Under The Cypress Tree (Love in Belle Pont #1) Read online

  Mrs. Hills gave me a wave and a smile, and I scurried on down the sidewalk before I burst into tears. I didn’t know where my emotions were at lately, besides all over the place.

  I made my way to the hardware store to buy a wrench for that leaky pipe that Bentley kept sayin’ he’d fix. Since today was Tuesday, I already knew I’d be seein’ him tonight. Tuesdays were Taco night at the Richards house, which incidentally happened to be Charlotte’s favorite.

  Once I’d procured a wrench, I headed next door to Tucker’s Grocers to buy the ingredients I needed. Mrs. Gentry bombarded me the moment I stepped through the door. She was a sixty-something woman who wore nothin’ but floral muumuus, and kept the hairspray companies of the world in business by the looks of her bouffant. She had a heart of gold though, and she was always helping me out when she could.

  “Can you imagine the nerve of that boy?” she asked in her most offended tone. “Just waltzin’ back into town like that. Like he didn’t walk out on all of us. You and Ch…” She stopped mid-sentence and cleared her throat. “I mean his daddy. Poor old Walter must be havin’ a real hard time with this.”

  “I don’t know.” I sighed. “I haven’t had a chance to check on him, Mrs. Gentry. Maybe after he leaves, I’ll head on out to his trailer.”

  “It’ll wreck him,” she said, throwing her hands up in the air dramatically. “He won’t survive it when Archer leaves again.”

  I opened my mouth to reply, when a voice from behind drifted over me, bringing a whole slew of painful memories along with it.

  “Well then I guess it’s a good thing I ain’t got no intentions on goin’ anywhere.”

  Mrs. Gentry’s face paled at the same time I whipped around in shock. There in the flesh, with a shit eating grin on his face, was Archer.

  “I should uh…” Mrs. Gentry patted her blonde curls. “I should be going…”

  I shot her a pleading glance as she slinked backwards in her slippers, but it didn’t do me any good. She disappeared into the cereal aisle, leaving me to fend for myself.

  My gaze slipped to the man in front of me, now more of a stranger than anything. It had been years, and I still didn’t know how we’d ended up this way. He left for Iraq, and I never did hear from him again. No phone calls, no letters. I was left to invent answers in my own mind to all of the questions I’d ever had about us. Eventually, I just came to accept the fact that our love had been one-sided. There sure as hell wasn’t any point in re-hashing it now.

  I wish I could have said that the years hadn’t been kind to him, but I guess the opposite was true. He looked taller than I remembered, towering over my small frame. And broader too. But I guess four years in the Army will do that to a man.

  His lean muscles filled out a black tee shirt and jeans that had probably never looked so good. His hair was still as dark as I remembered, just shy of black, but a little more overgrown than he’d worn it before. He was sporting a couple days’ worth of dark stubble, which was also a little at odds with the Archer I remembered. Other than that, he was mostly the same. Same penetrating eyes, same crooked smile. I still remember the way that smile used to affect me. And even though that hadn’t changed, I wasn’t about to let him know it.

  “Miss Richards,” he said, pulling my hand up to his lips for a gentle kiss. “Aren’t you a sight for sore eyes. Been a long time.”

  “It’s Daniels now,” I bit out, snatching my hand back like it was on fire. “And yes, it certainly has.”

  “Daniels?” he frowned. “As in…”

  “As in Mrs. Bentley Daniels.”

  I didn’t know why I was telling him this bold faced half-truth, but I couldn’t help myself. I wanted him to know that I hadn’t been here pining over him for the better part of the last decade, and by the disappointed expression on his face, I guessed it was working.

  “You and Bentley huh.” The muscle in his jaw ticked. “How long has that been goin’ on for?”

  I shot him a glare. “Don’t believe that’s any of your business, Archer.”

  “Is that so?” his voice hardened. “See, I’d have to disagree, Annabeth. The way I figure, I have every right to know how long after I was out of the picture my best friend started laying into my…”

  I reached out and slapped him across the face before he could even finish that sentence. He pulled back and stared at me in disbelief, holding a palm across his jaw.

  And then, to my horror, the tears started rolling down my cheeks. I’d never hit Archer in my life, and after knowin’ how his daddy treated him, I swore I’d never hurt him like that. But emotions have a funny way of doin’ things to people, bringing out the monsters that sleep inside of us. And Archer had just awoken all of mine.

  “Don’t you ever talk about Bentley or I that way again,” I hissed. “In fact, Archer Beaufait, I’d appreciate it if you just stayed the hell out of my life. For good this time.”

  And then, with the entirety of Tucker’s Grocery watching, I stormed out of there with my tail between my legs.

  ***

  “But Tuesday is taco day!” Charlotte whined as I set down a grilled cheese sandwich in front of her.

  “I know baby, I’m sorry. We’ll have tacos tomorrow night, okay?”

  “Okay.” She pouted. “But you better make lots.”

  I smiled and patted her head before making my way back into the kitchen, where Bentley was watching me with inquiring eyes.

