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"What are you up to? It's not that you want me back. If you really cared about me or respected me even a little, you wouldn't have cheated on me. So what's this really about?"
"You. We were supposed to get married, Everly. Doesn't that mean anything?"
"It means you had me fooled. I'm so glad I didn't marry you." The realization that she could have been locked into a life with David instead of the happiness she'd found with Blake had her blood running cold.
"We were good together. I said I'm sorry."
"And I said stop contacting me. Are we finished now?"
Someone stepped into the hallway, and Everly and David both looked up to see Blake striding over with a look of fiery determination etched on his features.
"You okay, Ev?" Blake asked, barely giving David a glance.
David took a step forward, lifting his chin. "I should have known you'd be following her around."
Blake didn't acknowledge David. Instead, he kept his gaze locked with Everly's. She felt the carefully restrained rage behind his kind eyes. It settled in the air around them like a ticking time bomb. "You ready to go?" he asked.
"We were having a private conversation. Who do you think you are?" David gave Blake a once-over, clearly assessing his opponent.
Slowly, Blake turned to face David with a daring glint in his eye. "John Lee Pettimore. If you ever touch her again, I'll be the one who sends you to your Maker." Blake nodded. "Got it?"
David's eyes narrowed, and a sinister grin spread on his face. "You're kidding."
"Care to find out?" Blake asked.
Everly rested a hand on Blake's shoulder, praying the tension she felt beneath her hand eased before things got out of control. "I'm ready to go."
"Everly, I'm here to sell the house, but that’s not what I want. I can keep it. We can still be together. Let's go somewhere to talk. Please."
Everly tilted her head, studying David. Sure, he was a man who was used to getting what he wanted, but his insistence was over the top. What was he really after?
"I'm not interested in talking to you about anything. I asked you plenty of times to stop calling, and I'm through playing nice." She took a step closer to Blake, threading her fingers through his. "I'm with Blake now. I've moved on, and I don't want to hear from you again."
David laughed, but Everly turned her back on him.
"Let's go," she whispered to Blake. She didn't have to pull him toward the door.
"Everly," David called out behind her.
Blake rounded on David, changing directions like a cutting horse herding cattle.
"She said to leave her alone." Blake pointed to where she stood behind him, keeping his eyes on David. "If you feel like bothering her again, ask yourself if you're ready to go through me first."
David's mouth pursed into a nasty grimace. "This is none of your business."
"It's definitely my business. She's my girlfriend."
Everly couldn't see Blake's face, but a flash of worry broke the stone expression in David’s eyes.
Blake had always been a guardian of peace, but, right now, anyone standing in his way was bound to be on the losing end.
Donna, the short, spitfire owner of Barn Sour stepped right up to Blake and David. “What’s going on here? Am I going to have to kick someone out tonight?”
“No, ma’am,” Blake answered. “We were just leaving. Thanks for everything, Donna.”
Donna let her gaze travel up and down David’s body, clearly sizing him up. “And you?”
“There’s no problem here,” David said, keeping his gaze locked on Blake as if contemplating his next move in a game of chess.
