Page 34 of The Magical Tea Shop

“She wanted me to, I think, to prove I couldn’t hack it, to prove we were a mistake. It made me more determined to stick it out. If everyone else could do it, so could I. By the third ridge, I’d had enough. We had space on this one. We’d moved off by ourselves, far enough from the others that no one would overhear us arguing in hushed tones. I let her have it. I told her to quit embarrassing me. That I knew she’d deceived me.

“She dared me to give up. I told her I wasn’t a quitter. She lit into me about Hazard, how miserable she was and how, since I wasn’t a quitter, we’d be stuck here until she died, that the reason she needed adventure was because of our pathetic life.

“We were on a ridge, halfway up a cliff. It was the absolute dumbest place to pick a fight. I’d started it, and Candace, being Candace, amped up our row until we were shouting. So much for quarreling where no one else would hear. She thrived on confrontation. Never one to back down from a fight, that was Candace.

“I chewed her out for lying to me about the skill level required, and she laughed, mocking me. All I could think was, how could she do this?

“She went off on how I was embarrassing her, that the trip was to show me what I was made of, or, rather, not made of. I said she was cruel. She said I was weak.

“I finally quit arguing. What was the point? She trudged off to check out the next section, and she left her harness behind. She rounded the outcropping—just to view the rock face, she said. But Candace always had to be first. She didn’t wait for any of us to join her. Without her harness, she began to climb.

“I knew when she trudged off that I should follow. Lord, if I could do it over. That one moment haunts me. But I was angry, and at the time I thought, fine, she wants to get away from me. I’ll let her.”

“She was a grown woman.”

“She was my wife. I should have kept her safe. It was my responsibility, but I just let her go, and then I lost her. Forever. She fell. We were all too far away to catch her, or to even break her fall. She didn’t fall back to the outcropping, but all the way to the base of the rock face.

“In the last moment of her life, I wasn’t there.”

Ivy took his hand. “Jaxon…”

“I should have protected her.”

“She—” How could she say this? She knew that Candace had been trying to escape him just as she had escaped from her dates. Candace had made her choice.

She hadn’t loved Jaxon.

But had he loved her? More importantly, would Jaxon always blame himself? Because if that was the case, he might never get past his loss.Was the town of Hazard right?As the last bit of color faded from the horizon into darkening azure, Ivy knew she needed to go. She needed to let him go—for now.

She stepped away as Jaxon remained sitting, his loyal dog beside him. She wanted something he wasn’t ready to give. At that moment, the door of the diner burst open.

Chapter Thirteen

Pedro shoved Kylehard, yelling, “I reserve the right to refuse service to anyone, and that anyone is you!”

Arms flailing, Kyle stumbled back. He fell to one knee before he popped back up. “You’re my blasted friend, and you tried to poison me. I could’ve died.”

Pedro was shaking his head. “You always were a drama queen.”

“That does it.” Kyle surged forward. In lightning speed, the Rebels’s pitcher drew his hand back to swing at Pedro’s head. But Pedro ducked under the swing and back up, and with both hands, shoved Kyle another step back.

Kyle took a second swing. Pedro ducked and shoved. So the dance began.

Swing, duck, shove.

Swing, duck, shove…each step bringing Kyle farther away from the diner and farther into the unlit street.

“Oh, dear,” said Ivy, but Jaxon was already moving. When Montgomery made a dash to go after Jaxon, she dived for his leash.

“Hey, stop.” Jaxon strode into the street, as a car swerved round the corner. Montgomery yipped and yelped as Ivy grabbed hold of his leash just in time to jerk him back from danger. Tires screeching, the car bore down. Jaxon dodged left as the car careened around Kyle and Pedro, but even that didn’t give the two pause.

Swing, duck, shove.

Step by step by swing, they worked their way across the street toward the green, as the car disappeared from sight. Dina stood in the doorway, watching avidly. Ivy moved into the street and motioned at Dina to come help. Light spilled from the diner, illuminating the elderly waitress’s hair to a neon shade of orange. Dina shook her head and laughed out loud.

Really?thought Ivy, appalled anyone would find brawling a source of amusement.

Jaxon inserted himself between the two brawlers and was ducking punches, getting hit sporadically, and dodging shoves. Kyle and Pedro continued on like he wasn’t even there.

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