“If you need anything, just reach out to us,” I offer.
“You remind me of your dad,” she says.
Is she calling me a cold bloodsucking bastard?
“Hopefully not, ma’am. I’ve worked hard not to be like him.” My voice has more anger than I intended.
“Not that William,” she says. “He was different. He used to work for my mom. I had a little crush on him because he was really nice.”
“My father?”
She nods. “I was seven. He always brought me a lollipop or a bar of chocolate from the factory.”
“What happened to him?”
“It’s hard to know,” she responds. “Your grandmother wasn’t a nice woman. I never met your grandfather, but no one has anything nice to say about him either. I guess they forced him to change. I just hope you guys don’t end up like him.”
“What do you mean?”
“None of you have anything nice to say about him. It doesn’t require much to guess that you weren’t close to him. It wasn’t until he died that you finally came back to the town.” She wipes her already clean counter and then smiles at me. “If you guys leave, I hope you come back—and that you won’t screw up the town before you go.”
I pull out a hundred-dollar bill and set it in the tip jar. “We wouldn’t do that.”
Not intentionally, anyway. There are still a few more months to go before we meet my father’s stipulations. A lot of things can go wrong. What if we fail?
After dinner, my brothers and I gather around the fire pit. Arden is in the barn “helping” with the baby chicks, a.k.a. watching them while Leyla makes sure that they’re okay. One of the goats got into their area and knocked over the chicken coop.
“How is Rick?” I ask Hayes casually.
He gives me a look. “Is there something you want to share with us?”
“I’m asking a question,” I retort, playing dumb.
“Rick is fine,” he answers, not moving his gaze from me.
“Good, I was just wondering since Paige mentioned earlier that Vance was giving him a ride home.”
He nods slightly. “Do you happen to know who hired Easton?”
“Dude, we hire him for everything,” I respond.
“Sure, but someone anonymously hired him to do a setup similar than the one we have for Beac here,” he continues. “I’m just curious about this unknown benefactor.”
I shrug.
“He has a thing for Paige,” Henry suggests.
“His daughter is cute,” Vance offers.
I shoot daggers at him.
Hayes shouts, “I fucking knew it. You have a thing for Hadley. You’ve been weird since she arrived.”
All my brothers stare at me, judging. This is a make-or-break moment. I’m right in front of the goalie and if I shoot at a wrong angle, I’m screwed. The team loses and I’ll go down as the idiot that fucked the entire season.
“We have rules. One that includes you can’t go out with the townies. They are off-limits,” Henry warns me. “If you fuck up things will get sticky.”
“I don’t have a thing for her. She’s nice, like her mom. Do you know our father used to work at the bakery?”
Their attention shifts immediately to what I just said. My brothers are easily distracted. Give them some catnip about our father’s past, and they get off your case immediately.
Chapter Ten
Mills
I don’t remember who came up with the stupid rule about hooking up with people from Baker’s Creek or Happy Springs. We just agreed that we wouldn’t screw around. It makes sense. You don’t want to be the womanizer of the Aldridges. That’s not how I want to be known in this town.
Does that mean I should stop seeking out Hadley?
I’m not sure, and I don’t fucking care.
Can we even consider Hadley a townie?
She left this place right after high school and doesn’t seem to belong any more than we do. At the end of the day, I don’t need excuses to see her. My brothers can go and fuck themselves. I am my own person. It’s around ten when I decide to go on a run.
The shadow of Vance startles me. He’s leaning against the wall.
“You’re so fucking predictable,” he grumbles.
“Are you my designated babysitter?”
He shakes his head a couple of times. “I’m here to warn you. You’re playing with fire.”
A wave of nausea hits me. Is there another threat? How many people want to kill him? I try to keep my cool and ask casually, “What are you talking about?”
“This will be the third night you meet with Hadley—without Arden,” he states.
The knot on my stomach loosens up slightly, but now I’m fucking angry. “Have you been spying on me?”
He shakes his head. “There are eyes everywhere.”
Who is watching us other than the nosy habitants of Baker’s Creek? I recall having the high-intelligence security company that Beacon works for patrolling the town after we were attacked but—“Beacon’s people?” I ask, scanning our property.
He nods.
I swallow hard, trying not to panic. “Why? I thought it was over.”
“We just want to make sure it’s safe,” he responds.
“We? Are you working for them?” Vance is like a Rubik’s Cube. You think you already have him figured out, but you’ve only solved one side of the puzzle. The other five are a mess.
“It doesn’t matter,” he mumbles. “The point is that you need to stay away from the baker’s daughter. She’s leaving soon, and you can’t go after her.”
That doesn’t make sense. Why would I chase her? Does he think I’m going to fall in love with her? We’re friends and...
“What if she stays?” I ask because I don’t want her to leave just yet.
“That’s even worse,” he states. “You hookup, your son gets attached, and what’s going to happen when you leave?”
For a pragmatic guy who doesn't give a shit about feelings, he sure is blowing things out of proportion.
“You have no idea what you’re talking about, asshole. Hadley is a friend,” I state. It may be a bit of an exaggeration considering we just met.
“I know exactly why I’m telling you to stop. After our father, Mom dated a really cool guy. He lived with us, and I even called him Dad. After they broke up, I never heard from him. Just think about it, I was abandoned by my father and then by this man. If you end up fucking her, keep your son away. Guard his heart, or he’ll be fucked up before he turns five.”
That would’ve screwed me up, too, not that I’m that sane. “You never told us about that.”
While growing up, my mom married twice, but I always got along with her husband in turn. I still call them on their birthday and we even text every now and then. They do the same with me, never making me feel like I’m not a part of their life anymore. Maybe I was lucky, or Mom knew how to handle my relationship with her partner in turn. Who knows?
“It doesn’t matter,” he groans. “I’m just giving you some friendly advice.”