Vanilla? “I don’t even know what that means.”

“Of course you don’t. That’s the point.” Lynlee smirked at the boys flanking her. “Sorry, guys. Guess you’re stuck with just me.”

“Oh, we don’t mind,” Swarthy said.

“Hey, I promise I’m not a dick like my friend. Come hang out with us. I’ll be a perfect gentleman, and if at any time you want to leave, you’re free to go.” The shorter guy did have kinder eyes. And adorable dimples. Ella Jane smiled back at him. But she just wasn’t up for a random night of risking being date-raped.

“As much as I enjoy being roofied and waking up wondering where my pants and my dignity are, I think I’m just going to call it a night.”

“Lame,” Lynlee called out after her.

“I’m Jarrod, by the way. Jarrod Kent,” the shorter guy said as the four of them walked out of the theater. “And I promise I’d help you find your pants.”

“Nice to meet you, Jarrod.” Ella Jane smirked at him and glared at her friend one last time before heading in the opposite direction where her truck was parked. “Hey, do me a favor? Make sure your friend doesn’t slip my friend any illegal substances and take advantage of her stupid ass, please.”

“I’ll do my best. Scout’s honor,” he promised, holding up a salute.

“Thanks,” EJ said as she dug for her keys in her purse.

“He’s a lucky guy,” Jarrod said as she turned to leave.

“Um, who?”

“Whatever guy you’re ditching us to go hang out with.”

EJ couldn’t help but smile. She was ditching them to go see Hayden. Even though Hayden didn’t know it yet. “Maybe someone should tell him that,” she mumbled more to herself than anyone.

31

Hayden

HAYDEN watched as his grandpa carried the full bedpan gingerly to the bathroom. He’d never seen anyone so devoted to another human being as Pops was to Gran.

“I’m going to try and get her to eat some soup,” he said, stepping aside to let the older man pass him in the hall.

They’d moved his grandma to the couch downstairs so she’d be closer to everything and not cooped up in her room. So far it didn’t seem to have helped much. He forced a smile at his grandma as he lowered himself into the chair beside her.

“Can you try a little? Please, Gran?” he pleaded, holding a spoon full of broth to her mouth.

“I’m not hungry, Kevin,” she said, waving a hand so close it almost knocked the spoon from his hand.

“I’m Hayden, Gran. Kevin is my dad.”

She glared at him for a second, her eyes milky and moist. “I know that. Where’s Edwin? He was supposed to pick me up an hour ago.”

Hayden sighed. If anything, his gran was just getting worse. A part of him wished he could go back—back to the blissful ignorance of not knowing.

Guilt tightened the muscles in his stomach. This is where he should’ve been every summer instead of off screwing around with meaningless bullshit.

“He’s on his way, Gran. Here, eat a little bit of soup, and by the time you finish, he’ll be here.” He’d learned quickly that when she was in one of her moods it was best to go along with whatever her version of reality was.

“I don’t want any damn soup,” the old woman hollered, knocking the bowl from his hands. Hot liquid splashed in Hayden’s lap. It burned like hell but he didn’t want to upset her by crying out in pain or jumping up. Sucking in a breath through his teeth as the hot liquid scorched his flesh, he stood slowly.

“Okay, no soup. Got it.” He turned toward the kitchen to get a rag to clean up the mess and flinched when he saw Ella Jane standing behind him.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” she asked softly. Her voice reflected the wounded expression in her eyes. “Is she okay?”

“How’d you get in here?”

“Front door was unlocked. I’m sorry, I just wanted to…”

“Well you came. You saw. Now go,” Hayden ordered. He couldn’t stand anyone seeing his gran like this. She deserved to be remembered as the strong spitfire of a woman she was. Not some delusional nutcase.

He was barely holding his shit together as it was. Ella Jane Mason would be his undoing. If he let himself break down in front of her, let himself give in to the overwhelming need to kiss her, to touch her, to bury himself inside of her until he forgot every screwed up thing in his life, then there’d be no going back. And she deserved better than some jackass who’d put himself first at every turn. He was done doing that.

“I’m not leaving.” They faced off, him sighing and her squaring her shoulders and wearing that same determined expression she had on the first day he’d met her. Well, the time he remembered. According to Pops, they’d met before.

“You don’t breathe a word of this to anyone, Ella Jane Mason,” Pops said from the doorway. “Not even to your mama, you hear? My Netta is going to go with dignity. Ain’t nobody’s business what’s going on with her mind.”

