajamas onto the corner of her bed. “So then why are you in Texas? Do you regularly follow your employees when they travel cross country?”
“Carrie, everything okay in there?” a gruff voice called from the back of the house.
Shit. Was I about to have to explain myself to Jo’s dad too? Lily is going to owe me so much.
“Yes. Go back to bed, Rick.”
She glared back at me and crossed her arms. “Why don’t you let me know what’s really going on between the two of you? You have my daughter’s throw-up all over you, so either she’s fired or you’re in love. Which is it?”
I had to hand it to her. I’d been in meetings with some of the toughest guys in business and I hadn’t sweat as much as I was in that moment. I snuck a peek at Jo and watched her chest rise and fall gently. She looked so angelic in her sleep, completely unaware of the havoc she’d caused.
“I’m in love with her,” I said.
There was a long pause as her mom and I stood and processed my declaration. I’d yet to admit my feelings aloud to anyone, not even Dean. Suddenly, my love had roots. There was no turning back.
When I glanced up at her mom, she was watching me with a wistful smile.
“All right then, I’ll grab a new shirt for you and then you can help me get her cleaned up. I think it’s time for you to experience all the joys of loving my daughter: the good, the bad, and the ugly.”
Chapter Fifty-One
Josephine
I knocked on the door of room 208 and inhaled the scent of coffee and donuts. It was a winning combination by anyone’s standards, but it’d take a lot more than breakfast from Suzie’s Sweet Shack to earn Julian’s forgiveness. My mother had delivered the Cliff’s Notes version of the night as soon as I’d stirred from my beer-induced slumber. I’d tried to ignore the sledgehammer banging against my brain as she spoke, but as soon as she’d broken the news of wh
at I’d put Julian through, I’d known I had to make it up to him before it was too late, even if I couldn’t exactly walk straight.
I’d inhaled two Advil, two cups of coffee, and two glasses of water, and then finally felt semi-human once again. After a shower and some makeup, I felt nearly good as new.
I knocked on the motel door again and then heard someone stir in the room. A few seconds later, the door opened to reveal Julian: shirtless, disheveled, and squinting to keep out the harsh glare of the sun.
I smiled and held up the supplies in each hand.
“I come bearing gifts,” I said, tipping the donut bag left and right so that the aroma would hit him.
Who can pass up donuts? Seriously.
He ran his hand through his hair, grunted some form of greeting, and then opened the door all the way for me.
I stepped into his motel room and glanced around. The bed was a mess, with covers thrown to the side and pillows splayed out in random directions. He must have showered the night before because I could smell his body wash over the normal stench of the motel.
“Fitful night of sleep?” I asked with a perked brow.
He shot me a glare and then took the coffee from my hand.
“Okay, here.” I dropped the bag of donuts on the TV stand and pulled out a chocolate iced donut with a napkin. He was sitting on the edge of his bed, watching me as I turned and handed it to him.
“You just sit there and drink your coffee and eat your donut as I talk. Okay?”
The edge of his mouth lifted in a half-smile as he glanced down to the coffee. I was definitely winning him over, but he wasn’t going to make it easy for me.
“Okay, well first off,” I said, straightening my back and preparing myself for the speech I’d rehearsed in my dad’s truck on the way over. “I’m so sorry that I, uhh, threw up on you last night.”
I glanced over his bare chest. It was tan, broad, and toned with no remnants of throw-up anywhere. Still, the memory would haunt me for the rest of my life.