Page 35 of Bring me Back

“I’m going easy on you,” he pressed, and I laughed.

He was just asking me to take space once again. And I was tempted.

Because I hadn’t told Daniel it was at that college party when I decided to go back to Bluehaven. When I realized it wasn’t the school or my town. It was me. I let them talk down to me. I let people walk all over me and they had done it in Bluehaven and they did it everywhere I went.

Moving hadn’t fixed me.

“Take back?” I asked again, uncertain.

“Take it all back.” He nodded.

“How’s it going, Mr. Miller?”

Cole Thompson was a reluctant presence in every class but mine. Bold, intelligent but never compliant. He was a teacher’s nightmare with the eye rolls and bad boy attitude. But he excelled in my class, so if I was going to have a favorite student, he would be it. Not exactly the person I had in mind when I arrived at White Hardware store, but I took it.

“Good. Working hard?” I came to the counter, my extensive list of supplies in hand.

He scoffed. “Not more than I should.” He pointed to the paper. “Should I have a look?”

I handed it to him. It was a mix of supplies for my personal projects and things I needed for the set. I was still unsure about spending money before the fundraiser was finished and we knew for sure how much extra we had. So I decided to donate a few things and hoped Preston was in a good mood to hand out discounts.

It wasn’t a surprise that Hallie wasn’t here, but my eyes searched a perky ponytail and a curious frown anyway. I shook myself off. I knew well that thinking about Hallie was a bad idea. She was young and clearly going through things. I couldn’t help myself when we were together, but I knew it had to stop. I could pretend all I wanted that I had just a mild interest in her, but it was the most obvious lie I’d ever told myself.

While I busied myself with conflicting thoughts, Cole jumped into action, fetching the items of my list in the aisles along the store. I leaned against the dated counter beside the till and waited. Preston once told me the store was originally his grandfather’s and was passed on to his father and now it was his. He’d probably sell it to retire, since his daughter would never be interested in the family business. I thought it was odd how at peace he was about losing his family’s legacy. But that was before I met Hallie and understood the quiet force of nature she was.

“Daniel!” boomed the blond-haired man coming from the back.

“Hey, Preston.” I straightened myself and stopped all thoughts about his daughter. “How are things?”

“Good, good. Have you been taken care of?”

I confirmed, jerking my thumb in Cole’s direction. “Kid is grabbing a few things for me.”

Preston nodded, seeming satisfied with Cole. “Hallie tells me you’re both working a lot.”

Guilt pricked my skin. Guilt, why guilt? I had done nothing with his daughter. Still, it was hard to look in a man’s eye when you imagined driving your cock in and out of his daughter a couple of times. It was another reason why I should’ve tamed things with Hallie.

“You know how Helen works…” I shrugged. “She wants what she wants.”

“Huh.” Preston’s reply made me frown. “I’m glad Hallie is helping,” he said, rubbing a hand to his chin. “But maybe she should put more work on herself? The diner already takes too much of her time.”

“Would you prefer her not to work at the school at all?” I pried.

He tipped his head left and right. “Hallie isn’t the type of person to sit idly by when everyone else is working. I’m happy she’s there with Mrs. Carr, but she’s my daughter, and I want more for her.”

I considered what he was saying. “I gathered that everything she’s doing can go to her portfolio.”

It was a massive speculation on my part, but I didn’t need to hear from her to know that she enjoyed working with theater. She wasn’t wasting her time like Preston was suggesting.

He nodded, but still insisted. “With the diner, theater and that secret dress, I hardly see her.”

“Secret dress?” I asked at the same time the bell chimed by the entrance.

I turned to my right to find no one but Cricket there, blinking at her father and then quickly at me, like she caught us doing something we shouldn’t. I swallowed my ill placed guilt once more and tried to smile.

“Hey, Hallie.”

Not Cricket today. I couldn’t call her by a nickname and get away with it. I barely thought I was getting away with the way I looked at her, but I couldn’t control it. Hallie had the kind of beauty that knocked air out of my lungs every single time. It was the regal way she carried herself. Gentle, delicate all over and in the occasional times she actually spoke, I was transfixed by her sharp tongue and wit.

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