Wild Girl (Wild Men Texas #3) - Melissa Belle Page 0,18

to face Skip. “The way I see the legend is as a parable. Vivian was trying to hold onto something she’d lost—her husband’s love—by holding onto Jane Austen’s ghost as a symbol of true love.”

I gulp down the rest of my beer and Skip does the same with his.

“This is heavy,” he says. “So Vivian never had the happy ending she craved.”

I shake my head and glance back toward Logan.

I can’t believe he hasn’t had sex with Gigi.

I literally can’t stop thinking about it.

“Both of these couples have a shot to make history.” Skip glances at Logan and Gigi and then over at Ginny and Dave.

“That’s true.”

I look for an extra beat at Logan.

“It’s never as easy as boy meets girl, is it?” Skip says. “No matter what century.”

I guess not.

“Over to you now, Macey.” He returns to his iPad. “Why did you vow to never marry?”

I let out a long breath. “You know, Mama was obsessed—obsessed—with Pride and Prejudice. Calls it her Love Bible. And she means it.”

“It’s the greatest romance novel ever written,” Skip concurs.

“And my mother used it for all it was worth. Even made me memorize the most important parts. Like when Darcy tells Elizabeth, ‘You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you.’”

Skip sighs ecstatically.

“Mama would sigh just like you’re doing now.” I smile despite myself. “‘Would you listen to that?’ she’d say. ‘That is true love. That is a man showing real love and respect for a woman.’”

“So you’ve been sitting around waiting for your Mr. Darcy to show up in Texas?” Skip asks me.

I never should have had a beer. I certainly shouldn’t have practically chugged it. I already had that half a bottle by the cooler, and I’m not a drinker. One drink is enough to loosen my tongue. It always has been.

“No. Maybe when I was little. But once I became a teenager, I knew that marriage just wasn’t for me. Relationships aren’t for me.”

“Why not? What makes you different than anyone else?”

Again, maybe if I’d stayed completely sober, I wouldn’t have answered Skip’s question with—

“Love is always hard, but when you’re supposedly cursed, it throws a whole new wrinkle into it. I’d always vowed to be the opposite of my mother in romantic relationships—you know, I never wanted to lose myself in a man and in needing that man to be my everything. I didn’t want the world to go cold if he wasn’t there to keep me warm.”

“Beautifully said.” Skip types hastily. “But what do you mean—cursed? That sounds serious.”

“My mother’s word. She thinks I’m cursed.” I hold out my arm and show him the inside of my wrist. “A freak accident that gave my mother proof I’m destined to share the ghost of Jane Austen’s fate. Unless the soul mates free the ghost, Austen Macey Henwood’s heart will stay locked up as well.”

“And she believes this why? Sounds like she’s a bit theatrical.”

“She is. Who else would steal a page out of Vivian’s diary and make her oldest daughter hide it for fear of the town finding out she’s jinxed? Yeah, sure, the page says something about the eldest daughter of the jail keeper and a scar she bears, but so what? The whole thing’s stupid.”

Skip drops his phone onto the table. Unfortunately, it stays intact because I’ve just realized what I gave him. The hook of all hooks for a hungry reporter looking for a story.

“Oh, no.” I put my head in my hands.

“Oh, yes,” Skip’s excited voice says next to me.

Chapter Twelve

I end the interview right away, but I’m well aware it’s too late. My scar is going to be talked about by the entire town, possibly the state, as soon as Skip’s story is published on the first of July.

And Mama will absolutely have my head when she finds out. Luckily, Ginny’s wedding will have already happened, so if I need to hide from the public eye, I can.

I drift into a fitful sleep filled with lots of strange dreams—about catfish, a giant microphone in my face, and Skip floating face down in the creek.

Then I have a different kind of dream. A sex dream. About Logan and me. And it’s not for kids’ ears.

As soon as I wake up, I go to The Cowherd to give Ben the heads up on Skip coming by later, and then I stop by Ginny’s before she leaves for work. I tell her what’s going on with Skip, and I confess my dream.

“How