Free Ask Me to Stay (Honky Tonk Angels #4) by Ciana Stone Page A

will be bust ass.”
    “Amen to that. And thanks again.”
    “Nothing to thank me for. Okay, I need to talk to Callie. The Red Hats have been talking some nasty shit about her and it’s best she heard it from me.”
    “What did they say?”
    Cody told Hannah and saw anger appear on her sister’s face.
    “Those mean old biddies.” Hannah stood. “I’d like to give them hell.”
    “Yeah, wouldn’t we all? But you know that’d just appear to give weight to what they say.”
    “But oh my god, Cody. Callie’s going to be devastated. You know her better than any of us and you see how she is so careful to never mention her past. It’s like she’s terrified to give anything away. I think something really awful happened to her.”
    “Could be, but speculating is just speculating. And she needs to know. It’d be a lot worse for her to overhear something from someone else.”
    “That’s true. Oh, I feel so bad for her. I wish those old women would just stop.”
    “Well, they won’t, so we do what we can to minimize the damage and discount the gossip. I’m gonna go find Callie.”
    “Okay, if you need me…”
    “I know where to find you.”
    Cody left the office to find Callie. It didn’t bother her that Hannah was interested in Cooper. In fact, it was a bit of a relief. She’d known that she and he were not a good fit, so there wasn’t much point in trying to pursue something doomed to fail.
    Hannah, on the other hand, could very well be the perfect match for Cooper Quinlan. And she just might surprise him. She might be the member of the Sweet family who knew which fork to use at a fancy dinner, and which wine to serve with what, but she was still a Sweet. And the Sweets were all people who would only take so much shit before they crammed a handful of it back in your face.
    Right now, Cody was ready to cram some shit in the faces of a few old women. She hated what she was about to tell Callie, but she had to. If it were her, she’d want to know. At least that way it wouldn’t catch you unprepared.

Chapter Five
     
    Callie saw Nellie Mae and her friend Netta walking up the sidewalk as she drove toward the bakery. She had just dropped Lily off at daycare and thought she’d grab some coffee. She still had more than an hour before she had to be at work.
    Jayce was walking out of the diner as she parked her car. She waved at him and he ran across the street and leaned down beside her window. “You headed in to work?” he asked.
    “I have an hour or so before I have to be there so I thought I’d treat myself to some coffee.”
    “How about I buy you a cup and you ride with me over to the job site to see if the concrete guys are there yet? It won’t take long.”
    Callie took the invitation as a sign. Cody had told her what the gossips were saying about her and she wanted to tell Jayce before he heard it from someone else. “Okay, but we can skip the coffee. There will be plenty at the bar.”
    “Then come on, girl.”
    They got into Jayce’s truck and he looked over at her. “So, how’s Lily Belle this morning?”
    “Great. She loves daycare and was already chattering and playing away before I left.”
    “She’s a great kid.”
    “She is.” Callie looked out of the window for a moment. “Jayce, I don’t know if you ever hear anything about the gossip that’s going around.”
    “You mean the Red Hat ladies? Good lord, those old gals seriously need to find hobbies. If they can’t find anything to gossip about, they make it up.”
    “Well, I think they’ve decided to focus on me a bit.”
    “Say what?”
    “Cody told me that the ladies at the beauty parlor were all talking about it. According to the gossip, I’m either a drunk or a druggie and was either a stripper or a biker. I’m not fit to be Lily’s mom and apparently I’m a gold digger who’s after you because I think you have money.”
    “Those old biddies. I hope you didn’t take any of that to heart.”
    “No. I know who I