“And you will be,” he promised. He gave me a small, normal Rossy smile, and slipped on his glasses. I watched as he sat back on his heels and looked at the empty chairs. “I cannot believe my outburst,” he whispered, shaking his head. “I haven’t…” Helet out a small, shameful chuckle. “Well, to be honest darling, I haven’t yelled like that in years.”
“You earned it,” I deadpanned, gesturing to myself. “Look at who you have to put up with.”
His eyes flashed with pride then. “A stubborn woman who swears too much and, as Carrie put it, has a heart of gold.”
My lip trembled. “Don’t do that shit, Rossy. I just stopped crying.”
A few minutes later, when we were both back on our feet, the chairs were put up, my makeup fixed, he wrapped me up in another one of his comforting hugs. I felt him press a hard kiss to the top of my head. “Does he treat you right?” he asked, his voice gentle. The anger was gone, but the sadness still remained.
“He treats me like I’m the most precious thing in his orbit,” I told him, looking into his eyes.
Rossy gave me a squeeze. “I think it would be best if I apologized for threatening him then.”
I blinked. “You…threatened Hayes?” I blurted.
He sighed again and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Perhaps.”
“What do you mean,” I adjusted my voice to a British accent, “perhaps? A threat is a threat.”
“Yes, well, given the circumstances…” He trailed off and started cleaning his glasses. “You remember the days when I would just work on my novel all day? When you would make coffee all day and Carrie would run the checkout counter and Sarah would run everything for me all day? I miss those days. Less complications. Fewer…men.”
“You are a man.”
“Yes, well, I’m not a broody man who grunts.”
“You grunt, Rossy.”
“I most certainly do not,” he scoffed, putting his glasses back on.
I rolled my eyes and put my hand on the door. “I cannot believe you threatened my boyfriend.”
“To be fair, I didn’t know he was your boyfriend at Carrie’s party, and he was making you cry.”
“I—wait—Cardinal’s party?That’swhen you threatened him?” I gasped, jaw dropping.
He nodded. “Yes, I told him if he hurt you then…well to be frank, it doesn’t bear repeating. Now, open the door. I have some apologizing to do, and you need to find Sarah.”
Shaking my head with a smile, I opened the door.
My smile fell when I found Sheriff Humbly standing on the other side.
“Oh fuck,” I muttered.
“Ms. Bennett,” he greeted, monotone.
My eyes searched for Hayes.
“Mitchell is outside on a call,” Michael said, answering my silent question.
“Am I under arrest?”
His brow furrowed. “No. Why would you think that?”
“Because you’ve got that look in your eye.”
“What look?”
“The ‘I gotta whoop some ass’ look,” I clarified.