Unfinished Business

29

Wyatt

A week after Dolly passed, I still haven't been able to reach out to her.

Macey slept on my couch the entirety of that day with swollen eyes, but in the morning, she was gone. What was I supposed to say to console her? She didn't lose only Dolly. We both said goodbye to her and our relationship as well. Dolly was the final tether holding us together, and now that she's gone...

I haven't been able to sleep, work, or do anything except stare at this house my father helped me build. Death is all I've ever known lately, and with losing Dolly, too, I'm in a downward spiral. A bottle of whiskey has become my best friend, and I've been nursing it for the past three days.

My beard is coming back from days of not shaving. I swipe my hand across the gruff area and sigh as I take another swig from the bottle. Out the windows of the living room, it overlooks the entirety of the farm—the rolling landscape of lush green grass, the stables, and the horses grazing in the distance. It was where I pictured my future, but in that future, I always envisioned to be sharing it with Macey.

Maybe that's why I never allowed Caroline to move in with me. I kept her at a distance, knowing my heart was on hold for someone else. Never in a million years did I think Macey would return to Darlington. After that night she cheated, I swore I'd never love someone else again, but Caroline was persistent, and I thought over time I'd fall for her eventually, but the minute Macey showed her face again, all those years of hard work to heal vanished. Just like that, she was able to steal my heart all over again.

And I thought ending things would make me feel better. After Parker returned and I beat him into oblivion, I was so petrified of her choosing him over me that I ran, and what good has that gotten me?

All I've ever wanted was to share this home with her and start a family, and she hasn't left. She's kept true to her word about remaining in Darlington, wanting this to be her home, so why the hell am I sitting here alone? I should be groveling on Loretta's doorstep for her forgiveness—apologize for holding that mistake over her head when I told her I forgave her for it. We'll never move on if I keep holding onto it, and instead of fighting for her, I left Parker a wide-open shot to win her back.

I'm a fucking idiot.

Slamming the bottle down on the coffee table, I rise to my feet and grab my keys off the counter. I swing open the door to leave, but Parker stands battered and broken on my doorstep. A dark purple bruise circles his eye, and a few cuts line his cheek.

"Did you come here to get beaten to a pulp again?" I take a large step forward, towering over him. Years of living in the city haven't treated him well. He's frail and thin now, with no muscle on him.

Throwing his hands up to surrender, his eyes widen, petrified. "Can you tell me why you punched me first?"

Is this guy an idiot? He can't be that dense. He was labeled the smartest, if not the smartest, kid in school.

I scoff. "As if you don't already know."

"Wyatt, what the fuck are you talking about?"

My blood is boiling as I say, "Dylan's party senior year when you fucked Macey? Ring a bell?"

As Parker's eyes furrow together in confusion, my gut rolls at the sight. He's trying to remember if he screwed her. The memory of having sex with Macey is burned into my mind. I couldn't forget it even if I wanted to, yet Parker can't seem to remember a damn thing.

"I didn't sleep with her," Parker says. "Is—Is that what you thought this whole time? Is that why both of you changed your numbers after I left? I assumed you were pissed I moved, I didn't... You thought I slept with her? That I'd do that to you?"

He keeps rambling, and during that time, I stop listening. The blood is thrumming in my ears at the realization that maybe I got this all wrong. There's no way I went years without speaking to the love of my life all because of miscommunication. I'll never forgive myself.

"Dylan saw you leave from the bedroom she was sleeping in," I seethe, "and she had a hickey. If you're trying to lie right to my face to get out of this, I'll—"

"I didn't sleep with her. She was piss drunk, Wyatt. All I did was bring her upstairs so she could fall asleep and other drunk creeps wouldn't pry on her. If you were there, I would have gotten you first. And, a hickey? If you're talking about a bruise, she fell climbing upstairs and banged her neck on the banister."

My feet are rooted to the porch steps as the regret slowly creeps in. It invades every vein until it feels like I can't breathe, and I stumble back into the house with Parker close on my heels.

This entire time, she never cheated. She never touched him. And the voicemail she left... The mistake she made wasn't that she slept with Parker, but because she ended things with me. Would she have wanted to make things work? If I hadn't been so quick to judge that night, would we still be together?

I hadn't bothered to talk to Parker. I took Dylan and Timmy's word for it and never thought twice. I didn't have faith in Macey. I didn't think it was a lie. I was that self-conscious that I assumed she'd sleep with one of my best friends. A friend I exiled from my life and lost years with, too, when all he did was take care of her.

For me.

"I came back because I heard a rumor Macey was back in town, and since you refused to speak to me, I thought I'd be able to ask her what happened. Now I know."

"Parker, I'm..." I run a hand through my hair in frustration. There's nothing I can say to him to make things right. I believed he slept with my best friend, and I destroyed our friendship in the process.

But instead of leaving in fury, Parker shrugs and leans forward to rest his elbows on the kitchen island. "I get why you'd think it. I did have a crush on her back in high school and didn't exactly keep it hidden, but I'd never make a move on her. Not when our friendship meant so much."

No words are forming in my head. My thoughts are too loud.

"Why isn't she here?" Parker waves a hand around the empty home. The home I envisioned sharing with Macey before I fucked everything up.

"Because I'm a fuckin' idiot."

He cocks a grin. "Well, at least some things haven't changed."

"How are you not more upset?" I ask. "I ruined our friendship because I believed Dylan and Timmy without even speaking to you first. We lost out on years because of it."

"Truthfully? I'm relieved it was something false. I thought because I moved you guys didn't want anything to do with me, and that hurt. Knowing it's something I can actually solve? I can work with that."

My eyes stray to the open screen door, to my truck in the grass. It's only a ten minute drive to Loretta's. Ten minutes separates me and the love of my life.

"I gotta go get her," I mutter. "If she'll even take me back."

Parker arches a brow. "You might want to hold off until after the fashion show tomorrow. Loretta said Macey's pulling an all-nighter to finish the dresses."

Damn. The fashion show.

As much as I want to swoop her off her feet and make love to her all night, this is more important. She won't admit it, but this fashion show will reaffirm the belief in herself that she can do this for a living. New York was foolish not to see her potential, but tomorrow... Macey Taylor is going to start a life here, and I'll be by her side the entire way if she'll let me.

Even if she had cheated all those years ago, I was still about to get in my damn truck and win her over. Knowing the truth changes nothing. I'll love her regardless of anything that comes our way.

"In that case..." I eye my fridge, then the plasma screen television. "Beer? You know, to make up for the black eye?"

Parker rolls his eyes but eventually nods his head. "I've missed the fuck out of you, Wyatt. Beer me."