Page 10 of Unbreakable Love

She was home. Safe.

And I was in a fresh land of living hell living across from the first woman who’d made me feel anything for a very long time.

Screwed.

I was absolutely screwed.

FOUR

PENNY

I’d been in New Haven for a week and was falling more in love with the town by the day. A friendly smile welcomed me at every store and the Jumpin’ Beans coffee shop was adorable. Since I’d met some of the parents on Thursday night, word must have spread who the newcomer was to town because on Friday when I stopped by Millie’s Diner for a carryout order, I was greeted not only with a smile, but by my first name before I could offer it. Small town living was strange, where it truly seemed like everyone knew everyone, but there was a safety in it as well. These were neighbors who looked after one another.

It was also where neighbors would see you pulling into your driveway at night and stomp over with a scowl to apologize, and while Mr. Kelley’s apology had seemed authentic albeit completely unwarranted, he also didn’t seem too thrilled to be giving it. The entire encounter with him was contradictory, and yet I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about him. The cut of his jaw, the anger in his eyes. His thick, dark hair and that scruff. The man had knocked the breath from my lungs when Josie yanked him forward in my classroom and so boldly declared she didn’t have a mom, only a dad.

It only made me more curious when he so succinctly snapped that Josie’s mom had taken off. Poor Josie, definitely. But poor Gavin. He must have had an incredible support network to be able to not only raise his daughter, but be so young. I was betting that at most, he was only three years older than me. That meant he was a young father. Had to have had her when he was a teenager.

Yeah, I had questions. Loads of them, and I was woman enough to admit when Faye invited me to Tom’s Saloon with her for a drink, I agreed in part to get some of those questions answered.

I told myself it was for Josie, so I could understand her more and be a better teacher.

I snorted as I took the shortcut through the square, past the gazebo that was lit up with solar powered twinkly lights. Yeah, right.

I wasn’t that much of a philanthropist or that selfless.

I wanted to know more about Gavin.

The air had a bite to it, the cold blowing in. It wasn’t that much different than this time of year in Kansas City, but after the hot summer months, the cold always took some getting used to. My denim jacket was lined, though, and once I ducked my head and headed toward the bar where Faye was waiting outside where she said she’d be, the wind was at least at my back, giving my cheeks and fingers a break from the cutting breeze.

“Hey!” she called, waving at me from the corner. “You made it! It’s cold, right?”

“So cold.” I shivered and crossed the street. “Thanks for inviting me. This was nice.”

“Please. The more the merrier, I always say, and like I said, I get my kids back tomorrow, so this is my last night to relax. Glad you could come.”

I scrubbed my hands together and warmed them as she pushed open the old-school, saloon-style swinging doors before we reached the main one. Built for design and not use, the swinging doors were still adorable and made it clear what this town used to be and what it still was. A small farming and ranching community, and they definitely appreciated the way things used to be.

“Dolly went inside to grab us a table, but be warned, it’s going to be a busy night, so if you thought you’d already met half the town this week, prepare to meet the rest.”

I chuckled. It didn’t seem so much a warning, but a pep talk, and I didn’t mind. There hadn’t been a person in town who hadn’t been friendly yet.

“If everyone is as nice as you’ve been, I think I’ll be okay.”

“About ninety percent. Five percent are so nasty Regina doesn’t let them walk through her doors.”

“And the other five?”

“Just bad enough she hasn’t had reason to permanently kick them out and since it’s Saturday, you’ve been warned.”

Awesome. Sounded fun.

“Got it.”

The bar was loud with a cacophony of sounds. From voices and laughter to music shouting through the speakers. There was the clinking of glasses and the slapping of tables. The lone, echoing crack of someone breaking the balls at the billiards table, and eruptions of cheers and arms thrown in the air when darts hit their targets. I took it all in. The space was large and open, with high-backed booths lining walls and round tables and bar height tables in the center. There wasn’t a stage for live music like in most Kansas City bars, but there was definitely a woodsy, pure country slash farm life feel to the place. But it was clean, and based on the crowd, definitely one of the top nightspots in town.

The bar was to the right, and a couple waitresses danced their way between groups of people standing around bar height tables with their round trays high in the hair.

“This way!” Faye shouted and grabbed my hand to pull me behind her. She weaved her way through the bar, much like the waitresses were doing, and raised her hand and shouted hellos to a handful of people as she finally reached a lone woman sitting at a booth near the pools at the back.

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