The Way the Story Goes Read online

  It all seemed so easy and too much for him to believe in.

  “Or…,” Sam interrupted his thoughts. “You can follow Mia to Boston.”

  Clearing his throat, he looked away. “Yeah, well…that may not be an option.”

  Rather than comment, Sam got up and went to the kitchen and grabbed the bakery box. When he came back, he placed it on the floor between them and grabbed himself a brownie. “Shelby’s a little self-conscious about the baby weight and won’t let me bring this kind of stuff home, so I’m going to eat what I can while I’m here.”

  Austin reached in and grabbed a slice of marble pound cake. “You really got a good variety here.”

  “She was pulling cinnamon rolls out of the oven and I almost waited for them, but I was hungry and everything looked good so I just asked her to throw a variety in the box.”

  “Good call.”

  “So you want to talk about this Mia situation or is it kind of similar to the Coleman Construction situation?” Sam asked around a bite of brownie.

  “How could they possibly be similar?”

  “The way you react to them, for starters.”

  “I don’t even know what that means.”

  Sam finished the brownie and wiped his hands before sitting up straighter. “Jake offered you a job, the kind of job most guys would jump at. But, being you, you got self-conscious and insecure and immediately took offense to things that weren’t actually there or even intended.”

  “That’s a little harsh.”

  “Now you know how news travels in small towns, so I know that you and Mia had a bit of a falling out.”

  Groaning, Austin’s head fell back. “And this is why…”

  “Yeah, yeah, yeah, small town gossip is annoying. We all know it. Focus, Austin!” he said with a hint of annoyance. “The two of you had a disagreement, things were said, and now…what? You’re never going to talk to her or see her again?”

  “You know, you don’t marry every woman you date,” he countered. “Maybe things just weren’t meant to work out.”

  “Do you honestly believe that? Because all everyone has been talking about since Asher’s party is the two of you and how it was so good to see you looking so happy. And it seems the same goes for Mia. We all met her when Kyle and Sydney got married and the woman from the wedding was nothing like the woman you brought to Mason’s. The two of you are good for each other. Think about that.”

  “It’s all I’ve been thinking about, but…” Raking a hand through his hair, he looked over at his cousin. “What do I bring to the table with someone like Mia? She’s wealthy, famous, and incredibly smart. Look at me! I’m just a working guy who got fired from his last job and who got arrested. I’ve got nothing, Sam.”

  “Has she ever made you feel bad about what you do for a living?”

  “No, but…”

  “Did you tell her about the whole getting fired and arrested thing?”

  “Well, yeah, but…”

  “Did she hold it against you?”

  “No, but…”

  Sam held up a hand to stop him. “Dude, you want to talk about not feeling worthy? I married the pastor’s daughter! Let that sink in for a moment. Me. The screwup who did most of my wild stunts in the church parking lot!” He laughed out loud as he shook his head. “Hell, her father told me right to my face I wasn’t good enough for Shelby and yet…here we are.”

  “It’s not the same…”

  “It’s exactly the same!” he shouted as he jumped to his feet. “You made mistakes, Austin! Don’t let them define you!” Then he moved in close until he was almost nose-to-nose with him. “Don’t let anyone tell you you’re not good enough. You’re Austin freaking Coleman and you overcame a crappy childhood and made something of yourself. Own that shit.”

  Austin knew Sam was right but…

  “It’s just hard to believe I can have all that,” he murmured. “Not just the business, but someone like Mia.”

  Sam clapped a hand on his shoulder as he straightened and squeezed. “Believe it because it’s possible.”

  “How?”

  “Just…trust me, okay? I’m not going to stand here and hold your hand and make you do anything, Austin. The rest is up to you. Just know I believe in you and so do a ton of other people. You deserve to be happy.”

  He felt his face heat as he gruffly said, “Thanks, Sam. That means a lot to me.”

  “Good. And when you’re ready, I’d like to talk to you about designing a bigger place for me and Shelby.” He grinned and looked around. “Not quite as spacious as this, but…we definitely are ready for an upgrade and we’d love for you to be the one to design it.”

  “Sam, you don’t have to say that.”

  “And I heard Peyton’s already talked to you about doing her plans when she buys property next year for a new restaurant.”

  He nodded. “She did.”

  Sam started to walk toward the front door. “And I may have mentioned your name to my father-in-law because the church is busting at the seams. I told him they need to talk to someone who can design something incredible because it will draw more people to church on Sundays.” He winked. “Pretty clever, right?”

  “I haven’t said I’m staying you know.”

  Pulling his sunglasses from his pocket, Sam grinned. “You also haven’t said you were leaving.” He pulled open the front door. “Enjoy the rest of the cake!”

  After he was gone, Austin stared at the closed door for a solid minute and thought about everything they had just talked about and wondered if it was time to begin a new chapter in his life.

  One where he wasn’t the kid whose father abandoned him.

  Or a hell-raiser.

  Or a screwup.

  You deserve to be happy.

  And dammit, he did. Now he just had to figure out how to make it all happen.

