Page 34 of Things Left Unsaid

While I side-eye Colt, he grins. Not at me. But Harry. “It isn’t as simple as I’d like to come to town, Harry.” To Hilary, he tips his head. “Pleasure to see you, Mrs. Browne.”

She preens. “And you, Colton. My daughter was telling me about the new office expansion at HQ and how you promoted her.” The older woman cuts a look at Harry, making certain he heard about said office expansion as well as the promotion.

That assertion was better than putting it on pigeoncreekherald.com. It’ll certainly be passed around the town sooner than its editor can update the website.

“She’s one of the best at her job,” is Colt’s bland reply. To Harry, he asks, “How’s the foot?”

Sensing the dismissal, Hilary packs her items into a tote.

My mind’s still stuck on her first piece of gossip though:Lydia Armstrong’s having to move?

Her daughter, Marcy, used to be close to Tee and me in school. But when we were sixteen, and not long after the fire, she ran away.

To this day, no one has ever heard from her.

A few tried to pin the arson on her. Using her absence as ‘proof’ of guilt. But it hadn’t stuck.

How could it?

She didn’t set fire to the stables.

Only I and the perpetrator know who did.

Hilary makes to leave but as she passes me, she hisses, “You’re not welcome here,arsonist.”

It’s not the first time someone’s told me that. Hell, it’s part of the reason I can count on one hand how often I’ve visited Pigeon Creek in the past ten years. But my teeth still grind together at the insult.

I let it go though. What choice do I have?

“Hilary,” Colt barks, making both of us jump.

Like a little girl with her hand caught in the cookie jar, Hilary freezes on the doorstep. One foot outside, the other in.

Her head slowly turns to face us, sporting a placid if confused smile. “Yes, Colton?”

“I don’t appreciate you hurling crude statements like that around. What happened is in the past. Not only was Susanne a child, but she didn’tdoit. I myself spoke on her behalf.” His eyes narrow on the older woman. “I like it even less when people toss insults at my close friends or imply that I’m a liar.”

Hilary’s eyes bug, but that’s nothing to mine. Or Harry’s.

The baker looks as if all his gossip-boy dreams have come to life on the same day.

“I’m afraid I don’t know what you mean!”

“I heard what you said.” Colton’s timbre shoots straight through me.

His defense is appreciated, but God if it isn’t ten years too late.

“I didn’t say a word!”

“I don’t like liars. ‘You’re not welcome here, arsonist.’ That was what you said. Do you still deny it?”

Hilary’s throat bobs, but I can tell from the pinch of her lips she’s going to stick to her lie. “I said nothing of the kind. You must be mistaken.”

I release a sigh loaded with exhaustion that’s a decade old. “You don’t have to do this, Colton.”

His nostrils flare as he pins me with a glance. “Yes. I do.” To Hilary, he warns, “Poisonous words affect the speaker as much as they do the recipient.

“You’d be wise to hold your tongue. Ms. McAllister might not be able to afford a lawyer, but I can. Dealing with a lawsuit for slander can be a costly exercise.”

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