Forbidden Harmony (Harmony Falls #3) - Elizabeth Kelly Page 0,134
question, but she needed to know.
“He’s a good man, Addie. He just made a bad decision, okay?” Gideon said.
“I know. Tell me the story,” she said.
“He wanted his own shop and couldn’t get a business loan because of his criminal record. He,” Gideon hesitated, “took a job again. As the driver.”
“What happened?” Addie whispered.
“I stumbled onto him by stupid luck while out patrolling and talked him out of it. Told him to drive away and he did. I arrested the other guys. They tried to say Preacher was there too but there was no proof, it was their word against Preacher’s. I said I never saw Preacher at the scene and my partner, Martin, backed me up.”
“Why?” Addie said.
“Because I asked him to back me up,” Gideon said. “Martin knew Preacher was a good man who made a mistake.”
He glanced at her. “That’s all it was, Addie. A stupid mistake born out of desperation.”
“I know. Do you know about Jorge and Maria?” Addison said.
“Yeah. Preacher doesn’t talk much to them anymore. I thought it was because they rejected him, but I met them once and Maria said it was Preacher who stopped talking to them. They took him in, gave him a career he loved, and he believes he disappointed them by going to prison. Maria said they tried to tell him it didn’t matter, that they loved him and were still proud of him, but…”
“But he wouldn’t listen,” Addie said. “At least we know it’s a pattern with him.”
Gideon sighed. “I tell him every fucking day that he deserves to be happy, that he’s not below me or anyone else in this town, but it’s like talking to a brick wall.”
“He is pretty stubborn,” Addie said. While she was glad that she had talked to Gideon, glad to have gotten even a small piece of Preacher’s history, she was feeling depressed and sick to her stomach. If Preacher had abandoned Jorge and Maria, two people he loved and admired, what chance did she have? None. He had never said he loved her.
“You okay?” Gideon said.
“No. I miss him and I’m worried about him. He’s all alone in that tiny apartment and…”
Her eyes watered and she cleared her throat before dabbing at her eyes with a tissue. “Anyway, I was wondering if you could do me a favour and return his car to him? He gave it to me to use because I didn’t have a car, but it’s just been sitting in my parking spot. It doesn’t feel right to use it. I’d return it to him myself, but he’s made it clear he doesn’t want to see me again.”
“Yeah, I can return it to him,” Gideon said. “I’m sorry, Addison. Sorry for being a dick, sorry it didn’t work out.”
“Thanks, Gideon.” She squeezed his arm again. “Can you make sure he knows that I won’t be going to Kira and Connor’s barbeques? He won’t go if he thinks I’m there and he needs our friends, you know?”
“You need them too,” Gideon said.
“It’s okay,” she said. “It’s more important for him to have the support right now. I have my family, he only has us… I mean, you guys.”
She set the keys to Preacher’s car on the table before standing and kissing Gideon’s cheek. “His car is parked outside on the street. Thanks, Gideon. Take care of him for me, okay? Make sure he, like, eats and doesn’t spend all his time alone, all right?”
“I will. Bye, Addie.”
“Bye, Gideon.”
* * *
Preacher swallowed down the last of his beer as the group of tourists sitting across from him made a loud and raucous cheer. It was Friday night which meant the Thirsty Beaver was busy as fucking hell with tourists and locals. It was noisy and crowded and hot, and coming here had been a huge mistake.
But sitting in his apartment alone wasn’t exactly a fucking walk in the park either. He’d thought being at the Beaver where it would be crowded and loud, and drown out the sound of his inner thoughts, would be a relief.
It wasn’t. He could sit in the middle of a fucking tornado and his inner voice would still be talking about Addison Moore and just how badly Preacher had fucked up.
He pushed back his chair with a loud grunt and stood. He needed to get out of here. If he had to listen to the assholes at the table across from him talk about baseball for one more minute, he’d lose his fucking mind.