He’d asked for time, and I’d given it. But each day that passed made it clearer. He wasn’t willing to fight for me. And maybe that meant leaving when this was done. Because I couldn’t spend the rest of my life sneaking around, waiting for him to decide if I was worth the risk.
I closed the planner and sat back, the house too quiet around me.
One more week, I told myself. One more week to prove what I could do. After that, if he still wouldn’t stand with me… I didn’t let myself finish the thought.
Instead, I looked out the window, at the mountains etched against the night sky, and vowed to myself that I wouldn’t let fear write the story of my life. Not Harlan’s fear. Not my brothers’. Not mine.
Harlan
Adventure Weekend was three days away, and the town was humming like it hadn’t in years. Flyers were posted in every window, kids were talking about potential scavenger hunt prizes, Nellie handed out free coffee refills “for volunteers only” with a wink that meant everyone.
I should have been proud. I should have been standing next to Jessa, shoulder to shoulder, while she lit this town up brighter than the cafe’s twinkle lights. Instead, I was stocking shelves and pretending the air wasn’t buzzing with her name. Bubbles padded along behind me, his tail brushing against the shelves. He was restless too.
I was stacking cans in the back corner when the front door opened. Two guys I’d seen before at The Knotty Tap wandered in, trading laughs about something.
“Did you see the Ex-List thread this morning?” the taller one asked. “They’ve got odds on The Warden finally cracking.”
“Cracking?” the other guy snorted. “He’s already cracked. I heard Thatcher’s sister is the reason he’s suddenly playing nice with customers. Guess even The Warden can’t keep his zipper shut.”
Their laughter carried down the aisle, careless as hell, until I stood up and started down the aisle toward the register. Both men froze.
The taller one’s eyes went wide. “Uh, hey, Harlan. I didn’t know you were back there.”
“Yeah,” the other one mumbled, scratching the back of his neck. “We were just kidding around.”
I didn’t answer. My stomach had already turned to stone, my jaw locked so tight I could hear the grind of my own teeth. I rang up their shit in silence, each beep of the scanner too loud.
When the door shut behind them, their words still echoed. Thatcher’s sister. Zipper. Cracked.
Bubbles let out a soft whine like he knew I couldn’t hold it together anymore. Comments like theirs were what I’d been trying to avoid. I didn’t want to subject Jessa to the gossip or scrutiny of getting involved with a guy the town had named The Warden. I also didn’t want her brothers to start thinking the gossip was true, but it was too late.
I grabbed my jacket, flipped the sign to Closed, and locked the door behind me on my way out.
I found Jessa at the square, kneeling on the pavement with a roll of painter’s tape in one hand and a stack of laminated scavenger hunt clues in the other. Her hair was falling out of its bun, her cheeks flushed, her mouth curved in a way that meant she was working too hard and loving every second.
Damn, she was beautiful. My stomach twisted as I wished she could be mine. And that was the problem. Wishing wasn’t going to make it true. I was the only one who could do that, and I’d fucking failed her.
“Need a hand?” I asked.
She looked up, startled but smiling. “I thought you’d be holed up in the shop all day.”
“I closed early.” My voice came out sharp.
She tilted her head, studying me. “Something wrong?”
I crouched next to her, took the roll of tape from her hand, and set it down on the pavement. “We need to talk.”
Her smile slipped. “That sounds serious.”
“It is.” I dragged a hand over my beard. “I heard them. At the store. Guys running their mouths about us. About you.”
Her eyes narrowed. “What did they say?”
“Doesn’t matter.” I stood, pacing a few steps to try to give the anger coiled inside me an outlet. “My point is the gossip’s out of control. The Ex-List poll, the comments, now this. It’s only a matter of time before your brothers hear it, and then?—”
“Then what?” She rose to her feet and planted her hands on her hips. “Then they finally realize I’m an adult making my own choices?”
“Then they come for me.” My voice rose. “Then I lose them. The only family I’ve got.”
