Tequila Rose (Tequila Rose #1) - Willow Winters Page 0,7

laughs and that makes me laugh.

“That’s better,” she says and gives me a shit-eating grin.

“You know I love you, right?”

She hesitates to back out of the parking space after starting the car, and the music from the radio fills the small space. I have to reach over to turn it down before I add, “I couldn’t do this without you.”

Renee swipes a wild strand of her auburn hair out of her face then says, “Yes you could. And I love you too.”

I roll my eyes at her nonchalance and buckle up for whatever she has planned.

I’m not working today since it’s Bridge’s first day at daycare. Although I told my boss it’s because of the court hearing.

“She got nothing.” Renee places a singsong cadence on the last word.

“She didn’t deserve anything,” I say and stare straight ahead as we pass Main Street. The bakery’s sign is getting a fresh coat of bright white paint around the script letters that read Melissa’s Sweets.

I roll down the window and the faint smell of fresh mulch and spring flowers fills my lungs. Resting against the seat, I take in all the small-town shops that have been here since I was a child. From way back when my mother was still alive and my father still pretended to be a good man.

“I’m sorry you had to go through it all,” Renee says and this time she sounds serious.

My throat’s tight as I smile at her and give a little nod. “It’s done now.”

“Still …” she trails off then huffs, and the wind from her own rolled-down window blows back her hair. “To go through the scandal, the breakup, your dad dying. All at once and not getting closure for three years.” She shakes her head slightly.

“A small sum of money isn’t closure,” I say, correcting her. “I lost my dad a long time ago. Four freaking years. The scandal isn’t mine, even if everyone acts like it is.”

“He tainted your name. Williamson used to hold a certain regard in this town. Your family was a good family with a trusted name.” Even though the car comes to a halt at the stop sign, she keeps talking.

She’s not saying anything I don’t know but instead of looking at her as she rants, I watch Mr. Henderson tend to his garden in his front yard.

“Your father destroyed your family name, left you with nothing after embezzling and stealing from practically every family in this town. Nothing but a money-hungry ho who fought you for four years over the pennies he left behind.”

The way she says the last sentence under her breath makes me chuckle. It’s been more than three years, the settlement is final and now I can finally breathe. I just need to shake off all this bad energy.

“And the bastard had the nerve to die of a heart attack when it all broke.”

My father was an asshole for what he did, but I still hate that he died so suddenly. I hate that I have no family. Especially in a small town like this. Tears prick, but I keep them back.

“I’m sorry, Mags.” Renee’s no-nonsense attitude is what I need ninety-nine percent of the time. Maybe today I should take some time alone, though.

“Today’s just an emotional day,” I say, giving her the lame excuse and dabbing under my eyes as we move forward. I focus on the scenery of the town I grew up in as it passes us by. Beaufort is a beautifully maintained small town with Southern charm.

Anyone who comes here for a visit would fall in love.

They don’t see that it’s filled with old secrets. Grudges passed down from generations long past. And judgment from literally everyone. This town talks and four years ago, the name Williamson became synonymous with scandal.

I was a debutante and heir to an enterprise my father built. In one night, I became a pariah. Add in the pregnancy conception that night too and well, no one wanted a thing to do with me.

I had debt I couldn’t cover. An education I couldn’t continue with … having the rug ripped out from under me didn’t exactly make perfect sense at the age of twenty-one.

“I’m happy I have you and Robert.” I come to the conclusion at the same time I speak the words. I have my two other girlfriends too, but as we’ve gotten older, our time together is less and less. Four years ago, when shit hit the fan, I didn’t want to be around