A Wilde Christmas Ch. 05

"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.

"No, I don't. I figured I would never hear from him again, so I blocked and deleted his number."

"Damn, that's quick. So it wasn't good huh?" Liberty teased.

Wynter couldn't help smiling. "I'm still not giving you any details so shut up."

Liberty laughed. "Alright. I can get you his information- phone number, home address, social media."

"Urgh, I should have just talked to him at the church. Just seeing him again threw me completely off. How would it look if I reached out now?" Wynter wondered out loud.

"It depends. What do you want from him." Valentina responded.

"To tell him not to say anything to anyone about us hooking up." Wynter said.

"Too late." Liberty scoffed. Wynter looked at her, dismayed.

"I have a older brother, a twin brother, and a younger brother. All the dudes in this town talk about who they wanna smash and who they have smashed. Why do you think I date online with men out of town?" Liberty explained.

Wynter took Valentina's and Grace's silence as confirmation. She took a deep breath and asked, "What do people say about me around town?"

All three looked at each other worriedly, and Wynter's heart sank.

"Why does it matter?" Grace spoke up.

"If I see him again and he has talked to other guys about me, I want to know what they would tell him. What will he think about me?" Wynter explained.

"Fuck what he thinks. What matters is what you know." Valentina said heatedly.

Wynter turned to Liberty for the truth.

Liberty sighed. "The most common rumor is that you're... mentally unstable."

"What the fuck?" Wynter gasped. "Why would they think that?"

"The gossip is your dad sent you away after you refused to get help and you doctored all those text messages with Michael and Denise." Liberty continued.

Wynter felt sick to her stomach.

"We correct them every time and tell them to mind their business," Valentina spoke up.

"But you hiding out for 8 months is not helping." Liberty added.

"Libby!" Grace said, sharply, cutting her eyes at her.

"Am I lying? I'm all for ignoring rumors and living your best life, but that's not what you've been doing. Hiding out like you've been makes you look guilty. No one is going to care about the truth if you don't care enough to tell it." Liberty chWynterd her.

Wynter felt defeated, but would never let that show. "So what should I do? Run around town and say I'm not crazy?"

"Actions speak louder than words. Show you're not crazy or phased by those bullshit rumors." Liberty advised.

"And fuck anyone who believes them. If they were worth your time, they wouldn't listen to them." Valentina added.

"Ok." Wynter agreed.

"Are you going to try to reach out to Jackson?" Grace asked.

Wynter shook her head. "No. I'm living my best life. That doesn't mean chasing after a one-night stand. He can say whatever he wants about me; the people I care about know better."

"I know that's right!" Liberty cheered. "Now what are we watching next?"

"This Christmas... We can take a shot every time a fine man is on screen." Wynter grinned.

"Oh, you trying to get drunk drunk! Let's go!" Liberty cheered while they all laughed.