“Yes, sir. I’m Fort Knox. Not a word.”

Hayden watched Ella Jane meet his granddad’s stare and nod as they reached a silent agreement.

Hayden shook his head and stepped around the only girl tough enough to take on Edwin Prescott. She followed him to the kitchen and glared at him with a hand on her hip as he wiped the soup from his athletic shorts and legs.

“Just say it, angel face. Get it all out.”

She huffed out a breath. “You’re kind of a terrible boyfriend. I thought you were trying to dump me because summer was over.”

Hayden raised a brow. He hadn’t meant to make her feel like that. And he hadn’t really labeled himself her boyfriend. Though he did like the sound of it.

“But you’re a wonderful grandson.” She bit her lip and her eyes began to water. “So I forgive you.”

“Hey now. Don’t cry.” Hayden stopped his cleanup effort and stepped over to her. “It’s okay. We’re doing okay. She has good days and bad days. Today just happened to be a bad day.”

“How did I not know? How does the whole town not know?” She shook her head. “It’s impossible to keep secrets like this in Hope’s Grove.”

“Pops runs all the errands. Gran only goes to church. Which doesn’t require much. Hell, I lived here in this house and just now caught on to how bad it was.”

“Look at them,” Ella Jane said, nodding toward the living room. Hayden turned and saw his grandparents leaning together, their foreheads touching as they held each other. “They love each other so much. That kind of love can handle anything I guess. Protect you from the prying eyes of a small town even.”

Her voice was thick with an emotion Hayden couldn’t name. He wondered if she was thinking about her mom and dad. Or maybe about him and her. He wasn’t sure. So he changed the subject. “How was the movie?”

Ella Jane turned to him and frowned. “No idea. Lynlee bailed with some guys you probably know from school. So I came here.”

Hayden tried to ignore the strange twinge of panic Ella Jane mentioning guys from his school caused. Talk about worlds colliding. “Oh yeah? Who were they?”

“Jarrod Kent and some tall, dark-haired guy,” she answered, still keeping her gaze on his grandparents in the other room.

“Devon Keshner?”

“He didn’t give his name,” Ella Jane responded with a shrug.

Hayden took a deep breath so his jealous dickhead side didn’t rear its ugly head. Doing everything he could to keep his facial expression calm, he said, “Jarrod and Devon are not good guys. They have this little habit of getting girls drunk and filming them doing things they wouldn’t normally do. They have a YouTube channel where they post the videos, but no one has been able to prove it’s them.”

Surprisingly, she didn’t freak out. She did pull out her phone and send a quick text, which he assumed was to her friend. For a moment, the kitchen was silent until her phone chimed.

“That’s what I thought,” Ella Jane said under her breath.

“Your friend okay?”

“She said she’s going to a party in Summit Bluffs with some other guy she met. Guess she already ditched the other two. Lynlee’s…different.”

“Different how?” He wasn’t sure why he’d asked since he could pretty much guess the answer. Different as in the kind of girl he used to think he wanted. Easy. No strings attached.

“Different as in, if there’s a video of her, she’ll be the first one to tweet the link to everyone she knows.”

“Ah.” Hayden started to ask her if she minded if he took a quick shower, since he probably smelled like chicken soup, but a ruckus from the living room interrupted him.

“Get that girl out of here. That girl’s no good for him. She’ll ruin him,” his grandmother was shouting.

Ella Jane’s eyes widened. Recoiling like she’d been slapped, she gaped at him. “Is she…is she talking about me?”

Hayden stepped into the living room and watched as Pops wrapped his arms around her. “Shh, that’s not her, Netta. Penny and Kevin broke up years ago. That’s Millie Mason’s daughter, EJ. Remember little EJ? Hayden used to chase her around and—”

“Get that cheating whore out of my house! Get her ass out now!”

Holy hell. Hayden was starting to suspect his gran might need an exorcism. She never cussed. Ever. Much less called anyone a whore—and certainly not Ella Jane. “Gran, calm down. Remember Ella Jane helped you make pie?”

His grandfather flinched as the woman in his arms stuck him hard on the chest.

“She’ll break his heart and run off with that Cooper boy.”

Now Hayden was really confused. What did his grandma know about Ella Jane and Cooper?

“What is she talk—”