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

  Mom’s sobs break my heart. I get up, go to her, and wrap my arms around her neck. I kiss her soft cheek as she holds on to my hands, her fingers clinging to me. “It’s okay, Mom.”

  “I just miss him so damn much,” she cries, and I kiss her once more, my own tears falling to her shirt.

  “I know.”

  I hold her as I turn my attention to my dad. He’s still trying to decide if he should include Mom, but then he looks back at the camera. His curly red hair is a mess, and he has bits of barley in it. Even on a day when he was nice and clean, he still smelled like barley. His face is red, sunburned, but his eyes glow green as his lips curve up in the happiest smile. Just how I remember him. “Anyway, listen, y’all. The money, it’ll be deposited into your accounts. But there are some stipulations.”

  I pull my brows together as I stand. I wasn’t expecting money. I don’t need it, but then who turns down money from a multimillionaire?

  “Now, I’m making another tape for if Mom died with me because it’s gonna get to be a bit complicated. If she isn’t dead, wait to watch my film.”

  “I hate him,” Mom laughs, shaking her head. “He’s a nut.”

  I smile as I cross my arms over my chest. Dad moves some papers around and then holds them out in front of him. “All right, so you each have your own account with your cut. It’s been like this since you were born, and I’ve been putting money into it ever since. With Reed being the oldest, he gets the distillery. And before you freak the hell out, Devin, I know he doesn’t want it. Which is why, if he doesn’t, he can sell it to you for your cut.”

  Devin looks to me, and I nod. “Yeah, it’s fine.”

  My brother looks relieved, and Bryce grins over at me. “Thanks. He’s been stressing.”

  I shrug. “I don’t want it.”

  Before anyone can comment, though, Dad goes on. “Now, I’ll come back to Reed in a second, but Devin, know there’s a clause that you cannot sell my distillery. Not that I think you will, but you can’t. It will stay in the family, and you’ll get the deed when you have your first child. Until then, it will stay in Mom’s name, but the net profits will come to you each month. Like I have been doing, you are to take five percent of the earnings and give it to yourself, Ambrosia, and Bryce. Reed gets nothing since he doesn’t want it.”

  I chuckle. “Thanks, Dad.”

  “That can change, but let’s wait till the end.”

  When my siblings look back to me, I shrug as Dad goes on. “Now, Bryce, along with your cut of my money, I have more set aside to pay off your house and your car, but you don’t get that till you’re married.”

  Bryce makes a face. “What the hell? I don’t want to get married.”

  “I know what you’re saying, ‘But, Dad, I don’t want to get married.’ Listen to me, boy. You need a woman. You’re too wild, and I doubt that by the time I die, you’ll change.”

  Mom grins. “He’s right.”

  Bryce gives her a dry look. “I am not that bad.”

  “You’ve had to move to the outskirts of town because you’ve slept with everyone in town!”

  He shrugs. “So?”

  “So,” she says firmly, and he leans back in his chair.

  “I know you’re probably thinking you’ll just use the money I’m leaving you, but I trust you won’t. So, don’t let me down, boy.”

  “Well, shit,” Bryce complains, and soon a nervousness falls over me as I stare at my dad. I don’t think I’m going to like my stipulation.

  His eyes move along the paper he’s reading, and then he nods. “All right. Now, Ambrosia.”

  My sister sits up, her face full of fear. If he tells her to get married, she’ll probably pass out. She isn’t the most…um, how do I put this nicely? The girl is shy as hell, and I think she struggles even to talk to us. “Baby girl, I love you, but if I don’t get you out of that damn library, I think you’ll die alone with your cats.”

  She scrunches up her face. “What’s wrong with that?”

  Mom laughs. “A lot, baby.”

  “I want you to travel. Take a solid year and discover the world. Word that I’ve passed will get to the travel agent up in Hamby, and she’ll be emailing you.”

  Full terror fills Ambrosia’s face and I want to laugh, but I won’t.

  “And when you’re done, if you still want to live here, come on home. You will always have a home.”

  Her eyes are as big as saucers and I think she might faint, but before she can, Dad is speaking.

  “Back to Reed,” he says, but then he pauses, shaking his head. “I feel good about my other stipulations. I know you three will follow them, but this one might be something my firstborn will give me hell about when he meets me up here.”

  I feel the gaze of my siblings as I watch the screen. Dad’s bushy eyebrows pull together, and he bites on his lip before looking into the camera. “This town put a bad taste in your mouth from the moment you were old enough to notice that people didn’t treat you the same as your siblings. That’s my fault, for reasons I won’t tell you or even try to explain, but it’s my fault. Now, for the last couple years, I’ve always said that when I die, I hope this town takes my kids and loves them for me. Everyone always said they would, so now I want to test that theory.”

  My heart is pounding so hard it’s hard to hear my dad over it. My eyes are wide, and my fists clench as he goes on.

  “Reed, I want you to give this town another chance. I want you to come home and live here for eight weeks. I want you to be involved, I want you to get a job here and really be a part of this community. I think you’ll see that what you’ve been looking for out in Lexington has really been here the whole time.”

  My heart stops, falls into my gut, and disintegrates.

  “If you get to the end of the eight weeks and you want out, Austin here will have a check for you, and you go on. But please visit your momma and your siblings. They miss you, and Lord knows they love you. But if you decide to stay, you’ll get a cut of the distillery. It’s only eight weeks. Can you do that for me, son?”

  Eight weeks.

  In Spring Grove.

  You’ve got to be kidding me.

  Chapter Seven

  Delaney

  “From what I’m told, he has himself a week to figure out what he’s doing.”

  I lean my chin on the back of the pew as Sister Engelmann gazes into my mawmaw’s eyes, her hands moving with each word that leaves her wrinkled lips. I know I shouldn’t be listening to gossip, but it’s about Reed, and I need to know. Plus, that’s how we Southern Baptists do it. We chitchat about everything, and no one is ever left out. News about Reed is basically the highlight of the month. Everyone is talking about it. Which means I have no choice but to listen.

  Right?

  “He wasn’t happy with his daddy’s request, and he’s already gone on back to Lexington. Shirley, bless her, is not happy. She wants him to come back. It’s a great deal of money, and if he doesn’t get it, then the other kids will. She’s worried he’ll feel more isolated. Plus, it’s what his daddy wants.”

  Mawmaw nods. “It’s just downright sad how people treat him. He’s a good boy. I’ve always adored him.”

  “He was always just so standoffish, like he was better than us, but I made sure to love on him when I had the chance,” Sister Engelmann says, opening a bag of crackers. She has diabetes and needs her snacks. If she had one of those nun outfits, I bet it would be easier for her to store her snacks. Alas, she’s not a nun. Referring to her as Sister is done out of respect in our faith, and it’s how it’s been since before I was even born. “You know McElroy says it’s his fault how people treat that boy?”

  “No! How?”

  “You know his daddy didn’t want him involved with Reed’s momma. The whole town knew she was trouble, knew that Shirley was a sure bet. But he went with Reed’s momma, knocked her up, and got stuck. He was ready to give it all up, but then she died. When he came back around, tail between his l