Page 11 of Tempt (Peachwood Falls #1)

M egan

It’s too early for the leaves to fall .

I tug my sweatshirt closer to my body as a barrier to the breeze. The temperature must’ve dropped ten degrees since I set out on a walk of Peachwood Falls a couple of hours ago, and I wasn’t prepared. I was too preoccupied with my thoughts to grab a jacket.

The quaint town is reminiscent of a backdrop in a cheesy cable drama. I looked for a coffee shop, Peachwood Falls’s version of Luke’s Diner, but came up empty.

There is only The Wet Whistle.

I stroll down a residential street and take in the small homes on either side of the road.

They’re modest with cozy porches complete with swings.

Many chairs, coffee tables, bicycles, and topiaries are wound with twinkling white lights.

I imagine the townspeople congregating on their porch swings after dinner and waving to one another while the children play.

It makes me smile.

My phone buzzes as I turn onto the street that leads back to the hotel. A glance shows Calista’s name.

“Hey,” I say.

“Hey, you. Sorry I missed your call earlier. I was … busy .”

I roll my eyes. I know what that means in Calista’s language.

“How did it go?” she asks. “Tell me all the things.”

I sigh and step over a puddle.

I left my room two hours ago to sort out all the things , as Calista put it. But, to my surprise, there’s more rolling around my head than I realized.

The more I walked, the more my brain felt like an overstuffed coat closet. Finally, today I opened the door, and it all fell into a cumbersome heap on the floor—or sidewalk, as it were. Things I thought I had put to bed resurfaced and demanded attention.

I’ve accomplished much in my life—more than I ever dreamed. I never imagined I would live in Los Angeles or have a worldwide magazine interview me about what inspires my creative direction.

I didn’t even know I had creative direction .

The past ten years have been a whirlwind, and not a day went by that I didn’t feel like an impostor. So how did I, Megan Kramer, from a single-parent household in Dallas with average grades, get a corner office at the trendiest at-home salon experience company?

When I started to believe it, it was yanked from me.

An uncertainty I’ve tried to ignore—an unsettledness about my life's direction, goals, and possibilities—roared to the forefront this morning. I realized that as much as I didn’t want to be anyone’s nanny, I was excited to stay with the Marshalls. I was excited about the break from life.

For the chance to gather my thoughts. To regroup. To breathe and focus on something besides my problems for a change.

But, thanks to Chase Marshall, it’s just me and the gaping holes in my life once again.

“It didn’t go well,” I tell Calista.

“What? Why not ?”

I bite my lip. “You know, I don’t know. He said he couldn’t trust me because he doesn’t know me, but I don’t buy that.”

My stomach swirls as if hit with a shot of adrenaline.

The way he wouldn’t look at me. How he asked me to wait. His preoccupation with my car. It doesn’t make sense .

“I can’t figure him out, Calista. But I’m also not going to expend the energy to try. He’s another guy in another city who wants to be a pain in my ass.”

“Good for you.”

I laugh.

“What are you doing now?” she asks.

“What do you mean? What am I doing this minute? Tomorrow? In life?”

“I don’t know. Any of it.”

I snort. “Well, the answer is the same. I don’t know.”

“Want to stay with me for a while?”

My shoe slips on the damp pavement. I catch myself before I topple to the ground.

“No,” I say, getting my footing once again. “Thanks, though. I’m going to grab a sandwich from The Wet Whistle and then call Maggie and tell her I’m not coming back. Then I’ll book a ticket back to Dallas.”

“So you haven’t told Maggie?”

“No.” I make my way across the street toward the restaurant. “I didn’t want to have that conversation with her family there. It was awkward enough the way it was.”

But, also, it wasn’t awkward. It was comfortable. Being with them made sense—it felt natural. Mom and Maggie have been friends for so long that I’ve always considered her and Lonnie distant family. I felt so welcomed by them. But how did I not know their oldest son was such a … jerk?

Ugh.

“You know I’m a phone call away if you need help figuring things out. I’m here for you—whatever you need, friend,” Calista says.

I grin. “I know. Thank you. I love you.”

“Love you too.”

“I gotta go. I haven’t eaten today, and I’m starving.”

“You’re always starving,” she says, chuckling. “Call me later.”

“I will. Bye.”

The phone goes back into my pocket as I grab the restaurant door handle. I tug it open and can’t believe my eyes. It’s a different place than it was last night.

Last night, the lights were dim, and the televisions—all three of them—were lit up with sports games. Rock music played. Gavin was tending the bar in a plain black T-shirt and a smile that I’m sure got him a lot of tips … and phone numbers.

But today, there’s none of that. Instead, the bright room shows the country aesthetic chosen as decoration. There’s a giant pie counter that I missed before, and a small vase with what appears to be wildflowers decorates the center of the tables. Absolutely precious .

“Grab a seat, sweetie,” a woman with a white apron and beehive hairdo from the fifties says with a giant smile. Her name tag reads Tabitha. “I’ll be over there in a second.”

“Sure thing. No rush.”

I grab a table for two by the wall—the one not under a giant deer head. I reach for my phone when the table shakes as if something has run into it.

My head whips to the side to see a grinning Gavin sliding into the seat across from me.

“Sorry,” he says. “Did I spook ya?”