  12

  “I killed him!” Melanie cried out as she jumped to her feet. Tears were streaming down her face as she spoke. “It was me! Me! You can let everyone else go, Detective. You’ve found your murderer.”

  The entire room had gone silent. Melanie hung her head as humiliation washed over her. It was one thing to have killed a man; it was another to admit it in a room full of her friends and neighbors.

  “She’s lying,” Crystal Bennet called out, causing everyone—including Melanie—to look over at her. “It was me. I killed Austin.”

  Detective Morgan slowly walked over to Crystal. He towered over her by at least a foot, but she didn’t even flinch. “You killed him?”

  Nodding, she said, “I did.”

  The detective looked back over at Melanie and frowned. “You realize that…”

  “They’re both lying!” Mitchell said firmly, walking to stand beside Crystal. “I killed him. I’m the one who beat his head in with the hammer. Let them both go.”

  Now Detective Morgan looked irritated. “So now three of you are confessing. Do I have that right?”

  Melanie was about to speak up when Janet joined in. “Don’t listen to any of them, detective! I did it! I came in here while he was sleeping and did it. I bashed his head repeatedly with that hammer. There was no way I could take another day living under the pressure he was putting on me!”

  Melanie glanced over at Janet and saw she was trembling and wondered why she was confessing. Why were any of them confessing? It didn’t make any sense! Didn’t they realize they were free? By doing the one thing they all wanted to do—which was to get rid of Austin—they could all go back to their normal lives!

  “You all need to stop,” Melanie said, her voice stronger than she thought possible. “I appreciate what you’re trying to do, but please…don’t. I did this. My prints are on the hammer.” She looked at Detective Morgan. “You can check that right now, can’t you?”

  “It won’t matter,” Will Gabbert stated as he, too, came to his feet. “David and I were here and we did it together. He held Austin down while I bludgeoned him. And he deserved it
.”

  At that point, Melanie had no idea what was going to happen. All she did know was that she was confused and scared and…

  “Well, well, well…what do we have here?”

  All eyes turned as Austin Maxwell—clearly back from the dead—strolled into the room.

  It was close to midnight on Saturday night and her eyes were having trouble focusing on the screen so Mia knew it was time to throw in the towel. Earlier, she sent her edits to Jill and with nothing but time on her hands, she came back to play around with Deadly Renovation and was almost giddy with the plot twist that just came to her. It was like that sometimes—she would have no idea where exactly the story was going and then the characters just started speaking for themselves and she had no choice but to keep listening and typing.

  She loved when it happened like that.

  Unfortunately, she was exhausted and in desperate need of sleep.

  She didn’t have far to go considering she was typing in bed and already in her pajamas, so she simply placed the laptop on the bedside table, turned off the light, and slid under the blankets.

  It felt glorious and in no time, she was sound asleep.

  The next time she opened her eyes, it was to the sound of power tools and loud music. Mia sat up and pushed her hair from her face and took a minute to get her bearings. After a minute she realized she wasn’t dreaming—or having a nightmare—she was definitely hearing what she thought she was hearing.

  “Son of a bitch,” she murmured, kicking the blankets off as she climbed from the bed. “Spiteful, petty, son of a bitch!” Storming into the bathroom, she quickly stripped out of her nightgown and threw on a pair of yoga pants and a sweatshirt. “Since we’re not sleeping together anymore, I suppose he thinks it’s perfectly acceptable to go back to being a total jerk. Well, we’ll just see about that.”

  She kept a pair of flip flops by the back door and quickly slipped them on before slamming the glass door open with more force than necessary.

  Stomping her way across the deck, down the steps, across the sand, and then up the steps to Austin’s deck, she called him every name in the book. For days she had waited for him to come and talk to her. Jake had made it seem like it was a sure thing—if she just waited, he’d be there.

  But he hadn’t.

  And now he was being the same noisy pain in the butt she had first met.

  “Should have stuck with my first impression,” she murmured as she reached the deck. The glass doors leading to the house were wide open and when she approached, she stopped short.

  The radio was blasting and Austin was sitting in the middle of the empty living room on top of a step ladder and simply holding a circular saw in his hands.

  Not cutting anything.

  Just sitting there and letting it run in the air.

  “What the hell is the matter with you?” she demanded as she advanced on him. “Do you have any idea what time it is?”

  Glancing at the watch on his wrist, he looked up at her and smiled. “I believe it’s 7:05.”

  That was it? That was all he had to say? Mia took another step toward him. “Why are you like this? We had an agreement about the tools and the music! This is just you being childish and…and…rude! You’re back to being rude!” She gasped when the room became deadly silent. The music and the sound of the saw both turned off, and now she felt a little awkward.

  Casually, Austin placed the saw on the floor on top of a cut-up box and then he sauntered over to her with that ridiculous smirk that always irritated her. “As for what’s wrong with me,” he began, his voice a little gruff, “I figured this was the only way to get you to come and talk to me. And it worked.”

  “You are unbelievable,” she spat and turned to walk out the door. “I don’t have time for games with you.”

  “We need to talk, Mia,” he said, and there was very little heat in his words.

  It was the only reason she turned around and faced him again.

