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“Until he went nuts?”
She felt a jolt in her stomach. No one around here spoke so candidly about her father besides Mrs. Tully. Everyone else had resigned themselves to trying to forget it had ever happened. “It’s wasn’t a quick snap. He didn’t just lose it. Changes came slowly. I know now that’s how you manipulate people. It’s not all at once, it’s a chipping away of what is normal right under their noses, until they look up one day and realize how unrecognizable everything is.”
“How bad was it?”
“Bad.”
“I’m sorry. That must have been very difficult. At least he went to prison and the people here have their lives back. It sounds like that is thanks to you.”
“I abandoned them actually. I was focused on self-preservation and left them in the lurch. I wonder sometimes if I came back too late. I still lose sleep over that.”
“If it was really that bad, it sounds like you didn’t have a choice. They don’t seem to blame you for saving yourself.”
“It’s an ongoing process. Some things are still in the works.”
“Is that what Mrs. Tully was alluding to? She looked like she wanted to say more.”
“Mrs. Tully never backed down to my father. When the rest of us followed him blindly and got lost in the manipulation and lies, she quietly resisted. Whispered in the night about how wrong he was. In fact, it was her counsel that got me to finally snap out of it and do something.”
“But the work’s not done?”
“Not yet.” She wanted to burst open with the truth. Tell King why this place was not free of the grip of her father yet. Instead, she bit down on her lip until pain radiated through her body. This was not his problem. She didn’t know King. It would be wrong to pull him into it. The best thing that could happen was he’d laughably lose the bet and help fund some roof repairs. He’d be gone and she’d continue her fight, missing the sight of him. The smell of him. But moving forward.
“You’re very cryptic.” His eyes narrowed as he appraised her closely.
“Old habits die hard.”
“You’re telling me.” He chuckled as they reached the wood pile and he seemed to assess just how much work there was to be done. King appeared thrilled rather than intimidated. “Swinging the axe around for a while might help me work out some of my own problems.”
“It’s worth a shot.” She grinned and pointed to where the axes lay.
“Well, it sounds like you’ve done a lot to fix this place. And I’m happy to help out in any way I can. I have a unique set of skills, maybe they can be of use for more than just canning peaches and chopping wood.” There was something written between his words, a message he was trying to send, but she couldn’t be certain what it was.
Did King sense the looming danger? Were all these questions a result of his skilled radar for bad things that might happen?
It made her anxious to think King might have been able to figure her out so easily. To read her and this place like a book even though she’d been trying to keep it all from him.
“I appreciate that. I know how dysfunctional it looks from the outside. But even with everything that’s happened, this place is still home.”
He lifted the axe, positioned a log, and swung effortlessly. It split in a way Bailey hadn’t seen in so long. The men living in Cinderhill now were aging. This chore was always a slow and grueling task that they put off as long as they could.
King kept talking as he set up another log. “Home is such a weird concept. I’ve never really nailed down how it’s supposed to feel.”
Bailey looked at him, really looked at him for the first time. His eyes were bright and sparkling, and his face was unguarded. There was something about him that made her feel like he was genuine, like he was someone she could trust. Though she’d learned the hard way the worst men are the best at giving that impression.
“You’ll know it when you find it. Someone like you will end up right where you belong. Just keep looking.” She took on the job of gathering the pieces and stacking them in the wagon to be delivered around to each little house.
“You don’t have to do that.” He waved her off.
“I’m the one who usually has to split it all too. Trust me, this I can manage.”
They fell into a comfortable rhythm. They worked in silence, the only sounds thethunkof the axe hitting the logs and the sexy grunt King made as he swung it.
As they chopped and stacked wood, Bailey tried to push the nagging feeling of guilt out of her mind. She didn’t know what the future held, but for now, she was happy to have a break from her problems and a man like King to be with.
The sweat was beading on his forehead. His muscles pulsed with every swing. He was a capable man and she had the sudden desire to find out what else he might be good at.
CHAPTEREIGHT
