last berry onto the tray. “What the hell were you thinkin’? You shouldn’t have walked off and left her there, Gage. She could have gotten into some serious trouble.”
She wasn’t saying anything Gage hadn’t already thought. He’d been halfway home on his dad’s vintage Harley before his temper had cooled enough that his brain kicked in. When would he learn to stop and think before erupting?
He’d turned around and gone back to look for her, but she’d already left.
It was nice to know she’d gotten home okay, though. One weight out of many he could let drop from his shoulders.
“She never should have been there, Lex.”
The punch of anger and disappointment he’d felt last night when he’d realized why Hope had followed him resurfaced.
He called himself ten different kinds of fool for the brief spurt of excitement and anticipation when he’d seen her. You’d think being told you were an idiot with a death wish and having your declaration of feelings thrown back in your face would have killed any desire to have her.
Apparently not.
Even now he could remember that last night, twelve years ago. They’d been at the gazebo. It had been late, close to midnight, the town long past quiet and asleep. But he was wired from enlisting, excited about the possibilities of the life he was about to start, and hadn’t been able to sleep. He’d called her and asked her to meet him.
Watching her walk down the aisle surrounded by the ghost of empty chairs had galvanized something inside him. Suddenly he wanted—needed—her with him on the adventure he was about to start. Hope had always been there for him, with an eye roll, rebuke or encouragement depending on what the situation needed. When he’d screwed up and lost his scholarship to Clemson, and couldn’t escape his dad’s wrath, she’d been there to tell him everything would be fine. She had faith in him when no one else, including himself, did.
But when he’d needed her the most she’d completely flaked on him. He could still see her wild-eyed reaction to his confession that he loved her. He hadn’t meant to tell her, it had just slipped out.
Part of him had always known she’d reject him. He must have asked her out a hundred times, but the answer was always the same. The first time they’d probably been eight or nine and it had quickly become a running joke between them. He’d ask her out in the most ridiculous, cheesy ways possible. And she’d always say no.
Even he wasn’t exactly sure when it stopped being funny and started being real. But Hope hadn’t noticed the difference and he’d been too much of a coward to make her see.
Even back then everyone thought he was so strong. Her rejection had been the one thing that scared the hell out of him.
She’d been so angry with him that night. Upset that he’d enlisted. Angry that he’d done it without talking to her about the decision. And when he’d wrapped his arms around her and told her he loved her she’d pushed him away.
Exactly what he’d always feared. But he’d survived her rejection and a heck of a lot worse since then. His thumbs throbbed dully as if he needed the reminder.
Why was he reliving the memory? Probably because seeing her last night, being in this place especially around Valentine’s Day, brought everything rushing back.
It shouldn’t bother him that she’d followed him to that fight with ulterior motives, but it did. “She came looking for a story, just like all the other buzzards circling around this place.” He despised the bitterness in his own voice.
“Not like all the others. Hope is a friend, Gage. The two of you used to be real close. If you’re going to talk to anyone, it should be her. Hope is family.”
He snorted. “She’s far from that.”
Lexi frowned at him, narrowing her eyes. “I have no idea what happened between you two, and I don’t wanna know, but nothing she could have done makes leaving her in a place like that okay.”
With a sigh, Lexi switched the subject. “Since you’re so bored, I’m sure Mama would be happy to find you a job. Cupid’s Couples starts tonight with the matching. Did you put your name in?”
“Hell, no.” The last thing Gage needed was a week full of candy hearts, wilted flowers and awkward dinners with a stranger. And even if he had grown up with most of the single women in the town, after twelve years away they were all strangers. “I just escaped one hell, why would I sign up for another?”
“Didn’t you hear? They’re donating all the money raised to the Wounded Warrior Project in honor of your friend Tanner.”
“Well, fu—” Lexi glared at him “—dge.” He’d planned to ignore the whole damn thing. Stay at home and refuse to attend. But now, there was no way he could blow the events off. Showing up was the least he could do for Tanner.
Before he could ask Lexi for suggestions on how he might help, the front bell rang again. And again. And again. Feet shuffled against the polished floor. Several voices rang out, “Hello!” and someone slammed a palm down onto the display case, rattling the glass countertop.
“What the hell,” Lexi grumbled.
In full-on big-brother mode, Gage followed quickly behind her, but didn’t get farther than the curtain before Lexi slapped her hands onto his chest and pushed him backward.
“Get back. Get back,” she ordered, her eyes full of fire.
Gage caught enough of a glimpse to recognize the horde of reporters who now filled Lexi’s store. Jostling for position at the counter, they held high-powered cameras with special lenses, pens poised above notepads and video cameras with blinking red lights.
Damn, he hated the media.
He really wished one of the other guys would get released from the hospital. Not just because he needed them to be okay, but because then maybe some of these vultures would start circling their lives for the details about the capture and rescue.
He let his sister shove him deeper into the kitchen. “You can slip out the back door. Take the alley,” she suggested.
Considering the alternative, that was exactly what he was going to do. “Make ’em buy something. The most expensive item you have in the store. And then tell them I’m staying at the old Jones place out by the lake. It’s still empty, right?”
“Yeah.”
The place had been abandoned for as long as he could remember, but it was on the far side of the lake on the outskirts of town, which meant he’d have at least an hour of peace before they realized Lexi’s lie and headed back.
Unfortunately, he had to walk straight across Main in order to get back to his parents’ house. Which meant he needed to find some place to lay low until the plague was gone.
Gage glanced up and down the alley. The bridal salon was two doors down from Sugar & Spice, but the thought of going in there made those cameras look almost appealing. Scent of Woman might have been an option, Lanie’s mother had always loved him, but he really didn’t want to smell like a flower the rest of the day. Which also left Petals, the florist, out.
His
