Page 27 of As It Was (Strawberry Springs #1)

CAIN

Strawberry Springs Neighborhood Watch

Jade Clark

Y’all better be ready for Lucas’s show tonight!

Comments:

Kerry Winsor : I wish I could go! I need to find a babysitter that won’t let Tommy plug the toilet again.

Jade Clark : Do I even wanna know?

Kerry Winsor : I’ll gladly tell you.

Hu Gh : That damn music makes the bar way too loud! Tell ’em to turn it down or I’m sitting outside!

Mark Bell : I’ll set up a table ...

Jackie was bouncing on her feet when I opened the door a week later.

“Don’t say anything.” My voice was firm.

“I won’t then. But I’ll think it.” She walked in and saw Eric reading the book Nicole had given him to practice.

It was hard to believe he was reading already, but once he’d started school, he had been learning so quickly that he’d been put into an advanced level with a few other classmates. “There’s my favorite boy!”

“Jackie!” he yelled as he ran over to give her a hug. “I get to hang out with you all night?”

“Until bedtime. I even brought your favorite book for me to read to you while you fall asleep.” She grabbed it out of her bag and showed it to him. Eric took it and opened the pages.

“Can I read it to you?”

Jackie’s eyebrows rose and she turned to me. “Already?”

“That might be a little advanced,” I said. “Are you sure, kid?”

“Yes!” Eric exclaimed. “I wanna try.”

“Then we’ll do it while Cain here has fun.”

Tonight would be many things, but fun wasn’t one of them.

“And where’s the woman who’s making you do this?” Jackie folded her arms over her chest. “I need to thank her again.”

“I’m here!” Mollie came darting out of the hallway. “Sorry, work ran over, and I still had to get dressed.”

I let my eyes linger on her, taking in the going-out version of Mollie versus the one I knew.

She still wore nice clothes, but these were different. Instead of her usual light-colored blouses and tailored jeans, she was in a dress. A floral one that hugged the curve of her waist but flowed out by her hips. It made her look like she was going on a date rather than to a bar.

This was bad for many reasons. The main one being that she looked incredible, and everyone would notice.

“Wow.” Jackie whistled. “You look like you’re ready for a night on the town.”

“Is it too much?” she asked, twirling around. Her dress flowed with every movement .

“Yes,” I said without thinking.

“Cain!” Jackie was affronted. “Were you raised in a barn?”

“Also yes. We’ve been over this.”

“You don’t say that to a lady. She looks amazing. She’ll be the best dressed there.”

Mollie’s lips twisted as she considered it. “Most of my jeans are stained with mud.”

That would fit in more than what she was wearing. But even though I should have told her to change, I couldn’t bring myself to do it.

“We should go. I’m not staying out all night, and you should grab a jacket.”

She shook her head. “I don’t have one that matches. I’ll be fine.”

I grabbed one of mine. “Don’t come crying to me when you’re cold.”

“Jesus,” Jackie hissed. “How has she put up with you this long?”

“The beautiful sunsets and romantic dinners,” Mollie said.

I turned to her. “What did you just say?”

“Oh, just what’s going on. With a twist. Keep up the bad attitude, and I’ll say it in the bar.”

My jaw dropped.

Jackie and Eric laughed.

And I knew that I was going to fucking regret every second of this little adventure.

She smelled too good. And I couldn’t extract myself from it because I was locked in the truck with her. Suddenly, the thirty-minute drive to the square was torture.

And that had to be the only reason for what I said next .

“Listen, when I said it was too much ...”

“You were meaning it was too nice and that I overdressed. Don’t worry, I get it.”

I glanced over at her. “You shouldn’t let me off the hook that easily.”

“Probably not, but you’re gonna hate every second of this, so I expect some grumbling.”

“Call me out on it. Don’t just take it.”

It was her turn to glance at me. “O-okay. I will. But I’ll give you a free pass for the first one.”

“And I’m still gonna explain.”

“And what is it? That you think I’m pretty or something?”

“That’s exactly it, actually.” The cab went silent, and I did the exact opposite of what I would usually do. I kept talking. “You’re gonna be the best looking one there, though you usually are. And when people see you, they’ll think it’s a date.”

“But it’s not.”

“Still. You just look ...” I had a million words for it. Beautiful. Perfect. Like she was the fucking sun, and I was but a mere planet in her orbit. “Nice. Very nice.”

“Huh. So Cain Smith can compliment people. Good to know. It’s nice to know I don’t only piss you off.”

“Half the time you piss me off because you look like you do. How is it that you manage to make mud look good, princess?”

She let out a musical laugh. “No idea. But I’ve heard nicer things in the last ten minutes than I’ve heard in the last five years in Nashville, so thank you. You’ve more than made up for what you said earlier.”

