Broken Hart (A Cross Creek Small Town Novel #1) - Kelly Collins Page 0,1

between our younger brother and the pretty new sheriff. Even though Angie had caught his eye earlier, it was obvious who had his full attention now.

Roy and Miranda shared a few words while I took in her five-foot six-ish frame. With her inky hair and almond-shaped eyes, she had an exotic air about her. Her fair skin didn’t seem to soak up the sunshine like most of us, and her high cheekbones gave her a regal look.

While she appeared delicate, there was something fierce about her.

As if she read my mind, her dark gaze moved toward me then flicked to Bayden before returning to Roy.

Maybe there was something between them.

I took a swig of my beer and watched my brother study her.

“Don’t make me show you a good time.” Quinn’s casual flirting with Gypsy brought a tittering laugh from the older woman.

“Boy, you wouldn’t know what to do with me. Besides, you need some sweet thing who’s your age.” On the tail end of Gypsy’s words, Angie walked to our table once more. Her brown eyes traced over every one of us, and we all leaned away from her except Bayden, who stayed focused on Miranda and didn’t seem to notice Angie at all this time.

“Hey, boys.” Angie paused.

Ethan was quick to speak up. “Hey, Angie, how are—”

“What’s Benji doing here?” Bayden growled the words, and we all glanced in the door’s direction. Benji, the local journalist for the Creekside Sentinel, stopped Miranda to talk to her, but she seemed less than thrilled.

“You know he likes to write stories on every new person in town, but Miranda’s been dodging him like a pro.” Quinn sounded proud of the sheriff.

Bayden turned and scowled, then lowered his beer to the table with a thump. There was definitely something going on with him and Miranda, if only in his mind for now. Was this flirtatious thing with Angie just a game? Was he trying to make the sheriff jealous?

Without a word about any of it, I finished my beer and signaled for another. Roy caught my eye and nodded before heading back to the bar.

The back of my neck prickled, and the air took on that electric charge that usually came right before a fight or a wicked storm. I smoothed my hand over my skin and took in the room. Nobody seemed like they were looking for a scuffle, and the last time I saw the sky, it was clear.

At the bar, a familiar-looking young woman smoothed her hands down the front of her apron with an unsure slowness. Her white-blonde hair framed her face and tumbled down her back. When she lifted her head, I jolted like someone had kicked me in the dangly bits.

Her brilliant, ocean-blue eyes locked on Roy with a hint of relief, and a smile crossed her full, cherry-red lips.

She said something I couldn’t hear, and every bit of me tried to tune in to listen to her voice. Her fingertips brushed her cheekbone and shifted her hair back as she focused on Roy. Whatever he said had her nodding, and she gracefully tied her hair up with an elastic band she had wound around her wrist. Getting it up and out of her face only drew more attention to her beautiful features. She laughed at something Roy said, and the sweet lilting sound ribboned through me.

My heart stilled, then burst forth like it had been shocked with paddles—paddles covered in barbed wire that shredded me to bits.

What was Kandra doing here?

As I looked at my empty mug, I came face-to-face with the realization that she was the girl Roy mentioned.

“I know we are young, but I have never been more sure of anything in my life, Kandra.” I got down on one knee and looked up at her, “Will you marry me?” She had tears rolling down her face, and I thought I was about to be the happiest man in the world. Then she said, “Noah, I love you, but I can’t stay here in Cross Creek. I have dreams. I want to see the world, I want to be a photographer, and I can’t do that if I’m here.” Then, without so much as a second thought, she left, and I was there, kneeling like a chump and holding a ring I couldn’t return.

“Noah?” The tone and inflection told me it wasn’t the first time Quinn said my name.

“Yeah?” I locked down my emotions, hoping the shock didn’t show on my face, but it