Southern Heart, Madison, Natasha [the little red hen ebook TXT] 📗

I shouldn’t go there, and that I’m only going to get my heart broken."

"Among other things," she says, and I know she’s staring at me. "It’s dangerous." I shake my head. "Okay, I know you’ve been hot for him since, I don’t know, you were eighteen, but we always knew he was hiding something."

"Um, we did not." I scoff at her. "We thought he was mysterious."

"You thought he was mysterious." She points at me. "I thought he was creepy." I glare at her. "I mean, he was always hot but creepy."

I laugh now and don’t say anything to her because Heloise puts the milkshakes in front of us.

"I have your cheeseburgers coming up," she says, walking away.

"I guess we both get cheeseburgers," I say, looking down. "I like him a lot. I always have." I look at her, and she tilts her head to the side. “Oh, I always thought he was hot.”

"Do you think he knows?" she asks me, and I shake my head.

"How could he know anything?" I tell her. "He’s busy trying to be the man he already is." I shake my head. "He brought Grandma flowers last year when he came to visit. She blushed, and he didn’t even see it. He’s oblivious," I admit. "He’s oblivious to any good deed he’s ever done because he’s too busy thinking of that one bad one. He carried Gabriel in his arms for two hours because he fell asleep and he didn’t want to wake him up. Or when he stayed two days to help Grandpa build a fence." I look at her. “He’s the man he wants to be,” I say softly.

"You think you can make him see?" she asks, and I look out of the window now. I suddenly feel eyes on me, and I look back into the restaurant. My eyes roam around, seeing if anyone is looking at me.

The front door opens, and my heart is beating so fast I almost jump out of my seat when I see the new barn manager come in. Asher spots us and holds up his cowboy hat. "Holy shit," I hear Amelia mumble and look over at her. "Is he coming over here?"

My eyes go big when I look back and see him coming to the table now. "Afternoon, ladies," he says, his accent very, very soft.

"Hey, Asher," I say. "How are you settling in?" He started working for my uncle Casey a month ago.

"Starting to feel like home," he says and looks over at Amelia, giving her a small smile. "If you’ll excuse me, I have to get food for the boys." He turns on his cowboy boots and walks to the counter.

"He’s a strange one," I say as I watch him.

"He is not," Amelia says, and it’s my turn to look at her now.

"Interesting," I say to her and laugh. It’s her turn to glare. "You know that your father—"

"Okay," she says, putting her hands on the table.

"I’m going to go and order Mayson something," I tell her, and she just nods at me. I get up, and I can swear I still feel eyes on me. I look around as I walk to the counter. Asher grabs the big box of takeout containers and then smiles at me when he walks away. He takes one final look at Amelia before walking out. I order a cheeseburger to go and walk back to the table.

"What’s wrong?" Amelia asks me as I sit down.

"I feel like I’m being watched,” I tell her, looking around. "It’s probably all in my head."

Heloise brings me the container, and I smile at her, and we walk out of the diner. The wind blows my hair back as I look over to the side and see a man standing just looking at me. I stop walking when a school bus driver stops right in front of him.

"What’s the matter?" she asks, and when the school bus leaves, the man is gone.

"There was a man there." I point at where the man was standing. "Did you not see him?" I look around, going into a circle as my hands start to shake. "He was right there." I point at the empty space where there are only trees now. "Did you see him?"

"No," Amelia says, coming to grab my hand. "Let's go now." She pulls me toward the truck now. My feet move as fast as I can while looking around to see if the man is there again.

We walk back toward her truck, and I get in. My eyes go everywhere once I get inside the truck. I look everywhere as she pulls out of the diner parking lot. When she turns, I can see someone in the woods. "There!" I shout at her, and she looks over, and he’s gone again. "He was right there."

Chapter 17

Mayson

I sit at the counter and finish my food right next to Quinn. Neither of us says a word, and the food feels like a brick in my stomach.

I toss the food around on my plate, waiting for Quinn to say something, knowing he has things to say. I get up, walking over to the sink and turn the water on to rinse off my plate.

"If you hurt her…" Quinn says, and I look over my shoulder at him. I turn off the water and put the dish in the dishwasher.

"I have no idea what you mean." I avoid his eyes. Quinn and I have always been cordial at best. We even shared a laugh a couple of times. But we’ve never been best friends.

"You can’t be that stupid," he says, putting down the spoon in his hand.

I turn, leaning on the counter, and cross my legs at the ankle. "Again," I say, "I have no idea what you mean."

"You had to have seen it." He looks straight at me. "She would always use excuses to be next to you." I swallow now, and I don’t say anything, giving him ample time to say more.