Batter of Wits (Green Valley Chronicles #22) - Smartypants Romance Page 0,69

me. I almost embarrassed myself last night, messing my jeans like a high school boy who'd never felt a girl's ass. The only thing that stopped me was her brother, who I used to like very much.

My mom looked up at me and opened her mouth to say something when my phone buzzed in my pocket.

I pulled it out and grimaced when I saw Magnolia's name.

"It's Maggie," I told her, then pinched the bridge of my nose. "I should probably get this."

"Ask her why her father is a giant horse’s ass," she called as I walked to my office.

"Will do. Though she might not even know what he did." I gave her an encouraging smile and shut the door behind me. "Hey," I answered.

"How are you?" she asked, voice small and penitent. She knew. She knew all right.

I sank into the chair behind my desk. "Well, I just got into work and my dad is trying to destroy his office since we just lost half our monthly income."

Magnolia sighed. "I didn't ask him to do this, I hope you know that."

"I do. You're not vindictive." But her father was, and she damn well knew it.

"He's not vindictive," she argued. Loyal to a fault. Her entire family was. "My daddy loves me. And he doesn't like seeing me hurt."

"Maggie, come on."

"Don't call me that." Now her voice had a bite I hadn't heard since before I ended things. "You may not agree with the way he does things, but I've never had anyone want to protect me as much as he does."

"You don't need protecting, Magnolia," I said wearily. "You're twice as smart as he gives you credit for. You run his office better than he ever could, and if you walked out tomorrow, it would all go to shit. And he knows it."

"That's not true."

"Fine. Don't admit it then, but I know you know it too."

She sighed. "Sometimes … sometimes I think about leaving. Doing something else. But I think he'd lose his mind."

I leaned back in my chair and let her words filter in, past what I knew of her for the last seven years. It was the first time I'd ever heard her say something like that. And I couldn't help but feel sad at the thought that Maggie and I had more in common than we ever realized.

"Then you should, Magnolia, if that would make you happy. He's so used to getting his own way that when something goes off the rails that he didn't anticipate, he lashes out like a kid who just lost his favorite toy, and after seven years as a part of your family, don't even try to tell me differently."

She was quiet, and briefly, I wondered if I'd gone too far. But saying it felt good. Two weeks earlier, I never would've. The consequences wouldn't have been worth it.

"I'm sorry I hurt you," I continued when she didn't say anything.

"So you said." She cleared her throat, and it sounded full, like she was fighting tears. "But you still did. I never saw it coming, Tucker. I think that's what hurts the most. We never fought. Never argued," her voice trailed off.

"Don’t you think that's part of the problem?" I asked. "We just … existed in the same space for so long. Longer than we should have."

"I know." At her admission, I breathed out a sigh of relief. "And I never thought he'd hurt your family for this. I promise."

"I know." I did know. But that didn’t make it easier to wrap my mind around. J.T.’s actions were the number one reason why I felt like I had to draw a heavy, black curtain around my blossoming relationship with Grace. Something that, yes, would block the sun from coming in, but it would protect us. Protect her.

The last thing she needed was to become a target for the gossips and the anger being directed at me. Because of me.

"I tried to talk to him. So did Momma. But he's … well, he's as mad as I've ever seen him. Like you lit his puppy on fire and tossed it on our doorstep or something."

I laughed under my breath at the morbid comparison to the end of our lukewarm relationship. Nothing about that analogy fit the truth. "I had no idea he was so invested."

"I think," she paused and thought for a moment. "I think he had a picture in his head. Of how my life would play out. The kind of person I'd