Still, she found the news interesting.
“I figured after Mr. Clearwater retired and shut down the tractor supply biz, his bestie Mr. Grant would eventually follow his lead,” she admitted. “He’s probably prepping his kid to take over for him. I doubt he’d just shut the mill down instead. The entire town would revolt.”
Price agreed with that. Like her, he had grown up with the steel mill being the heart of the town’s workforce. The idea of it shutting down was as bizarre as if Corrie Daniels decided to keep gossip to herself.
Not long after, the sheriff finally reappeared. He wasn’t happy. Neither was Blake once she heard Ryan’s excuse for his sudden reappearance.
Men lied, women too, but Ryan Reed was the worst of those who chose to twist the truth. He had been the same way before the divorce and shortly after. Lola had been livid recounting the way he had been loudly saying the entire thing was Beth’s fault and none of it was his brother’s fault. That’s why Blake had a hard time believing anything the sheriff was saying. Then again, Weaver looked like he wasn’t exactly buying it either.
“Ryan said he was in the area, saw the daycare program, and was curious,” the sheriff continued to relay. “He claims he wasn’t going to try to talk to you or the kids at all. He just wanted a peek at them to see how they were doing. He was trying to be inconspicuous, best I can guess.”
Blake crossed her arms over her chest and snorted.
“When I saw him, he sure wasn’t trying to seem inconspicuous. If he was Waldo, then every reader looking for him would have been disappointed at how easy it was to spot him.”
Sheriff Weaver, leaning against the table, also had his arms crossed over his chest. Blake thought she saw his lips twitch. She continued with the other part of Ryan’s sudden reappearance that had her questioning the man.
“Also, why the heck did he run?”
At this, the sheriff did a finger gun at her.
“I asked that actually,” he said. He cleared his throat and surprised Blake with a mock impression of Ryan. It was a nasally sound that must have been hard for his naturally deep voice. “‘I ran because she chased me like a bat outta hell.’”
Blake rolled her eyes.
“I took one step toward him, and he was the one out there running a relay.” Blake leaned forward. “Not to mention, once I finally got him to stop, he attacked like a feral animal being caged. Why would you do that if you were only there with the best of intentions?”
The sheriff’s gaze went to the Band-Aid over her eyebrow. It wasn’t the best patch job she had done on herself, but it would do until she could take more care at the house.
“Has he never been physical before?” he asked.
Blake shook her head.
“Ryan, and Tim for that matter, have always been slimy guys but never abusive.”
The sheriff tilted his head now a little.
“What about you?” he asked. “Have you gotten physical with him before?”
Blake snorted.
“I’ve wanted to smack both brothers upside the head since Tim married into the family.” She sighed out long. “But I didn’t want to upset my sister. Or my dad. So I only told my piece once about not liking them. I never brought it up again, especially after Clem was born.”
Another, different kind of resentment pooled inside of Blake. She didn’t often talk about her father, not even with her stepmother. He didn’t live with them and, as far as Blake could guess, never would. Blake had only ever fallen short in her father’s eyes. Nothing had changed that, even after Beth’s passing.
Not even his optimistic and loving wife could sway Blake’s father to change his poor opinion of her.
That was one reason Lola had moved in—she couldn’t stand to see no one helping. So she had stepped in without a word.
Blake shifted in her seat, uncomfortable.
She shook her head.
“I’ve given Ryan no reason to run from me or attack me like that,” she underlined. “And other than a hospital visit after Bruce was born, as far as I know, neither Ryan nor Tim have shown any interest in either him or Clementine.”
The sheriff pushed off the table. His arms stayed crossed.
It sure was a powerful stance. Blake could imagine his campaign to be sheriff must have had some good-looking ad and marketing materials.
