Free The One Girl by Laurel Curtis Page B

lights in the closet, bathroom, and bedroom, and headed back downstairs to the women.
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    I didn’t get to give her the ring that morning because Kayla was always there. I wanted to be alone with her when I did it, and the more I thought about it, the more I realized I should probably do something at least a little special. She was right when she said I told her we were engaged instead of asking her, so I probably needed to do something romantic to make up for it.
    After that, the girls had headed into work, and I had gotten down to business myself. I had to go help a few people because I had been seriously slacking on that lately. People had come to depend on me, and when I didn’t come around it really affected them.
    The elderly were my most regular ‘clients’ if you will, and I actually liked it that way. To me, they needed the help the most and they were the building blocks of this place that I loved so much. Several of them, or their families anyway, had been here since the beginning. The Tanners for example were one of the five founding families of Joplin.
    Anyway, I had fixed a sink, cleaned a garage, and taken care of all of the regular business at home, and now we were out at the Lizard.
    Talie, Ruthie, and Kayla were performing on the bar while Jace stood sentry. I guess he didn’t want a repeat of what happened with Bobby last time, and it hadn’t taken any time for Kayla to fit right in with the girls’ normal routine.
    I was standing back, separated from everyone, just observing. My mood had kind of been in a funk ever since I had dialed that number and heard Winnie’s voice this morning.
    I hadn’t told anyone about it yet, not even Talie, because I wasn’t really ready to talk about it, and I didn’t want Talie to know why I’d been in that box in the first place.
    Another reason to keep quiet was because I also thought I might be losing my mind a little bit. All day, I’d been feeling eyes on me, but every time I did a scan to check the area, I found no one. It wasn’t like the many eyes of the town I had felt the other day, it was one set. I didn’t know where this paranoia was coming from, but I definitely didn’t like it.
    As a result, I was a little closed off and quiet even though coming out had been my idea.
    I really needed to pull myself out of it, especially since the girls were currently in the middle of a rousing version of “Like A Virgin”. Ruthie was no doubt drunk, but Talie (and most likely Kayla) was just crazy enough to do this kind of thing sober.
    After talking myself into it, I made my way through the crowd, saying hi to a few people, including Jezzy, on the way. When I got to the bar, Talie’s face lit up, she dropped down to her ass, and then scooted off the bar into my arms.
    Her boobs were directly in line with my face, and the good time she was having seemed to radiate out from her. Long story short, she was the best mood lifter I could have hoped for, so I put everything else out of my mind and enjoyed the rest of the night.
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    “Tuck! Wait for me!”
    I turned to see Winnie running toward me, and she looked upset. “What’s wrong, Winnie?”
    She sniffled and then burst into tears. Man, girls were always crying. I didn’t understand it.
    “Winnie, why are you cryin’?”
    “Kyle pushed me down and called me ugly!” Her breath hitched between her sobs as she choked out, “Am I ugly?”
    The rage built inside my undeveloped chest and my tiny fists clenched. Kyle just earned himself a visit from me. Nobody messed with my sister, and they definitely didn’t tell her she was ugly.
    “No way, Winniekins. Kyle’s a jerk. You’re the prettiest sister I could ask for.”
    Her sniffles slowed down and tears stopped falling from her eyes. Her arms wrapped around my waist as she whispered, “Thanks, Tuck.”
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    My body jerked awake, sweaty and panicked. I took deep breaths and slid my hand down to feel Talie’s thigh thrown over my