  The look on his face was enough to make her calm down. He looked as miserable as she felt and as silly as it sounded, it was nice to know she wasn’t alone.

  “I went to the bakery and got us some cinnamon rolls and coffee,” he said. “I only have a couple of folding chairs but I can probably grab the upholstered chair from the master bath if you’d like that instead.”

  “That’s very sweet of you, but…why don’t we go next door?”

  He looked surprised. “Are you sure?”

  Mia nodded. “You’re right. We do need to talk.” Looking toward the kitchen, she spotted the bakery box. “You grab the coffee; I’ll grab the cinnamon rolls.”

  Neither said a word while they gathered everything and walked over to her house. It wasn’t until they each had their pastry on a plate with a fork and a napkin that they broke the silence.

  “We should probably do this at the table,” Austin suggested. “These things are the size of small Frisbees and there’s no way to eat them without making a mess.”

  Laughing softly, she knew exactly what he meant. “Sounds like a good idea.” They sat facing each other and Mia wasn’t sure who was going to be brave enough to talk about what happened between them.

  But she did know that the smell of cinnamon was making her crazy, and she had to take a bite before she did anything else.

  “Oh my God…” she moaned.

  Austin grinned. “Hot from the oven, they are the best.”

  “I can’t believe I haven’t tried these before!” And she knew she’d be going to the bakery herself and buying them again.

  When she went to take a sip of her coffee, she saw how Austin’s expression looked grim and she braced herself for whatever he was going to say.

  “I’ve had a lot of bad things happen in my life,” he began quietly. “My father left us, my mom struggled, and it seemed like we were always broke. I had to sit back and watch my cousins get everything they ever wanted while we had to fight for basic necessities. A lot of people wrote us off as boys who were never going to amount to anything, and for a long time, I believed them.” He paused and stared down into his coffee. “It seemed like good things happened to other people and never to me.” Now he looked back at her. “I’m not saying it excuses my bad behavior, but I want you to understand where I’m coming from.”

  “I know all this, Austin,” she replied, her voice equally soft. “You don’t need to explain your background to me. None of that matters. It never mattered to me.”

  “But it does to me,” he quickly countered. “I look at you and…I don’t feel worthy. You are so damn far out of my league and I knew that going in. Everyone knew it, but I couldn’t stay away.”

  Reaching out, she placed her hand over his. “I didn’t want you to stay away.” Then she swallowed hard. “I still don’t want you to stay away. I’ve missed you.”

  “I’ve missed you too.”

  She sensed a but…

  “But…when you told me you didn’t want me here to meet your parents, it brought every insecurity to the surface, and before I knew it, that rebellious kid who always thought he wasn’t good enough was right there again. I’m so sorry for the things I said to you. I know I can’t take them back, but…”

  “I appreciate the apology, but honestly, Austin, I’m the one who needs to apologize.”

  “No, you really don’t. It’s my issue and…”

  “When we were at Asher’s party and I heard the way Georgia talked to you, her words didn’t bother me like they should have.” She paused and tried to think of the right way to describe it. “I know a lot of people who talk like that all the time. I was raised around that kind of attitude and smugness. Most of the time, I never thought anything of it. It wasn’t until I heard it being directed at someone I cared about that I realized how wrong it was.” She squeezed his hand. “I am so sorry she did that to you, but I knew my parents were going to be just like that, maybe even worse.”

  “I understand, Mia. I get how you were trying to protect me�
�”

  “And yet I didn’t. It didn’t even matter because you still had to deal with them and they were awful to you while gushing over that idiot, Ryder!”

  He barked out a laugh. “You think Ryder’s an idiot?”

  “Oh my God, yes!” Making a face, she shuddered. “He was just so smooth and conceited, and I wanted to tell him to shut up about a dozen times! Of course my parents were just eating it up, and I realized how ridiculous they were behaving. I couldn’t wait for them to leave because it was all just too much.”

  “Did you say anything to them about it?”

  Shame washed over her. “No.” Looking up at him, she felt tears sting her eyes. “It’s crazy, right? I can stand up to your aunt, to my editor, to you, but not them. My mother changed so many things on my renovation back home and I couldn’t even stand up to her on that! I’m going to have to go home and either live with things I hate or pay to have it all done over! When I tried to tell her how I felt, she just talked right over me like my thoughts and feelings didn’t matter.”

  “I don’t even know what to say to that.”

  “Here’s the thing, Austin, you think nothing good ever happened to you, but…did your mother love you and accept you for who you were?”

  “Of course.”

  “And your brothers?”

  “They’re like my best friends.”

  “Did you have friends you could laugh and play with? Cousins you could laugh and play with even if they were richer than you?”

  “Well…yeah.”

  “I didn’t,” she said, meeting his gaze. “While my parents were supportive, I don’t ever remember them saying ‘I love you’ to me or just being happy where I was at in life. There were always expectations of more—I needed to work harder, study more, and my intelligence had to be a constant source of how much they approved of me.”

  “Mia, I…”

  “I was younger than everyone in my class because I skipped grades, so I never had any real friends until I met Sydney in college. I have no cousins and every social event I ever went to, I was usually the only child there.”