Chapter 4
OLIVIA
“Oh my god!” I screeched, looking down at the mess I’d made. Milk soaked my clothes and seeped into my shoes. I bet when I tried to walk, it’d make a disgusting squelching noise like it did in the freaking movies.
My eyes drifted up to someone standing in a pair of sneakers just ahead of me. Sneakers that were also covered in a stupid white liquid I now despised.
“I’m so sorry,” I said in a rush, bending forward to pick up the loaf of bread I’d knocked to the ground.
“I wasn’t paying atten—” My words cut off as I noticed who the large, broody figure in the sneakers was.
A figure that definitely wasn’t supposed to be there and definitely wasn’t supposed to look as handsome as he did. “Duke?”
He studied me closely, bright green eyes carefully combing every inch of my face.
Something about it was unnerving. Unnatural.
His hair was longer than I remembered, touching the collar of his T-shirt and tucked beneath a dark ball cap.
Dark stubble along his chin blended in with the thick mustache framing his lips.
“Well, I can see you haven’t gotten any more graceful as you’ve gotten older,” Duke mused.
“Nope,” I said, chuckling dryly. “Just as clumsy as ever.”
“Try watching where you’re going next time,” he said, bending back down to pick up my purse. He held it out, shaking it when I didn’t immediately take it.
“Uh, okay. I’ll try to do that.” Freaking asshole.
I wasn’t sure why the interaction struck me the wrong way, but it did.
Something in the way he spoke put me on high alert.
Sure, it wasn’t ideal to be covered in fucking milk, but I’d apologized.
It was an accident. I was too worried about Charlie and the way she’d run from me to notice where I was going.
“Mom, you ran right into Harper’s dad,” Charlie said, crossing her arms. The hint of worry in her voice from earlier was gone. I was clearly back on her shit list. And honestly? She was on mine now, too.
“Maybe I wouldn’t have if you hadn’t run off. Seriously, Charlie. I know this is a small town, but I called your name, and you didn’t stop. I was scared.”
She rolled her eyes. “Nothing ever happens here, Mom. Dad says it all the time. So does Mr. Bennett.”
“Okay, well, if you could hold off on giving me any more heart attacks today, that’d be great,” I said, turning my attention back to the man in question.
“Olivia,” he gritted out, tipping his head in greeting. It was forced. Like it was taking everything in him not to run and hide from me. “It’s been a long time.”
“It really is you, huh?” I said, letting my gaze rake down his body.
Duke and my brother had been best friends growing up.
Where one went, the other followed. They spent the summers running amok and causing absolute havoc in Pinecrest. One time, they’d gotten banned from the summer fair.
Apparently, Duke stood guard outside one of the abandoned booths while Lukas got frisky with the old mayor’s daughter.
Needless to say, Uncle John smoothed things over with a nice donation, and Lukas and Duke spent the rest of the summer working to pay him back.
“In the flesh,” he said.
I poked him in the center of his chest, staring at the spot where the tip of my finger met his body. He was the perfect mixture of hard lines and soft edges.
“You done?” he asked, knocking my hand away.
“I don’t know. I feel like I’m in the Twilight Zone or something,” I answered honestly.
Someone tugged on my sleeve, and I looked down at Charlie. “Mom, can Harper and I have a sleepover?”
I glanced at the small girl at my daughter’s side. Her fair complexion made her long auburn hair, pulled back in an unruly ponytail, stand out. There was a dusting of freckles across her nose, and she had gorgeous green eyes.
That sweet girl was Duke’s daughter? I recalled Lukas saying something about him getting married, but that was ages ago. She looked nothing like the grumpy bastard in front of me. Lukas never mentioned anything about it, and to be fair, why would he?
She lifted one hand in a shy wave. “Hi. I’m Harper,” she said quietly.
I smiled. “Hi, Harper, it’s so nice to meet you—”
“Mooooooom,” Charlie interrupted. “Please?”
Duke just stood there, covered in milk, awkwardly staring at the three of us. His arms were crossed over a wrinkled t-shirt, muscular legs on display in a pair of athletic shorts that looked like they’d seen better days.
“Sunshine, they might have plans today—”
“They don’t. Harper’s soccer game is over. Dad usually takes me to it. I wanted to go today, but he said we couldn’t because you were coming to get me.”
