I didn’t say anything, just glanced up at the sky in disbelief. When my eyes caught Mari’s, she gave me a sad smile. “Fuck your life?” she asked.
That was the perfect sentiment.
Saturday afternoon,I ended up back at the Fall Festival. Jackson Falls wasn’t New York or Chicago. There wasn’t really a lot to do, especially on a Saturday morning. I figured I would walk down Second Street and see what was what. I wasn’t there for five minutes when I spotted my cousin Bright and Bailey at one of the booths.
We exchanged a handshake and a quick embrace before I greeted Bailey. There was a bit of a crowd at the booth they were standing at. “I’m going to get some food,” Bailey announced, rubbing her pregnant stomach.
Bright gave her a quick kiss on the lips. “Be careful.” She nodded before walking away.
“What’s happening here?” I gestured in the vicinity of the booth.
“The Dean of Discipline over at Jackson Woods High School and his wife lost their house to a fire a few weeks ago. The local chapter of Humanity for Community is putting together a team to help rebuild it. Jackson Strong is taking the lead on the build.”
Jackson Strong was his construction company. “Straight up? That’s what’s up.” I patted him on the shoulder. I didn’t know the dude who lost his house, but I appreciated the way that Jackson Falls and Chinook Woods residents planned to come together to take care of one of their own.
“Say, most of the people who agree to work on the project are gonna come in as volunteers. But I do have a small budget for a project foreman. It’s not your typical rate, but you wouldn’t have to be on-site full-time. You’d stop through every day for maybe an hour or so. I’d still have you on another project. It would be like part-time work, but at a reasonable pay rate.”
I was about to tell him that I would definitely do it because I didn’t turn down making money. Besides, there really wasn’t shit else to do in Jackson Falls during the daytime hours on aweekday but work. But then he said something that gave me pause.
“Coming in on this project, in a visible way? That’ll help you reframe your current reputation. It’ll help get people to stop talking about your . . . escapades and talk about your work ethic, your skills, and your commitment to Jackson Falls as something other than a hunting ground for their daughters and granddaughters, especially if you’re thinking about staying here.” He eyed me. “I know you move around a lot, don’t like to stay in one place for too long, but?—”
“Nah,” I cut him off. “Jackson Falls is cool. I mean, it’s slow as hell. I’ma probably end up getting into hiking or camping or some shit to keep from going crazy.” We both laughed. “But it has its positives.”
“My baby sister-in-law? She thepositiveyou’re talking about?” He put air quotes around the wordpositive.
I gave him a blank stare.
“Dawg, blank staring me ain’t gonna work. I’ve seen three dudes get caught up in Kingsley women, myself included. I know exactly what that looks like. You gotta thing for Church. It happens. Church is a good look for any dude. She’s smart, she’s a hustler, and she’s a businesswoman. She’s also a homeowner, she got paper, she’s independent, and she’s capable, . . . all that shit. But one thing about her, she’s private as hell. She flies under the radar, and not too many people know a lot about her.” He shrugged his shoulders. “Your name is on everybody’s lips. All the old heads in town are calling you Casanova. Mr. Love ’Em and Leave ’Em.”
I opened my mouth to protest when another voice cut through the chatter going on around us. “Hey!” Soon, a pretty, very curvy woman stood beside the two of us. I recognized her right away. She was the woman I’d met and fucked on like my second day in town. I’d met her at a bar on Second Street. Forthe life of me, I couldn’t remember her name. “Hey, Jones.” Her smile was bright as she gave me a side hug.
I smiled back, “What’s up, lil’ mama?”
“Hey, Bright.” She cheesed at him. “I’ma gone ’head and give you a fist bump. I heard your wife is from the big city and ain’t scared to throw them hands.” She held out her fist.
Bright laughed as he bumped his fist against hers. “That sounds accurate. What’s up, Teeyah?”
Teeyah—that was her name.
“Nothin’. Just came through the festival to see if anything worthwhile was happening up here.” She cut her gaze at me. “Wasn’t expectin’ to run into you. You busy after this?”
“Damn.” I tried hard to put a regretful look on my face. “I just stopped through to holler at my cousin about a project I’m startin’ in a few days. It was good to see you, though.” I pulled her into a very loose, very quick hug. “You take care of yourself.” I turned to Bright. “Yo . . .”
“Yeah,” he said with a nod of his head. “I’ll get at you with the particulars of the job.”
I walked away. Constantly running into women I’d fucked wasn’t where it was at. Jackson Falls was entirely too small for me to have been leading with my dick the way I was. If I wanted to change the narrative, I was going to have to change the way I moved.
Chapter 10
Church
Afew weeks later, Perkins, Collins, our mom, and I pulled up to the Humanity for Community job site that Jackson Strong was heading up. We’d left Bailey at the bed and breakfast because that twin pregnancy was kicking her butt. Collins was pregnant, too, but she was having a much easier time than Bailey.
“Bayliss said we should look for Jones,” our mom told us. “He’s the project supervisor.”
“Really?” I questioned before I thought to keep my mouth shut.
“It’s good to know that he’s pouring into Jackson Falls,” Collins said.