“Oh, here,” she said with a smile that missed her eyes by a mile. “Let me help you with that.” Lifting his cup, she tipped it, pouring the freezing cold frappe into his lap.
He jumped off his stool, slapping the icy drink away from his privates. He glared at her and demanded an explanation. “What the hell, Sprite?”
“Oops!” she said with her hands pressed to her hips. “I guess you’re not the only one who can dump things.”
She grabbed her purse and keys from under the counter and stomped out the rear door without looking back. Thirty seconds later, the rumble of a motor sounded, and Tazzy’s Mini Cooper tore past the front of the store.
At least, he thought it was her Mini Cooper. Gone was the red Minnie Mouse paint job with the big, white polka dots. Now it was a faded black color with neon purple flames over the wheels. Black lace curtains adorned the back windows, and a white sticker on the rear window read “Live, Laugh, Lobotomy” with cartoon bats circling the words.
He would have laughed, but he was too shocked by her transformation.
He stood in the middle of Books-N-Brews, with the frozen coffee from hell turning his balls into ice cubes. That didn’t bother him nearly as much as the itch in his palm. eight years ago, she’d have been over his knee getting her ass blistered for a stunt like that.
No, that wasn’t quite right. Eight years ago, his Tazzy would never have done anything to earn a spanking.
Vivi handed him a thick stack of towels, doing her best not to laugh. “Like I said, it’s good to see you.”
He pressed one of the towels to his thigh. “Thanks, Vivi. I appreciate all the care packages. Can’t tell you how much they meant to me.”
He was talking to Vivi, but he was staring out the window in the direction of Tazzy’s departure. A tire squealed in the distance.
“Our Tazzy always has had a knack for making customers feel welcome. I was hoping for something a little less frosty.” Her eyes softened. “I wish I’d included pictures of her in those care packages,” Vivi said, tilting her head at the door. “I thought it might do more harm than good.”
He nodded and didn’t argue the point because she would have been right. The General had spies everywhere, and it would have just added one more thing to the list of ways he’d worried about his Little girl.
She reached up and patted his cheek. “So many tattoos. And you’re too skinny. You need to eat something proper. You come by here anytime, and we’ll have you healthy again in no time.” Her voice dropped. “If you’ll be gentle with her and patient, she’ll come around. You’ve both changed, so it’s going to take some time. I’ll help all I can. Now you run to the bathroom and get yourself cleaned up.”
He smiled and headed for the restroom. He’d only made it one step when Vivi stopped him with a hand on his arm. “Oh, and Jaxon?”
“Yes, ma’am?”
Vivi’s eyes sparked. “If you hurt that girl again, the General will be the least of your worries.”
Jaxon met her gaze. He’d forgotten this side of Vivi. She wasn’t just a grandmother. She was aSoutherngrandmother. A grand-Mamaw bear who was very protective of the people she loved.
“Yes, ma’am,” he said. She let go and smiled, indicating she believed him.
She must really think Tazzy might come back to him. He agreed, but now was the time to think about that. His focus right now had tobe on what Dax had told him. His Tazzy still needed his protection, and now he could handle it himself.
The shop felt too quiet now. He didn’t like so many eyes on him. Dropping the soaked towels in the dirty towel bin behind the counter, he nodded to Georgia and walked outside into the sunlight.
Tennessee mornings could be sharp and cool, but now the afternoon sun burned bright, glinting off windshields and chrome.
Tazzy’s goth mobile was long gone, but the exhaust fumes still lingered in the air. He added checking her fuel injectors to the list of things he needed to take care of for her.
Jaxon had changed a lot in prison, but Gage had been right. Tazzy had changed, too. The girl he remembered had been all soft laughter and bright eyes. She’d been a whirlwind of sass wrapped around a heart too big for its own good.
The woman who just walked out of Book-N-Brews had steel in her spine. Her eyes had been colder, sharper, like she’d learned some of the same lessons he had.
He hated that, but God help him, it made him feel not quite so alone. He rubbed a hand over the back of his neck and stared down the road where her car had disappeared.
She carried herself differently now. She wasn’t the fragile girl he remembered. She wasn’t the girl who’d once waited on the porch swing for him after work, swinging her bare feet and pretending she wasn’t watching the road for his bike.
This Tazzy stood her ground. Looked him in the eye like she wasn’t afraid of him anymore. Hell, maybe she wasn’t. The thought heated something deep in his chest.
He’d been the one to put that pain in her eyes, but his Little girl was still in there, too. He’d seen her. He’d seen the one he’d left standing there as he walked away in handcuffs. The one who had to face a town full of whispers, even though she had so many questions of her own.
His jaw tightened. Yes, he saw the difference. And yes, he hated that he’d put it there. Even though he’d had no real choice. Butbeneath the regret, beneath the weight of everything he’d done wrong… something else stirred.