A Billion Times No, page 27
part #1 of Fake It Till You Make It Series
The bitterness I’ve been carrying inside me lightens. “Thank you, Mama. I really appreciate it. I understand how upsetting and frightening that was, for everybody. And Jefferson’s pretty scary. Well, he used to be. Now he’s an international joke.”
She leaves the apartment, shutting the door behind me.
Callie stares at the floor, hands shoved in her pockets.
“Okay. I might have left something out when I told you that Chase left.”
“Such as?”
“He might have said that he loved you. And I might have told him to get out of our hotel before I had him busted for trespassing.”
“Callie! You absolute bitch!” I stare at her, appalled. “How could you?”
She starts crying, tears running down her cheeks. “Well, at that point, I was still totally freaked out because we nearly lost our hotel and our home. And I was really angry at Chase because he played a part in it. He ran around gathering intel for his dad instead of coming clean with you from the beginning. But mostly, I was angry at you for dumping everything on me after Dad died.”
“If you were that angry at me, why didn’t you just tell me that to my face, instead of stabbing me in the back?” I yell.
“Too loud,” Savannah groans, and pulls the covers over her head.
“I should have. You just never saw how bad it got for a while. Mama was a complete mess for a long time after Daddy died.” She gulps and blinks hard. “She’s mostly okay now, but for years I felt like I had to babysit her all the time, and also run the hotel when I barely knew what I was doing, and if everything failed it would be all my fault. There’s stuff you don’t even know about, and I was really mad that you didn’t see how much we needed you.”
“Well, of course, because I’m a mind reader.” I shake my head in disbelief. “What kind of stuff don’t I know about?”
She squinches up her face and looks away. “Mama asked me not to tell, and I swore I wouldn’t. It’s over now.”
That leaves me with an uneasy feeling. I wonder if she was drinking too much. But if Callie gave her word, she’ll keep it, so there’s no point in trying to get her to talk. And Mama does seem better than she used to be.
“Anyway. I miss you. I shouldn’t have done what I did, and I hope we can have a fresh start.”
I glance at Savannah’s sleeping form. “If I can let Savannah spend the night here without shanking her in her sleep, I can hardly refuse to give you a second chance. On one condition.”
Callie grimaces. “Are you going to make me shave my head or something?”
“Don’t give me ideas. The condition is, stop bottling everything up and when you’re mad at me or you need something, just freaking tell me.”
“That’s it?” She perks up. “Whew.”
“And shave half your head.”
“Yeah, no.”
“Worth a try,” I shrug.
“It doesn’t matter about Chase anyway,” I say with a forced casual tone. “He hasn’t tried to call me or come see me or anything. That ship has sailed.”
“No, it actually didn’t. I take it you didn’t open any of the letters that Mama and I sent you?”
“Uh … no.”
“I knew you weren’t reading our letters! Stubborn cow. That’s why we had to come get you.”
“What does that have to do with Chase?” I’m seized with a burning curiosity.
“He … might have been a little busy,” Callie says. For some reason, the corner of her mouth tugs up in a smile.
“A little busy?” I scoff. “That’s supposed to make me feel better? I mean, he didn’t send a letter. Or flowers. Or anything.”
“Just pack your stuff and let’s head home.” Now Callie’s gone all smug and mysterious.
Well, they came all this way. And I can’t refuse to go to my grandmother’s birthday party. “Savannah,” I call out. “Did you hear that? We’re going home.”
“Nope,” she mumbles into her pillow.
“Get a move on! You can buy a ticket at the airport when we get there! You can stay at our hotel until you figure something out. Or, I know, you could stay at Aunt Tabitha’s. The house is empty and it’s been all cleaned up.”
“I’m staying here.” She sits up blearily, her hair a giant blond rat’s nest, her eye makeup on her cheeks. “I will pay the rent. I can’t go back to Bitter End. I’m a joke there now. And if I see Percy, I’m going to cut off his man-bits, and I don’t want to go to prison. The food’s too starchy.”
“Savannah, come on,” I protest. “What would you do in New York?”
She yawns and stretches. “I don’t know. I can work at that motorcycle restaurant. From last night.”
“That seems like a terrible idea.” I nudge the bed with my foot. “And remember? it’s called a biker bar.”
“Even better. Let me sleep.” She flops back down on the bed with her back to us.
I sigh. “OK, have it your way. I’ll be back in a few days, I guess. I’ll leave a set of front door keys on the kitchen counter. New York is full of muggers and serial killers. Don’t trust anybody, and try not to get murdered.”
“Don’t be too hasty now,” Callie mutters. “And I can’t believe you’re letting her stay here.”
Minutes later, I’ve got a suitcase full of clothes and my mother and sister and I are in a cab, headed to the airport.
Chapter Thirty
Daisy
We’re in Swampy Bottom County, minutes away from Bitter End. My mind is racing. What has Chase been up to? Why are Callie and my mother both acting so mysterious and smug? Is Savannah dead in an alley?
“Do you think she’ll be mugged?” I wonder.
“I’d worry more about the muggers,” Callie, who’s driving, snorts. “And you’re being way nicer than she deserves.”