I clamped my jaw shut, unwilling to make myself look even more like a fool in front of her. Silence returned up until we were close to the town square.

“So, this bar ...” she began. “Is it good? ”

“I’ve only been a few times. I avoid drinking. I don’t need to add any addictions to my roster of bad personality traits.”

“That’s pretty noble, actually. And if it makes you feel any better, I don’t usually drink either. The hangovers aren’t worth it.”

“Most people do it anyway.”

“I’m just smart.”

“Not saying you’re not, but there could be another reason.”

“I suppose that’ll stay a secret.”

I raised an eyebrow at her. “You have a lot of those?”

“Yep.”

“Like what? Your favorite color isn’t pink?”

She rolled her eyes. “Did you mean to sound like an ass?”

“Not really. I just figured it was since I see you in it a lot.”

“It’s a great color, but not my favorite,” she said. “My actual favorite is the color orange the sky turns when the sun sets.”

I could picture it. The farm had a picturesque view of the setting sun nearly every night. When Mollie was working in the living room, sometimes I would catch her staring at it.

I glanced over at her, and her gaze had drifted out the window. The sun had set a long time ago, but its rays still changed the sky. The sunsets here were always indescribable, but I had a hard time enjoying them when I looked at them. All I could see were the empty fields.

“So, yeah. Not pink.” She dragged her eyes away and blew out a breath. “You need to stop slipping into silence. I’m trying to distract myself from my nerves.”

“You’re nervous?” I asked. “I didn’t think that was possible for you.”

“I do mess up socially, thank you very much. And bars aren’t really a thing I do.”

“Yeah, working on your laptop seems to take up most of your time. ”

“I’m trying to change that.”

“Don’t worry. You will. The whole town will be talking about this tomorrow, and you’ll have plenty of questions to answer.”

“I share a house with you, and I wanted to hang out. I’ll just tell them that.”

“And you think that’ll be enough? You know what this’ll look like.”

“We don’t have that vibe, Cain.”

“What kind of word is vibe?”

“You know, that aura .”

“Aura is worse.”

“We’re purely friends,” I said. “The town will see that.”

“Bet you your first strawberry that they don’t.”

“My first strawberry?”

“The first one is always the most sentimental. I’m confident.”

“You’re cruel.”

“Wanna take the bet?”

“Absolutely I do,” she said.

“I’m sure we’ll figure that out tomorrow, princess. But for now, you should look out your window.”

She did, and her jaw dropped when she saw the square illuminated with fairy lights. Everything was warm and cozy, even the closed library.

“It’s like Christmas. Do they decorate this early?”

“Nope. They’re up year-round. No one wants to take them down.”

“But they’re all working. Someone has to maintain that.”

“No one here cares enough.”

“I think you and I both know you’re wrong about that.”

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. She was right. People in this town cared about each other .

But only about the ones in the town.

We pulled up to the bar and saw people mingling inside, Hugh by the door.

“Here we go,” I muttered. “Stay here.”

I was not letting the crankiest old man in town see me act like a dick. I got out of the truck and started walking toward the passenger-side door.

“Am I dreaming?” Hugh called. “Or are you out of your house?”

“No. You’re not.”

“Since when do you go to bars?”

I tugged on the door handle. “Since she dragged me out to one.”

Mollie slowly slid out, eyes on Hugh. She already had that damn smile on her face.

“No freakin’ way. The new girl got Cain Smith too?”

“More like I dragged him here,” she said. “Hi, I’m Mollie.”

“You look familiar,” he said. “Have I met you before?”

“She’s Bennie’s granddaughter,” I mumbled.

“What brings you out to Strawberry Springs?”

“She owns the farm, Hugh.”

“And you like her?”

“Somehow.”

Hugh narrowed his eyes. “So, what’s going on with you two, then?”

“Nothing,” Mollie said. “Just two roommates having a friendly night out.”

“I smell a whole lot of?—”

“Don’t make her uncomfortable,” I cut in before he could call her out.

“Don’t go all guard dog on me, Smith,” Hugh said, rolling his eyes. “She’s really got you wrapped around her little finger, huh?”

“It’ s more like I know what all this town does. And what they think. She doesn’t, but I’ll let her be delusional for a little longer.”

A sharp elbow dug into my rib. “I’m right here.”

“Ow, go easy, princess.”

“When have you ever been easy?” she quipped back.

“Tell me again,” Hugh interrupted. “You’re friends?”

“Yep,” Mollie said.

“I thought I’d seen delusional when Tammy thought she could do a 5k with no training. Now, I realize I didn’t truly know what that was until I saw you two.”

“Friends might be a strong word.”

She thought Hugh was talking about friendship.

Dammit. She’d only proven him right.