“Well, that doesn’t help us tonight. I’ll go get some from the grocery store. Maybe I’ll run into Mrs. Sandler on the way.”
Cody chuckled. Barry had always had a thing for the bakery owner. He’d encouraged the old man to make a move and ask her out, but that never happened.
Barry stopped at the door and turned. “Is Harper okay?”
The smile slipped from Cody’s lips. “Better than last night.”
“You said that guy Kayden threw out was her father?”
“Yeah. He’s bad news. If you see him again, you don’t let him near her.”
Anger hardened Barry’s expression. “Will do.”
He stepped out, and Cody turned to the next table, only to hear the door open again.
“You forget something, old man?” He froze when he saw Vanessa.
She gave him a small smile as the door closed behind her. “Hey. How are you?”
“Vanessa, this isn’t a good time. I’m setting up for tonight.”
Her heels clicked against the wooden flooring as she crossed the room. “I was hoping to speak to you.”
“About what?”
“Can we go to your office or something?”
“No.”
Her eyes tightened and she wet her lips as she stopped in front of him. “I made a mistake.”
Oh,fuckno. “Vanessa—”
“Please, just hear me out. We got together so quickly when you got home from the military. We were good together! I’d never been with someone who made me feel so much and it just…it freaked me out.” She stepped closer. “We can be good again, Cody.”
He stepped back, keeping the buffer of space between them. “No.”
“Yes. I miss you! We can have what we did before. We can be happy.”
“Iamhappy—with Harper.”
Her face screwed up. “Harper? Your new waitress? You’ve known her for two seconds!”
“We’re together, and I want you to stop coming in here. Stop trying to touch me and stop talking to me. Just leave me alone.”
“Cody…you don’t know what you’re saying! Ineedyou, especially after Miles! Hehurtme. I left him, but I’m scared he’ll do it again.”
“I spoke to Miles. He said he didn’t do it.”
She flinched like he’d hit her. “And you believe him? Overme?”
Right now, he didn’t know who the hell to believe, but he knew it wasn’t his business. “If you feel unsafe, you need to go to the sheriff and tell him what happened.”
“Unbelievable.” The word was more of a hiss. “You’re just going to let me be a victim of domestic assault, let Mileshurtme, so you can have sex with that slut!”
“Hey!” Any calmness that had previously been in his voice disappeared. “You donottalk about her like that. And in case you forgot,you’rethe one who couldn’t be faithful.You’retheone who cheated onmewhen I was losing my father. Did you really think I could just move past that?”
“If she wasn’t here, then yes, I think you’d take me back.”
