Page 18 of Promise Me a Forever Texas Love

When someone remembered to go to the grocery store.

“Dang it!” she grumbled when she opened the deli drawer in the refrigerator. She glanced over her shoulder, her bed-mussed light brown hair making her look like Medusa. If Medusa wore Disney princess pajamas. “I thought it was your turn to go to the grocery store, Huck.”

It probably had been. Huck didn’t have a clue what day it was, let alone if he was supposed to get groceries.

“Sorry,” he mumbled.

Poppy sighed and pulled out a package of bologna of questionable age. “I never thought I would say this, but I miss Dawson and Jaxon. They might be a control freak and a grumpy bumpkin, but at least Dawson kept the cupboards full and Jaxon cooked meals and kept my gut full.” She threw a slice of bologna to Wilbur. “Sorry, Willy, you’ll have to make do.”

She checked to make sure Wilbur had food and water in his bowls before she flopped down at the island next to Huck. She looked as bad as he felt. Her eyes were puffy like she hadn’t slept—and possibly cried all night—and her purple pajama short set covered in the Rapunzel princess was wrinkled and buttoned wrong.

She hooked her huge slippers with the head of “The Beast” on the bottom rung of her barstool. “Well, at least you made coffee.” She swiped the cup of coffee sitting in front of him. Since he really didn’t like coffee and had only made it in hopes that it would settle his knotted stomach, he didn’t get after her like he usually did when she took his food.

Poppy took a sip of coffee and wrinkled her nose. “Damn, Huck, it’s cold. How early did you wake up?”

Since he hadn’t ever gone to sleep, he only shrugged.

She sighed. “We sure make a depressed pair of sad sacks, don’t we? I can’t seem to get over the fact that my prince charming turned out to be a cheating asshole, and you can’t come to terms with knocking up your best friend. Although I would’ve thought giving Cadee your inheritance would make you feel better.”

He’d thought so too. But it hadn’t. There was still this twisted gnarled tree growing in his gut and he couldn’t figure out how to get rid of it.

Poppy leaned over and rested her head on his shoulder, making Wilbur whine because she was giving someone else attention. “Do you think Grounds For Divorce would deliver if we offered the A-Sisters a hundred dollar delivery fee? If we’re going to spend the day wallowing, I’m going to need some mini donuts.”

He leaned his head against her, needing her sisterly love more than ever. “I’m sure they would, but do you have a hundred dollars?”

“No, but we could charge it.”

“You could charge it. I reached my credit card limit when we renovated Honky Tonk Heaven.”

“And yet, you still gave your share of our inheritance away.”

“Yeah, well, I never was the smartest Hennessy.”

“Nope.” She lifted her head and looked at him. “Just the kindest.”

“There’s nothing kind about it. I owe Cadee that much for leaving her to raise Camden alone.”

“She made that choice, Huck. You can’t tell me she couldn’t have located you if she’d tried hard enough.”

He shrugged. “Maybe. But I didn’t make it easy, Pops. None of us did. We changed our numbers, made sure we didn’t have social media accounts, and didn’t contact anyone in Promise Springs. We were all too worried about Mama finding us and pulling us back into Honky Tonk Hell.”

She laughed, but it wasn’t a happy sound. “And she succeeded anyway.” She glanced up at the ceiling. “Way to control your kids from the grave, Mama!”

It was true. Their mama had gotten exactly what she’d wanted. All her kids back in Promise Springs working their asses off at Honky Tonk Heaven . . . and someone to carry on the family legacy.

Except she hadn’t gotten that.

Even if the townsfolk discovered the truth, Camden carried the Stockton name . . . would be raised as a Stockton. Which was for the best. He didn’t need the stigma of the Hennessy name.

But if that was the case why did Huck feel like he was standing on a log in a bottomless lake running forward and then backward trying to keep from falling in and drowning? Why couldn’t he eat? Or sleep? Or think about anything but Camden’s hazel eyes and wayward cowlick . . . and the way Cadee had clutched his hair when he’d kissed her like she never wanted to let him go?

The sound of the front door opening pulled him from his thoughts. Since Dawson was out of town, there was only one other person who would walk in without knocking.

“Shit!” Poppy jumped up from the barstool and started grabbing the takeout containers that littered the island. “We got to get this place cleaned up!”

Huck followed her lead, grabbing the empty and half-full soda cans while Wilbur hopped around their feet and barked with excitement as if this was a new game. They had just made it to the trashcan with arms filled when their big brother appeared in the doorway.

Of all the Hennessys, Jaxon was the most formidable. At six three with broad shoulders and a perpetual scowl, he was quite intimidating. Or maybe the intimidation came from how much Huck idolized him.