“Exactly, and—” Mav paused mid-sentence when John Callahan stopped at our table. Dressed in a suit, he looked equally depressed and angry.
I shoved to my feet, worried he was about to start something, and placed myself between him and Cassidy.
“I came here to offer my apologies.”
His words were sincere, but that didn’t mean I trusted him. “For what?”
“For my son. I just came from the sentencing.” His eyes flicked to Cassidy, and as she stood, she stepped out from behind me. “I know my words aren’t enough, but I’m so sorry for what he did to you. That boy has always been on the wild side. I guess I just didn’t realize how bad it had gotten.”
To my utter shock, Cassidy stepped forward and wrapped her arms around John, pulling him in for a tight hug. “It’s not your fault. He didn’t do this because of you.”
“No, but?—”
“No buts,” Cassidy cut in. “His decisions are not on you.”
I wouldn’t go that far, but I also wasn’t about to ruin everything by opening my big mouth. Besides, everyone in the diner was staring at the interaction, taking cues from them, just as they did when Ellie’s shop was vandalized. So, as much as I wanted to punch John in the face, I held back my temper. The town needed the General Store, and if he went out of business because I refused to accept his apology, everyone would suffer.
“Well,” John cleared his throat, taking a step back. “I’m not sure I deserve your forgiveness, but thank you. You’ve always been very kind to me.”
With a nod, he walked away, and to my utter surprise, more than one person went over to talk to John—something that hadn’t been done since the town found out about his involvement with the girl who died at Murky Falls.
“That was very nice of you.” I pulled Cassidy into my arms and gave her a kiss.
“He’s not Austin. And I know the Parkers have this fight with them, and you should probably take their side, but I can’t hold onto that much hate. It would ruin my life.”
“I’m not asking you to, and they wouldn’t either.”
“Good, because there’s only so much anger a person can take when the sun is shining and it’s warm outside.”
“Well, fall is just around the corner. We wouldn’t want to squander it,” I said, snaking my hand up her body.
“Sam!” she hissed. “Everyone’s looking!”
I shrugged. “Rumor has it I’m in love with you.”
She rolled her eyes at me. “You’re so cheesy.”
“Only since I met you.”
46
CASSIDY
“You’re ready?”I asked, rubbing Sam’s shoulders.
“Babe, you can calm down. I’ve got this,” he said, squeezing my hand, stopping my nervous jitters from transferring to him.
As he stood, he was calm as could be. Pumped up and ready to go, with a cocky grin on his face. Yeah, he was gonna be fine.
I was about to puke.
Leaning down, he brushed his lips over mine. “Go take your seat ringside. I’ll be out in a few minutes, and you can watch me kick Joe Rubin’s ass.”
I wasn’t at all ready to leave him behind, but it wasn’t like I could walk beside him and step into the ring with him.
“Alright. I’ll see you out there. Go get ‘em!”
He cringed with a laugh at my terrible turn of phrase. Yeah, I really wasn’t quite cut out for this life yet.
