Page 36 of Safe With Me
My whole body recoiled. “I’m not going out.”
Tate’s brows drew together in a sharp scowl.
I ignored him, holding Gracie’s gaze, the same shade of hazel as my own. “Can we meet at your house if the kids are with a babysitter?”
Gracie’s expression softened, and I rushed to avoid her sympathy.
“Andy could referee.” I nudged her shoulder.
A sigh bled over her lips. “Andy is pissed.”
“Because he was smart enough to see this coming. I wish I’d listened to him.”
“You’re not beating yourself up over something that isn’t your fault, Hannah.” Gracie reached for a scone and hummed in pleasure over a bite. “What if I ask her to come at six and then you come at six-thirty?”
“You’re afraid she’ll leave if I’m there.” She was probably right, but still the realization hurt. And it’s crazy thatthathurt after everything else Elizabeth had done lately.
“I am.” Gracie grimaces. “I’ll grab us something amazing from Shay’s for supper, and we’ll talk.”
The whole idea was impossibly optimistic, but I nodded. Gracie hung around long enough to finish her scone before scooting out to hit up Shay’s before the bakery closed early on Saturday. I busied myself putting away scones and muffins. I could freeze some, maybe, or send them home with Tate once he grew tired of babysitting me–
“What happened at the Hickory House last night?”
His terse voice made me jump. My shoulders sagged. I wanted to ignore him, but he’d only hear the story around town. I’m sure it was flying like Delta, all over Coney.
“My date and I went there for dinner. Mrs. Gail told me I should be ashamed for what I’d done to Elizabeth, and that my mother would be mortified–”
Tate made a disgusted noise in his throat.
“Then she asked us to leave.” Commanded was more like it. I sucked in a breath, remembering what came next. “People applauded when I walked out. Needless to say, Schyler wasn’t up for a second date.”
“His loss.”
I copied his little disgusted scoff. “A week ago, you told me–”
“I was stupid.” He held my gaze, his brown eyes serious. “Let’s talk about that.”
I’d opened this door with my snide comment, but I didn’t want to walk through it. “Let’s not.”
“Look, I was wrong. I hurt you.” His tone was as serious as his eyes. “If we don’t talk about it, it’ll fester.”
My heart twisted up, already infected with festering bitterness. “We were friends–”
He closed his eyes.
“--you were supposed to know me. You just assumed what Elizabeth presented was the truth.”
“I didn’t slow down enough to think.” He ran a hand through his hair. “About any of it. Probably didn’t want to.”
Scowling, I dumped my cold coffee in the sink. “What are you talking about?”
“I like distance.” He took a step closer. “Get too close and it hurts like a motherfucker when you lose someone. If I sloweddown to think about me and you, I’d have figured out what I felt was beyond friendship.”
“You wanted my sister.” I sidestepped, easing toward the table where my half-finished wreath waited. For what, I didn’t know. I would never finish it.
“When I was a kid. Pretty sure that went out the door within a few Saturday nights with you, and I didn’t want to see it.”
Eyes narrowed, I glowered at him. “Oh, so now I’m the love of your life.”