I tried not to let her words affect me, but they did. Goddammit, they did. I wasn’t sure how a day that started so great had led to her looking at me like I was the worst person in the world for telling her no to some fucking cereal.
“Not today, Charlie. I just got in, and I want to spend time with you,” I said, forcing a sense of cheer to my voice that I didn’t feel.
“What about our day together? We were going to have so much fun!” Charlie’s face turned bright red, and I could tell she was preparing to have a total meltdown, so I added, “How about I get Mr. Bennett’s number, and we can arrange something for later? ”
Calling Duke “Mr. Bennett” was so weird. I hated the way it rolled off my tongue, but it also felt way too intimate to be using first names with a guy I hadn’t seen since my wedding. Especially when he was staring at me like I’d done something wrong.
“She can come with us,” Duke grunted. “I don’t care.”
Charlie and Harper began whooping and hollering like they’d just been told they could eat cake morning, noon, and night, but I held up my hand. He couldn’t just come in and undermine me. I’d already said no. And this was my day, dammit. I missed my daughter and wanted to spend time with her.
“I’m sorry, girls. It really will have to be another time.”
“What’s it matter if she stays with us?” Duke asked, shifting on his feet. “I said it wasn’t a problem, and I meant it. Just let the girl have some fun, Olivia.”
I turned toward him. “Because I haven’t seen my daughter in nearly three weeks, and I’d like to spend some time with her. What part of that is unclear?”
He scoffed, shaking his head. “Maybe that’s your problem.”
“Excuse me?” I asked, blinking in confusion. What the hell was happening right now? How did this day go to shit so damn fast?
“Maybe you shouldn’t go so long without seeing your daughter. Maybe,” he growled, taking a step, “you should realign your priorities. Make time for the things that matter.”
As much as I wanted to shrink away, I held my head up high.
Sure, this may not have been my finest moment, but I’d gone toe-to-toe with bigger assholes than him before.
I wasn’t about to back down now. Not for him.
Not for anyone. “Kind of rude to throw around accusations when you don’t know what you’re talking about, isn’t it?
I mean, I could do the same to you, but I’m not. ”
“I know enough about your type. Always chasing another high. Always putting other shit and other people in front of the things that matter,” he spat. “And please, enlighten me on what judgments you could throw my way. I’d love to hear them.”
I pointed at his chest. “Your shirt is wrinkled, there’s a mustard stain along your collar, and you look like you haven’t showered or shaved in days.
” The last line was a low blow, and I instantly felt bad as his shoulders slumped ever so slightly.
Guilt set in immediately, making me feel sick.
God, what was I even saying? As if I had any right at all to talk about the state of someone else’s life when my own was a mess.
“Look, I’m sorry. That was way beyond rude, and I—”
“No, I get it. Wouldn’t want your daughter hanging out with someone so unkempt,” he muttered before turning toward Charlie and Harper. “Come on, Harper. I don’t feel like cooking. How about we grab some lunch in town?”
His daughter nodded, turning to Charlie and wrapping her in a big hug. “See you next weekend at the game, Charlie.”
I stood in silent, embarrassed shock as Duke tucked his daughter under one arm and walked away from his cart filled with groceries. What the hell just happened? The whole scenario was like a strange fever dream.
“That was so mean. I can’t believe you’d say that. You don’t even know him,” Charlie said.
I did know him, but that wasn’t the point. It wasn’t worth arguing. Her little fist was clenched at her side, and she was looking at me like she’d never seen me before, like I was the worst person in the world.
Honestly, I felt like that, too.
I didn’t know why I said the things I did. I could blame it on exhaustion or frustration, but that didn’t make this sickening feeling go away.
There was something unnerving about the way Duke stared at me.
Like he could see down into the depths of my soul and had already determined that I was a horrible, judgmental, selfish person.
As much as it pained me to admit it, there may be some truth to it.
Maybe my job had turned me into someone else—someone I didn’t recognize.
“Charlie…” I began but stopped as her posture deflated, and her head hung low.
“Let’s just go home,” she muttered, stomping ahead of me. “I just wanna go home.”
I stared at Duke’s cart full of groceries, guilt tugging at something deep within. Grabbing hold of the handle before thinking better of it, I followed after my daughter, feeling my hope for the day wither away until it was nothing but ashes, crumbling in the wind.