Page 9 of Rowdy Hearts

“Don’t sweat it, sweetie.” Crystal waved it off. “You don’t look like you’re from around here. When you live in the middle of nowhere, you take your entertainment where you can get it. So, why don’t we find you a place to stay tonight?”

“Oh, that would wonderful. If you’d give Krista and me a ride to the nearest hotel that would?—”

“Yeah, I’m afraid that’s going to be a problem.” Crystal’s grin finally disappeared. “We’re a one-hotel town, and it’s totally booked. The season starts tomorrow, and we’re playing the Stags and…” She drew the last word out to about five syllables, “you don’t have a clue what I’m talking about.”

“There’s only one hotel?”

I couldn’t wrap my head around that. How could there only be one hotel? I had definitely passed several before I’d gotten off the turnpike. But there’d been an accident and the GPS had suggested another route, and I’d followed it blindly. Until somehow, I must’ve taken a wrong turn that left us stranded here…in the middle of fuckingnowhere.

And now we had nowhere to sleep tonight?

“Oh yeah, but don’t worry,” Crystal continued. “You’ll have a place to stay. Pretty sure it’ll be better than the hotel.”

“Wha—”

“Tressy? Hi, I’m Raffi Lawrence. I understand you’re going to need a place to stay tonight.”

I turned to see an older woman smiling at me, holding out herhand. I took it without thought, something I never would’ve done in New York or LA. You never let a stranger touch you. Unless you were on the red carpet or in a public space filled with rich people where lots of people were watching.

Yes, I lived in a fucked-up world.

But this woman had a friendly smile on her pretty face, dark hair shot through with silver. She was probably mid-fifties, laugh lines around her dark eyes and carrying a few more pounds than any fifty-year-old I knew, because all of the fifty-year-olds I knew were more worried about what they looked like than if they smiled or weighed more than they had when they were a teenager.

And she exuded an air of kindness that couldn’t be faked.

“I guess we do. Crystal told me there’re no hotel rooms available?”

Raffi waved that away. “You don’t have to worry about that. We have plenty of room at our house for you and Krista.”

I blinked. This woman wanted to take me and my daughter home with her? She had no idea who we were. We could be grifters. Or worse. “Oh, no, we couldn’t?—”

“Yes, you absolutely can.” Raffi’s voice made it clear she wasn’t going to take no for an answer. “Trust me, it’s not an imposition. We have people stay with us all the time. Since our youngest left for college, that house is way too big for just the Colonel and me.”

Did she say Colonel? “Oh, but?—”

“The boys and Rain have their own places now,” Raffi just kept talking, patting my hand, “and honestly, I miss the company. We see them almost every day, but I miss the chaos. Though I would never tell them that. So, I don’t want you to worry about not having a place to stay. Now, I know you don’t know me from Adam, but anyone in this bar can vouch for me and the Colonel. You’ll be perfectly safe with us.”

Crystal touched my shoulder, drawing my dazed attention. “Miss Raffi’s absolutely right. This is the best solution. You andKrista need somewhere to sleep tonight. And honestly, hon, you look like you’re about to fall over.”

Crystal wasn’t wrong. I felt like I could just close my eyes and fall asleep right here. But I couldn’t because I had to make sure Krista was taken care of. My daughter needed me, and we certainly couldn’t sleep on a park bench. If this place even had a park.

We needed help, and I couldn’t be picky about it because, apparently, I’d blown a tire in the literal middle offuckingnowhere.

Where the hell had I gone wrong?

About twenty years ago, sweetheart.

Ugh, why did my inner sarcastic bitch sound like Carrie from Sex in the City? Seriously, it was annoying as fuck. And Sarah Jessica Parker was the absolute sweetest person in the world.

Which didn’t mean a damn thing right now when I was about to fall flat on my face on the table in exhaustion. But…I didn’t know these people. I didn’t know any of these people. I couldn’t just leave with this woman. I had Krista to consider.

As if she’d read my mind, Crystal laid her hand on my shoulder and leaned in closer. Was she going to tell me to run? We had nowhere to go?—

“Tressy, I know you don’t know any of us, but Miss Raffi and the Colonel are two of the best people in the world. You can ask anyone in this place. They’ll all give you the same answer. Mitzi,” Crystal glanced up at the woman currently holding my daughter, “back me up.”

Mitzi nodded, her expression serious. “Absolutely. You’re dead on your feet and the little one here needs to get some sleep. You will be fine.”

I looked back at Crystal to see if she was trying to signal me to run. Instead, she nodded, her lips curved in an understanding smile.

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