I sit frozen and try to ignore the feel of his eyes on me as we wait for her to come back with the container.
“You good with coming back to our place? I was just here to grab mine and Maggie’s dinner. I know she’d love to have you over. She was practically buzzing at the news that you’re back.”
I nod slightly and then dump my plate into the container as soon as she brings it over, toss a twenty on the table, and bolt for the door, keeping my eyes away from the bar and the man I can still feel glaring at me. It’s the cowardly way but I’m not feeling even a little brave right now.
Hetter shakes his head and gives my shoulder a squeeze as he opens his truck door for me.
“I know it’s a lot right now with your daddy and all but, Rain, you should really make the time to clear the air with them before you leave again. It’s been ten years, darlin’. That’s a long time to wait for answers.”
I jerk my head and give him a tight smile knowing that will never happen. Ten years? It could be twenty years and I still wouldn’t be able to tell them exactly why I ran that night.
Rex
Islide a pint across the bar to Bobby with a nod and reach for the next order when the hairs on my arms lift and a shiver races down my back. My head jerks up and my eyes go to the woman that’s just entered my bar. I’m completely transfixed by the beautiful, polished blond who’s making a beeline across the room to one of the booths that line the walls without once looking up. My first dose of Rain Rawlins in ten years hits me harder than a kick to the chest from a mad bull. Fuck me. I knew seeing her again would hurt but I wasn’t prepared for this at all. What the fuck is she doing here in my bar?
As pissed as I am to see her, my eyes are greedy to take in all the changes to her since I last saw her a decade ago. The version of my wild girl that’s locked inside my memories is so different from the woman she is now. That Rainy had rippling waves of blond hair, snapping stormy grey eyes, and enough attitude to fill whatever space she walked into. This…this woman is different. She’s still heartbreakingly beautiful but she seems somehow…dimmer. All that wild hair has been tamed into a sleek polished sheet of gold that falls down her back. Her grey eyes never lift to take in the room and instead of a worn pair of tight jeans that cup her fantastic apple ass and a tight, cropped t-shirt, she’s wearing a classy skirt that reaches her knees and a crisp, cream-colored blouse that covers everything. That big energy she used to carry around her is hardly a spark now. This woman just looks a little sad and a lot tired.
Bobby follows my line of sight and grunts before turning back.
“Aint that little Rain Rawlins? Charlie’s girl? Didn’t she use to run with you and your crew?”
I make a sharp nod, never taking my eyes from her as she places an order with my waitress, Star, and murmur, “Something like that.”
“Shame about Charlie. You going to his service?”
I give him another absent nod and move to the other end of the bar to meet Star on her way back. She’s been working here for over a month now and still has trouble meeting my eyes as she tells me Rain’s order. Star’s another woman that life’s hardships have dimmed her essence.
“No bill for that one. She doesn’t pay for anything in here, got it?”
Surprise flashes across her delicate features but she quickly nods and ducks her head to let her silvery blond hair cover half her face like the shield she uses it for. I turn away and pour out the cheap wine I stock. There’s a moment when I wish I had something better to offer but there’s not a lot of wine drinkers in this town. Anger flares through me and I huff out an annoyed noise. Screw that and screw her. If she wanted good wine, she should have stayed wherever she ran off too. The Rain I knew would have ordered a beer, bottle and all.
I pass off the glass to Star, place the food order with the kitchen, and start bagging up a to-go order waiting on the passthrough counter. I check the slip taped to the top container and see that it’s for Hett and Maggie then carry it over to the end of the wooden bar just as Hetter pushes through the front door and swaggers over to me with a grin.
“Hiya, sexy Rexy. How’s tricks?”
I grunt and lift my chin in greeting but my gaze swings back to Rain sitting all alone again. A deep frown settles in when I see her with her head tilted back and her eyes closed. She looks so fucking sad that I want to storm over there and yank her into my arms. I know she’s got to be hurting with her daddy passing away as they were always close but she’s not mine to comfort anymore and maybe, maybe she never was.
“Well, fuck a duck. I guess that answers my next question,” Hetter says with a smirk, dragging my attention back to him.
“What question is that, Hett?”
He arches a brow and looks Rain’s way.
“Whether or not you knew she was back in town. Have you talked to her?”
I lean a hip against the wood, ignore the flare of ache in it and cross my arms as my frown deepens.
“No. What’s there to even say at this point? Sorry your dad died now go the fuck away?”
The smirk leaves his face and is replaced with a scowl.
“Harsh, man. I know you two have baggage but fuck, she’s here to bury her daddy. Don’t be a fucking dick for once.” He grabs the takeout bag and pulls it toward him. “This mine?” At my nod, he yanks it off the counter. “Well, let me take the poor girl off your hands then. She looks wrecked.”
Hetter strides across the bar and stops by the booth Rain’s sitting at and for the first time since she walked in, I see a real smile cross her gorgeous face. It makes my gut clench as memories of her looking at me with that smile over her shoulder as we rode through the pastures flash through my mind. My fingers turn to fists and my frown turns to a glare. I don’t need a reminder of what was. She threw that all away when she ran out on me…on us.
I see the exact moment Hett must tell her whose place she’s actually in because her whole body tenses with a jerk and she does this slow head turn to face me. Her expression might as well be that of prey that’s caught a hunter’s sight as she meets my eyes for the first time. Fuck, those goddam eyes of hers are still the same ones that haunt my dreams and one of the main reasons I drink myself to oblivion most nights. I get lost in those stormy eyes that are full of pain, sadness, and regret until Star breaks my line of sight to deliver the meal Rain ordered. Star scurries away and comes back to the table with a to-go container just as fast but I get a quick glimpse of Rain’s pale, drawn face as she stares down at the scarred tabletop of the booth. Then she’s dumping her meal in the container and bolting toward the door without ever looking my way again. When the door swings closed behind Hetter who followed her out, I let out a low curse and reach for my poison of choice and pour a shot.
“Damn, Rex! I ain’t never seen a raging argument where no one said a single word before. That was intense.”
