Page 31 of The Moment They Can't Forget

“Tell me what happened in Chicago, Zoe.”

“Nothing.”

“That’s a lie, and it’s killing me and the rest of your family that you won’t tell us. Don’t care enough to talk about what made you leave behind the job you’d always wanted.”

“You are saying that to me?” Zoe kept her voice calm. “You who had a secret so big, it eventually arrived on your doorstep and could have destroyed you.”

He turned those dark chocolate eyes her way. They were intense and searching for the answers she wouldn’t give him.

“I was wrong to do what I did. I know that now,” Sawyer said. “Holding all that stuff that happened to me inside, I let it fester. The anger, hatred, it all changed me, and the result could have taken Birdie from me. I will never forgive myself for that.”

Well, hell, Zoe thought.

“Did someone hurt you?”

“I don’t want to tell you because then you’ll want to make it right, and that’s not happening. Can we not just all move on, please?”

“We’re Dukes,” he said, like that was an explanation. “We don’t move on when one of ours is wronged.”

“I didn’t say I was wronged, Sawyer.”

His sigh was loud. “But you were. Some asshole did something to you.”

“And that right there is why I won’t say anything about what happened.”

“How about if I promise not to retaliate if retaliation is needed?” Sawyer said.

She jabbed a finger at him. “You and the others will find a way.”

He looked out the window for long seconds, large body tense.

“Fine, so you won’t tell me yet, but what are you going to do now, Zoe? You’ve been back a while, and you’re drifting. That’s not my little sister. You always had a plan. Correction, you always knew which direction you wanted to head in. Hell, you used to come downstairs in the morning with a list of the day’s activities in your hand when you were seven.”

“I’m taking a break,” she said, hating the defensive tone. “Everyone is allowed one of those.”

“And then what?”

Her eyes went to The Gnat. JD had done an amazing job with that place. He’d had a vision and made it happen. Zoe felt a failure because everything she’d planned and mapped out for herself had come tumbling down, and she had no plan B… yet.

“We’re your family, Zoe, and know you’re hurting,” Sawyer said solemnly.

“It wasn’t anything physical, Sawyer.” Because she’d left the man who had tried to manipulate her into using her body with a reminder that small-town girls don’t take crap from anyone. “There was no crime committed against me. It was work related, and I really don’t want to talk about it.”

Sawyer sighed and started the car. “I want details soon, but I also want pizza, so we’ll get that, and then you can spill to me and Ry.”

“I’ve said no many times to you already, and that’s just today. Drop it, Sawyer. But I could do pizza.”

He snorted and steered the car out of The Gnat’s parking lot.

She kept silent as he drove, thoughts churning around inside her head. Zoe had never thought herself a screwup, and yet she felt it now. Her job, JD. No direction to head in. That wasn’t her. Sawyer was right. She always had a plan.

“This is my last word on the matter, Sawyer. I don’t need you to fix my problems anymore. This is not sixth grade. So please let it go, and if you do, the others will follow your lead.”

“I only bloodied Sam Bailey’s nose a bit. He was sweet.”

“The point is, I can take care of myself.”

“I know, because we taught you, but that doesn’t mean we’ll stop protecting you… ever. Even when some brave man takes you on,” he added, parking before the building that had once housed Limpet’s bakery, a place no one ate at because it was a health risk. Larry Limpet had kept it going simply as a front to play cards every day and avoid his wife. Ryder had offered him money for it, and he now was going to turn it into a cafe.

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