Ghost Town

Stupidly Drunk

The music thumping loudly made the pulse in her head pound even more. Six drinks in and she was already nursing the future hangover. The lights of the dance floor spinning around her as she moved along to the Cotton Eyed Joe. Noelle's arm twisted with hers. The two girls were giggling and moving to the words coming from the speakers. 

"Another drink?" Noelle asked, pointing toward the bar.

"No! I will be harboring this hangover for days to come." Everly managed to get out as she placed a hand against her head. Noelle stuck her tongue out and laughed, assuring Everly that she would be right back. 

Everly swayed to the music as her friend stood at the bar talking to a guy, carefully keeping an eye on Everly the whole time. Everly turned around and smacked in to a tall, muscular man. His tattoos were front and center as they peeked out from underneath the sleeves of his white Carhartt tee. 

"Sorry." Everly stumbled over the word as it fell from her lips. Her honey colored eyes catching his sparkling green ones. 

"You okay, darlin'?" His rough southern drawl made her spine tingle. His mega watt smile making her lose her train of thought. 

"Yeah," Everly giggled. But she quickly placed a hand to her head. 

"Are you sure? Maybe we should get you home." His voice sounding concerned. Noelle pushed passed the guy she had been mildly entertaining at the bar and walked over. She looked up at the man talking to Everly, her eyes widening as she realized who he was, trying not to fangirl.

"I've got my friend here, Mr. Gilbert. Thank you so much for your help." Noelle cooed. 

"Please, call me Brantley," He chuckled. "Are you sure you two don't need a ride home? I am just parked right out back. And am an honest man, I promise you that." 

"We are good, but thanks cowboy. Maybe next time." Noelle winked. Everly offered up a smile to Brantley. His eyes never left her as the two girls walked toward the exit of the bar and vanished in to the cool night air. 

Everly opened the door to her condo back in Atlanta. It had been a week since getting stupidly drunk in the bar with Noelle. A hangover she surely wouldn't forget for years to come. She decided that it was time to figure out what she was going to do with her life. Where was she going to live? Staying in Atlanta felt like such a mute decision at this point. Especially since she no longer worked in the beautiful city. Her own fault, she knew. Which brought up the factor of work. Everly only ever did PR and marketing. Is that what she wanted to do for the rest of her life? No big firm would hire her with her track record of quitting this coveted position over something so silly in hind sight. 

Everly had no idea about any of those things. What she did know was that she needed to drop her baggage, both literally and figuratively, and get herself some coffee from downtown. Maybe even splurge on the pumpkin scones at the local coffee shop. She placed her bags right inside the door and headed back out to her SUV. It was a quick drive. She wasn't going to hit any of the city traffic on the outskirts as she pulled up to the side parking lot of the mom and pop bakery and coffee shop. 

The leaves were beautiful shades of red, yellow, and orange. She knew soon that would change. It would become Winter, and everything would begin to change. Much like her own life. She locked up her vehicle and walked toward the quaint little store front. She never got a chance to go there much. It was always out of the way on her drive in to Atlanta. But that didn't matter much now. As she got closer to the door, she recognized a familiar face. The black baseball cap pulled low over his eyes. The tattoos showing. The rough laugh that rang out as he chuckled at something one of his buddies was saying. Everly couldn't quite put her finger on how she knew him, though. 

As he turned in her direction, she nearly tripped over her own two feet. It was him. The guy from the bar a week ago. She remembered how Noelle had fawned over the fact that he had hit on them. How she wasn't able to say a full sentence as he made sure she was okay on the dance floor. And how odd they both thought it was that he was in their little town at the same exact bar they had been. It was Brantley Gilbert.