Wasted On You (BWWM)

Never Alone

"Taxes went up five percent on our property out East because of all those houses they're putting up." The sound of the front door closing caused Monica to turn in her seat and see Marlie standing at the front door. "Oh my! You just left out here? It must've not went well."

She shrugged. "They said they'd call me." In other words, it didn't go well. Her father placed the bills down and sent her a smile. "Hey, daddy," Marlie cheesed. "What are you all doing?"

"Paying some bills and getting files together for taxes."

She sat down with her parents and scanned over all the paperwork. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw a listing price for a piece of land. "You sellin' grandma and granddads land? I thought you were going to add on to it?"

Drewson sighed as he looked at the paper she just finished reading over. "Taxes is gone up on it. Paying for our land and your grandma's land is a little more difficult than you think."

Marlie thought about how the Reid family is using their spare land to give Cora and Morgan their own homes. Cora's was done with construction a year ago and Morgan is working on his. She figured she could do a lot more to keep the land in the family than her parents could.

"I'll buy it." Both of their mouths dropped at her offer. "I'll buy it. Pay the taxes. Anything possible as long as we keep the land."

Her mother massaged her temples while turning to her husband for an answer. "We're not gonna make you buy your own land. We gonna go up to the bank tomorrow and have it put in your name. I'll pay the taxes this year since we already had the money set aside, but after that, it's all yours."

"Thank you, daddy." She gave both of her parents a kiss on the cheek. "So what's the plan for today."

"Morgan is having a pop up engagement party with just his friends at Wilson's Bar. It ends when the early bird specials closes."

That's all she needed to hear to hop in her car and head that way. She wanted Morgan to know she was here and that she would be attending his engagement party the next day. All of her wanted to prove that she was not hesitant to rebuild their friendship before she left.

It's always been open communication with her and Morgan. They told each other everything down to if they peed themselves. Thought Marlie felt like she had a lot of making up to do. It was never in her plan to leave him for so long. It started off as a year away to gain experience and before she knew it, she was in the program for two more.

She knew leaving Bullard came with a risk of leaving herself too. Morgan deserved to know that she was still the Marlie he used to cry to. She wanted to know if he was still the guy who used to hold her broken heart.

When she pulled up to the bar, she saw Coby standing out front drinking a beer and puffing on a cigarette. His eyes locked on to her and he smiled before opening his arms so she walked straight into a hug.

"What're you doing out here?" She asked with a slight smile.

"Keepin' watch." He then took another sip of his beer followed by a puff from his smoke. "He ask you to keep watch too?"

"No. I thought he was having his own engagement party?" She squinted to look through the dim window that was covered in letters of the bar's motto. After squeezing hard enough, she saw Morgan sitting there with his arm around a woman Marlie couldn't pick out. By the looks of the blonde hair, she figured it was his fiancée. "They both are?"

Coby turned to see what she was looking at then chuckled. "He ain't tell you about Lucille?" The smug look on the man's face made Marlie's heart drop. "Yep. Just keepin' watch is all."