Summer Love_ A Steamy Small Town Romance Anthology - Piper Rayne Page 0,129

to be surrounded by so much color, so much life. My mom thought she was saving me by forcing me to move away. Having had a reminder of what I’d left behind, I wanted it. Wanted it bad enough to finally do something I should have done years ago.

Two weeks after I met Tori, I booked myself on the same flight back. This time I didn’t have a return ticket. This time I planned to stay.

Chapter Twelve

Tori

It didn’t take long to find another district where I could put my skills to use. All I needed to do was officially resign, and I’d be well on my way to a new position before school started in the fall. I didn’t want to leave Beaver Bluff, but I was done letting other people try to live my life for me. The short time I’d shared with Deacon made me remember the kind of woman I used to be—the kind who didn’t let other people dictate her future or her happiness. I missed her and was ready to welcome her back.

The irony wasn’t lost on me. What I loved most about my small town was the sense of community, of everyone having each other’s backs. But that was also what I’d grown to hate. Being single didn’t bother me. I was sure there was someone out there for me… maybe someone like the man with the blue-green eyes who’d reminded me I wasn’t anyone’s doormat. But I wouldn’t find him or my inner badass by sitting on my butt in Beaver Bluff.

Meeting Deacon confirmed it. There was a whole big wide world waiting to be discovered. It was time for me to get out there and take it for a spin.

I was on my way to Sunday night dinner at my parents’ house where I’d break the news. Bailey and Sherman were on their honeymoon in Myrtle Beach, but at least I could tell the rest of the family. She wasn’t speaking to me anyway since she blamed me for ruining her reception.

As silly as it sounded, I might thank her someday. It was because of her ridiculous expectations that I’d found my voice again. And now that I had, I wasn’t ever going to let it go.

A couple of cars I didn’t recognize sat in the driveway. It wasn’t out of the ordinary for my mother to invite a few extras to Sunday night dinner, but I prayed for her sake it wasn’t a last-ditch setup effort on her part. I was done being nice about things I should have to put up with.

I reached for the front doorknob and hesitated. What if she’d asked Sherman’s cousin to dinner? Or someone else she wanted to fix me up with? I’d heard one of my stepsisters announced her engagement at Bailey’s reception. Mom’s efforts to match me with any eligible single man in a fifty-mile radius would probably triple.

I took a deep breath and reminded myself that I was in control of my own destiny. Then I pushed the door open and stepped inside.

The front door opened into their formal living room. Mom perched on the edge of her Victorian style chaise with Dad next to her. They faced the armchairs on the opposite wall where two men sat, their backs to me.

“Tori, I’m glad you made it.” Mom stood and reached out to me.

I recognized the tone. It was the meet-my-single-daughter voice she used when she wanted to show me off to someone she deemed an eligible suitor. She must be pulling out all the stops since she’d scrounged up not one, but two potential matches.

“I’m not doing this tonight, Mom.” I stepped back, no longer willing to suffer through one of my mother’s well-orchestrated set ups.

“Tori, wait.” The voice stopped me, mid-step. Then he stood, spun around, and caught hold of my elbow before I fell over.

“Deacon?” It had been almost three weeks ago that we’d visited the swimming hole, though it seemed like years since my eyes had feasted on his face. “What are you doing here?”

“I’ll see if dinner’s almost ready.” My mother, the woman who’d never passed up an opportunity to push me on an unsuspecting single male, tugged my dad’s hand and the two of them disappeared into the kitchen.

“I’m going to go, uh, check on, uh…” Cole Bishop gestured to the front yard. “Screw it, I’ll be outside.”

Deacon gently pulled me into the house so his cousin could squeeze through the doorway.

My fingers tingled in his