18. Ending Kevin For Real #2
“Don’t.” The word comes out clipped. “Don’t try to backpedal.
I’m not interested in Evy. I’m not interested in Molly, or anyone else.
” His voice is low, but holds an edge. “Men like Bo Gates don’t stay, Falon.
That’s not who they are. They breeze into town, they make you feel like something, and then they go.
And when he does, and he will,” he leans in, “don’t expect me to be waiting. ”
I take a breath before I punch him and turn on the stool to face him fully.
“You want to know the truth, Kevin?” My voice feels tight. “It was always Bo. From the beginning, before he ever came back, before any of this, it was always him.” I hold his gaze. “It was never you, Kevin. Not once. Not in high school, not when you were in football, not now.”
His face turns red in embarrassment, and he tries to discreetly look around to see if anyone overheard.
He stands up from the stool, straightens his collar and takes two steps toward the door.
Then he turns back at me: “When he leaves, and he will, don’t come crawling back.”
The bell above the door dings.
He is gone, and my heart is pounding in my ears. I hate confrontations.
Lila pretends to wipe down the counter near the far end, which meant she’d heard it. Mae had become very interested in her toast, so I know she heard.
I exhale.
“Well,” Lila says. “That was bold.”
I look up as Bo slides into the seat Kevin vacated and rests his elbows on the counter.
“I thought you went for a run?” I ask.
“I did. Was just having coffee with Jake in the booth in the back.” He tilts his head toward the far corner.
“You heard that.”
“I think everyone did.”
“Why didn’t you say anything?”
“Didn’t need to. You had it.”
Rowdy rests his chin on my knee, waiting for a treat. I think I spoil him if he thinks he always gets a treat when he sees me.
“He’s going to try and spin this,” I say.
“Probably.” Bo’s mouth curves slightly. “But half the town’s here.”
I nod, then Lila appears with the pie and a conspiratorial smile. “I saw the whole thing, and you were awesome,” Then she disappears again.
Daisy flies through the door a few minutes later, canvas bag swinging, and stops when she sees my face. Then she sees Bo. Then she does a quick scan of the room.
“I missed it?” Her shoulders drop. She plops onto the stool on my other side. “I was literally two blocks away. I ran here as fast as I could, and I still missed it.”
“How did you even know?” I ask.
She holds up her phone.
“Kevin found her. Get to Ethel’s,” she reads aloud.
“From who?” I ask.
She shrugs. “That’s not the point.” She slumps forward dramatically. “I can’t believe I missed it.”
“Sorry, Daisy. You missed it,” I confirm.
She drops her head onto her folded arms.
Bo, to his credit, says nothing. He just slides the dessert box out of range of Daisy’s elbow.
Alex comes in right after that.
She comes in, laptop bag on one shoulder, and spots us immediately and comes over.
“Someone in line at the pharmacy told me Kevin was confronting you. Please tell me I didn’t miss it.”
“You missed it,” Daisy groans.
Alex looked bummed.
When did my personal life become part of Everwood's group chat?
“I was literally next door.” Alex huffs. “Okay. Tell me.”
I tell her.
“For the record,” she says, “that was not a breakup conversation.”
Bo and I exchange looks. “Then what was it?”
“Kevin never could accept that you weren’t interested, and since Bo came home, he’s afraid you’ll choose Bo, and you did.” She picks up my fresh coffee and takes a sip.
She is right. I doubt he’ll talk to me for a while.
Daisy and Alex stay to gossip, while Bo and I leave, Ethel’s pie box under Bo’s arm, Rowdy trotting next to us.
The morning had been eventful for only four hours of daylight. The street is busy enough that we have to angle around a couple coming out of the hardware store, and Bo shifts the pie box to make room.
I look at him sideways. “Did you know what Kevin was going to say?”
He is quiet for half a beat. “No,” he says. “But when Jake pointed him next to you, I had an idea.”
“So, you heard him ask me out?”
“I did, and if you needed me, I would have been there, but when he said my name, and you defended me, it told me where things stood between us. You said it was always Bo. That’s all I needed to hear.” He is smiling, and so am I.
I reach over and take his hand.
His fingers fold through mine, and we walk the rest of the block like that.
Past the hardware store and the flower shop and the bench out front of the insurance office where Mrs. Winslow usually sat.
All the way to the end of the street, where I pick up Mom’s ring from the jeweler, and back to the truck.
By now, half the town is talking, and I am ignoring it, because I have what I want: Bo Gates.
The drive back to the ranch is quiet. Rowdy breathes deeply from the back seat. Bo has the window cracked two inches, and the sun warms my face.
I watch the fence posts tick by and think about the morning.
Bo had been in that diner the whole time.
He’d sat in the back booth, and he’d watched, and he hadn’t said a word.
He’d let me handle it. He let me answer Kevin.
I’d spent my life in Tyler’s shadow. And now that Bo was here.
He’d silently shown the town. I didn’t need a rescue, and I wasn’t in the shadows; I was shining on my own.
My parents' ranch comes over the rise. Farmhouse, outbuildings, the guest house, with Bo’s truck parked at its usual slight angle.
Rowdy is already at the gate by the time we got out, nose pressed to the gap, tail wagging.
I open it.
He shoots through, and I watch him go.
For now, there is pie to deliver and a farmhouse that isn’t going to restore itself.
I pick up the box from the back seat and follow Rowdy through the gate.