Braydon(25)

Why she was rushing, she had no idea. It wasn’t like Braydon was going to come after her. They were both probably relieved that she’d left, although now Brendon wouldn’t have anyone to blame for the events of the last few months.

Just in case, she flipped the dead bolt on the front door and tossed her keys on the small table close by before heading to the kitchen. The adrenaline flooding her system was the only thing that kept her moving. It didn’t help that she’d started to shake, her arms and legs trembling.

Probably not from adrenaline though.

When her cell phone rang a second later, she nearly came out of her skin. Jessie rushed back to the entryway, glanced down at the screen, and that was when she realized it was Kylie.

“Relax, woman,” she told herself as she hit the Talk button and greeted her sister.

“Just wanted to make sure you’re comin’ to dinner tonight,” Kylie responded, apparently too focused to apply the pleasantries that a phone call usually required. “I don’t appreciate you leaving, but I get it. I’m sorry if Travis scared you.”

“Braydon’s back,” Jessie said in a rush, not hearing most of what Kylie said.

“What?”

“He’s back. He’s at home now.”

There was silence on the other end of the line, and Jessie waited patiently for her sister to say something.

“Did you talk to him?” Kylie finally asked, her voice much softer than before.

“No.” And she didn’t want to, either. The only thing she cared about was that he was home where he belonged.

“Jess,” Kylie admonished.

“What?”

“Don’t you dare disappear on me. Do you understand?”

Jessie wasn’t sure she could make that promise, so she kept her mouth shut.

“Jess, I mean it. We’ve got a business to run. I can’t do this without you.” Kylie paused briefly. “I don’t want to do this without you. We’ll work through this, I promise.”

Work through what? Jessie didn’t know what Kylie was talking about. There was no way her sister could realize what was going on in Jessie’s mind. Or her heart.

“Jessie, promise me. Please.” The fraught tone of her sister’s request nearly broke her.

“I won’t,” she answered. “At least not right now.”

Kylie sighed, but she didn’t argue, although Jessie knew she wanted to. She was grateful for her sister’s ability to stay calm. At the moment, Jessie was pretty sure she was going to hyperventilate.

“Come to dinner tonight.”

“I can’t.” And that was the honest truth. Braydon would be at dinner, and it would be too awkward. Their family deserved to be able to spend time with him without having to worry about her feelings.

“Then I’ll stop by after,” Kylie suggested. “We’ll go to Moonshiners for a little while.”

Knowing she’d probably need the company, Jessie didn’t argue. “Okay.”

“All right. Well, I’ve got to go tell Travis that he nearly gave you a heart attack this morning for no reason.”

“I’ll see you later,” Jessie said and ended the call.

Making her way to the refrigerator, she retrieved a bottle of water and unscrewed the cap. Bottle in one hand, lid in the other, Jessie stared out into space, but she didn’t take a drink. She couldn’t. Her throat had tightened up to the point she couldn’t swallow.

She was going to cry, she knew it. Hoping that standing still would keep the dam from breaking, Jessie took huge gulps of air as she blinked her eyes repeatedly.

No matter how hard she tried not to, the tears started to fall and she couldn’t seem to stop them. From that point on, the sobs wracked her body and made breathing difficult. She was a mess. A complete and total mess, and the worst part about it was that it was all her fault.

How had she gotten into this position? How could she still be so affected after all the lonesome, tear-filled nights that had gotten her to this point? She wasn’t supposed to be sad. She wasn’t supposed to be upset. And she shouldn’t f*cking care that Braydon didn’t want to have anything to do with her anymore.

The last thought had more tears dripping down her cheeks.

Furiously brushing the tears away with the backs of her hands didn’t do any good, so she just gave up, letting them stream down her face. The fact that her emotions had gotten the best of her only pissed her off, but even that didn’t deter the damn tears.

What the hell was wrong with her?

Heading to her bedroom, Jessie flopped on her bed and clutched one of her pillows, the tears continuing to trickle onto the soft cotton. As she lay there blubbering, the devastation taking hold, she thought back to the day she’d met Braydon and Brendon. Back to the chance encounter that started it all, the night Jessie convinced Kylie to stop at Moonshiners for the very first time.

“Hey.”

Jessie was staring at the selection of music on the jukebox when a deep, sexy voice sounded from her right. She looked up into an incredibly attractive face sporting a brilliant white grin. She noticed he had long, dark lashes surrounding inquisitive eyes, but she couldn’t make out the color because his hat was casting his face in shadow. She didn’t need a spotlight to tell he was handsome.

“Hey back,” she retorted with a grin.