Page 47 of Under Pink Skies

“Ellis is dead,” I said, with no hint of emotion in my tone.

Willie let out a dark chuckle. “Guess the bastard had it coming.”

I shrugged, burrowing deeper into that thoughtless place inside of me. I didn’t want to talk about Ellis, especially not with a man who had watched him hurt me, who knew what he was doing was wrong, and did nothing to stop it.

Anna would get an earful about this at our next session.

“We didn’t come here to talk about Ellis, or me, for that matter. Abbie is coordinating the first Founder’s Day festival in several years, and she’d like to discuss some things with you.”

“Like hell we’re going to gloss over this,” Willie said, and I instinctively stepped in front of Abbie, sensing that things were about to go sideways. “Your uncle stole from me. I want what I’m due.”

I should have gone back to the store.

“Willie, Ellis skipped town years ago,” Abbie interjected. I wanted to tell her there was no use, but she pressed a hand to my chest, as if sensing my impending objection. “Everyone in this town wants a scapegoat, but Connor was a kid, and Ellis was the adult. Connor didn’t steal from you. Ellis did, and now he’s dead. You don’t get to pin Ellis’s shit on him. It’s not fair.”

Willie’s eyes simmered with rage. “Abbie, you know I love you like you’re my own. We have business arrangements between us, but more than that, I consider you part of my family. And because I love you, I need you to stop talking like you understand this. This is between me and Connor.”

Something in me snapped loose at the condescending note in his voice. If he wanted to verbally berate me, I was fine with that. He could yell at me and hurl insults in my direction until the fat lady sang. But I was so tired of people taking their emotional immaturity out on my girl.

“I don’t know how you sleep at night,” I growled, banging my fist down on the bar top, “knowing that there was a kid in your bar—a hungry, exhausted, scaredkid—getting the crap beat out of him every time he lost a game of pool, and you watched it happen. For years, you watched it happen, and you saidnothing.”

Willie’s face crumpled.

“You don’t understand, Connor, your uncle was anevilman. There wasn’t a person in this bar that didn’t have some kind of screwed up deal with him.”

“You think I don’t know that?” I roared, and Abbie jumped. She flinched away from me, and oily, slick shame slithered its way up my spine. “You think I don’t know he was a bad man? I lived with him, Willie. I dealt with him every day.”

The words settled heavy in the space between Willie and me as I met the older man’s eyes for the last time.

“I will help you with whatever you need in a business capacity, because I’m here for her.”

I jerked my head in Abbie’s direction, keeping my gaze fixed on Willie.

“I’m here to make sure this festival goes off without a hitch. I didn’t come here to talk about the past, and I sure as hell don’t have to justify my actions to someone who was too cowardly to stand up for a fuckingkidwho had no place being in his bar,” I snarled.

I reached into my pocket and pulled out a crumpled fifty-dollar bill, slapping it on the bar top.

“I hope that covers my debt.”

The words hung immobilized in the stale air of the bar. I grabbed my books from Forest Grove and stomped toward the door. I let it slam shut behind me, unable to quell the roaring in my ears. All the unspoken words that had simmered within me for years threatened to spill from my mouth, and I wasn’t ready to deal with the fallout from that.

“Connor!” Abbie’s voice was distant, and the last thing I wanted to do was stop walking. If I stopped walking, I would lose my shit for real, and that was the last thing I needed.

“Connor, baby, please wait,” she called, and I stumbled at her words. I whirled to face her, my face red with anger.

“Let’s go back to the cabin, okay?” she said, cradling my face in her hands. I wanted to flinch away from her touch. I’d revealed too much at the bar. The last thing I wanted was for her to be kept in the dark about something else, for her to feel like all I ever did was keep secrets from her, but this was something I barely had a handle on myself. I didn’t know how to tell her these things. I didn’t know how to tell her in a way that wouldn’t be me dumping all of my crap into her lap.

I finally nodded my acquiescence, because I didn’t have the strength to fight her.

I was so tired of fighting.

Chapter 17

Abbie

Whenwemadeitback to the cabin, it was blessedly empty. I was everyone else was out running errands, so Connor could calm down in peace. He sat down on the brown leather couch with his elbows on his knees, eyes vacant as he stared off into space.

I didn’t know what to say in this situation, but I knew that sometimes people simply needed to have someone sit with them while they sorted their crap out. I headed to the kitchen to pour us both a drink.

---