  “I heard what happened today at Tuckers,” he said, handing me a beer.

  “Of course you did.” I rolled my eyes and took a swig. “I’m sure the whole damn town is talkin’ about it now.”

  “It’ll blow over soon.” His tone was reassuring, but I could tell by his expression he didn’t really think that.

  “He said he’s not leaving,” I announced. “Can you believe that asshole, havin’ the audacity to accuse me of betrayin’ him?”

  Bentley shrugged and got that twitch in his brow that he had whenever he was annoyed. “Why does it bother you so much, AB? You told him we were married.”

  My eyes raked over the hopeful expression on his face, and guilt settled into my belly like a rock.

  “I wasn’t thinkin’ clearly,” I said softly. “I shouldn’t have done that Bentley. It wasn’t fair to bring you into it like that. You’ve already done too much for me and Charlotte.”

  “If you say so.” He shrugged like it didn’t bother him, but I knew it did.

  Bentley was a handsome man, tall and muscular with blonde hair and green eyes. Most of the single women in town would have gladly named their firstborn Eldridge just to be with him. But not me. And I knew it killed him, because out of all the women in town, I was the one he’d wanted. But it wasn’t fair to him to ever pretend this could be anything other than what it was. I wouldn’t do that to Bentley. He deserved better than the likes of me.

  “Speaking of…” I took a deep breath and prepared for the inevitable. “I spoke to the courts, and they said we need to have the papers filed by next week if we want the divorce to go through…”

  “God dammit, AB!” He slammed his beer down on the bench and scowled at me. “Can’t we just have one conversation where you don’t bring this up?”

  I glared right back and crossed my arms, making sure Charlotte wasn’t listening in.

  “It has to be addressed, Bentley. This isn’t fair to you.”

  “What if somethin’ else were to happen with Charlotte?” he asked. “Another surgery or a broken arm or somethin’. What are you gonna’ do then, Annabeth?”

  “Don’t,” I snapped. “Don’t pull that card Bentley. We did what we had to at the time, but she’s okay now. You heard Dr. Young, she’s fine. And it doesn’t feel right doin’ this anymore. Lyin’ to everyone like this.”

  A mirthless laugh erupted from his chest as he spun around and turned to go. “See that’s what you don’t get, AB. It was never a lie. Not for me, anyhow.”

  And with that, he walked out the door, mak
ing me hate myself just a little bit more.

  Chapter Four

  Annabeth

  Murphy’s was dead tonight, so Irma sent Dawn home early. Which meant I was left to work both the bar and the restaurant orders, but I didn’t mind. At least not until I saw Archer sit down at one of the tables.

  I made every effort to bide my time, cleaning tables twice and refilling the salt shakers. I didn’t want to wait on him, and he damn well knew it. He also knew that if he sat at the table instead of the bar, I was gonna’ have to.

  But after ten long minutes, he hadn’t given up hoping, so I finally made my way over there with a scowl on my face.

  “What’ll it be Archer?” I stared at the pad of paper in my hand, even though I didn’t need it. Most of the time, I could remember every order off by heart. Whenever I didn’t have the man who’d broken my heart sittin’ in my section, anyway.

  “I thought we agreed you were going to try to get out of this place?” he said, his eyes raking over me with a curious expression.

  “Yeah, well things change.” I shrugged.

  “Like what, AB?”

  “Like it’s none of your damn business,” I said. “Because you weren’t here. Six years it’s been since you rolled out of town and never looked back. What happened Archer, did the mailman lose all your postcards?”

  He stared up at me with those regret filled eyes of his, and I had to tear my gaze away. I didn’t know why I was standing here spewin’ venom like this, but I couldn’t help it. As much as I wanted to pretend what he’d done hadn’t hurt me, it did. The whole town saw the aftermath of it unfold, but not him.

  “I did what I thought was right at the time,” he said softly. “But I realize now, that it was a mistake. I want to talk, AB. Give me a chance to explain things…”

  “There’s nothin’ to explain,” I cut him off, unwilling to let myself be pulled back in by him. “Now if you don’t tell me what you want, I’m gonna’ bring you whatever I want, and you ain’t gonna’ be real happy with that Archer.”

  “You know what I like,” he said, folding his hands across the table as he looked away. “Just bring me that.”

  I turned and headed for the bar, tempted to bring him back a damn Shirley Temple. Figures he would just expect me to remember what he liked after all these years. Not that I had forgotten, but still, that wasn’t the point.

  “Bud light draft,” I stated as Tino met me at the bar.

  “You alright Annabeth?” he asked me with sympathetic eyes. “I don’t mind kickin’ him out.”

  “I’m fine.” I gave him a less than convincing smile. “I doubt he’ll be here too long anyhow.”

  He nodded and handed me the glass he poured, leaving me to put on my best performance of nonchalance as I sauntered back to the table. Secretly, I wondered what Archer thought of how I looked now. If he noticed that my hips were bigger from childbirth, or that I carried an extra ten pounds from my pregnancy that I’d never been able to lose.

