Breaking Stars - J. Sterling Page 0,18
I frowned, unsure which name was his first and which was his last.
As if reading my mind, he said gruffly, “It’s Tatum Montgomery,” his tone beyond annoyed at this point.
I fumbled to recover, and tried to play nice. “I’ve never met anyone with the first name Tatum before.”
“Obviously.”
Wondering why he seemed so angry at me, I asked, “Did I do something wrong? Maybe you didn’t like my last movie or something?” I tried to lighten the mood by cracking a slight smile.
Keeping his focus intensely in front of him, he mumbled, “I don’t watch chick flicks. And I’m named after my grandfather, not that it’s any of your business.”
I sucked in a breath. “You can just let me out here. Give me directions to the bed and breakfast and I’ll walk there.” I didn’t care how good-looking this guy was, I refused to sit in a car with him any longer.
Tatum blew out a deep breath. “Look, I’m sorry, okay? I’m not the best at making small talk.”
“Obviously,” I said tartly, mimicking his earlier response, and he smirked before straightening his face again. “I saw that.”
“You saw nothing,” he replied, but his tone had softened and I relaxed slightly.
We drove in silence through what I assumed was the town. I smiled to myself as we neared a bowling alley with an attached café. The last time I’d been bowling was with my family a few years ago on Christmas Eve. We spent part of the evening competing with each other for top score, but my dad won, just like he always did.
Tatum slowed his truck to a stop, and I looked around to see a grocery mart, the post office, a church, and not much else. A gas station and a mechanic’s shop caught my eye across the street, and I assumed that was where Tatum’s dad worked. It was quite possibly the smallest town I’d ever seen, but it was also maybe the most charming, each building filled with more character than what I was used to.
He picked up speed once the town was behind us and turned right onto another road. As we passed a small school, I asked, “Does everyone go to school in one place?”
He glanced at me, his eyes barely visible beneath the bill of the ball cap. “Yeah. It’s three separate schools, but they’re housed in the same place.”
“I’ve never seen anything like this before.”
“You mean you’ve never seen anything so small and boring?”
“No, that’s not what I meant.” I didn’t know how to put my feelings into words, so I stayed silent, not wanting to upset him anymore.
Tatum pulled his beat-up truck to the right once more and turned onto a gravel road lined with green trees and land as far as the eye could see. His speed slowed until he stopped in front of the most charming ranch-style house I’d ever seen. Wooden rocking chairs lined the large porch on each side of the front door. The closest I’d ever seen to a house that looked like this was on a movie set.
There were no homes like this in LA, and I think the sight of it made me swoon. Out loud. Apparently I made a sound when the aged yellow house came into view, because Tatum shot a concerned glance my way.
“This is it. Miss Em rents out the converted barn in the back, and some of the rooms in the main home as well, if she needs to. I know for a fact that all the rooms are available right now,” he added as he turned the truck off and opened the door. His cowboy boots hit the side of the truck with a bang before his feet landed in a pile of mud, sending a splash of the brown goo into the air.
I was definitely not dressed for walking around in mud. Surveying the area around my feet, I looked for the least soggy area and made a jump for it. “So, how do you know so much about the house?” I asked as he headed for the front porch.
“It’s my mama’s,” he said over his shoulder before the screen door slammed shut and he disappeared inside.
His mom’s?
Oh crap.
Meeting Mama
Paige
A woman I assumed was Tatum’s mom stepped outside the house, wiping her flour-stained hands on the front of a well-worn apron. “Hi, Paige, I’m Emily Montgomery.” She extended a clean hand.
Wavy brown hair framed her face, and her blue eyes twinkled as she grinned at me. Apparently she knew