other guy that she’s dated, but there surely have been some along the way. And apparently this guy is a memory she was hoping to forget.
I wish he’d never walked through those doors. And I wish I could go find her and comfort her and make sure she’s okay.
“Colton, can we get another round over here?” One of our regular couples is sitting at a table in the center of the room, and I give them a nod.
I pour two more glasses of Jack and Coke for the couple and bring them out to the table, but my mind isn’t on the bar right now. It’s on the woman in the back room going through something I can’t even imagine, and how I wish more than anything that, whatever it is, she would let me help her through it.
Chapter Eight
I let the door to the cooler close behind me and lean against it, my hands shaking violently.
The cold air rushes over my skin as tears pour down my cheeks. I swipe at them, hating that I let that asshole get to me the way he did.
What is he doing back in town? The day he left I prayed he would run as far away from here as possible and never come back. I honestly thought he’d never be stupid enough to come home. At least not for any prolonged period of time.
But from what he said, it sounds like he’s back for good.
What am I going to do?
I can’t deal with him coming into the bar and giving me hell every night. I don’t think I could survive it.
And I hate that Colton had to see me so worked up.
I’ve gotten really good at not letting that kind of emotion show through in front of anyone. I spent a lot of time back then learning how to shove those feelings into a tiny little box in the pit of my stomach and throw away the key.
Of course there are times when I think about what happened all those years ago, but I was not prepared to see Bryan again. Why did he even come here?
I shake my head and wipe more tears off my face. He and his brother had obviously been drinking, so somewhere in his hardhead, he must have conjured the idea that it would be fun to come and mess with me a little bit.
Thank God he left when he did. I was seriously about to smash a bottle of beer on the counter and send the jagged edge of it through his eye. And, even if I had somehow managed to hold onto my cool, I’m pretty sure Colton would have done it for me if things had progressed any further.
I slide down the door until my butt hits the floor. I wrap my arms around my body and lay my head against them.
Of course this is when he’d choose to come back to Fairhope. Just when things have been going so well for us here at the bar. Life is good, so of course something has to go terribly wrong. Story of my life, it seems like.
He looks terrible, too. Worn out, somehow, even for twenty-eight. I have no idea what he’s been up to all these years, and frankly I don’t really care. I just wish he’d stayed there.
I’m glad my dad wasn’t here tonight, at least. I may have had a hard time keeping it together, but there’s no way Daddy would have been as calm. He’s going to freak out when he hears about this.
I take deep breaths and wait for my hands to stop trembling. I wait for my heart to stop racing and the tears to stop flowing.
Everything is going to be okay. He was just drunk and being stupid. I told him I don’t want him coming into the bar, so that’s the last time I’m going to see him in here.
I tell myself these lies to try to feel better, but deep down I know this isn’t the end of it. Suddenly I’m fifteen-years-old again and scared out of my mind.
I’m going to have to get an alarm installed at the house. Maybe even one here at the bar. It’s the only way I’ll be able to sleep at night with that guy back in town. He nearly destroyed my life once, and I’ll be damned if I let him do it again.
I slowly stand up and take a few more deep breaths before I open the door