Page 17 of Say I'm Yours
“Have a great weekend, Zach. Give my love to Pres.” I hurry my brother out the door. I have something I need to do, and it can’t wait.
“I will, and I’ll see you in a few days for our fishing competition!”
“Thanks for the reminder,” I say as I close the door. “Another thing I wish I could forget about.”
Chapter 5
Grace
“Grace, are you out of that chocolate peanut butter ice cream?” Wyatt asks, seeming frustrated.
Mama said she needed to help Mrs. Kannan with something, which is code for she wants to play bridge with the girls, so here I am at the store. I don’t mind. It’s better than sitting at home and thinking of all the reasons I need to run away.
“I think we had a pint left!” I call out as I come around the counter. “I know Angie has been practically buying it in bulk.”
He laughs. “I don’t remember this when she was pregnant last time.” His dark brown hair is longer than normal, and the circles under his eyes are dark. “She’s awake all night, puking all day. This is the only thing she can keep down.”
He must be going crazy. That man is a fixer if I’ve ever met one. He can’t handle not being able todosomething to make things better. There’s no way he’s taking this well.
“I clearly can’t talk, but I assume each pregnancy is different.”
Wyatt searches through the small freezer and groans. “If I don’t come back with this, I worry she’ll find my shotgun and use it. Besides the tiredness, I think she’s become inhabited by Satan.”
Angie has been a little hostile, but I chalked it up to her adjusting to this new life. Marriage, another pregnancy, living in Bell Buckle again . . . I can’t imagine it’s been easy for her. Plus, knowing her, she’s most likely still making Wyatt pay for being an asshole not too long ago.
“Let me check the back, orange definitely isn’t her color.”
“Glad to see you’re worried about me, Grace!” he calls out as I walk back.
I lift my hand and keep moving. “I’m on her side.”
As I open the door to the storage room, I almost fall over. What the hell? I organized this a week ago. Boxes are piled high, things thrown around, and nothing is where it should be. In all the years we’ve owned this store, I’ve never seen it like this. My mother is methodical about knowing where her inventory is.
I’ll never find anything in here.
I climb over the boxes and make it to the deep freeze. Thankfully, there are a few pints of the ice cream Wyatt is looking for on a shelf so I don’t have to dig through boxes.
“You okay?” he asks as I stumble out of the storage area and shove my hair back.
“I apparently have a lot of work to do back there.”
He peaks his head around and nods. “You could always call Trent.”
“I know you didn’t just say that.”
“I heard you have a pretty interesting night comin’ up.” Wyatt smiles, egging me on.
This town is frustrating as all hell. I’ve always loved it here—until now. “Wyatt Hennington, you better get back to your wife or you’re going to be full of holes.”
He laughs and hands me a ten dollar bill. “I’m just sayin’ is all. My brother can’t be too happy if he knows you’re goin’ out with Cooper.”
“You can just say yourself right out that door.” My accent thickens as I say it. “Your brother had plenty of time to stake his claim. He chose not to.”
Wyatt, Presley, and I were all in the same grade. The three of us were partners in crime, always into some kind of trouble. Before he met Angie, Wyatt had a thing for Presley, which was awkward at times, but it was always the three of us. Then Presley fell in love with Zach, and my heart became attached to Trent. Poor Wyatt was suddenly the odd man out. Plus, his heart’s desire was tied to his brother.
I always felt bad for him, but he never once felt bad for himself. Too many nights he would listen to one of us cryin’ over what one of his brothers did. He’d listen, tell us we were nuts, and make us laugh.
There’s no one in the world who deserves happiness as much as he does, but if he brings up his brother again, I may have to beat his ass.
