Forbidden Harmony (Harmony Falls #3) - Elizabeth Kelly Page 0,13

stupid crush on Preacher. It was starting to border on obsessive. Last night, she’d had this shameful little fantasy where Preacher had shown up at her place and without a word, picked her up like she was some damn princess in a fairy-tale, carried her to her bedroom, and…

Say it, Addison.

Her face flushed hot. No, she wouldn’t say it. A proper lady did not have dirty thoughts about a man’s head between her thighs, about his tongue –

“Girl, are you serious? How can you not know that Harrison dumped her? Have you been living under a rock?”

The voice drifting over from the aisle next to her killed her dirty thoughts as quickly as if she’d been doused with a bucket of cold water. She stood frozen in the aisle, staring wide-eyed at the yarn in front of her, her fingers squeezing compulsively around the ball of yarn in her hands.

“I’ve been busy. God, don’t be a bitch. Why did he dump little Miss Goody Two Shoes anyway?”

Addison didn’t recognize the voices of the two women, but it didn’t matter. She dropped the yarn she was holding into the basket sitting on the shelf in front of her. Her hands were too shaky and clammy to even attempt to hang it in the right spot.

Her ears burning and her heart thumping, she told herself to walk away. Instead, she remained frozen to the spot like her feet were dipped in concrete.

“Well, I heard from Doris Sindle that Harrison dumped her because Addison has, like, a serious shopping addiction and debt problem and he didn’t want to be saddled with it. But, Shelly over at the Walgreens said that Harrison dumped her because he caught her in bed with some guy from Willington.”

“No fucking way.” The voice was high pitched with excitement. “Addison Moore is such a prim little good girl, she would never cheat on Harrison. Hell, I’d be surprised if she even fucked Harrison.”

The other woman laughed. “You’re telling me. She does have that ‘only missionary position, under the covers, with the lights off and showering immediately after’ look to her. Maybe old Harrison dumped her ‘cause she refused to use that good girl mouth of hers to blow him.”

“That seems more likely than her banging some gross dude from Willington. Although, just between you and me, I always thought Harrison could do better than her. He’s, like, good looking and rich and apparently about to make partner at his firm. Honestly, she would have just weighed him down if they’d gotten married.”

Feeling sick to her stomach, unable to stand there a second longer, Addison stumbled down the aisle toward the front of the store. She weaved around a group of tourists and staggered toward the front door, tears pricking at her eyes.

“Addie?” Emma was standing by a rack of buttons near the front door. “Are you okay?”

“Yes. I have to go.” She pushed her way out of the shop, the hot muggy air slapping her in the face like a wet rag. Sweat prickled along her hairline and she hurried down the street to her car. She climbed in and turned it on, blasting the air conditioning and pressing the heels of her hands against her eyes.

She wouldn’t cry. She would not fucking cry.

She took a few hitching breaths and threw the car into reverse before backing out of the parking spot and driving down the street. She needed to leave. She needed to get out of this stupid town even if it was only for a few hours.

Chapter Five

“Sorry, hon. It’s gonna be at least a couple of hours. Wade’s got two other cars he needs to tow before he can get to you.”

Addison banged her hand on the steering wheel before blowing her breath out. “Okay. I’ll just wait here until -”

“Don’t do that, sweetheart.” Roberta, Wade’s wife and co-owner of Wade and Roberta’s Tow Truck Services, popped her gum so loud, Addison could hear it through the phone. “You said you were out on Watkins road, right? That road ain’t very busy, even with tourist season, so your car will be fine until Wade gets there. No point in you sitting and sweltering by the side of the road. Get a friend to pick you up, and leave your car unlocked with the keys in the glove box. I’ll get Wade to tow it straight to the Nuts and Bolts shop. Give me your credit card number and I’ll ring it through once he picks up