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Authors: Mari Carr
Something Sparked
By Mari Carr
Something Sparked
Copyright 2015 Mari Carr
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IRONHORSE Formatting
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.
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Table of Contents
“Hey, Jeannette. Where’s my side of fries for this order?”
“Sorry, Paige. Coming right up.” Jeannette Sparks closed her eyes, wishing she could wake up a bit, find some energy.
She’d been dragging her weary ass through the last seven hours of work, listless and bored. Both feelings were fairly new to her. She usually loved her job and had a blast working with her family to keep Sparks Barbeque one of the top-ranked restaurants in Texas. For years, they’d placed number one in the travel guides as countless tourists were told to plan a stop at Sparks. Jeannette was proud of the role she’d played in putting her hometown of Maris, Texas and her family’s business there.
However, lately, the bloom was fading on that rose. She’d had to force herself to climb out of bed and come to work this morning, and then she had basically phoned it in, slapping sandwiches and ribs on plates all damn day.
“You okay?” Sydney asked when Jeannette returned to the kitchen to grab the fries she’d just forgotten. “You’ve been quiet all day.”
“I had some trouble sleeping last night,” Jeannette lied. That was the complete opposite of her trouble. In fact, Jeannette had been falling into bed as soon as she got home every day and sleeping the sleep of the dead for ten hours—twelve on her days off—without even rolling over.
She considered paying a visit to Tyson, her cousin and the town’s resident doctor, to see if she’d caught mono somehow. Though she couldn’t imagine how she’d catch that disease. God knew she hadn’t kissed anyone in a freakishly long time. Years.
She picked up the fries and took a steadying breath. She was one hour away from quitting time. She just had to get through the lunch rush and then she was free to go home and hit the couch. She and Paige had worked the morning and lunch shifts and her cousins Sydney, Macie and Adele were covering the dinner crowd.
“One hour,” she murmured as she pressed open the swinging door between the kitchen and the main dining area.
As she turned, she caught sight of three new patrons sitting at the bar chatting with Macie—who’d come in early and taken up the reins as Mistress of Happy Hour. Two were familiar faces. Diego Rodriguez and Luc Kovach made up the sum equivalent of the Maris Fire Department, the only full-timers. The rest of the department was made up of volunteers.
The two dark-haired men were sexy as sin, shameless flirts, and well known around town for their propensity for threesomes. She’d heard countless rumors about Diego, Luc and whatever flavor of the month they’d managed to ensnare in their web. Not that there were many flies trying to avoid that trap. Too many of the single women in town were casting themselves upon it.
Ordinarily, Diego and Luc went out of their way to annoy her, flirting and asking her out just to make her blush and get under her skin. They knew she didn’t approve of their dating style, though apparently she was the only person in town who felt it wasn’t normal. She’d even heard her Aunt Louise and Aunt Beverly tittering about the firefighters one morning over coffee, Aunt Beverly wishing she were thirty years younger.
However, it was the third face that caught Jeannette’s attention.
“Look what the cat dragged in,” Macie said with a huge grin, pointing to the man.
Jeannette had heard Billy Mathers was back in town. For the first month or two, she had expected him to stop by to see her. Mercifully, he hadn’t. Three months had passed and she had foolishly begun to feel safe, thinking he was avoiding her, which suited her just fine.
So much for that small bit of luck. As if her life didn’t suck enough nowadays.
“Hey, Billy.” Jeannette inwardly winced at the bitterness in her tone. She’d had time to practice her response to him. She needed to do better than this.
Billy smiled at her, the same sweet smile he’d graced her with all those years ago when he’d won her heart in the tenth grade. “Hi, Nettie. Good to see you again.” Though his face had aged and his middle had widened, she could still see the boy he’d been underneath the man he had become. Unfortunately, the kind tone and greeting did nothing to calm her nerves.
“You too.” She choked out the lie awkwardly. The fact was it
wasn’t
good to see him. She had hoped to never see him again. Coming face-to-face with him now after all these years brought up a host of memories she’d thought were buried deep enough they would never see the light of day again. Apparently she’d been wrong about that, too.
She didn’t have the energy for this. She really didn’t.
“You two know each other?” Diego asked.
Jeannette didn’t bother to answer. She didn’t need to. Macie was there, and when her vivacious cousin was in the room, it was unnecessary for Jeannette to speak. Which never really bothered Jeannette. She had always suffered from shyness, so Macie had assumed the role as her mouthpiece.
Sometimes that worked in Jeannette’s favor, allowing her to be a part of the conversation without having to put in much effort. Sometimes—like now—it wasn’t a great thing.
“Jeannette and Billy were quite the item back in high school. Dated for all of…how long was it, Nettie? Eight months? Nine?”
