“I did. I really did.” His eyes were as soft as his voice. Dean never had a problem sounding sincere. Really, I couldn’t claim he’d ever lied to me or made me any false promises.
“Missed what about me?” I asked, because I was trying to be tough.
“So many things. Our hikes together. Your smile.” Both dimples flashed this time. “I miss our friendship. I messed up. I know that. But I’d like to make up for it.”
I will stay strong, I repeated to myself.My heart is made of stone.
I nodded at the basket. “That thing is the size of a small continent.”
He laughed. “Yeah, I drove out to this gift shop in Pine Creek. The woman there upsold me big time. But I told her I had some groveling to do.”
He got up, carrying that basket, and went to one knee beside me. Flipping the lid open, he started taking items from inside. “You’re stuck at home, so I figured you could use a care package.”
There were a couple new pairs of fuzzy socks, one with cats on them, the other with little coffee cups. Cellophane bags of nut clusters from Scarlett’s Sweet Shop. A lavender-scented candle and jars of local honey and jam.
A soft throw blanket in my favorite shade of blue. Same blue as his eyes.
“You must’ve cleaned out the store.”
“Trust me, there was plenty left. You should’ve seen the place. She tried to sell me one of those wooden signs with an inspirational quote painted on it, but I figured you’d kick me out for sure.”
An involuntary smile tried to tug at my lips.
“I stopped at the bookstore too.” Dean held up a stack of novels with bright covers. “The woman at the shop said these are all brand-new action adventures and really good. I was hoping you hadn’t read them yet.”
Ugh. I kept trying to keep my emotions distant, even though I was touched by everything he’d picked out. And hekept kneeling there, like that position was symbolic or something.
The stone wall around my heart was already crumbling.
“Thank you,” I said finally. “You can get up now.”
“You’re not going to kick me out again?”
“Bribery works on me, I guess. Also, I’ve been pretty bored, so you can stay a little while. Until Brynn gets back.”
“Gives us time to talk then,” he said, rising and taking the chair again.
I had to get myself back on track, because I was about to melt into a pile of goo. I was supposed to be hardened and cynical now, not the same girl I’d been two years ago who got her heart broke.
I called up the pain of him leaving. The ache of realizing that he’d basically ghosted me.
There. That was what I needed. Some righteous anger. But it was more of a fizzle than a bang.
“What happened to your knuckles?” I asked.
His brow knit. “My knuckles?”
“You had them bandaged before.”
Dean opened his mouth. Closed it again. He looked down at his hand, flexing his fingers. “I didn’t realize you noticed.”
The bandage was gone now, just a few red marks left behind on his skin. But yeah. I’d noticed. “I might be just a sheriff’s deputy, but I know what it looks like when someone has split knuckles from punching something.”
“When Owen called me with the news about what happened to you, I punched my bedroom wall.”
I stared at him. “Where?”
“Where what?”
