“Even if you had someone standing up for you?” he asked. “Because I will.”
“To how many people, though?” Olivia asked. “It’s subtle, Sawyer. It’s sidelong looks, knowing smiles, insinuating comments. Are you going to tackle all of those? Because I can’t. And I shouldn’t have to. I have a life in the city where I’m respected without a fight. In the city, if someone is a jerk, I can cut them out of my life without much effort. It’s better for me.”
Sawyer nodded slowly. “Yeah, I get it.”
It was sweet that he wanted to help, but he wasn’t a one-man army. Even a guy as well intentioned as Sawyer couldn’t tackle this one.
Bella pushed herself to her feet and wandered toward the slide. She looked up at it for a moment, then started up the rungs. Lizzie rose, too, her hands covered in sand, and she watched her sister. Bella got to the top.
“Sit on your bottom,” Olivia called out to her. “Bella, sit down.”
Bella lowered herself down to her diapered rump, and then slid slowly down the slide. She stopped halfway down, stuck.
Sawyer chuckled and stood up, headed over. He gave her a nudge, helping her slide down the rest of the way, and Olivia smiled as she watched the sweet scene. She pulled her phone out and took a picture. Then she zoomed in on the girls and took another one. She’d send these to Sawyer—the start of his new memories.
She lowered her phone. Beaut was good for Sawyer—she could see that. It had been good for his little family, good for his future. But it was no longer home for Olivia. It couldn’t be. Home was supposed to be safe and secure, where she could let herself exhale.
Lizzie went up the ladder, and Sawyer put a hand out, helping her sit down so she could slide next. He glanced toward Olivia, catching her eye.
“This is about new memories now,” he said. “For you, too.”
“It wouldn’t be a fresh start for me,” she said. “I remember.”
This town’s memory wasn’t easily shaken. And a woman could only take so much.
Chapter Eight
That afternoon, Bella fell asleep on the floor next to a stuffed animal, and Sawyer transferred her to her crib. Lizzie was ready to sleep, too, and it only took her a couple of minutes of squirming around to find the right position and her eyes drooped shut.
He looked down at his sleeping daughters in their matching cribs. It had been a long day. But he was starting to notice some differences between the girls—Bella had a quicker temper, and Lizzie was more mischievous. Bella tended to pull the elastics out of her hair, and Lizzie didn’t mind hers. Lizzie was obsessed with shoes, and Bella was constantly putting things into her mouth. He and Olivia had fished more than one leaf or pine cone out of her cheek.
He had started a game with himself, watching the girls play or interact, and then guessing which was which. He’d check their hands for the initials that had started to fade now from washing, and he was right more often than not. It felt good. He was figuring stuff out.
Sawyer closed the bedroom door behind him and came out into the living room. He pushed a laundry basket aside so he could sink into the couch. Olivia sat in the rocking chair opposite him, and she shot him a weary smile.
“Thanks for today,” she said. “I’m supposed to be helping you remember, not unloading my own issues onto you.”
“Hey, that’s not true,” he said with a shake of his head. “We’re friends, and I’ve got your back, okay?”
“You can’t take on a whole town,” she reminded him with a low laugh.
Couldn’t he? As long as Olivia was here, he would protect her. Even after she left, he’d defend her. No one was going to talk badly about her within his hearing.
“Watch me,” he muttered.
Sawyer had seen a more vulnerable side to Olivia today, and for the first time, he’d been the one guiding her, supporting her. And he’d liked that. He hadn’t liked that she’d been treated that way by that Eddie creep, but he was glad he was there to see it—there to say something, at least. Even if it wasn’t enough, she deserved someone defending her.
A car pulled into the drive, and Sawyer and Olivia both turned to look out the living room window. It was a little white hatchback, and when it parked, an older man with gray, receding hair got out. He wore a suit and cowboy boots, but his head was bare.
“Who’s that?” Sawyer asked.
“That’s your pastor,” she replied. “He’s the one who married you and Mia. And he officiated her funeral.”
“Oh.” Sawyer leaned forward to get a better look. “I wonder what he wants.”
The pastor seemed to be headed for the front door, so Sawyer walked over to open it before he knocked or rang the bell... Did they have a doorbell? He wasn’t sure. He pulled the door open and the older man met him with a smile.
“Sawyer. Good to see you. I heard about your accident and wanted to come by and see how you were.”
Sawyer nodded, and stepped back. “Hello.”
“Do you remember me at all?”
Sawyer shook his head. “I’m sorry. I don’t.”
“I’m Pastor Herschel.” He put out a hand and shook Sawyer’s warmly. “Is this a convenient time?”
“Yeah, sure.”
Pastor Herschel came inside, wiped his boots on the mat, and shot a smile in Olivia’s direction.
“Good to see you again, Olivia. I thought I saw you in the congregation on Sunday, but I didn’t catch you on your way