Jeannette shrugged. She’d dated Billy ten months, three weeks and four days. He’d been her first love. Hell, he’d been her only love.
“Quite a long run for teenagers,” Macie declared.
Jeannette could feel Billy’s eyes on her face, but she didn’t look in his direction. Instead, she focused all her attention on Macie, while trying to beat down the red flames heating her face. If she didn’t get out of here soon, she’d give herself a sunburn from the inside out.
Luc perked up and turned to Billy. “Her boyfriend, huh? Got any pointers for us sad saps she keeps refusing to go out with?”
The words were spoken in jest. Like they always were whenever Luc and Diego tried to convince her to date them. Usually, she’d just give them a warning look and walk away as they laughed, but hearing him make the joke in front of Billy made her stomach clench nervously.
“Here are your fries, Paige.” Jeannette handed them to her. “I need to clear some tables,” she announced to no one in particular as she walked away hastily, pointedly ignoring the surprised look on Macie’s face. As far as her cousin knew, Billy had been the love of Jeannette’s life, the boy who’d broken her heart, the one Jeannette had never gotten over. Clearly Macie had anticipated some conversation.
There were some parts of what her cousin believed that were true, but it was the stuff Macie
didn’t
know that had pretty much fucked Jeannette up.
She’d spent a lot of nights wondering how her life might have turned out differently if not for two things—the death of her parents and Billy Mathers. While she had always suffered from shyness, she’d begun to shed some of that awkwardness in tenth grade, coming out of her shell. That was why Billy had noticed her. Jeannette had started taking more care with her looks, wearing makeup, trying to feminize the pixie cut her mother had insisted looked good on her, choosing outfits that didn’t scream
convent
.
That year had been the best of her life. She was gaining confidence, friends, and had gotten herself a boyfriend. She’d been on top of the world.
Then the bottom fell out. Her parents were killed in a car accident. Their deaths knocked her down hard, but not completely out. That final blow came from Billy. She had still been staggering to her feet when he’d delivered the knockout punch.
After that, she didn’t bother to stand up. She’d crawled into her shell and stayed there.
Which would be fine, if the fucking casing didn’t chafe so much.
She hoped no one was watching her as she began to clear away dirty dishes from a booth against the wall. If they were, they’d see her hands trembling.
Her Uncle TJ had been hanging out at the center table with a bunch of his cronies. As he was never one to let an awkward silence hover, he joined the conversation. “What brings you back to Maris, Billy?”
Jeannette eavesdropped as Billy explained the reason for his return. “My Uncle Roy’s been having some health issues lately, so Scott and I came back to help him keep the farm running.”
So Scott was back too. Jeannette had never been overly fond of Billy’s older brother. He’d been the poster child for bullying in school, using his larger size to intimidate anyone who was younger or smaller than he was. However, she’d never mentioned her dislike to Billy, who seemed to think his big brother hung the moon.
Everyone knew Billy and Scott would inherit Roy’s land when he passed away. The grumpy old man had never married, never had kids of his own. Like Scott, Roy was a mean son of a bitch.
Even so, Billy had been gone fifteen years. Part of Jeannette had hoped he’d simply sell his uncle’s land and split the profit with his brother, remaining far away from Maris. After all, it wasn’t like the boys had any long-standing ties to the community. They’d lived here a year and a half when they were teens after their mother had split up with stepfather number three, moving them again when she married bachelor number four.
“We moved around a lot when we were kids. I have to admit, Maris was the only place that ever felt like home,” Billy explained.
Jeannette caught a glimpse of Macie staring at her and she quickly looked away. This wasn’t good. No doubt the matchmaking wheels were already spinning madly in her cousin’s head. It wouldn’t be the first time Macie had tried to set her up with someone. Hell, it wouldn’t be the fiftieth time. Macie was relentless when it came to Jeannette’s love life—or lack thereof.
“That’s great. I suspect there are a lot of folks around here who will be tickled to death to hear you’re planning to stick around,” Macie said, looking pointedly at Jeannette.
Jeannette’s chest tightened and her stomach roiled. She wouldn’t go out with Billy again. Not ever. But she couldn’t tell her cousin why. That was a secret she’d buried right along with herself a long time ago.
Billy demurred and Jeannette feared he would follow Macie’s gaze to her. She turned her back on them and forced herself to concentrate on the table, tossing the cups and dirty napkins in the bin, while returning the salt, pepper, ketchup and vinegar to the little basket that remained there.
“It’s good to see you again.”
Billy’s voice right behind her caught her unaware and she jumped, nearly dropping the tub of dirty dishes.
He reached out and helped her steady the load, his arm grazing hers. She recoiled at the touch as if he were a venomous snake, taking a quick step away from him.
Billy frowned as he studied her face, and then slowly nodded. “I should go.”
“Okay,” she said too hastily, too loudly.