Brady Remington Landed Me in Jail

"Deputy Doug asked me about my mom. Why would he ask me about my mom? Why would Frank Stephens hate me so much? Why wouldn't he press charges against you? Nothing makes sense, Brady. And there are girls who say awful things about me…I don't know what to think. I don't know what to do, but the one thing I do know is that kissing you will make things more confusing. It'll be all sorts of confusing. Do you know what I mean? Am I crazy here?"

Brady sighed as he wrapped his arms around me. I shuddered in them, a good shudder. He tucked his chin in my shoulder and murmured, "Do you know what I thought about in there? You, Rayna."

I lifted my arms, fisted, and pressed them against his shoulders. I wanted to say something, I just couldn't.

"You are my best friend. No matter what's going to be thrown at us, we can overcome it. I'm sure. I promise. I want—hell, I can't say that, but I can say that I want this. I want to kiss you, Rayna."

"Hey you two!" Viola shouted across the street. A moment later we heard her car door slam and I lifted glazed eyes to watch my grandmother dart towards us. She looked giddy.

Brady cursed under his breath, but turned with an arm braced around my shoulders. "Thanks for bailing me out, Vi. I owe you."

Viola swept past us. "You sure do. I need you to keep my grandbaby on the straight and narrow."

I flinched.

Brady stiffened.

Viola laughed and threw her head back. The sound was freeing. "I love it, Brady. You got my girl out for an all-night rager. That's what makes memories. It builds character. I need my baby to have some fun."

I watched as my grandmother bypassed us and went inside of the gas station. "She makes it sound like I'm going to die a nun."

When we heard Bob's welcoming roar inside, Brady hugged me. "Well, we both know you won't die a virgin."

I stopped short, but Brady chuckled and kept going.

Glaring at his back, I retorted, "Not funny."

"That's my job, babe." Brady flashed me a smile as he held open the door.

I wasn't sure which annoyed me the most: Brady's arrogance, my grandmother's expectation that I'd die from boredom, or Bob. At that moment, I picked the Bigfoot. I was going to ask if Ned would get rid of it, but the words died in my throat. He and Viola were involved in a heated discussion or maybe I should say that Ned was proclaiming his love and Viola was ignoring him.

Some things never changed.

"What about Friday night? I will buy a dozen roses. I'll light my humble abode on fire with candles. I'll have a gourmet meal delivered. How about it, Viola Leann?"

My grandmother snorted and reached inside a freezer to pull out a carton of vanilla ice cream. "You mean you'll light the plastic fake-candles that you stole from the church five years ago and you'll order pizza for me?"

"Well, when you put it like that, I could throw in for some cheesy bread. Would that do it for you?" Ned was so hopeful. "Don't forget the red roses. They're expensive."

Viola stopped and tightened her hold on the ice cream. "I have been saying no to you for thirty-nine years, Ned. When's it going to change?"

"I've got red roses, Viola. I know for a fact that Neil's never given you flowers. What kind of man is that?"

Viola turned firm eyes on him. "That man has been by my side for forty-three years. And those were some long and hard years, Ned. You remember some of them. He has not once complained, whined, or made me cry. That is a feat no other man can measure up to. So you ask yourself if you could do better."

Ned opened his mouth, thought for a second, and then closed it.

Brady chuckled beside me and moved forward to follow them. As they moved further down the aisle, I heard Brady taunt, "You going to back down to that, Ned? There isn't a feat that you can't imagine you'd overcome. Some of your lies sound better than that."

"He ain't made her cry, Brady. I can't do better than that."

Brady dismissed, "Come on. What kind of man doesn't make a woman cry? The best ones make 'em cry."

"Brady Jake Remington. You are not helping one bit with your foolish encouragement."

"Come on, Viola. Ned's just a bleeding heart here. He's a literal standing bleeding heart, right in front of you. How can you turn your back on that?"

I shook my head. Everyone knew Ned would never win over my grandmother, except for maybe Ned, but there was some entertainment in his attempts. I always suspected my grandmother was flattered by his attention, which was why she kept shopping at Nellie's even though she always left with a tenfold promise to never step foot in that store again.

I was proven right as I heard a slight hint of laughter in Viola's false sternness. "If he was literally bleeding, I'd have the decency to hand him a towel. Until then, I don't have the time to even offer him a tourniquet. Now scootch, both of you."