Burning Ember

Chapter 21

As I came out of the bathroom, Olivia stopped me outside the door. "If you need to call it a day, you can. It's been slow today, so it's not a problem," she shrugged.

"I appreciate that, but . . . why are you being so . . . nice? I kind of thought you hated me." I asked, as I swiped my hand across my chin where a stray tear had settled.

"Well, I don't." She sighed as she shifted, crossing her arms. "I saw Hale dropping you off and I don't know . . . it just left a bad taste in my mouth."

Drawing my brows and scrunching my face in confusion, I said, "You know Hale?" Like this wasn't a small town and everyone knew everyone.

"Yeah, I know him." She reached up, pulling her ponytail tight as she added, "You're not the only one with a bad ex."

A sinking feeling overcame me as I asked, "What do you mean? You and Hale?"

She nodded in confirmation. "Honestly it was a long time ago. It shouldn't even matter anymore."

Olivia started back to the front of the diner as I followed hot on her heels. "What happened?" I asked, my curiosity piqued.

She sighed as she straightened the salt and pepper holders along the counter. "He just—it was after his sister died. He was in a bad place when we got together, and I thought I could help him through it. I felt bad for him ya know?" I nodded along as she spoke. "I used to bartend at the joint down the road, and one night Hale had come in for a drink while he waited for my shift to end. I came through with a tray of beers for one of the tables, and this guy slapped my ass as I passed. Hale saw and he beat the shit out of the guy. I mean it was bad. I knew he struggled with his temper sometimes, but that was just . . . too far. He put the guy in the hospital, and it scared me. There were a couple other instances, but that was kind of the turning point for me."

My jaw hung open as I processed what she said. I knew he had mentioned that he didn't cope with Scilla's death well, but hearing about the violence he was capable of startled me. I tried not to judge her experience too harshly. I knew people change, and like she said, it was a long time ago.

After collecting myself as best as I could, I texted Hale and told him that I got off early today and walked out front to wait. The minutes ticked past as my paranoia pestered me with thoughts. What if Gabriel was watching me? What if he sees me get into another man's truck? What would he do? Shaking it off, I rubbed my eyes, and blew out a foggy breath of steam. I heard the rumble of Hale's truck before it rounded the corner, and I hurriedly hopped in as he pulled up just out front.

"Work slow today?" he asked as I buckled in. I nodded, unsure of how I would tell him what happened. My thoughts trailed back to what Olivia told me, and how violently he had reacted to another man touching her, and I wondered how he would react to this. "Is everything alright?" he asked noting my silence.

"I saw Gabriel today," I reluctantly told him.

"You what?" he barked as he swerved to bank the turn. My hand shot up for the handle as a spike of adrenaline rushed me. "Why didn't you call me?" His eyes were livid as he looked at me and I found myself stumbling for words.

"I'm sorry. I pretty much texted you right after. But nothing happened . . . not really." I shook my head trying to push out the image of him as he looked down on me, the reek of his cologne that lingered.

"Not really? What happened? What did he say?" he questioned, his anger softening, but the concern remained as his eyes darted from me to the road and back.

Glancing at him from the side of my eye, I said, "He told me that he missed me. How it hurt him when I left and that he wanted to fix things—that we could be good again."