Page 7 of Promise Me a Forever Texas Love

“Have you seen him?” Poppy kicked a crushed can at the dumpster.

“No.”

“Then how did you find out about him?”

“Dawson mentioned that Magnolia saw Camden in town and thought he was Dawson’s because of the way the Stockton brothers had treated him when they went out to the ranch. And because Camden has . . . our eyes.”

Poppy shook her head. “Hennessy gold. It is prevalent, isn’t⁠—”

The ringing of her cellphone cut her off and she pulled it from her back pocket. She glanced at the screen and then at Huck.

“It’s Jaxon.” She tapped the screen and then pressed the phone to her ear. “Hey, Jax . . . yeah, I found him.” She shot a glance at Huck. “I’m not sure. You’ll have to ask him yourself.” She held the blue sparkly-cased phone out to Huck.

He took a deep breath before he accepted it. “Hey, Jax.”

His big brother’s voice boomed through the receiver. “You run off after only sending some suspicious-assed text about needing to take care of unfinished business and all you can say is ‘Hey, Jax?’ What the hell is going on, Huck? Are you in some kind of trouble?”

Trouble didn’t come close to describing what he’d gotten himself into, but he wasn’t yet ready to explain the details to the brother he idolized. “I guess you could say that.”

There was a long stretch of silence and Huck figured he was about to get his ass chewed out. Jaxon was good at chewing ass. Of course, with three troublemaking siblings, he’d had a lot of practice.

Jaxon was the closest thing to a parent the Hennessy kids had. Whenever they got into trouble—which was often—they had always run to Jaxon to help them get out of it. After he chewed them out, he’d always fixed it. That fix usually included taking the blame . . . and the punishment.

But tonight was different.

Jaxon didn’t cuss him out.

He just gave him a hard, cold fact.

“Whatever it is, running isn’t going to fix it, Huck. I proved that. Leaving Promise Springs didn’t fix any of my problems. Only coming back and facing the past did. So whatever you’re dealing with, you need to face it head on.” Jaxon hesitated. “And you don’t have to do it alone. I’ll help you however I can.”

Poppy kicked the crushed can again. “Jax’s right. You can’t run from the truth. I tried to ignore Wylynn’s infatuation with our new slut keyboardist and look how that turned out. The truth always comes out in the end. Especially if there’s proof running around with the Hennessys’ hazel eyes.”

“What did Poppy say?” Jaxon asked.

Huck shot his sister an annoyed look. “It’s a long story, Jax.” He paused. “One that needs to be told face to face.”

“So you’re coming back?”

As much as he wanted to run and never look back, Poppy and Jaxon were right. He couldn’t run forever. The past always came back to bite you in the ass.

“Yeah, I’m coming home.”

CHAPTER THREE

Cadee pulled her truck into the parking lot of Honky Tonk Heaven and cut the engine. Her hand shook as she drew it away from the ignition button and her stomach felt like it had the time Huck had talked her into jumping from the community center’s roof into the deep end of the swimming pool—clenched tight with fear.

She’d been more than a little surprised when she’d gotten the letter in the mail. She’d recognized Huck’s pretty, looping handwriting immediately. She’d always teased him about writing like a prissy beauty queen. Inside was a note.

Meet me at Honky Tonk Heaven Sunday night.

No time. No explanation. No signature. Just one sentence.

She’d thought about ignoring it. She’d even wadded it up and tossed it in the trash . . . where it sat for exactly two seconds before she retrieved it, smoothed out the wrinkles, and reread it. She’d reread it numerous times for the next few days. Or not reread it exactly. More like just stared at each looping letter as if they might tell her what the man had been thinking when he’d written them.

Although she knew enough to know why he wanted to meet with her. And why he’d come back to town.

It wasn’t for Camden. Or her.