Small-Town Sweetheart (The Spring Grove Series Book 2) Read online

  I got it too. I went to school to be a vet, my dream career. There wasn’t a moment during my childhood when I wasn’t finding a way to help animals or volunteering at Dr. Ross’s clinic. It drove my dad crazy that I didn’t want to work in the distillery with him, but it wasn’t my passion. Devin’s passion, yes, but not mine. My passion is animals.

  I was always the odd one out, though. Unlike my brothers and sister, I don’t have the famous McElroy red hair. I’m dark, with dark-green eyes. I was the pariah of the town, and sometimes people didn’t acknowledge that I was my parents’ kid. I was so different. I kept to myself, and I had goals. I wanted more than what the stupid town could give me. I wasn’t quiet about it either. Because of that, Dad wasn’t very happy with me growing up.

  But even he couldn’t deny that I was going to succeed. I got hired right out of college at my buddy’s clinic that his dad owned. Noah owns it now, and we’re a great team. The best clinic in Lexington. People travel to us to help their pets, and we’re doing great things here. I’m happy, which is why I haven’t gone back home even though I have a job with Dr. Ross anytime I want it. I don’t want it, though. I don’t want to go back, but now I have no choice.

  I have to go back to Spring Grove.

  When the door to Noah’s and my office opens, I run my hands over my face and inhale deeply.

  “Hey, Ms. Wilbert is back. She thinks Oats ate another sock.”

  I nod as I stand. I hope my face is free of tears as I turn to my longtime friend. We met in college as roommates and have been close ever since. When his eyes meet mine, I can see the concern swimming in his brown depths. “You all right?”

  I shake my head. “My dad passed away.”

  His eyes widen. “What? Dude, I’m sorry.”

  He reaches out, cupping my shoulder, and I nod. “Thanks. Listen, I’m gonna take off. I gotta head to Spring Grove.”

  He nods quickly, squeezing my shoulder. “Of course, man. I’m so sorry. Do you want me to come?”

  I shake my head. “No, thanks. You’ve got Cynthia and the girls and then this place. Someone has to run it while I’m gone.”

  “Yeah. Pass my condolences on to your family, okay?”

  My eyes start to well up again. Noah’s always been a good friend. “Thanks, man. I’ll call you when I know more of when I’ll be back.”

  “Of course. Take your time.”

  I swallow hard, appreciating his concern and support. “Hopefully I’ll be back by Tuesday.”

  Noah shakes his head. “Dude, I know you don’t want to go back, but really, take all the time you need.”

  Yeah, going back to Spring Grove is the last thing I want to do.

  My dad knew that, but he made sure this time I’d have no choice.

  Thanks, Dad.

  Nothing in this town has changed.

  It’s as if I left for college and came back the following week. Everything looks the same, nothing out of place, except everyone is older. I expected stuff to be more modern. I mean, I know the distillery is—my dad made sure of that with all the tourists coming through—but everything else is the same. I thought by now they would have done something else with the town square fountain. It was built when Ambrosia was two, but even after twenty years, nothing has been done to make it better. Made up of barrels on top of barrels, with water coming out of all the ends, there are cement statues of little children playing among them. Those children are my siblings and me. Though, mine is off in the back and hardly noticeable. Ambrosia, she is front and center, mostly because Dad loved her the most.

  Can’t blame him. She’s an angel.

  Around the fountain, like it was the day I left, are all the necessities of the town: the post office, the police department, the courthouse, the fire department, the clinic. Everything is right here, making a huge ring around the fountain, and absolutely nothing is out of place. I went through the Gas and Go on my way in, and in bright-red letters above the cash register, a sign read “Only take cash and checks.” Thank God I had some cash on me, because I haven’t written a check in ten years. Everyone carries plastic—everyone—so why is Spring Grove stuck in the fifties? It’s insane and bothersome for sure. Another reason the moment I stepped in, I wanted to step back out.

  I can’t run away, though. Today, we bury my dad, yet I am finding it hard to go into the church I grew up in. No one in Spring Grove ever missed a Sunday. I usually hung out in the back with my buddy Theo, since Holden’s mawmaw made him sit up front. But today, it will be me sitting in the front.

  Saying goodbye to my dad.

  He had a damn good life, though. He was a great man, strong and loud. He brought so much money into this town, and because of that, people respected him, loved him. And he loved them. He would do anything for anyone, but he loved his children the most. There wasn’t a day that passed where he didn’t text me something. Even if it was just a “Hey, have a good day” or even a simple “I love you,” he always made me feel loved.

  I toe the tip of my dress shoe in the grass outside the church as I look up at the bright sky. It’s sunny, a bit warm, and of course, the whole town is showing up for Dad’s funeral. I haven’t seen these people in years, and like I expected, they really don’t pay me much mind as they walk by, entering the church. Pretty sure, in their eyes, I’ve been dead these last fourteen years instead of living a successful life in Lexington. How dare the heir to McElroy’s Distillery not want to run it? Oh, the blasphemy. Screw them all; I wanted more than this town could give me. So sue me.

  I tuck my hands into my pockets as I lean on the side of the church, wishing like hell I still smoked. I gave it up when I was twenty-two, per my mom’s orders. She said if I was going to preach health to animals, then I needed to be healthy. It made no sense, but I love my mom, so I did as she asked. Plus, I felt bad that I wasn’t coming back home after college. So, instead of telling her that initially, I told her after I quit. It all seemed like a solid idea until she realized I wasn’t coming home to work for Dr. Ross. Then she was just pissed and bitched at me every time she got a chance. I’m still unsure why she and Dad felt betrayed, but they did. They accepted it, but there had never been a phone call that didn’t end with them begging me to come home. I always found a reason out of it, but there was no way out of this.

  Not that I wanted one.

  I hadn’t seen my siblings in years. I talked with them weekly, we made sure of that, but seeing them, hugging them, and mourning with them… I hadn’t realized how much I missed them. I knew I missed my mom and my dad, but I had seen them both just a month ago when they came to visit. Even then, my dad was so full of life, a laugh at every turn. Being in the house, not hearing his laugh, it hurt. But hearing the sobs of my family makes it even worse. I run my fingers through my hair as emotion chokes me. I don’t want to do this. I don’t want to bury my dad. Damn it.

  I clear my throat and look up just as my childhood buddy catches my gaze.

  “Hey, asshole, never thought I’d see you around here again,” Theo Hudson calls to me, and I laugh. He kisses a curvy blonde’s cheek before veering off the sidewalk toward me. With quick grins, we wrap up in a tight hug. There isn’t a childhood memory of mine that Theo isn’t in. We were both outcasts, along with our buddy Holden. We were the guys you didn’t let date your daughter but the ones you called on when you needed something done in a hurry. People loved to talk about us, mostly ’cause they felt sorry for us. Theo was the bastard kid of some rich guy in Washington. Holden’s momma didn’t want him, and I was the black sheep of my family. My dad didn’t love me the way he loved the other kids. I knew it was bullshit, but it stung.

  “Hey, man, how you doing? Ugly as ever,” I tease, and he laughs as he slaps my back.

  “I was thinking the same about you.” We laugh as we part, and his eyes turn sad. “I’m really sorry about your dad. We’re gonna miss him. He was the best guy in town.”

  I swallow hard. “Yeah, that’s the damn truth.”