“Good,” she says with a yawn and I tug her closer to me.
“Are you ready to vote tomorrow?” I ask her as we head inside to return Bandit to Stan.
“Oh yeah,” she says with a big grin and I laugh.
We’re voting for our mayor tomorrow and there’s a really good chance that Chet’s father, Philip, isn’t going to be re-elected. Sutton and Stan have been very excited at the prospect of Chet and his family being kicked out of office and out of the big mayor’s house that they seem to love so much.
“Are you two headed home now?” Stan asks as we join him in the living room.
Bandit makes himself at home, jumping up on the recliner next to him. Sutton bought Stan a new recliner two years ago and this one is extra wide so that Bandit and Stan can cuddle together without squashing each other.
“Yeah. Did you need anything else before we left?” I ask.
“No, I’m good. You two have a good night. Tell Lyla and the ladies that I said hi,” he says, and Sutton blinks.
“Oh man, I forgot that tonight was girl’s night!”
Stan just grins at her. He might be older but he sure hasn’t lost a step.
“I’ll drop you off somewhere. Or we can grab junk food and you can have everyone over at our house,” I reassure her and she nods, pulling out her cell phone to text her friends.
Madelyn, Iris, Lyla, and Sutton are all still best friends. They might have all gotten married and started families in the last five years, but they’re still super close. They have girl’s night every week, or try to. Last week was canceled because Lyla was having terrible morning sickness and I’m guessing that’s why Sutton forgot about it this week.
“We’re doing it at our place,” she tells me, and I nod.
“See you tomorrow, Uncle Stan,” she says, awkwardly bending over with her big belly so that she can kiss him on the cheek.
I have to grab her hips to help her up and I hold in my laugh.
“Ugh, I’m so pregnant. I’m like a beached whale,” she says dramatically, and Stan and I both laugh at that.
I wave goodbye as I head for the door. Stan knows that I’ll lock up on my way out.
We head over to Sutton’s Beetle and I climb in, cramming myself into the driver’s seat. We usually drive my truck but there are certain days where Sutton wants to feel closer to her mom and on those days, I have no problem trying to squeeze into the old car.
We go back to California once a year, on her mom’s birthday so that Sutton can go to the cemetery and leave her mom flowers. Stan usually goes with us. He likes to pay his respects and complain about how busy California is. It’s usually a pretty fun weekend.
We head down the street and I pull up outside of the Destiny Falls Market.
“What should I get?” I ask her, knowing that it will be faster for me to just run in.
“Um, chips, ice cream, one of those cheesy breads, pickles, pop, and some Chex Mix,” she finishes with a smile and I laugh. “Is that too much?” she asks and I shake my head no.
“Anything for you, Sutton.”
That still gets her every time and I watch as she melts for me.
“I love you, Teller.”
“I know. I love you, too.”
I lean over the center console and give her a quick kiss, rubbing her swollen belly before I reach for the door handle and head inside the store.
I have a feeling that the girls are all going to pass out after an hour since they’re all close to seven or eight months pregnant. I’ll be texting their husbands and then carrying my wife to bed.
I couldn’t think of a better way to spend my Friday night, I think with a smile as I grab a cart and start to grab everything that my Sutton asked for.
The End
Continue the Destiny Falls Series in book two, Ruined.
www.authorrebeccawilder.com/index.php/ruined
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About the Author
Rebecca Wilder is an author of small-town contemporary romance or as she likes to describe it, Love Stories That Linger.
She currently lives in Mississippi with her husband, their two children, and three dogs.
She enjoys the simple things in life, like spending time with her family and friends, listening to music, watching stand up comedies or crime TV shows. She’s an avid reader, a dog lover, tea snob, and a wannabe yogi.
She also writes novellas under the pen name, Shaw Hart.
Read More from Author Name
Her Undoing
By Rachel Leigh
Rachel Leigh
It’s not our secrets that should scare us. It’s the people who find them out.
As if things couldn’t get any worse—I’m walking into senior year as the new girl.
The quiet girl.
The girl with secrets that could top a landfill.
Everyone has been so kind, with the exception of Zack Wells.
He’s been taunting me since day one. I’ve avoided him at all cost, but it seems like every time I turn around he’s there.
Asking questions, poking at my deepest scars.
He’s trying to get a rise out of me, and boy is he ever.
Copyright © 2021 by Rachel Leigh
All rights reserved under the International and Pan-American
Copyright Conventions. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by
any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information
storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents are either the product of the
author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or
dead, organizations, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
Warning: the unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal.
Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated
by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.
1
Nadia
I’ve recently accepted that some things are just out of my control. The saying ‘when it rains it pours’ holds truth in my life. Take the weather for instance; it’s no surprise that it would pour on my first day at my new school. My new school—another thing I have little control over. I didn’t ask for this change. Didn’t want it at all. Yet, here I am. Walking through the pouring rain, so I can jump into the already started school year with a bunch of strangers just so my family can save face.
Apparently, my parents think it’s best to just sweep everything that happened at the Academy under the rug and sending me to public school is their answer. What they’ve forgotten is that I’m still in the same town, the same house, and the harassment hasn’t stopped. Yesterday, it was ‘whore’ written in blood red lipstick on the outside of the living room window. Last week, there was toilet paper hanging from every branch in the front yard.