Page 28 of Fifty-Fifty

A voice comes through on the other end of his phone, remindin’ all of us that he's got a call to take. The sound shakes us out of our lil' staring contest, and Noah gets up from the table.

I watch as he walks out of the coffee shop, one confident step at a time. "Hey––" His warm voice is cut off by the shop's door closin' behind him. His absence hits me like a wreckin' ball. And I don't like it. Not one bit.

My fingers pick up the ol' straw wrapper again, twistin' it in my hands as Mac continues to color in a quick sketch of a T-Rex that Noah had drawn for her. He’d ripped it out of his notebook durin’ one of our conversations to keep her entertained. It's amazin’ how quickly he drew it, givin' me a glimpse of how talented he really is.

Harold moseys on over a few minutes later while I continue to stare at that damn dinosaur like it could solve all my problems. Like maybe I could convince it to eat all those damn butterflies in my stomach any time his creator comes into the room.

I ain't got time for those butterflies, and neither does Noah.

Not that Noah has butterflies, but... you get my point!

He ain't lookin' for anythin' in this small town other than a paycheck, and I need to remember that.

It doesn't matter that I've never opened up to anyone the way I did to him today. It doesn't matter that he makes me feel things I've tried to keep buried since the day Mac's daddy showed me his true nature. All that matters is the inn. My home. And keepin' it afloat.

All that matters is Mac. My baby. And keepin' her from gettin' too attached to a guy who's determined to leave. All that matters is keepin' my guard up. No matter what.

"Why the long face, darlin'?"

I glare at Harold. "Why'd you make me sit with him, Harold? Why didn't y'all let me go home?"

He can tell I'm on edge by my prickly rebuttal and takes a second to answer.

"Did you hear the sermon today?" he asks bluntly, takin' me by surprise.

"Of course I heard it. Everyone in the damn town heard it. What's your point?"

He tsks. "My point, Beau, is that you need to learn to forgive yourself as much as you need to forgive him for what he did to you.” I cringe when I recognize who he’s talkin’ ‘bout. “That piece of shit lied to you, but you did nothing wrong. You need to let it go."

A shake my head, tryin' to temper my anger that's threatenin' to boil over. "And why the hell should I do that?"

"Because you'll never be able to move on if you can't, darlin'. Betty and I can see how much it haunts you. We feel like it's all our fault for pushin' you two together in the first place. You've been like a daughter to us, and we only want you to be happy. But you haven’t been happy since you found out he betrayed you." He tilts his chin to Mac, who's still blessedly distracted. "Both of you."

My eyes turn glassy, and I don't know what to say.

"You need to let it go, Beau."

Betty comes over to the table at that precise moment, layin' her frail hands on my shoulder. "You need to let yourself heal, baby girl. Let yourself love again."

In any other circumstance I'd scoff at her, but I can't get myself to break the vulnerable cloud hangin' over us. Instead, I surprise myself by whispering, "Maybe I ain't meant to love. To be loved. Not like that."

Betty squeezes my shoulder softly. "And maybe you need to stop bein' so damn stubborn and trust us again."

I snort at her bluntness, the heavy cloud from moments before burstin’ into oblivion.

"Trust you? And why would I do that?" My tone is drippin’ with sarcasm as I peek up at the both of them with a teasin’ smile on my lips.

"Because we see things, darlin'," Harold interrupts. "We see things you're too blind to notice. Like the way that boy looks at you and your baby girl. Just sayin'." He holds up his hands in surrender.

"Just sayin', huh?" I quirk my brow.

"Just sayin'."

Mac scares the livin' daylights out of me by sneakin' under the table and climbin' onto my lap. I was so distracted I hadn’t even noticed. "Oh! Hi there, sweet pea. You all done colorin'?"

She grins up at me. "T-Rex done. Noah draw Brontosaurus."

I laugh at her request while standin' up and effectively endin' my conversation with the two meddlers of Lover's Landing.

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