Implode

Ryan texted me early the next morning saying he has his work cut out for him. He also promised to try and stop by the winery tonight to help ease my anxiety about the golf cart situation. Austin left as I was getting ready for work to see what they've gathered so far. He said he'd report anything he could when I got home from my shift.

I trot into work five minutes early and see a somber Tinsley wiping down menus at the hostess stand. I pull her in for a hug as soon as I reach her and I can see the tears pooling behind her eyes.

"I didn't even know if we was gonna open."

A frog catches in her throat and I nod.

"I wasn't sure either. How are her parents? Have they been here?" I ask and she shakes her head.

"No, this place was closed yesterday, but I got a message from Mr. Penderghast saying we needed to open today so people could come and pay respects. It's gonna be like a darn funeral here for the next few days I bet."

I look around the dark empty space and see our two sommeliers preparing the wine. I imagine half of Hollis will be here tonight to toast Poppy and mourn together. It's going to be a rough evening.

I watch as Tinsley flips the open sign on the door and it's only minutes later that people come pouring in. Everyone hugs Tinsley and me as we seat them around the winery and most people are ordering our finest glasses of wine or splurging on our expensive bottles. Both Mrs. Lucy and Mr. Huxley come to represent the Historical Society and I notice how shaken they both are. We all agree that it was unsettling to think we were all together only hours before.

The Samuels arrive with both of the Hemming's but I notice Jackson is not with his parents. When Scarlett pulls me in for a hug I ask, "How is Jackson?"

She frowns.

"He's thrown himself into helping the police. I haven't seen him since they broke the news and I imagine I won't until the case is closed."

I nod to her and she pulls away to find her seat with the Samuels.

Tinsley struts over to me and murmurs, "I ain't seen this place this packed ever. There are no more tables so it's standing room only at this point." She crosses out the last table on our seating chart and slumps against the cabinet that holds the silverware. I watch as her gaze shifts to the door and I spin around to see Annabeth and Gus pulling the door open. They are surprised to see the small place filled to capacity and I notice Annabeth's hand tightly gripping Gus's. He holds his arm out to me as he asks, "My sweets. How you holdin' up?"

I give him a quick hug before pulling Annabeth into me and reply, "It's been a somber night."

Annabeth gives me a small sympathetic smile and she leans further into me.

"I saw Jackson's car pull into the parking lot just now. I imagine he'll be pretty upset."

I swallow hard, knowing I don't want to see Jackson while he's upset. It would be far from appropriate for me to try and console him in any way, especially with eyes possibly watching.

"Maybe he's just poppin' by to thank everyone for coming tonight. I don't imagine he'll stay long," I tell them and Gus squeezes my shoulder before they push their way through the crowd. Tinsley is still slouched against the cabinet and I spot Jackson's dark hair coming toward the door. Tinsley spots him too and she grips my arm in anticipation. He swings the door open and I am stunned to see him barrel right towards me. His normally perfect hair is unkempt and he looks like he hasn't gotten any sleep. His manic blue eyes stare right at me and when he reaches the hostess stand, he snaps, "We gotta talk."

He snatches my arm up and pulls me right back out the door. I am practically jogging to keep up with his quick pace.

When we make it into the parking lot, he pulls me away from the noise and drops my arm as we stand across from each other. I rub where his tight grip was and snap, "What the hell Jackson?"

His blue eyes go wide and he throws his hands up.

"What the hell? That's just what I was about to say to you!"

I throw my hands up.

"Why? What now?"

He drops his hands to his waist and shifts his weight onto one leg. With a manic expression he asks, "Why the hell am I hearing you threatened Poppy? That y'all got into it at one of your little tea parties and you were hootin' and hollerin' that you wanted me back?"

I snap my mouth shut and take a step back from him. Mrs. Hemming clearly didn't mention the agreement she tried to make with me but at the same time, she said she hasn't seen him. How would she have told him then?

I shake my head in frustration, wondering if I should be honest and tell him his mother hated Poppy? Although, knowing Mrs. Hemming, he probably already knows.

I reply, "Your mother wanted me to break you and Poppy up. So yes, I told everyone at the Historical Society that I could win you back. I threatened to take you away from Poppy."

"You threatened Poppy and told her that you wanted me back?" He asks in shock as if he was hoping everything he heard was a rumor. I am about to respond when I hear another voice behind me.

"You did what?"

I spin around and see Ryan standing by the winery door. I shake my head at his furious expression and waste no time darting over to him. He clearly doesn't want to listen to my explanation because he beelines it back to his truck. Jackson is following me as he yells out, "This ain't over Sawyer!"

