called me that— “it doesn’t mean nothin’. Really. We used to see each other in high school and we just kind of fell back into it. But it’s just a silly fling.”
She just kind of fell back into my fiancé’s dick.
Jake’s head whipped to her as I turned on the water. “What do you mean nothin’?”
I had to laugh. I mean, what the hell else was I supposed to do when my fiancé was gettin’ offended because his dumb-as-a-doornail sidepiece insulted him?
“You know what’s nothin’, Jake Yarell? Us.” I gripped the squeeze-lever nozzle as though it were a real gun. “We are done.”
The next day
The Chicktown Gazette (front page)—Dixie Winston sinks Groom #2!
Chicktown’s Runaway Bride last spotted chasing her almost-hubby down Main St. while hosing him down. Jake Yarell is Strike Two for our infamous almost bride.
Batter’s up for bridegroom #3.
Twenty-three years old
“Now, which cousin of ours did you say this was again?” I yelled over my shoulder to my momma, dragging black liner across my eyelid.
“Jemima.”
My lips pursed. “I don’t remember ever hearing of a cousin by that name…”
It was certainly plausible. Everyone in Chicktown knew that my daddy, Chuck Winston, had family that spread through nine different counties in Alabama.
“It’s your daddy’s cousin, Judy. Her husband’s older sister’s son’s daughter.” She peeked through the door. “You should put all your hair up. It looks like you forgot a piece.”
I groaned, already forgetting the relationship she told me I had to this woman.
And why anyone would come to Chicktown to get married was beyond me.
I waited until she wasn’t looking at me before I pulled the curled strands I’d left in front of my right cheek back from my face. Angling my chin, I could see even the cover-up I’d put on early this morning wasn’t quite enough to hide the bruise on my face in the right light.
Looked like the hair was staying.
Swallowing over the lump in my throat. My eyes sunk down to the square-cut diamond on my ring finger.
Out of all my engagement rings, this one was certainly the nicest.
Maybe that was how I should’ve known the man attached to it would be the worst.
But when I met Jimmy Reed, he seemed to be the best. New to town. A lawyer trying to escape the busy life in Mobile. Looking to settle down but with the means and desire to explore the world a little.
I remember finally feeling as though this was it—as though he was the one.
It was a little quick when he proposed six months later, especially knowing my history—the details I outlined on our second date before the gossip mill of Chicktown got to him first.
But, he swore there was no rush for the wedding. He just wanted to put a ring on my finger so that until I was ready, the world would know I was taken.
I thought it was sweet.
It was sweet.
Until fifteen months later and we still weren’t married.
The questions started a few months ago, here and there. The look in his eyes. The little pushes, asking me what flowers I would want and what my favorite flavor of cake was. My momma reminding me how good I looked in white.
I answered to appease them, knowing nothing was set in stone, and then last night, I told him I didn’t even feel like going to this wedding today. It was some cousin I’d never even met, what was the point?
It seemed like a harmless suggestion which was why it was shocking when it set him off. And our argument drifted back to the heart of the issue which wasn’t this random wedding but our own.
We’d argued before. I’d seen him angry before. But not like this.
“It’s been over a year, Dix. It’s time to grow up. It’s time for us to get married,” he snarled.
I’d tried to pinpoint a better reason for why I hesitated to walk down the aisle—better than the weight of wondering if it was a sign that marriage wasn’t for me—if it was a sign that there was something wrong with me. After Ben, I wanted to bring my own worth to the table—a worth that had taken a hit by my cheating second ex. Now, it still felt like I was searching for myself and who I was outside of this town and my reputation in it.
“Grow up? Maybe it’s time I grow up and give you back your ring then if you can’t respect that I need time,” I threatened, hurt and angry at