Chapter 12
DELANEY
“There are more important things in this town than the drive-in. The playground at the school hasn’t been upgraded in nearly ten years. It’s borderline unsafe to have the kids playing on it. Pulling slivers out of fingers wasn’t on the curriculum.”
“We can vote Lemieux out soon. He doesn’t seem to have any clue how to run this town.”
“You don’t think this has anything to do with his running for re-election?”
“Why would it? Nobody wants this place rebuilt, so he’s not gaining much.”
“Well, not nobody .”
The pointed silence that follows that weighted sentence pulls me from where I’ve fallen into my thoughts. It’s been twenty minutes since I got here, and the mayor only finished speaking a second ago. It took half that time for the gossiping to commence.
There was nothing of importance shared besides a blanket statement about how the drive-in has played an important part in our town’s history and that we need to band together to make sure the younger generation of Cherry Peakers can share similar experiences.
The only useful piece of information was that not only are we responsible for getting the land ready for another structure to be built, but to do the actual building, we need to raise money.
All of us together need to come up with enough successful fundraisers to raise tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of dollars.
It feels unlikely.
“For the majority of the town, then. And last time I checked, she was also a teacher at our school. Shouldn’t the playground be more important to her?”
My skin tightens over my bones at the realization that they’re talking about me. That I have to be the she in their conversation. A conversation that I was not invited to join.
Standing a few feet over from the group of teachers I’ve spent the last few years working alongside, I debate inserting myself in the conversation just to see what they do. Would they backtrack, pretend that they were talking about someone else, or be straightforward?
I watch the sixth-grade teacher lean closer to the new football coach and say something too quiet for me to catch this time around. I’m stuck in place, a bit mortified and a lot annoyed.
Some things will never change about a small town.
“I never took teachers for gossips,” a friendly voice muses.
Sam Johnson, the RCMP officer from the night I watched this place burn to the ground, appears beside me. He keeps a generous distance between us, holding himself away almost shyly.
I clear my throat, hoping my cheeks aren’t as pink as I fear they are. “You’d be surprised.”
“The station’s just as bad sometimes. One thing Cherry Peak doesn’t lack is opinions from people who know nothing about a situation.”
“It’s tiring, right?”
Dressed in his uniform, he nods and holds his hip. “Very. But that’s what we get for living here, I guess. There are other towns we could disappear into where we wouldn’t have this issue. ”
That’s exactly what my brother did. Leaving Cherry Peak was an easy decision for him, and now he lives a few hours away in Snowbell Ridge, working some stuffy job all alone. The only way to get him back here is to beg, and we’re not the type of siblings to do that for some face time.
“That doesn’t make it fair, though. Privacy and respect should be the bare minimum regardless of where you live.”
“I won’t argue with you there. We’d have a hell of a lot less disputes if we could all just get along.”
Lifting my brows, I take a breath and let them fall again. “I sound na?ve, don’t I?”
“Not na?ve. Maybe just a bit too wishful,” he says lightly.
I chuff a laugh. “Too wishful. What a personality trait.”
“I could think of worse ones.”
My slight smile falls as I register the flirtatious tone of his voice. I hate how wrong it feels to have a man show interest in me, even as innocently as Sam. Shit, I’m broken. So incredibly broken.
He’s a good-looking guy too. Tall and bulky enough to make it clear that he works out often and avoids the majority of my favourite foods.
There’s no hint of hair anywhere on his face, and his eyes are a shade of green similar to mine.
Maybe it’s a mix of all those things that explains why I’m not interested.
I hate that I know I’m right.
Sam isn’t interesting to me because his hair is blond, he doesn’t have a mustache, and his eyes aren’t brown.
Frustration heats my chest as I shake that off, refusing to believe that I’m still holding out for a man who doesn’t want me. I’m done with that. Way, way done.
“I’m sorry. That came off too strong,” Sam rambles, face flushed. “ I came on too strong.”
Shaking my head, I reach out and touch his elbow. The immediate discomfort irritates me enough that I put more pressure behind my touch as if to tell myself off.
“No, no. You didn’t. I’m sorry. I was up late last night. ”
It’s not completely a lie. I was up late flirting with the idea of a stomach ulcer because of how stressed I got just thinking about today.
Sam’s tense features relax as he glances down at my hand. “Alright. I’m glad to hear it. Well, not about you being up late.”
“I know what you meant,” I say, offering a smile.
“I’m not usually so messy with my words. I guess that’s a Delaney effect.”
Unsure of what to say to that, I just laugh. Thankfully, it doesn’t sound awkward.
Sam is quick to fill the silence before it can stick around too long. “Anyway, do you know what group you’ve been assigned to?”
“No. I think they’re posting groups right now.”
He looks around and slips his hands into the pockets of his jacket. “It’s like waiting to see which team you’re on in gym class all over again.”
“You’ve got a point. I’m just hoping I wasn’t chosen last.”
“You? I remember you being chosen early for every sport back then.”
“I don’t. But maybe I just blocked a lot of that time out of my memory,” I joke to hide the bite in my side.
“I think most of us have probably done that.”
Pushing past the urge to let the conversation die, I ask, “Is there a job you’re hoping you’re assigned to?”