I look behind me and see a few people loitering in front of the building. They can all see what's happening and it looks bad from any angle.

I continue to chase after Ryan and he's starting his truck up when I skid up to his window. I am too short for the lifted truck but I hit the window with my palm anyway.

"Ryan let me explain!"

He ignores me and I hear him turn the radio up louder. I know he won't run me over so I dash to the bed of the truck and stand in his way so he can't reverse. The bright reverse lights are blinding but I stand firmly planted behind the truck. He cannot leave here thinking I really wanted Jackson back.

He also can't sit here forever, so I pull my leg up and hoist myself into the cab of his truck. The metal echoes loudly under my boots as I stride over to the small horizontal back window. I crouch so I am level with the window and yell, "I can explain! Please Ryan, let me tell you what happened!"

I see the window latch is unlocked so I slide the small panel open and Ryan spins around to face me. I push myself through the small square opening and Ryan snaps, "Damn it, Sawyer! You're gonna hurt yourself."

I shimmy into the truck and drop into the back seat lacking all grace. I pull myself upright and I am breathing heavily.

"I can explain Ryan. I am not gonna let you leave here thinking I want anything to do with Jackass Hemming."

Ryan frowns as he shakes his head.

"Fine, start talking."

I look to him, intimidated by his curt tone and swallow hard, attempting to catch my breath. I exhale loudly and as quickly as I can, I say, "Mrs. Hemming made me a deal, if I broke up Poppy and Jackson, she'd convince my mother to let me marry you."

I snap my mouth shut as I realize I just came across as a complete lunatic. Which is what prevented me from telling him in the first place. He's going to think I have our wedding already mapped out and that I sit around and doodle my name with Hart attached. He's going to think I am stark ravin' mad.

I watch as Ryan digests my words. Confused, he looks to me and asks, "You did what now?"

I scoot up so I am closer to him and bite my lip before trying to convince Ryan that I am not insane.

"Mrs. Hemming did not approve of Poppy and Jackson. She came to me and asked me to sabotage their relationship. She said if I helped her, she'd convince mama to allow me to decide who I marry- regardless of their standing in the Hollis social hierarchy. When I found out Poppy was the one that spread my embarrassing drunken picture around Hollis, I thought this would be a good way to get revenge and get my happy ending as a bonus."

Ryan is still slightly slack-jawed and his eyes narrow at me while he processes what I just told him. He shakes his head and asks, "So you are tellin' me, that Jackson's mama wanted you to break up his relationship and when you succeeded, your mama would give me her blessing to marry you if and when the time came along?"

I run my hand through my wild hair and nod.

"It sounds insane now, but at the time it sounded like a good idea."

"So how far were you going to go to break up Poppy and Jackson?" He snaps and I look to him vacantly. I hadn't really thought about it. I shrug.

"I didn't really have a plan of action. I just figured I'd ruffle her feathers enough so she didn't trust Jackson and let them implode on their own."

"And when they did implode, Jackson was going to be under the impression that you wanted him back," he states but I quickly shake my head.

"No. When I threatened Poppy at the meeting-"

"You did what? Threatened how?" He asks and he spins further in his seat so he's directly facing me.

"I don't remember exactly what I said, but I mentioned that I could have Jackson if I wanted him or something of the sort."

Ryan drops his head into his hands and after he slides them down his face in frustration, he looks to me and asks, "Who all witnessed you saying this?"

"I dunno, a few people from the Historical Society. It was at the end of the meeting so some people had already left. Why?" I ask and he's suddenly glaring at me.

"Detective Connor has you on his suspect list. If he finds out that you and Poppy had a spat hours before she turned up dead, it could look really bad. Especially since the spat was over your ex-fiancé."

I frown as I soak up his words. He's right. It could look like I am a jealous ex who wanted Jackson back. Austin came to the same conclusion without even knowing of my deal with Mrs. Hemming.

His angry demeanor disappears as he reaches for my hand. I snatch his hand into mine as he says, "You need to think about who all witnessed this interaction and if any of them would come forward to the police if they thought it was relevant to this case."

"I don't think anyone would. Scarlett and Betty wouldn't. I doubt Mr. Huxley would and I don't know if Lucy was still there."

He exhales loudly but I suddenly panic as something comes to mind. With worried eyes, I look to Ryan and gasp.

"LulaBelle Anders was there! And I know she'll talk. I bet you that's who told Jackson!"