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“Fine.” She sounded exasperated. “Mum told me you were there buying flowers for that crazy bitch today. What the fuck, Callum? You dumped me to be with that psychotic whore?”
Hearing her spit out those vicious words about Alina had me at a boiling point. “Watch your mouth, Tilly, or I’ll be hanging up right now.”
“Oh, come on, Callum,” she cooed. “I’ll forgive you. Just come over and make it up to me.”
I cursed under my breath, inhaling deeply and exhaling in a rush before I could gather myself enough to speak again. “It will not happen, Tilly, ever. You need to get over what delusion you have going on in that head of yours and accept this is never,ever, going to happen between usagain.I made a stupid mistake thinking it could be a bit of fun.”
I heard her sob through the phone and felt guilty because of it.
“Look, I’m sorry if you’re upset. It will never happen between us, Til. I thought we agreed it was just a casual fuck.”
“Yeah, well, Callum McArthur, you can casually gofuck yourself.” She hung up.
The remorse I felt was quickly replaced by relief. At last, she seemed to understand that we weren’t ever going to be an item. And whateverwasgoing on between us before wasn’t anything serious and would never happen again.
I ran my hands through my hair with the sense of freedom from her finally getting it. The feeling was short-lived when my thoughts diverted back to Alina and how she’d been before I left. There was something bothering her, but she still felt like she couldn’t trust me enough to talk to me.
I thought we were moving in the same direction, but instead, we were riding on a carousel, spinning in circles, with Alina on another horse out of my reach.
ChapterThirty-Nine
Alina
My bed was cold and seemed bigger without Callum on the other side. It was lonely and of my own doing. The restlessness I fought against until I’d eventually fallen asleep was my punishment.
Now, I felt like hell, like I’d not slept at all.
Taking my tea onto the porch swing, I gently swung backward and forward until the sun came up. Watching the rays of light stream their way across the field felt like magic.
Seeing the true beauty was like the first time all over again, and it never failed me to see how my momma could’ve loved this place so much. The view did little to ease the deep-seated ache in my heart. A pain I knew was the result of Callum missing from the morning routine I’d grown accustomed.
I’d realized a little too late I was utterly drawn in by him. I had fallen for him all over again, just like when I was fifteen. The borders and walls I had built around my heart had been entirely useless for resisting Callum. I should’ve been giddy with possibility, but instead, being in love with him all over again filled me more with dread than the feeling of head-over-heels, breath-stealing, mind- monopolizing, heart-swelling… L.O.V.E.
I needed a distraction from my realization. A trip into town for supplies would be the best plan to keep my idling mind from filling with thoughts of Callum.
It wasn’t until I had stopped for a cup of coffee that I realized Callum had not only weakened the guard to my heart but also my resolve to this town. With my guard down, I was like an orphaned lamb vulnerable to the hunter.
“Alina Simpson?”
I didn’t need to look up to recognize the shrill voice belonged to Matilda McLean, and I didn’t need a doctorate in body language to realize the smile on her face was as fake as the breasts pushing out of her low-cut blouse.
“Hi, Tilly.” If my resolve wasn’t already weak enough, it was rice-paper thin now as she pulled out the seat opposite me.
“I heard you were back in town. And how lovely it is to see you.”
She reached forward to pat my hand. It rested on top of mine a little longer than I thought was necessary, but long enough for me to account that her well-manicured nails weren’t, in fact, claws and to catch a glimpse of the sparkling diamond ring emanating light throughout its well-defined prisms.
“Callum told me you were back. He said he’d beenhelpingyou out on the farm too. He’s a very kind man, my Callum, always helping the strays and those in need. Selfless really, I suppose that’s why we’re such a good match. Birds of a feather and all that.”
With the hand sporting the ring, she tucked a few strands of her glossy blonde hair behind her ear.
“I’m sure you’d remember, better than anyone probably, he always took pity on the underdog. Helping the less fortunate. Like you.”
Her smile twisted into something spiteful while she regarded me in the same way a cat did with a mouse.
“He feels sorry for you. He told me as much last night when he came over. What were his words…” She tapped her long, glossy red fingertip to her lips, acting the part of trying to recall a conversation. “Oh, yes. ‘Darlin’, you know Alina Simpson is unstable and useless, and the sooner she is out of this town, the safer we’ll all be.’” She air quoted while regarding me with a dangerous look in her eyes.
“He’s right, though. No one in this town feels safe with a known murderer in their midst.” She cocked her head at me, acting blasé like she’d updated me on the day’s forecast, and suddenly a shower was predicted unexpectedly even without a cloud in the sky.
