The strange feeling Waverly couldn’t describe from a few moments ago came back as she read the letters on the card.
“Holy hell, Waverly.” Andrew gasped. His shoes squeaked against the hardwood floors. “Mmm, Thanksgiving might be over but I certainly know who I’m thankful for. Did you see who reopened up shop across the street?”
No need to turn around. Waverly knew. “Yes.”
“After three months of radio silence, Dominic Crowne is back in town?”
Not able to take it, Waverly turned around to face the window. Her shoulders brushed against the stargazed Andrew. The lamp in the garage flickered above his head. There was no mistaking Dominic’s handsome face or his cockiness. He had the nerve to salute her before disappearing inside.
“Yep,” Waverly said, “and he wants to see me at my earliest convenience.”
* * *
“So do you think your little trick worked?”
Dominic turned toward the sound of his sister’s voice. His eyes needed to adjust to the lights being turned back on inside Crowne’s Garage. Alisha stood by the register and flipped through three months’ worth of mail. By now Dominic’s molars were in perpetual pain after grinding his teeth together to keep from saying something hurtful to Alisha. Thanks to her, Crowne’s Garage had been abandoned for the last three months. Mayor Ascot took it upon himself to post vacancy signs on the doors. Dominic was sure the act was petty and malicious, but he had other things to worry about besides dealing with the cowardly man. When Dominic took off to Arizona, Alisha considered herself to be on vacation, as well. He should have had a clue when he booked her Thanksgiving flight out of Miami. Without telling his siblings, Dominic flew out to care for their estranged father. When the end came near, he called the rest of the family in time, and they buried John after finally getting years of hostility off their chests. Not much of a great Thanksgiving weekend. Dominic chartered a flight for him and Alisha to return to Southwood this morning. Their brothers, Darren and Dario, were coming back to Southwood for the holidays in a few weeks.
“Tiffani told me you paid her folks a lot of money for the cupcake arrangement you sent over,” Alisha went on. “What did you write in the note?”
“I wrote in the note,” he began, “for her to come over at her earliest convenience.”
Dominic didn’t expect to see Waverly anytime soon. She probably hated him for leaving her in the dark for three months. After the runoff announcement back in August, he had every intention to speak with her, but the call about his father’s near-death experience took precedence. Dominic would have been damned before letting his father die without giving him a piece of his mind. He took off without a word, fully expecting to bury his father before September rolled around. Damn John Crowne and his penchant for hanging on to dear life and linger
ing just until Thanksgiving. Dominic had embarrassed himself by not getting in touch with Waverly.
Because of his visit to John’s alleged deathbed in August, the man hung on to life for a few more months, causing Dominic to break his promise to Waverly. He’d promised to help her out in gaining her Miss Georgia crown. He hated having to go back on his word. He felt like a heel for doing so, especially with John being the reason. Dominic had seethed with burning anger when John did not die right away. Dominic had wanted to curse the man and return to Waverly. But the moment Dominic had stormed into John’s hospital room and locked eyes with his father, something changed. John Crowne, barely sitting upright, began bawling and apologizing. He was embarrassed for anyone to find out he’d caved so easily. For the first time in his life, Dominic experienced forgiveness and in doing so, a Zen feeling had washed over him. He needed to stay for closure. By October, Dominic had decided on what was best for Waverly and her quest for her next tiara. He’d kept tabs on her winning over crowds at the Labor Day picnic held in the park, judging a Halloween contest for the kids at Four Points General Hospital and arriving on a float for the Veterans Day parade. Dominic even went as far as following the pageant world on social media. Waverly stood out from the other Southern pageant queens forced into the runoff. If everyone voted today, she would win hands down. Even the vicious memes of Waverly losing her Miss South Georgia crown died down and were replaced with other things going on in social media.
In order for Waverly to continue on her successful pageant path, Dominic wondered if it was best to stay away. Besides, Waverly probably hated him by now or at least wrote him off. Dominic didn’t blame her. He’d dropped everything for a man who never gave his family a second thought. Dominic and Waverly had been on the way to something—what exactly, he wasn’t sure, but they had a deep connection.
Alisha scoffed and tapped a political flyer for a local election on top of the credit card machine. “She’s Miss Southwood. Tiffani says she’s rarely in town, you know, doing all those beauty queen duties and campaigning to secure her spot for the Miss Georgia Pageant.”
“I know exactly who she is,” Dominic bit out, trying to remember Alisha’s naïveté. She had no clue of the damage her vacation had done. He should have told her from the beginning about John’s illness. Dominic had meant to protect his siblings by not telling them about John at first. He’d left a note at Crowne’s Garage for Alisha that he’d had to leave town. Alisha had assumed Dominic went off on another business trip. “I’m the one who made sure she got the tiara.”
“You bought her the dress and paid the entry fee under your bogus Miss Crowne’s Garage title,” Alisha said with a droll eye roll. “I’m pretty sure her beauty had a lot to do with it.”
Ah yes. The thought of Waverly’s pretty heart-shaped face made him smile, wiping away all the frustration. A few moments ago he’d been able to spy on her before the power kicked back on and exposed his position like some stalker. When he stepped outside to get some air, he’d spied her long legs, the same thing that had attracted him the first time they met. Tonight Waverly had been wearing a pair of sandals that wrapped around her calves and went up to her knees. One day soon he was going to find out how nice it was having her legs wrapped all the way around his waist.
“Hey.” Alisha snapped her blue-painted nails in his face. “Earth to Dominic. Keep or throw away?”
Dominic focused on the flyer for the election they’d just missed. “Throw it away.”
“What do you have here?” Dominic picked up one of the stacks Alisha sorted.
Hamilton the pig grunted at his feet, almost causing him to trip. “Move, pig.”
“Don’t be mean to him,” Alisha said, poking out her bottom lip. “He’s been through a lot.”
A lot, meaning Hamilton had to fly out to Arizona with the rest of the animal cargo. Alisha didn’t get an official letter claiming her need for emotional support. “Whatever, Alisha. I still can’t believe you put him in a suit for Pop’s funeral.”
“You got mad at me for putting him in a tutu, so make up your mind.”
“I’m trying to make up my mind as to whether or not I’m going to fire you,” Dominic growled. Thank God he was able to make it to city hall this afternoon to get the lights to the business turned on, and that they’d honored his six-month advance payment by turning them on a few minutes ago.
“I didn’t realize your bill wasn’t automatically paid out of your account. You ought to keep a record of it.”
“Like a bookkeeper?”
Alisha’s light brown face lit up. “Yeah, exactly.”