“I know, she’s a horrible person. Well, she was a horrible person. But I think she’s learned her lesson. And I don’t know if I’d have grown up any nicer, with someone like Willadeene as a role model. Wait, what the heck is that?”
Callie’s slowing down the car. We’ve come around the bend where the sign at the city limits is located—but it’s been replaced.
And it’s exactly how I described it to Chase. It’s enormous. The sign says, “Welcome to Bitter End”. There’s a picture of a man standing with his back to the viewer, shot from the waist down, wearing a pair of jeans. Wait, something’s been added. The jeans have the words “Swampy Bottom” stitched on the rear pocket. A little parking lot has been cleared in the underbrush by the sign, and three cars are parked there, with families taking pictures of each other using the sign as a backdrop.
“There’s a news conference about it this evening,” Callie says. “You’re going to be there.”
“Who did this?”
“Chase, mostly. He’s working with the chamber of commerce,” Callie said. “He’s forming a new company, but I have to let him tell you about it.”
“You’ve been talking to Chase?” I’m shocked and a teeny bit jealous.
“Hard to avoid.” She makes a face. “He’s staying at the hotel. Keeps asking about you night and day, it’s getting boring.”
I start to bombard her with questions, but she shakes her head. “Wait,” she says smugly.
“Mama!” I howl. “Make her talk!”
“Patience is a virtue, Daisy,” Mama says primly.
When we approach our hotel, I’m in for another shock.
At the foot of the driveway is a sign that says, “You’ve reached the Bitter End.” There’s another sign in front of the flower garden, and it says, “Together till the Bitter End.” Couples are lining up to take pictures in front of it.
The hotel sign has changed. It’s now “The Bitter End Hotel.” Callie pulls into a parking space and turns off the engine, and we all climb out of the car.
There’s a picnic table set up on the front lawn in front of the hotel, with one chair at the end of it. Chase is sitting in the chair, and he rises when he sees me. Am I seeing things? Is he wearing a t-shirt and jeans?
Chase hurries toward me. He is, indeed, wearing a t-shirt that says, “Want to Tour My Swampy Bottom?” with a cartoon picture of two men in a rowboat. He looks great in a t-shirt; it shows off the swell of his biceps. And I don’t even want to think about how those jeans mold to his muscular thighs.
He grabs me and sweeps me into his arms, spinning me around and crushing me in an enormous hug, which I return. I’m flooded with emotion. He feels so strong, so warm, and he’s holding me like he never wants to let go. “You smell good, you jerk,” I mumble into his chest because, if I say anything else, I might cry.
After hugging me so hard I feel my bones creaking, he sets me down and steps back. I stare up into those beautiful blue eyes, and I see pure love shining down on me.
“You’re so gorgeous,” he murmurs, running his thumb along my cheek. “I’ve barely been able to sleep without you. I love you, Daisy. I’m sorry for everything.”
“You should be,” I say huffily. But he said he loved me. Right to my face. He said the words out loud.
“Do you have anything you want to say back to me?”
“I might not hate you.”
“Nope.” He shakes his head. “You know me, Daisy. I demand the best from you, and that was not your best.”
“Fine. I love you and I’m really mad at you.”
“As well you should be, I’ve been an idiot. Although you should have opened the letters from your family.”
“Again with the letters!” I look at his t-shirt, and a snicker escapes from me. “Interesting fashion statement.”
“You like?” Chase asks, with an enormous grin.
“It really suits you. How have you been?”
“Busy. Missing you like crazy. But I wanted to get everything just right before you came home.”
Home. I am home. I’ve missed this town fiercely, and I shouldn’t have stomped off the way I did. Chase was right all along. This place is worth fighting for.
An enormous grin creases his face as he gestures at the signs. “I made sure that everyone at the Chamber of Commerce understood that these were your ideas. And they loved them. I’m forming a marketing company that specializes in promoting and revitalizing small towns in rural areas, and I’m using Bitter End as our first client. With the town’s three hundredth anniversary coming up next year, we can really get some national exposure. We’ll have the whole downtown re-done by then. All the business owners are on board. Know anyone who’d like to come work as my branding and advertising manager?”
“I just might. Although I’d have to give up a promising career in the motorcycle food and beverage industry.”
“You what now?” He looks alarmed. “Do I even want to know?”
I consider that. “Probably not,” I decide. “How did you even get the town sign changed so fast?”
“You can give Isaac credit for that. Did you know he was a millionaire? Of course, you did, I’m the only idiot in town who didn’t have a clue. He paid for the sign. Right now most of Lancaster Hotel and Resort’s assets are frozen, and it’s probably going to be a few months before my mother and I can get everything un-entangled.”
He leans in and murmurs, “I have very likely been reduced from billionaire to mere multi-millionaire.”
“Eww, nasty.” I twist my face into an appalled grimace. “Do you have any hot rich friends you can introduce me to?”
