Page 2 of Karma's Kiss

I scan the crowded bar and feel the color drain from my face. The whole town’s crammed in here. Clearly, my mom’s taken it upon herself to invite everyone: my choir teacher from sixth grade, my high school track coach, and—is that…?It is.The mayor.

“Madison. Oh my god. Look at you!”

A blonde woman puts herself directly in my path and opens her arms to me, and I have a moment of panic because I haveabsolutelynoidea who she is. Her bouffant hair is teased with so much product it nearly reaches the ceiling.

“That’s Jolene. She had her nose redone,” Pam whispers, and I’m suddenly grateful I have her by my side.

“Jolene, hi.” I smile tightly.

Jolene juts out her bottom lip and reaches for my forearm. “Now listen, I know you’ve had a rough little breakup, but youbarelylook like you’re going through it.” She looks up at my hair and cringes like my lack of volume physically pains her. “You’re welcome to borrow my comb if you want to run into the bathroom and touch up. I have some hairspray in my purse too.”

My hair is fine. Everything is fine.

“Thank you,” I say in lieu of something worse.

Behind her, there’s a train of people waiting to step right up and offer their greetings, backhanded words of wisdom, and sage advice for how I should move on from my ex-fiancé, Matthew.

“If I were you, I’d date his brother,” someone tells me before another person chimes in with, “Better yet, sleep with his dad!”

It’s my mom who finally saves me from the pandemonium, cutting through the crowd to get to me, her hair so blonde it’s almost white. Queenie McCall is everything you’d expect from a retired small-town beauty queen. Fifty-something means nothing to her. She’s still a bombshell, the life of the party, the last one to leave any social gathering, and one of the cutest dressers I know. Tonight, she’s wearing a lime green caftan that complements her tan skin along with gold bangles and a few layered necklaces. I will, at some point, steal her entire look.

“MY GIRL!” she squeals when she gets ahold of me. Around and around she twirls us until I feel unsteady on my feet.

When I protest, she finally holds me back at arm’s length so she can look me over. “You are the most precious thing I’ve ever laid eyes on.” Then she tugs me back in, lowering her voice to awhisper. “I’m so happy you’re home, baby girl. That man didn’t deserve you.”

I’m suddenly awash with a feeling of comfort I’ve been missing in Montgomery. I close my eyes and inhale her familiar floral scent, but all too soon she spins us toward the bar and raises her voice. “Lenny! You get my girl a shot of Fireball. We’re welcoming her homein style!”

Everyone crowds in around us, and I knock back two shots before I finally extricate myself and go in search of my brother, David. My mom told me she thought she saw him playing pool in the back, so that’s where I head. I weave through the crowd with my head down, trying to skim past tables without making eye contact, but in the doorway to the back room, I’m waylaid by Hunter Bryce, my old classmate and overall goofball.

“Hotdamn, Madison McCall in the flesh.” He reaches out for my hand, and once he has it, he bows like I’m a queen. “Let me take a moment to personally welcome you back to our little neck of the woods.” I’m already smiling before he’s done. “I’ll have you know things have changed a lot ’round here since you’ve been gone, so if you need a tour guide or someone to show you around, you know where to find me.” He lets go of my hand and snaps his fingers like he’s just had a bright idea. “Better yet, why don’t you let me take you out tomorrow night. Nothing fancy. Me, you, a bottle of Jack Daniels—”

“Hunter,” a commanding voice cuts in. “Quit stalling and go get that beer you owe me.”

My attention is drawn across the back room to the guy standing in the darkened corner, casually holding a pool cue between his hands, and my stomach dips at the sight of him. Sawyer Garnett is the kind of handsome that takes your breath away the first time you see him. Fortunately, this isn’t my first time, but it has been a while. Eight years hasn’t taken the edge off him in the least. In fact, he’s more good-looking than ever.

There wasn’t a girl at our high school who wouldn’t have bent over backward to get Sawyer to notice her. He was the star of the baseball team and our town’s golden boy. Now, he’s no longer a boy, but he’s no less golden.

A lot of Sawyer’s power comes from his smile. Oh sure, he’s good-looking every minute of every day; there’s no getting around that. But when he aims that dimpled grin at you…when you’re forced to watch it slowly unfurl…you forget the make and model of your car, your mother’s maiden name. Worst of all, you forget to breathe—so that when he finally looks away, you’re left standing there, disoriented and slightly sweaty, wishing for a stiff drink.

Still, it’s unfair to discount the rest of him. His hair is pretty powerful too. Thick and brown, just long enough up top to look artfully tousled. His eyes are almost the same color, so dark and deep you’d better leave a trail of breadcrumbs to avoid getting lost in them.

I swallow and watch as those warm brown eyes land on me. I feel his gaze like a knot’s just cinched itself around my heart.

“Hi, Madison.”

The way he says it, it’s like we’ve got some kind of inside joke together.

“Hi, Sawyer.”

“Aw, see?” Hunter chimes in. “All that time away and you’ve still got your cute accent. Would have been sad if you lost it altogether.”

I chuckle as I nudge Hunter with my elbow. “I was in Alabama, not New York City. People there have a southern drawl too.”

“True. But now you’re back where you belong. Does your brother know?”

“Doesher brotherknow what?” David says, coming up behind me and draping his arm around my shoulder. He’s soheavy I nearly buckle under his weight, but my protests fall on deaf ears.Big brothers…

“Would you get off me, you idiot?”

---