I started laughing. “You can’t be serious!”
“Okay, maybe not the taser, but you should have something. And keep your phone on. Better yet, you can call me, and just leave it in your pocket—”
I leaned forward. “Preston, I’ll be fine.”
He pushed his glasses up on his nose. “Oh, Charlee. Your family will kill me if something happens to you and they find out that I knew.”
“Hey.” I pointed at him. “You said attorney-client privilege.”
He glared at me, but he seemed more flustered than upset.
I smiled. “How about this? I’ll tell you when I’m going, and then text you when I’m done.”
“You’ll call when you’re done,” he amended.
“Fine,” I agreed. “But I’m going during the day, and there will be other people around, so I highly doubt he’s dangerous. Besides, I hear he works at the cannery. Would the Millers hire him if he was such a bad guy?”
Preston merely raised his eyebrows, which wasn’t reassuring.
“Charlee, is that you?” said a familiar voice from behind me.
The fry in my hand fell to the plate.
“It is. Oh, hi, Preston.” Ashley approached our table. She looked very trendy in her tight skinny jeans and boots, with a leather jacket.
And I hated her. Yes, I know it’s not nice to hate people, but I was way beyond a strong dislike for this woman.
“Hi, Ashley,” Preston smiled politely.
I didn’t acknowledge her.
“I didn’t realize you were still in town.” Ashley stared directly at me as she brushed her blonde hair over her shoulder. As if to say, look at me, aren’t I something? It made me want to throw up all over her expensive leather boots.
I finally managed to speak. “Yes.”
“How nice,” she replied in a syrupy sweet voice.
Liar. She never said the word nice in a sentence that involved me and meant it, or vice versa for that matter.
“Are you moving back?” she asked, her tone losing some of its friendliness.
Where had that come from? I turned my head slightly to look at her. She was smiling, but it wasn’t one of her best fake ones, and beneath it, I could tell she was nervous.
Did the thought of me coming back actually bother her? Why should she care? We’d never been friends. Then she took what was mine, and threw him away, and now I didn’t want him anymore. At the moment, I just wanted her out of my sight.
“No,” I said flatly.
“Mom, can we go?” A young girl with blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail came up beside Ashley. The girl had Kenny’s eyes. I hated to admit it, but she was really cute.
Now I felt like I might be sick. Because seeing Ashley and Kenny’s daughter reminded me of what I could have had. Should have had. But it was stolen from me, slicing me through the heart all over again.
“Okay, just a minute, Nicky,” Ashley said to the girl. “Well, it was so nice to run into you.” There she went throwing around that nice word again. “Enjoy your date.” She winked at Preston, then left with her daughter.
I could guarantee that in the next hour, the news of my so-called date with Preston would have made its way through the gossip circuit, escalating into something far less innocent than what this actually was by the time it was through.
I stared at my plate, the sight of the remaining fish and chips making me nauseous. “I hate this town,” I muttered under my breath. Setting my napkin on the table, I looked up. Concern washed over Preston’s features, making me feel worse.
“Are you okay?” he asked quietly.
“Fine,” I nodded weakly. “I’m think I’m done, though.”
Thankfully, our server appeared, cleared our plates, and Preston got the check.
“Thank you for lunch,” I said as we exited the restaurant and walked to Preston’s Cadillac. I thought I should say something else, like it was nice, but that word felt like acid on my tongue right now, and since I couldn’t think of anything else, I kept my mouth shut.
“You’re welcome.” Preston opened my door, and I sat down. Very chivalrous. He’d make some woman a good husband someday.
Preston started the car, backed out of the space, and we headed back to Fern’s. By the way his mouth pinched together, I sensed he wanted to say something. I hated that in a matter of seconds Ashley had managed to sabotage what had actually been a pleasant time. Preston didn’t deserve my dejected mood, and it disgusted me further that I felt powerless to fight it.
“Charlee…” Preston took a deep breath. “I had a good time. I’m sorry that Ashley came and ruined it.”
I turned my head and noticed Preston’s tense grip on the steering wheel. He was nervous, but was still brave enough to say what he was thinking.
“No, I’m sorry, Preston. I shouldn’t…” I hesitated. “It’s fine.”
“So—” he paused. “Is there something going on with you and Kenny?” he asked cautiously, his voice unsteady.
“No,” I said immediately. And there wasn’t. But I also wasn’t going to share any more details on the subject, and I hoped that Preston would drop it.
He nodded and his Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed. “Well, Charlee, any man that was stupid enough to hurt you didn’t deserve you to begin with.”
“Thanks,” I mumbled. It was sweet of Preston to say. I only wished I could believe it. I’d never thought that Kenny was undeserving. For so long I’d even blamed myself.
I didn’t anymore. We’d both made mistakes. His worse than mine, but the depressing part was that I’d suffered the most. At least it felt like I had. I’d suffered more than enough for both of us.
Chapter Ten
“C harlee!” my aunt hollered from somewhere downstairs. “You here?”
I moaned into my pillow and rolled over. After I’d returned from lunch with Preston, I was exhausted, so I took a nap. I glanced over at the clock on the dresser. It was almost four o’clock in the evening. I’d slept for close to three hours. I
