AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Colton tipped his beer back. “He’s a good kid.”
“I sure hope so.” Every once in a while, I tensed, wondering what I was thinking letting her hang out with a boy.
“You’re already worried about her hanging out with boys?” Colton asked, his lips tipped up in amusement.
“Not exactly.”
“Oh, you’re in so much trouble,” Remi joked before someone called her name. She turned away from us to talk to a woman with shoulder-length brown hair.
Max placed a beer in front of me. “Hey, man. You’ve been home, what, a month? And we’ve seen you once.”
“I’ve been…busy.” What could I say? I’d been hanging out with Sophie in my spare time. The only good thing was most people weren’t awake early in the morning and had no idea I was spending it at the bakery.
Max slapped the counter. “I’m just glad you’re here. Let me know if you need anything else. Beer’s on the house.”
He moved down the bar to help another customer before I could thank him.
Colton waited until Max was gone and raised a brow. “Busy at the bakery?”
I paused my beer halfway to my mouth. “How do you know that?”
“We have an issue with a burglar, so we patrol the shops, especially on Main, overnight.”
I cleared my throat. “I didn’t realize you worked that early.”
“We’ve been trying to catch the burglar before he escalates and someone gets hurt. He was seen across the street from Sophie’s Sweets just a few weeks ago.”
My jaw tightened. “I remember.”
“Are you visiting Sophie’s shop to protect her, or is it more than that?”
“The first time was an accident. I just ran into her when she was opening one morning, and I was thirsty. Then I saw you and heard about the burglaries. You were concerned about her being alone. She was going to hire someone but hadn’t yet. So, I just scheduled my run at the same time each morning and used the excuse that I needed water.”
“And stay for an hour to chat?” His tone insinuated something else was going on besides conversation.
“Would you believe me if I said yes?”
Colton scrutinized my face. “I believe you. You know what you’re doing there?”
I laughed and shook my head. “No idea. It started out as a way to protect her. I enjoyed talking to her. But now, things are coming up. We have a history. One I don’t think we can get past.”
“She turned you down.” Colton was one of the few guys who’d kept in touch when I was deployed, emailing me for updates.
I shook my head. “She said something recently that makes me think I had things wrong back then.”
“She didn’t say no?” Colton asked, concern etched on his face.
“She did, but I think there was more to it, and I didn’t stick around to find out.”
“It have something to do with Ellie getting pregnant that summer?”
All the air sucked out of my lungs. “Is that the timing?”
Drew and Kendall were almost the same age.
“The rumor was she got pregnant at the end of that school year, and Sophie killed any plans to go away to college to stay home and help her sister.”
My heart thumped in my ears. “I didn’t know. My parents never told me about her sister being pregnant.”
