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That made me pause. “Right.”
“Then what are you?”
“I’m,” I started. “I’m getting my head screwed back on and I’m not worrying about what the sheriff does or doesn’t tell me. As far as I’m concerned, we’ve got a mystery to figure out and other than that… well, there is no ‘other than that’.”
“That’s probably a good plan.”
I looked at her. “It’s the only plan.”
She nodded. “Still, I wonder why would he keep something like that from you, especially since he saw you had a kid thedayhe saw you?”
“I don’t know.” My teeth scraped against my lips. WhyhadDean kept the truth about his daughter from me? Why was he so secretive? In the past, he’d always been an open book, eager to share himself. But now…
“I’m not about to ask what you twoare,”Sicily said with a sigh, “but at the very least, I figured you two were friends. It’s… y’know, it’sokayto feel hurt that someone is hiding something from you. Especially when that person is a friend.”
“I guess we aren’t friends like I thought we were.”
She looked at me and didn’t seem convinced. “I don’t think that’s true. He probably has a reason why he didn’t tell you.” She sighed. “The sheriff seems like a really complicated man, Mama.”
I looked at her, and she was facing forward, her mouth pulled into a firm line.
“How’d you get so good at comforting people?” I murmured, a pale attempt at a joke. Sicily smiled and shrugged, and her arm looped in through mine.
“I had to learnsomethingfrom you. I wish it was the super speed or the crazy strength, but I guess this’ll do.”
I paused and turned to her, pressing a kiss to her forehead. “Go on back home, sweetie. I know you have studying to do, and I think… I just want some time to think.”
Sicily smiled sadly and nodded, reaching around to squeeze my middle. “Alright, Mama. Love you. Let me know if you need anything.” I nodded and she trotted back off, taking glances at me until she rounded the corner and was gone.
Instantly, I felt myself deflate and found a tree to sink underneath. The ground was cold under me, the end of fall finally planting its roots even though the paranormal biology made enjoying it difficult. At the very least, it was a shock and a contrast, shaking up my stagnant mind to the thoughts that had been fighting to the surface.
Every time I’d asked, all Dean would talk about was Mason. Mason growing up, Mason’s accomplishments in school, what he thought Mason could do with his future. I didn’tdislikehearing about Mason, but all the while, Dean had been hiding the fact that he had a daughter. All this time! It was right under my nose and yet he chose not to tell me. Sicily was right—there probablywasa reason he’d kept it from me for so long, but it was still a connection we could have had. It was something we could have bonded over, discussed. It could have been a way for us to get closer.
And I wanted us to get closer.
I pressed my forehead to my knees.
That was the crux of all of this, wasn’t it? I wanted us to be closer. That kiss we’d shared in the diner still lingered on my lips when I shut my eyes, and it couldn’t have meant nothing to him. Maybe he just wanted to take things slow?
I was fine with taking things slow, learning who we were now as opposed to who we were twenty years ago. But Dean wasn’t taking things slow. He wasn’t taking things at all. And now, I wondered why. Had I simply imagined his interest in me? But, no, I didn’t think I had. And that kiss… no, he wouldn’t have kissed me if he felt nothing for me.
Then why withhold so much from me?
A veil fell over me. I sat in my solitude for a while before standing and striding back home, face and emotions hard as rocks. Dean was long gone, and I knew Sicily was either holed up in her room or fast asleep. I was fine with that—I still wanted to be alone. I walked inside and carefully locked the door, settling down with the rest of my sewing supplies.
If he wanted there to be distance between us, then fine.
He could have all the distance he wanted.
Chapter Nine
The Iron Gateswas a multi-story restaurant in the middle of Branson.
It was the most ‘downtown’ I’d ever been, full of women with real jewels on their necklaces and men in business suits. Needless to say, I felt completely out of place—like I must have stuck out like a sore thumb in my homemade clothes.
The windows of the restaurant were tinted so no one could see in from the outside. It was like the building itself didn’t want me to go in. The feeling was mutual.
The minute Dean told me where Skye had decided to meet us, I felt my stomach drop. It wasn’t the drive that was the issue, thanks to Dean letting me hitch a ride in his cruiser, but even with my minor knowledge of the bigger cities, I’d never been anywherefancybefore. The closest was my high school graduation, but even that wasn’t exactly fancy—not when we were all dressed in the same cap and gowns that had been hand sewn by the local sewing circle.