“Not really. I’m just hoping not to have to work on any fundraisers.”
“You’re not a fan of them?”
“I don’t mind the fundraising part, but the planning isn’t for me. I’m not a very organized person. Are you?”
“I think so. It’s the teacher in me.”
Sam chuckles, and slowly, the space he left between is cut in half. “Maybe I could get some tips sometime. If I’m lucky, we’ll be teamed up together. ”
“If you’re lucky? You want to be lectured on how to be more organized?”
“By you? Any day,” he says boldly.
I swallow and laugh stiffly. “We’ll have to see, then.”
His eyes flick down to my mouth before he clears his throat and lifts them again. “You know, even if we aren’t put on the same team, I’d love to?—”
“Hey, Elle. The groups are posted. We’re on the same one.”
Darren’s voice startles me hard enough that I gasp. Loudly. For both him and Sam to hear. My cheeks burn as I whip around to face Darren and glare up at him.
“It’s Delaney.”
He isn’t fazed by my snappy comment. Instead, he smirks in response, one brow tugging up. “Okay, Delaney . You’re in my group.”
Sam hasn’t shifted an inch. He watches Darren curiously, almost like he’s trying to figure out what he’s thinking.
My first instinct is to wish him luck. Darren isn’t one to let just anyone into his mind.
At least, he never used to be. But then again, it’s not my place to interfere.
I hardly know Sam, and right now, I could say the same about Darren.
“And what group is that? I think I’ll go and look for myself,” I say.
Darren shrugs. “Go for it. But I’m telling the truth.”
“Your truth doesn’t matter to me.”
“It should, considering I’ve always been a man of my word.”
A laugh bubbles out of me. It’s low, dark, a cruel noise that for a brief moment, I hope digs into him as deep as it does me. Darren flinches, but as much as he deserves it, I don’t get any satisfaction from his pain.
“I’m not sure you know what that means,” I bite out.
He reaches up to touch that damn hat again, and my eyes follow the movement. Seeing it once was enough, but again? It’s starting to chafe .
“Enlighten me.”
“You’re old enough to run an internet search.”
A puff of air escapes him. “Fair enough. We’re on the first round of cleanup.”
“Sam isn’t with us?” I ask.
Apparently, hearing his name is enough to remind the officer that he’s still here and not just watching from afar. He blinks a few times and focuses on me, offering an uncomfortable smile.
Darren ignores him. “No. Just you, me, and a few of the guys from the fire station.”
“Oh, how did I get so lucky? Who put me there?”
I’m snippy, but seriously? Out of all the groups, I’m on the one with my ex-boyfriend and all of his friends? This is bad karma for something.
“No idea. But I figured we could walk over together.”
“I’m capable of walking over on my own. I was in the middle of a conversation, actually,” I toss back.
There’s a break in his mask as the corner of his eye twitches. “You’re more than welcome to finish it.”
“But I thought it was time to go?”
Sam clears his throat. “I should go find my group, actually. We’ll catch up later, Delaney.”
“Oh, alright. Yeah. We can talk later,” I agree weakly.
It’s obvious that I don’t want him to stay for anything other than to be a buffer between me and Darren. Shit. I refuse to use anyone just to get a rise out of a ghost from the past. Nope. Not happening.
Sam takes a wide step back, his gaze lingering before shifting to Darren. “Have fun, guys.”
“You too,” I croak.
He’s hardly two feet away when Darren speaks again. “How well do you know that guy?”
“What?”
“Sam, was it? How well do you know him? ”
I stare at him in surprise, my arms crossing over my chest as I grapple for an appropriate response.
What he really deserves is a very colourful screw you.
“Why does it matter to you?”
The tick of his jaw is almost satisfying to witness. “It doesn’t. I just think you should be careful with who you’re letting into your life.”
“And why’s that? Because you’re so concerned? Cry me a river, Darren.”
His reply doesn’t matter enough to keep me standing here. The audacity of this man to think he can ask any sort of question about my personal life is astounding. I’d rather have this discussion with Banana, Anna’s fluffy cow, than with Darren.
“You wouldn’t believe me even if I admitted that I was concerned,” he says, following after me.
I spin right back around and jab a finger in the air. “If anyone here was going to be a danger to me, it wouldn’t be Sam.”
Darren presses his lips together while he lurches to a stop. “What are you insinuating?”
“I don’t know. What am I insinuating?”
“I’d never hurt you.”
“Not physically. But there are plenty of ways to hurt someone without lifting a hand. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to take a look at group assignments myself. Stop following me.”
“I want to talk to you, Delaney. Have a real conversation. I wasn’t putting that out there at the school for shits and giggles. I meant it.”
My heart tries to jump out of my chest and into his arms as I struggle with the lingering pull to him that won’t just disappear once and for all.
It’s never mattered how many nights I stayed up begging the universe to suck the memory of him out of my head.
There’s always been Darren’s face in my mind, reminding me of what could have been.
I stare him straight in the eyes and speak slowly, concisely. “Prove it. ”
His single step forward steals my breath. “Fine.”
“Fine.”
“And when I do? Then what?”
My shoulders go loose, a facade of ease transforming me.
“Then I’ll listen.”