  Almost as if he were reading my mind, he spoke to me as soon as I set the beer down in front of him.

  “You’ve changed Annabeth.”

  I opened my mouth to get defensive, but he cut me off before I could.

  “You don’t smile as much,” he said. “Why is that?”

  “I wouldn’t say that I’ve changed,” I huffed. “I’d just say that I started showing the world the person I always was.”

  He shook his head. “I don’t believe that for a minute. Something hardened you, AB. And I can only hope, it had nothin’ to do with me.”

  “Don’t flatter yourself.” I turned on my heel. “Now I’ve got work to do.”

  Chapter Five

  Archer

  “She’s got a kid you know,” Roxy Hart announced as she took a seat across from me.

  “What?” I gulped, hoping against hope that I’d misheard her.

  “Yep, her and Bentley had a kid together. Can you believe it?”

  I glanced at Annabeth across the bar, the way she filled out her jeans a little differently than I remembered. I never would have guessed she could be a mother with that body of hers. And the fact that she’d had a baby with Bentley was enough to make my jaw grind together. I wanted to kill the son of a bitch for touching her, even though I had no right to.

  “When did that happen?”

  “Does it matter?” she shrugged. “The reason I’m tellin’ you is cause’ you got that lost puppy dog look on your face every time you glance in her direction. She’s moved on Archer, and I think it’s only fair that you know that.”

  I glanced back at Roxy, watching her blue eyes rake me over in curious appraisal. She was a beautiful girl, red hair and fair skin that had most of the guys in town droppin’ their jaws whenever she passed by. She didn’t seem to notice much though, or if she did, she never said anything about it. She was a real private person from what I remembered about her, and that wasn’t easy to come by in Belle Pont.

  Her mama didn’t exactly have the best of reputations in this town, and I think most people just assumed the apple didn’t fall far from the tree. A lot of the dipshits I’d grown up with just expected Roxy to lie down and give it up if they even so much as glanced her way.

  Truthfully, I got the impression that all of the attention made her uncomfortable. Which was why I guessed she’d taken a likin; to talking to me back in high school. I’d never hounded her like some of the others, because in my eyes she never held a candle to Annabeth. That wasn’t her fault though, because nobody ever could.

  “So why don’t you tell me what you’ve been up to all this time soldier?” she winked. “I’m dyin’ to know.”

  “Not much.” I shrugged, not wanting to delve into this subject even a little bit.

  “You out of the Army now then?” she persisted. “We were all real worried about you when you went off to Iraq, but then we never heard from you.”

  “Yea, I’m out of the Army.”

  “You know Bentley got sent too, don’t ya? They called up the Navy too.”

  “I didn’t know that,” I said, feeling a wave of guilt. Bentley had been my friend too, and I’d left him behind, just like everybody else. But it couldn’t have hurt him too bad, seein’ how in my absence he decided to go after Annabeth.

  Just then, Bethany Francis poked her head around one of the other booths, giving me a huge lopsided grin.

  “Archer Beaufait!” she squealed dramatically. “Is that you?”

  “Hey Bethany,” I answered politely.

  She stood up and sauntered over to our table, sliding in next to Roxy. I couldn’t help but notice all of the blood drain from Roxy’s face as she plastered herself against the wall.

  “Ya’ll talkin’ about Iraq?” Bethany asked, snapping her gum and twirling a strand of hair around her fingers. “A real nightmare from what I hear. Men coming back with that Post Traumatic Stress Disease. All crazy and shit.”

  “Disorder,” I corrected her, unable to hide the growing irritation in my tone.

  “God, I couldn’t even imagine.” She shook her head as if mystified. “Some of them even killed their wives in their sleep. What a bunch of psychos, huh?”

  “Bethany!” Roxy hissed, shooting her a glare. “What an ignorant thing to say…”

  I stood up and slammed my bottle on the table, startling both women in the process.

  “Look ladies, I have to go. It’s been real nice catchin’ up with ya. Ya’ll have a good night okay?”

  “Wait!” Bethany called after me as I walked towards the door. “I thought we could hook up tonight!”

  Chapter Six

  Annabeth

  Since Archer had rolled back into town, I’d been glancin’ over my shoulder everywhere I went, paranoid that he was gonna’ see Charlotte. I didn’t want him to. Because one look at my little girl, and I was certain he would know. It wasn’t hard to miss, strong as those Beaufait genes were. The only feature of mine she’d inherited was my hair.

 
The whole town had been whisperin’ about it since the day she was born. I wasn’t stupid, nor deaf for that matter, and I’d heard all of their speculations. But Bentley stepped in to help me shortly after she was born, and then when she got sick, there wasn’t really a choice in the matter. We told everyone that she was Bentley’s and that was that.

  The rumor mill had died down for a while, and even though they probably didn’t believe it, they accepted it. That is until Archer came back and reminded them all how much Charlotte looked just like him. I only prayed that nobody in town would tell him so.