It wasn’t only the heartbreak that got me though. It was the fear. That fuckin’ fear burned through me and woke something primal in me. It was always like this with the people in my life. A fierce call flowed through my blood to shield and protect them. My first memory was of standing in a sandpit at age four. A kid behind me was holding his pail as the two boys in front of me tried to take it from him. The kid on the ground was small for our age, and the other two had never heard the word no in their damn lives. I’m not sure if I realized at that time what I was doing; I just knew I didn’t like seeing someone picking on someone else. So I stopped it.
It was a damn challenge to protect Mak, though, when she had been avoiding me over the past several days.
Not even Delilah’s perfectly grilled breakfast burrito could wipe out my irritation. I was going to track Makenna down. That was a damn promise. She couldn’t avoid my calls, cancel plans to go to the bar, or let my knocks on her front door go unanswered forever.
I hadn’t chased her down in Sweet Stems yet because she worked with her mom. I was willing to bet my year’s salary that she hadn’t told Roxanne that Quinn had made an appearance on her front lawn. No, Mak would keep that secret hidden away. What other secrets was she keeping locked in a vault? Whatever they were, I wanted them all.
I scarfed down the last bite of the burrito as I turned my cruiser down Main Street to do a slow drive by Sweet Stems. A slow, victorious smile spread across my face as Roxanne walked out of Sweet Stems, hitching her purse higher on her shoulder before slipping into the driver’s side of her car. I parked in an empty spot right on Main.
Time’s up, Makenna. The thought popped into my mind as I angled out of the car, adjusted the belt hanging heavily on my hips, and marched across the street, staring through the glass. Makenna was behind the counter with a bundle of blue flowers in her hands. There was a smile on her face, but even from this distance and even through a sheet of glass, I could tell it was forced. The tiny dimple that usually popped in her cheek was absent. Her shoulders were hitched high. My guess was from the stress.
Fuck. If only she’d let me help her. I’d help her figure this out and tiptoe across the minefield of emotions. The fact was—she needed to deal with it. Head on, not shove it down until she could pretend it didn’t exist. She spun around so the work station was behind her and froze as I was just steps from the door.
Her head slowly lifted and our eyes met. Hers widened and her mouth fell into a little O of surprise. The bundle of flowers in her hand fell to the counter and she turned, running through the shop. I picked up my pace and yanked open the door.
“Makenna.” I was inside just in time to see her shut herself inside the refrigerator. And not the one at the front of the shop that had glass customers could see through. No. Not Makenna. She had hidden herself in the one behind a metal door with a small pad on the outside where a code was needed. I wasn’t sure what was kept in there. More flowers? Special blooms? Didn’t know and didn’t really care. All I knew, the woman that I was there to see had run from me. Fucking ran away and hid in a god damn fridge.
“Makenna,” I called again, louder.
A throat cleared behind me. I swung around, my fists planted on my hips. A young woman stood there with a vase in her hands and dark eyebrows arched high. Her gaze was flicking from me to the fridge behind me. She had on a Sweet Stems name tag reading Faith. She gently set down the vase and tucked her cropped black hair behind one ear.
“Can I help you, deputy?” Faith asked. Her eyes were still bouncing from me to the door at my back. I could see the gears turning in her mind, but she had no clue what to make of the scene she just saw.
“Got the code for that fridge?”
“Don’t you dare give it to him, Faith!” Makenna yelled through the door, and it even sounded like she was banging her hand against it. So the little devil could hear me. I spun around again and strode toward the door.
“Open it, Makenna.” My voice was damn near a growl. Blood roared in my ears as my irritation spiked. I shook the handle on the door even though I knew it wasn’t going to open for me. What made her so terrified to face me, face the truth, that she was willing to hang out in cold temperatures just to avoid it?
“We’re really very busy today, Colt. I think it’s best if you go. We have Judy’s bat mitzvah, and I still need to finish loading the van. And—”
“I’ll help you do that.”
“No. You don’t know how to do it, and your big bear paws will probably ruin everything.”
I rolled my eyes. “You can’t avoid me forever.”
“I’m not avoiding you,” she hissed. I didn’t have to see her to know that she was glaring at me and her hands were fisted at her sides. I knew her better than she thought I did. I understood her more than she thought I did. “I’ve been busy. I would’ve called you back, and I wasn’t home when you came by the house.”
“If you weren’t home then how did you know I came by?”
“Shit,” I heard her whisper. “I—I—My neighbor told me.”
“Your neighbor on your left wasn’t home. The car wasn’t in the driveway, and Tuck is dog sitting for the Mattinglys while they’re in Virginia visiting Pete’s mom.”
“Damn cops,” Makenna muttered under her breath, but it was just loud enough for me to hear. I smirked.
“I can load the van and give you two some privacy,” Faith said. I glanced over my shoulder. Her lips were twitching as she struggled to keep a smile from her face. I could imagine from an outsider’s perspective it was an amusing situation. But from where I was standing, and going head-to-head with a beautiful woman that was more stubborn than an entire pack of mules, it was damn frustrating.
“That would be great. Thank you, Faith,” I said in the most charming voice I could muster. I knocked on the door of the freezer. “Hear that, Mak? Faith is going to give us some privacy. Now get your ass out here and talk to me.”
“Faith, don’t you dare leave this shop!”
Faith froze. She’d already gathered supplies to take out to the van. She stuttered. I nodded. “It’s okay. Go ahead and load the van. Come out, Mak. Faster you’re out here and talk to me, the faster you can get on with your day.”
“There’s nothing to talk about,” she said.
“There’s fucking plenty.”
“It’s none of your business.”
“I’m makin’ it my business.”
Faith walked out the back door, the buzzer sounding. It was a different sound than the front door, and I heard Makenna sigh and mutter under her breath about being left alone for the wolves.
“We’re alone,” I said, my voice softer. Softer than I felt. I needed the control. I didn’t leave anything up to anyone else, and Makenna pushing me out was grating against me.
“It’s none of your business, Colt.” Makenna still didn’t open the door, and her voice didn’t take on the softer tone that mine did. Hers was even fiercer and angrier. “You’re not my father. You’re not my boyfriend. You are a friend and I get to decide what I want you to know or not.”
“It’s too late for that. I already know. Is it just me you’re avoiding? Have you spoken to them? Made plans? Or are you avoiding the whole situation? Living in fear?”