that moment, a hard truth hit me. All this time I’d been keeping people out to avoid getting hurt. But I hadn’t thought about how easily I could be the one doing the hurting.
38
Fiona
Fuming with anger, I flew out of the house. What the hell did he think I’d been doing with Luke? Fucking him in his office? He hadn’t even given me a chance to explain. Just started shouting at me.
I got in my car and left, heading toward town. I wasn’t even dressed in regular clothes. Thankfully I’d put on a bra when I got up, but I was wearing a faded t-shirt, pajama shorts, and slippers. My hair was in a messy bun I’d done without looking.
Damn it.
Maybe I’d just drive around a little bit so I could calm down and cool off.
I’d known Evan would get mad when he found out I’d been to see Luke. What else had I expected? Other than to be feeding him blackberry cobbler—possibly while naked—when I told him so he wouldn’t get so worked up. That would have changed the outcome significantly.
But why couldn’t we just have a normal conversation where the name Luke Haven came up? Why did I have to go out of my way to coddle him over it?
And to say he doesn’t think he can trust me? I was trying to fix his biggest problem. I did fix it. But all he was going to hear was Fiona went to see Luke Haven.
Cue shouty, angry Evan.
I got into town and slowed. It wasn’t just Evan that had me worked up, and I knew it. Hearing that the cops hadn’t been able to locate my dad had gotten my adrenaline pumping. I’d tried to act nonchalant so Evan wouldn’t worry, but that unwelcome tidbit of news had put me on edge.
So maybe I’d overreacted a little bit, too.
My stomach rumbled. I wasn’t dressed, but I was hungry, so I stopped at the Bigfoot Diner. I couldn’t be the first girl to come in with messy hair and slippers.
I went in and choose a booth—the same booth I’d sat in when I’d been contemplating my life after realizing I was too broke to continue on to Iowa. Where Luke had offered me a job. Seemed fitting.
The waitress brought me coffee and I put in an order for eggs and toast. I thought about pancakes, but for no reason that made any sense, it felt like eating diner pancakes when Evan had made them at home would be disloyal. As if he’d care what I ate for breakfast while we were cooling off from an argument.
Still.
Naming my plants and talking to them like pets didn’t make much sense either, and I did it anyway. It was just who I was. It made sense to me, so no pancakes.
A man at the counter swiveled around on his seat and grinned at me. It was Gavin.
“Hey, Fiona. Where’s the big guy?”
“Just me this morning.”
“Want some company?”
I shrugged. “Sure. Why not?”
He grabbed his plate and moved it to my booth, sliding onto the bench seat across from me. “Did I get you in trouble?”
“It’s not your fault.”
“Sorry. I just assumed you guys were up to something and I didn’t know why he hadn’t told us. I probably should have known. Evan hasn’t pulled a prank in forever.”
“Really? I thought with how much he hates Luke, he’d be all over that.”
“No, he’s pretty serious about the grumpy recluse thing he does.” He met my eyes. “Or he was before you.”
I took a sip of my coffee. “I don’t understand why he can’t let it go. Don’t those two realize they don’t have to hate each other? They could make peace and coexist.”
“We’re expert grudge holders out here.” He took a bite of his hash browns.
“You’re telling me. Do you have a rivalry with one particular Haven?”
“No, I like to fuck with all Havens equally.”
The waitress brought my breakfast and I picked at my eggs. Gavin was being unnaturally subdued this morning. Normally he low-key flirted with me. But we were having a fairly normal conversation.
Of course, he didn’t have an audience.
“So, have you thrown in the towel and decided to stop asking me out?”
He looked up from his food and grinned. “Definitely not. But, you know, Evan isn’t here, so why waste a good line.”
“You love to get him riled up, don’t you?”
“So much. When he’s really mad, he clenches his fists and makes those veins in his forearms pop. I like to