Page 8 of Redeem My Heart

“That’s not exactly–”

“Poor Sugar,” she says in a falsely high, annoying voice. “Can’t get herself a real boyfriend. She’s so pathetic she has to get pity dates from that hot guy who rescues dogs.”

“I didn’t say–”

She opens the door and jumps down from my truck. “You didn’t have to say it.” She slams the door, then says through the opened window, “I’m not one of your dogs. I don’t need to be rescued.”

“Shelby, come on, you can’t just get out and walk,” I call to her.

“I actually can, and I did. Later, Dane.” Then she disappears into the town square park.

I bang on the steering wheel. “Fuck!”

A young mother holding hands with two little kids walking towards the library turns and glares at me.

I nod an apology and roll up my windows. I’m just fucking everything up today.

I’m nearly out of town when I realize I didn’t make it to the store to pick up the supplies I need. Since I currently live in a tiny home—just big enough for me—I’ve been building an outdoor structure for the dogs for when we have bad weather. Thankfully, this winter has been more mild than most and they’ve been just fine. Since spring is coming, things are going to potentially get stormy, so I need to finish it up. I turn my truck back around and head to Bolts.

My phone rings and I see my sister’s name flash on the screen.

“What’s up, Daph?”

“What did you do?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Did you kiss Sugar Coleman in the middle of the coffee shop?

“Gotta love small town gossip,” I say drolly.

“Can you break it down for me?”

So I explain what happened. How I’d been sitting in a back booth at the coffee shop only to hear first those bitches talking about me, but then Shelby and her sassy voice defending me. Then how they turned on her like a bunch of jackals, and that’s when I made my move.

“What was the outcome you were hoping for?” Daphne asks.

“I don’t know. I just wanted them to stop talking shit about her.”

“You feel protective of her?”

“I guess. I don’t know. How do you even know about this?”

“Dane, honestly, you know you can’t do anything in this town without someone texting or calling to notify me. Like I need to know what my brothers are doing twenty-four/seven. Well, mostly I just hear about you now. I suppose they contact Grady and Garrett’s wives to tattle on them.”

“For fuck’s sake.”

“You fucked up.”

“I realize that. Did you just call to chastise me, or do you have any ideas of how I can fix it?”

“Wait. You want to fix this?”

“Well, yeah.”

“What are you saying? You want to actually date her?”

“Well, I don’t want her to be pissed at me. Right now, she is seriously pissed at me.”