“Don’t even joke. I thought I’d lost you once, and I’m never letting you go again.” He grabs my hand. “Speaking of which, let’s go for a walk. A quick one.” His eyes are sparkling with mischief. He glances at the hotel and I’m not surprised to see a crowd gathered there. The mayor, Junebug, Herman, Boone, Lance, my uncle, Naomi, my grandmother, pretty much everyone I know from town … he waves at them, and they all wave back.
“Get on with it,” Herman yells.
“You have something planned,” I observe. “And everybody but me knows what it is.”
“That is correct. And if you don’t come with me, you’ll ruin the surprise.”
He grabs my hand and I let him lead me through our flower garden to a spot where we have a little privacy. Everyone’s watching us, of course, but at least they can’t hear us.
“I just wanted you to myself for a minute,” he says quietly. “And I wanted to tell you, I should have chased you down in New York.”
“So why didn’t you?”
He chews his lip. “I was afraid of my own feelings. I love you so much it freaks me out, and when I get emotional, I shut down.”
“I thought you completely abandoned me, and it really hurt my feelings.” I let my anger and my hurt bleed into my voice.
“You’re right. I fucked up, but you know me, Daisy, I’m an emotional moron, and I can be a real ass, but I’m your ass. Wait, no, that didn’t come out right. I’m bad at expressing my feelings, but you know how I feel about you, don’t you?”
“I thought I did, but the last two weeks were really hard on me. If you’re going to bail every time things get tough …”
“I’m not!” He looks wounded. “Daisy. Please. You’re the one who left town and left your cell phone behind. I know that I had your home address, I could have tracked you down, but I’m just saying, I’m not the only one who had something of a meltdown. Also, I’m assuming you didn’t open the letters that your family sent you?”
“Uh … no.”
“Because they included my new cell number and told you to call me as soon as you were ready to talk to me. So you’re not the only one who felt abandoned.”
I wince. “Oh. I guess we both overreacted.”
“Yes, we both can be really stupid when it comes to love and not seeing what’s right in front of our faces. That’s why we need each other. We’ll be on dumbass patrol and keep each other from screwing up.”
“I’m considering it.” I’m more than considering, but I also want to torture him just a little bit, as payback for the last two weeks of sheer misery.
He nods somberly. “I understand you being hesitant, so I have arranged a demonstration of both my devotion and my determination to win you back.”
He leads me back to the picnic table, which now has been set with all of the dishes my grandmother made him during our infamous dinner.
Tripe. Rocky mountain oysters. Blood pudding. Hog jowls.
He pulls a black velvet box from his jeans pocket. “I am going to ask you to marry me when I finish this feast of delights. Your mother already gave her consent. I went to your daddy’s gravestone and asked him too. I didn’t get hit by lightning or anything, so I’m hoping he’s also on board with it.”
There’s suddenly a lump in my throat the size of Texas.
“I am now going to sit down and eat this entire meal. To show you how sorry I am and how much I love you, and to prove that I am ready to be a part of Bitter End, and your family traditions, forever and ever.”
Chase turns an interesting shade of pale green as he plops down in the chair. He looks down at the plate and gulps hard.
“Go on then,” I say.
He picks up a fork. Sweat beads on his forehead. He swallows hard and spears a bull testicle. He brings it up to his lips. The color is draining from his face.
“Stop!” I yell. I can’t make him do it. I love him too much.
He sets down the fork and gets down on one knee. Everyone’s coming down from the porch, crowding toward us.
“I love you, Daisy Abernathy. Will you marry me?” he asks.
“Yes,” I say. “Yes, Chase, I will marry you. A billion times yes.”
The crowd breaks into an enormous cheer, and Chase leaps to his feet. “Oh, thank God,” he says. “I was prepared to eat every last bite, though.”
“I know you were.” He grabs me and kisses me, arms twined around me, a lingering hot kiss that sends shivers through my body until my mother taps my shoulder.
“Hey!” she yells. “You’re not married yet, missy.”
“Oh, leave them be, you old biddy,” Gramma Mae scoffs. I spin around and hug her.
“Took you long enough to see what was right in front of your face,” she sniffs at me. “You sure you’re an Abernathy?”
Then everybody’s hugging me and shaking Chase’s hand.
Lance thumps me on the back. “Hey, Daisy! Congratulations.” He glances at the table. “Shame to let all that going to waste.” He calls out to Chase. “You going to eat that? No?” He sits down and starts helping himself.
Epilogue
Two months later …
The downtown rebranding project is in full swing. With all of the publicity surrounding the town’s revitalization, the chamber of commerce—with mine and Chase’s help—has managed to fill the empty storefronts.
The summer heat has faded into a mild, pleasant September, and Chase and I are relaxing on Aunt Tabitha’s porch. We’re one week away from our wedding, and I’ve moved into Aunt Tabitha’s house, letting Savannah keep my apartment. Chase is staying at the hotel until after we get married, which is honestly ridiculous but Mama insists we can’t live in sin.
The front porch is completely refurbished. The wrought iron railing’s been painted a gleaming white, and we’ve set out wicker furniture and outdoor rugs and potted plants. Chase and I are enjoying mint juleps. And today we’ve got a very elegant guest, who’s just had her bags delivered to the carriage house and is now settling in to join us for cocktail hour.
