"How could you not recognize him? He and his brother are fine as fuck!" Liberty exclaimed to Valentina, cracking up in laughter again. They barely made it inside Val's duplex before Liberty spilled all the details of Wynter's unexpected reunion with Jack aka the pastor's grandson Ezekiel Jackson. Valentina was floored, Grace was speechless, and Liberty was so tickled, she hadn't stopped laughing since she put it together.
"I don't know, I remembered him having dreads and I don't be in people's business like you," Valentina replied.
"Maybe you should before letting her go off with anybody." Liberty continued.
"Ohmygod! Again, she's grown! She can do whatever she wants!" Valentina said exasperated.
"Right, that's exactly why she did the pastor's grandson!" Liberty teased.
"You ok?" Grace asked her softly as they sat on the loveseat together, listening to them go back and forth. Again.
Wynter nodded, nonchalantly. Truthfully, she wasn't sure how she was feeling. A combination of disgust, anxiousness, and despair left a pit in her stomach. All the confidence and self-esteem she was feeling this morning disappeared. It was bad enough that she slept with someone from her small town, it was worse it had to be the pastor's grandson. The pastor reached out numerous times through multiple family members to offer her counseling after she moved back to town. She was sure the rumors of her falling out with her dad and why she moved back to Lucky motivated the pastor's offer of spiritual guidance. Wynter isolated herself from everyone besides her family so she didn't have to be subjected to the rumors and people's reactions to her. She suspended all of her social media when she moved back and avoided town so she didn't have to face any of it. She was hoping by now all the drama would have died down, but if it got around that she slept with the pastor's grandson, it would only reignite the town gossip about her.
"Wynter?" Grace asked again, pulling her from her worrying thoughts.
"I just want to watch the movie," Wynter said, finally looking up to meet Grace's eyes. Grace nodded, understandingly before standing up.
"It's movie night!" Grace shouted over Liberty's and Valentina's bickering. "We are watching Frozen. If y'all want to keep arguing, go outside!" Grace sat down and started the movie, leaving no room to disagree.
"How you gonna kick me out of my own place?" Valentina grumbled, but she settled in her reclining chair and munched on her popcorn, quietly.
"I need another drink," Liberty muttered, getting up to refill her cup as the first song of the movie started playing.
Wynter sent Grace a grateful smile before trying to push everything out of her mind to focus on the movie.
After the movie was over, Grace tentatively looked at Wynter. "Do you want to watch another movie?"
Wynter sighed, as much as she enjoyed the movie, she knew she wasn't going to be able to truly relax until she talked out the situation regarding Jack.
"Maybe in a little bit. Tell me everything y'all know about Jack." Wynter requested.
They all turned to Liberty. As the mayor's daughter, a member of his staff, and an overall busybody, they expected her to spill all his tea.
Liberty shrugged. "Not much. I know more about his family than him."
"Tell me what you know." Wynter urged her.
"His mom is the Pastor's daughter- she went away for college, came back later with 2 kids and no husband. She settled down, got married, and had a daughter." Liberty supplied.
"Jackson was either a Junior or Senior when I was a freshman." Valentina contributed. "He kinda was an outsider. He had dreads, didn't play sports, was super smart- He spent most of his time with his brother."
"No girlfriends or exes?" Wynter asked.
"There was one girl- Cynthia. I think they were supposed to go to college together, but I'm not sure what happened. He got a scholarship and never came home again." Valentina answered.
"Except for holidays." Wynter nodded.
"No, not even that. I think he came back when his brother had kids, but not much. He's probably here because of his mom." Liberty said thoughtfully.
"What happened to his mom?" Wynter questioned.
"She had an accident. Really bad. I think she had a concussion." Liberty said.
"A hematoma. She had to get brain surgery." Grace piped in. Everyone turned to her in surprise. If it wasn't about her grandpa or horses, Grace truely did not care nor pay attention to town happenings. "My mom talks about all her patients. She took care of her when she was at the hospital."
"Jesus." Wynter exhaled.
"She's recovering though! I called her husband's nursery for our christmas tree and firewood and she took my order and hooked me up. I'm pretty sure she is coming to the tree trimming tomorrow." Liberty quickly added.
"Ok... I wonder why he's still in town." Wynter said, glad his mom was ok, but curious to his intentions considering it sounded like he didn't like living in Lucky.
"You can ask him. You have his number, right?" Valentina suggested.