“No. Yeah, kind of.” I settle back in my seat, relieved to see a friendly face. “You’re working today, too?”

“Nope. I saw you walk in, so I thought I’d check on ya.”

I motion for him to lean across the table. He does, with a heavy dose of skepticism, and I rub my thumb over his cheek.

“Check your face before you go in public if you’re going to kiss someone with red lipstick.” I grab a tissue and wipe my hand. “Unless you don’t mind. But free tip—women won’t be open to flirting if they think you just got out of bed with someone else.”

Gavin places a hand on his cheek and laughs. “You just might be the best friend I’ve ever had.”

I laugh too.

“So how’d the job go?” he asks. “Are you employed?”

I snort.

His brows pull together. “What’s that about?”

“It turns out that the best friend you’ve ever had is leaving Peachwood Falls tomorrow morning.”

Gavin frowns. I find myself frowning too.

“I don’t understand,” he says, confused.

“It didn’t go well today. The guy I would be working for—coincidentally the same guy from last night, mind you—I don’t think he hates me, necessarily,” I say, scrunching up my face while I think. “But I think he wants to.”

He crosses his arms over his chest and studies me.

“But you know what?” I ask with growing irritation. “That’s on him. I mean, did I poke at him a little? Yeah, probably, but only because he made it easy. And I don’t think he cared, either. But that doesn’t justify his stance that I’m somehow not trustworthy.”

Gavin cocks his head to the side, amused.

“It’s not about that,” I say, the filter to my mouth nowhere to be found.

“ What is it about ? I don’t know. Maybe he has a girlfriend and thinks she’d be uncomfortable with a single woman living with him.

That could be it. Maybe it’s a control issue with his mom, and he’s rebelling because she had me show up without his consent. ”

Gavin chuckles, his eyes sparkling. “Maybe he’s just a dick.”

“He is a dick .”

I fall back in my seat with a huff.

“So all bets are off?” he asks. “You’ve told them you’re done?”

My shoulders rise and fall.

“What’s that mean?” he asks.

“It means I have, but I haven’t. I mean, I pretty much told Chase, but I haven’t told Maggie yet. I have to call her, but I’m procrastinating.”

Tabitha comes to take my order. Gavin declines anything but takes the opportunity to flirt with the older lady. She blushes but razzes him right back. Their interaction is so wholesome and adorable that it dilutes my irritation—just a little bit.

Once she’s gone, Gavin settles his sights on me again.

“What did you do today?” I ask, needing a reprieve from talking about the Chase issue. “Anything fun?”

“If you call building a fence with my brother fun, then yeah. Also did a little fishing that ended with a hook in my palm because my brother is an asshole.” He holds his hand in the air. A Band-Aid stretches just below his thumb. “That hurt like the dickens.”

“Did you have it looked at? Did it need stitches?”

“Dad closed it with some skin glue stuff. I don’t know. He was in the Army, so he can piece you back together as long as you don’t lose too much blood.”

I wrinkle my nose, making him laugh.

Tabitha sets my drink in front of us and pauses to talk with Gavin again. I watch their interaction. It’s clear why I like him so much. His effortless way about him makes everyone feel comfortable in his presence.

Unlike Chase freaking Marshall.

I swirl my straw around my lemonade and think about my options.

I can go back to Dallas and find a place to rent.

God knows I love my mom, but I can’t live with her for long .

But where will I work? What will I do for a living?

I have no idea. Despite Dallas being my hometown and my mom living there, it no longer feels like home.

Being away for over a decade will do that to you.

It’s not that I’ve outgrown it or think I need the glitz and glamour of LA or New York.

I just don’t fit in Texas. I don’t think I ever really did.

My other option is to keep looking for work in LA or New York, but the idea of moving back to the city doesn’t excite me. Of course, if I must do it to work, I will, but I genuinely feel like that part of my life has passed. The trouble is, I don’t know what part of my life I’m in now.

“What’s that all about?” Gavin asks.

I pull my attention away from my thoughts and to my friend. “What’s what all about?”

“That shrug.”

Did I shrug ? “Nothing. I was thinking about what I want out of life.”

“And that is …?”

I don’t even know for sure. “I’d take a cabin in the woods and a million dollars.”

“Come to think of it, I’d take that too.”

Tabitha delivers my grilled cheese with a friendly smile. I decline anything else, and she scurries back toward the kitchen.

“What are you going to do?” Gavin asks, folding his hands in front of him. “Are you gonna call Maggie?”

“I don’t have another choice. What will I do—move in tomorrow when Chase doesn’t want my help?

” I fiddle with the edge of my sandwich.

“Besides, I have no interest in staying in Peachwood Falls anymore. I was only helping my mom. I mean, Maggie would pay me well, which helped my current state of unemployment, but I don’t need this job.

And I sure as hell don’t need this headache. ”

He sits up and rests his elbows on the table. “Maybe you should give this guy another shot.”

“ What ?”

“You know, maybe he was having a bad day.”

“Two bad days, you mean.”

“Okay, maybe he’s just an asshole every day, and that’s something you’ll have to get used to, but you can’t let Maggie down, right?”

I gasp. “Whose side are you on, Gavin?”

“Yeah. Whose side are you on, Gavin ?”

My head whips to the side—to the grumpy voice I’ve become all too familiar with. His green eyes peer into mine.

What’s he doing here?