was both. I was a girl who’d been abused. A woman who’d built a new life. The demons of my past no longer festered in my mind. I’d faced the worst of them and come out on the other side.
I’d survived.
“Oh, hell no. What is she doing here?” Scarlett said. She widened her stance and crossed her arms. “I did not invite skankzilla.”
Misty Lynn stood on the other side of the fire, holding a lit cigarette between two fingers. Her teased-out hair looked like it had been hair-sprayed into granite, and despite the chill in the air, she wore a bright yellow halter top and denim miniskirt.
“Bless your heart, Misty Lynn,” Scarlett said. “Did you have to give up your nicotine patches while you finished your chlamydia meds?”
Misty Lynn made a dramatic show of rolling her eyes. She walked around the fire and stood in front of Scarlett. Took a long drag from her cigarette and blew the smoke in Scarlett’s face.
Scarlett waved her hand in front of her. “Get your cancer stick out of here. And I swear to all that’s holy, if you leave a single cigarette butt on my brother’s property, I’ll give you a missing tooth to go with that crooked nose.”
“Shut your damn mouth. It’s bad enough your daddy’s old whore is trying to sink her claws into my dad. I don’t need you mouthing off at me too.”
I dropped my beer and threw my arms around Scarlett’s middle, dragging her out of arm’s reach before she gouged Misty Lynn’s eyes out.
“Don’t you dare talk about Jenny like that, you dirty home-wrecker.”
“Go home, Misty Lynn,” I said. “You’re just out here trying to make trouble and we don’t need any more of that.”
Misty Lynn stuck a hand on her hip and took another drag from her cigarette. “You ain’t special, you know. You probably think you are because the stupid people in this stupid town kept your posters up for so long. But they were wrong about you. You’re not the town sweetheart. You’re a filthy liar.”
Scarlett squirmed against my grasp. I was going to lose her. “Can I get a little help, here?”
Nash jogged over, his thick arms like tree trunks stuffed in flannel. He eyed us warily.
“Come on, Nash, just hold on to her for a minute,” I said.
“I’m gonna kill her,” Scarlett snarled.
“Crap on a cracker,” Nash muttered, getting his arms around her so I could extricate myself. “Scarlett, don’t blame me for this.”
“Let go of me, Nash. It’s about time someone served up some Bootleg Justice on that lying, cheating, piece of bleached-out fake-boobed garbage.”
“Go home, Misty Lynn,” I said again.
She tried to flick her cigarette toward me, but it wound up flying into the fire.
“You think you can just waltz back into town, with your ugly purple hair, wearing the same dress every other day. Do you even own another one?”
“This from the girl who’s been wearing the same tube tops and ratty leggings since seventh grade,” Scarlett said.
Misty Lynn wasn’t paying attention to Scarlett, and I had a feeling trading insults with Gibson’s sister wasn’t why she’d come out here.
“Gibson doesn’t know what’s good for him,” she said, her eyes on me.
“You think that’s you?” I asked.
“Better than you,” she said. “At least I didn’t trick a whole town into believing I’m someone else.”
Why was I even having this conversation? “What’s your point?”
Something in her expression changed, her heavily mascaraed eyes narrowing, the corner of her mouth tilting upward. It was like she could sense she wasn’t getting to me and had just thought of a new angle.
“I had him first, you know.”
“Had him?” I asked. “What you did was fake your way into his life for a very short time when he was too young and dumb to see you for what you are. And then you cheated on him after his mother died. Instead of holding onto him and loving him through one of the worst times of his life, you kicked him when he was down. I don’t know if you’re trying to make me jealous, but it won’t work. There’s nothing to be jealous of.”
Misty Lynn crossed her arms, but I turned toward the sound of tires tearing down the long drive. Gibson’s truck spat gravel as he slammed on the brakes. He hopped out and ran toward us, rushing straight toward me.
“Gibs, don’t be mad,” Scarlett said, shrugging out of Nash’s grip. “We just wanted something fun to do while we—”