Page 24 of Hidden Vows
He tries hard, but I see the muscles in his jaw tick, anger flashing in his eyes at the nickname. “I still have the power to destroy this bar, boy,” he hisses.
It used to bother me when he called me “boy,” but now it rolls right off my shoulders. I hoped I’d be able to at leastappearunbothered in front of Edward Selbey, but I’m not faking it. I truly don’t care what this man thinks of me—not anymore.
“I know you do, but you really expect me to stay away when there’s a chance my father might die? Even you aren’t that cruel.” This man may hate me—for reasons I can’t quite understand—but I think even he can understand the importance of family.
“I may be able to look past you being in town to see your father in his time of need, but the second you wormed your way back into my daughter’s life again is the moment you lost my understanding,” he seethes, moving closer.
“It’s a small town.” I don’t move, unwilling to give even an inch to the man before me.
“And yet.” He strides closer, coming almost toe-to-toe with me. It’s a move I’m sure he wants to be intimidating, but I’m taller than him, and I’ve put on muscle since the last time he saw me. “I’m sure if you really tried, you could stay out of my daughter’s way. You’re no good for her. You never have been.”
“There might have been a time I believed that, but I don’t anymore. You can do whatever you want to me or this bar.” I smirk at him, proving my next words true. “I know my worth, and I’m far more confident than I used to be.”
His nostrils flare as his eyes bounce between mine, his words more of a snarl than anything else. “I guess we’ll have to see about that, won’t we?”
Before either of us can say another word, the door to the bar opens, and Caleb Marks steps through. It doesn’t take long for his eyes to find mine, silently asking if everything is okay. But I don’t even have a chance to shake my head before Edward straightens his jacket and turns to leave the bar, only offering a slight nod in Caleb’s direction as he passes.
“What was that about?” Caleb asks as he makes his way behind the bar, grabbing a glass and pouring himself a pint of beer.
“Nothing new.” I retake my seat in front of my computer, gently smoothing my hand over the top. A silent reminder that my words to Edward were true. I’m not the same kid anymore, and I have way more life experience and grit than I did back then.
“And what exactly does that mean? Because I still don’t know what happened before you left. I don’t think anyone does.” Caleb moves back to my side of the bar, taking a seat a few stools down from mine, his body angled toward me.
“Well, you won’t be the first person I tell, considering Abbey doesn’t even know.”
His brows lift, shock painted across his features. “Are you saying you’re finally going to tell the truth about what happened back then?”
Now it’s my turn to be surprised. I turn to him slowly, trying to mask my own shock. “What do you mean? What truth?”
“Oh, come on, Jude. I may not know whatever you wanted Abbey to believe, but there’s no way you did anything to hurt that woman—not really.”
“Caleb—”
“Abbey was your whole heart,” Caleb interruptsme, not giving me a chance to stop him. “You loved her more than anything and anyone else—even your dad. You may have some people fooled, but you could never fool me, you could never fool Gage, and you could never fool your father.” He pauses, taking a sip of his beer. “And I think deep down, you could never fool Abbey. She’s been too blinded by whatever lie you told her to think clearly.”
“I don’t even know what to say to that.” I stand from my seat, moving behind the bar to get my own pint of beer.
He laughs, taking another sip before staring at me across the bar. “Just tell me you’re finally going to come clean about it. It’s time you came home and lived your life again.”
I scoff, unwilling to admit how right he is. “I have been living my life.”
“No, you haven’t,” he scoffs. “You’ve been going through the motions, but you haven’t been living.” He studies me for a second before pointing his finger at me. “You don’t think your dad talks to people here?” He pauses, but before I can say anything he starts again. “You might have made him promise not to talk to you about Ashford Falls and the people in it, but he made no such promise to the rest of us. I may not know everything you’ve told him, but I know you haven’t dated anyone since Abbey, and I know you never stay in one place long enough to make lasting connections with people.”
I open my mouth to argue—Willy and Mae being a prime example that’s not true—but Caleb plows on before I can say anything—again.
“You’re a nomad through and through, searching for something. The only problem? You found that something when you were six years old, and you let it go when you were nineteen.”
“You seem to have it all figured out,” I mumble, taking a large gulp from my glass.
“That’s the thing. I have no idea what’s going on with you. But I can’t believe you’d pass up an opportunity to take it all back if you could.”
“It’s not about taking it back. Abbey is the love of my life, and she always will be,” I admit, my eyes falling to my closed laptop on the bar, thinking about the words I was writing before Edward walked through the door.
I wish, more than anything, I believed that Abbey and I would’ve made it through the last seventeen years if I’d made a different choice back then, but I don’t think we’d have been strong enough. I was too focused on how other people viewed me, and trying to fit the mold I thought they wanted me in, to fight for Abbey.
Now, though, after everything we’ve been through? I know I’m strong enough to fight for Abbey. And if Abbey is even half the woman I knew her to be back then, she’s strong enough to learn the truth.
“But?” Caleb asks when I don’t continue.
