Unfinished Business

3

Two days went by without me seeing Wyatt, but luckily I was swamped from training with Tilly for the lunch rush, and by the end of each day I was utterly exhausted, falling asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. I hadn't even had time to explore the town to see what's changed.

I'm just finishing up my last table of the day when I recognize two guys that come out onto the patio and take a seat at the bar. Timmy and Dylan, two of Wyatt's best friends from high school, who I also spent basically my entire senior year with since Wyatt took up most of my time that year. It's sad that my only other friends back then were his friends.

They raise their fingers at the bartender to order a drink, and I'm counting down the seconds for my table to sign their check, avoiding eye contact with the boys at all costs. I know they heard about what I did to Wyatt when I left, so I'm assuming that we're no longer friends anymore.

I grab the check to run my table's card, keeping my head down as I dip behind the bar to reach the register. It doesn't surprise me though when they call my name. After all, there aren't many girls here at all with bleached blonde hair.  In fact, I'm pretty sure I'm the only one.

"Well, if it ain't Macey Taylor," Dylan says, cocking his head to the side. "Surprised you had the balls to come back here." He narrows his eyes over my appearance like he always used to do, but back then it was always to mock or tease me. It was never serious. Now, he's judging me. Harshly.

"Loretta called in a favor," I reply. "Trust me, I wouldn't be here if it weren't for her asking for my help."

"Right," Timmy adds and lets out a sarcastic laugh, "I always forget you think you're too good for us southern folk."

I roll my eyes. "I don't think that. I've never thought that."

Before I'm able to explain myself further, Wyatt steps out onto the patio, his tall, looming presence being something I could feel from miles away. The breath leaves my body as he approaches us, those muscles in his jaw working at full force. He's wearing camouflage to match his friends, so I'm assuming they're going hunting.

"You didn't tell us she was in town," Dylan mutters.

"Didn't feel like I had to. Can we go?" He grips the back of the barstool until his knuckles are white, and I can see my table glaring at me as they wait for me to run their card, but I can't seem to move. Any second being around Wyatt is a second that I'll cherish, even if it looks like he wants nothing to do with me.

I can't blame them for hating me. I can't blame them for wishing that I wasn't here, but it doesn't stop the amount of pain that I feel from that realization. We all used to be so close, but when I broke Wyatt's heart, not only did I lose him, I lost my other best friends as well. The loyalty runs just as strong in this town as the gossip.

"Just stay out of our way, Taylor," Timmy sneers and squeals his barstool against the patio as he rises to his feet. "Tell Loretta that as soon as you're done fixing this goddamn place you want the first bus out of-"

Wyatt reaches his hand out across his friend's chest. "Enough. Let's go." His eyes don't leave mine as he says it, and it's not until now that I realize that I'm crying. Embarrassed, I swipe at my cheeks to get rid of the tears as they head toward the exit, but I catch Wyatt glancing over his shoulder once more before he disappears behind them.

I don't have time to curl up into a ball as I want. I don't have time to come to terms with the fact that I probably won't be able to fix things between us. My mistake was too much. I hurt him too badly. There's no coming back from that.

Instead, I finally finish running my table's card, knowing I probably won't get much of a tip for making them wait.

***

I get back to Loretta's house later that afternoon. I'm itching for a shower. The tank top I wore is sticking to my back, and strands of hair from my ponytail are plastered to my forehead. It's so damn hot in South Carolina this time of year that at this point I'm just breathing in the humidity.

The screen door slams shut behind me, and it's not long before I hear Loretta call out my name from the kitchen. I inwardly groan at the thought of having to do another chore, but when I poke my head through the archway, I see a grilled cheese sitting on the table. "Ya need to eat," she says. "Didn't see ya eat breakfast."

I shake my head. "I'm not hungry."

"Because of what happened with Wyatt?"

Letting out a groan, I collapse into one of the creaky kitchen chairs by the table and hold my head in the palm of my hands. "How do you already know about that? It happened literally an hour ago."

"It's my restaurant, sugar. I'll hear about it eventually. What happened?" She takes a seat across the table from me and points to the grilled cheese, but I still don't eat it.

"Timmy and Dylan were there. I guess they were meeting to go hunting. They just said some stuff, all of which I already was aware of prior to coming back here, but it still hurt to hear it. Nobody wants me here, and it's just really hard to be back in town knowing that Wyatt hates me, and I-" My voice falters, and dammit, I'm crying again. "I screwed everything up between us, and if I could go back in time and re-do it all, I would."

Loretta taps the coffee mug placed in front of her as she processes my speech, finally letting out a sigh before she says, "Wyatt don't hate ya. He's just confused."

"About what? I know the odds of us getting back together are slim to none, but I was hoping that we could at least be amicable with each other."

"Ya just gotta give him time to sort things out. This is a shock to him, you bein' here, and I know it can't be easy. You and Wyatt had a special thing, Macey, and even though ya did what ya did, he ain't gonna be able to push that connection away for much longer."

I scoff. "You seem confident."

She stands up from the table and taps my plate, instructing me to eat. My stomach is still coiled up into a ball from the altercation between Wyatt and me earlier though, and food will just make me throw up. "I've been on this earth for sixty-seven years, and even bein' happily married myself once, I ain't never seen a man look at a woman the way Wyatt looks at you. Trust me when I say he ain't done with ya yet."

With that, she leaves me alone in the kitchen with a singular grilled cheese that I won't be able to eat.

A/N:

ahhhhh I'm SO excited to release more of this story :)

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