Page 30 of Love Me, I Dare You

The last two are written in red and not in my handwriting, along with a post it note stuck right under.

Headed out to the ranch. I’ll be out until late tonight. Don't wait up, Angel. XO Nash.

My heart flutters when I see his name and the continued use of the term angel but I quickly recover. Nash Bishop is going to drive one of us to an early grave, and my bets are on him. The only problem is, I don’t look good in orange.

Chapter Twelve

Bailey

The town square is bustling with people out and about, strolling down the Main Street Plaza, or shopping and getting ready for the festivities of the next few months. It’s October, the beautiful autumn leaves changing colors and falling along the cobblestone paths in perfect patterns. Most storefronts began decorating for the harvest festival happening in the next month, while a few others have gone for the darker, more occult aesthetic of Halloween.

Billie and I ordered some decorations online last week and she’ll be taking care of decorating HoneyBees while Penny and I work on the bar. Autumn in Crossroads is one of my favorite times of the year. The dark and mysterious, the joy of dressing up as something you’ll never be. The girls and I have kept a theme of popular trios the last six years, dressing up as anything from The Plastics, to The Mystery Machine Gang, The Sanderson Sisters, and this year, well, we can’t quite make up our minds.

Though it’s the hot apple cider, pumpkin pie and apple cobbler, and leaves falling in various shades of red, orange andyellow along the cobblestone roads that make me feel all warm inside.

After this morning's encounter with Nash, I opted out of going into HoneyBees, since I was going to be leaving early anyway, and came downtown to meet Monroe and Billie for a quick bite to eat.

After the night and morning I had, I needed nothing more than to decompress with my best friends.

“What do you mean he’s staying with you?” Monroe shouts through a mouthful of fries as we sit for lunch at Dolly’s, a cute little restaurant that serves the best salads, sandwiches and wraps in all of Crossroads.

It’s Billie who not so subtly let her know Nash’s going to be staying with me while he’s in town. Though, my best friend quickly comes to my defense before I can muster an acceptable response or explanation once she realizes Monroe is not at all okay with the idea.

“It wasn’t her idea. It was Jase’s.” Like that is any better.

Monroe’s eyes widen as she takes a sip of her diet coke to swallow down her food. “Jameson suggested my brother stay with you? In your apartment? After everything that’s happened with you two?”

When she puts it that way, it sounds like a complete lie or twisted ending to a fucked up story, but I was just as surprised as she is. “Jase doesn’t know.”

“Bullshit, B,” Billie interjects, “You said so yourself. You’ve always suspected Jase knew more about what happened with you and Nash than he let on.” She turns her attention to Monroe. “I was telling Bailey, Jase's reaction to Nash being back seemed way off for someone whose best friend left town and didn't talk to them for ten years. It felt more like guilt. He wasn’t necessarily happy Nash is back, but he wasn’t as angry as one would assume.”

Monroe plays with the Caesar salad she ordered to go along with the large side of fries, suddenly seemingly anxious. This can’t be an easy topic of conversation for her. “What on earth would Jameson feel guilty about?”

“Well,” Billie continues, looking around the outdoor patio we’re seated at, making sure no one is eavesdropping on our conversation. “If Jase had anything to do with why Nash skipped town, as if he knew what happened between Bailey and him, of course he’d feel guilty he was the reason Nash stayed away all these years and didn’t even come back to visit his own family.”

Monroe grows defensive, her bright blue eyes suddenly filling to the brim with tears. “Jase isn’t responsible for Nash ignoring us. He did that himself.”

But before I can cut the conversation and talk about something else to avoid further hurting my best friend, we’re interrupted when someone walks up to our table from the sidewalk.

“What are you girls gossiping about?” my father asks as he walks over to the fence right outside our table.

“Mayor King,” Billie shouts out in surprise, trying to act nonchalant and hide the fact we’re talking about Nash.

My father nods, smiling at her as he leans over the fence and places a kiss on my check. “Baileycakes,” he says, calling me by the nicknames he’s used for me since I was a little girl.

“Daddy, it’s nice to see you.” I don’t turn to look at him, afraid he’s going to see right through me and realize we’re suddenly incredibly nervous and afraid he’s overheard something. The one thing I made Jase promise me was that no one outside of the five of us—Jase, Nash, Billie, Monroe and me—would find out Nash was living with me. Especially not my parents.

“It’s good to see you too, sweetheart. So, what’s on the agenda today? I heard there was a little mishap at HoneyBeesthis morning and Elaine wasn’t able to bring pastries to today’s parish meeting. She had to go down to Polly’s and grab some pies so Reverend Mitchell wouldn’t miss his morning sugar rush.”

Billie chokes on her drink. A margarita, she ordered to go along with her salad and fries. “The ovens were acting up, and we had to open an hour later than usual. Tell Elaine to stop by next Saturday and get a whole dozen of muffins for free, for the mishap.”

I’m grateful for Billie’s response and not having to explain to my father why I overslept and didn’t make it in time to open the shop.

“Nonsense,” my father brushes off Billie’s offer. “I told you girls, if you keep giving away everything for free, you won’t make any money. That’s not the way to run a business.” His gaze shifts to Monroe, like he’s just noticed she’s here as well. “Monroe, I hear one of your brothers is in town, helping Monty out on the ranch?”

It’s not so much a question if he already knows the answer.

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