Hometown Love

Callie

The Ugly Duckling was buzzing with patrons. It was the first real night of summer, and a beautiful night at that.

I handed Miss Betsy our menus after ordering. Everyone knew Miss Betsy 'round here, she had been running the place for 30 years. When she walked away, I turned my attention back to Beau, who was on his phone.

"Babe," I poured, "you promised no phones tonight!" Being 'Sheriff Beau Whitley' came with a lot of caveats, including constantly checking his phone in case of an emergency.

"I'm sorry, Cal," he started, putting the phone back in his pocket, "so can you explain to me again why Colton Ellison manhandled you this morning?"

Beau was still pretty pissed about Colton swooping into the race and trying to catch my attention.

"Beau, we used to be best friends. I told you this. Hell, you even remember us attached at the hip from high school right?"

He nodded.

"I'm sure it was his dumbass way of apologizing for leaving and being too good for the rest of us," I rolled my eyes.

"No one could be too good for you, darlin'," I heard the gravelly voice behind me, followed by a chair dragging across the floor.

I closed my eyes and rubbed my hand over my eyes, pinching the bridge of my nose. Why?

"Why do I see you everywhere I go today?"

Colton had pulled a chair up to our table and sat down.

"It's not that big of a town, Callie Cat."

I grimaced.

"Don't," I warned, "you know I hate that nickname."

He knew how much I loathed when he called me that. Before he had a chance to tease me and say it again, Beau interrupted.

"Colton, welcome home, bud. I hear a lot about you in this town. I'm Beau, Beau Whitley." He extended his hand to shake.

Colton eyed him up and down before grabbing his hand and shaking it, hard. I could see his knuckles turning white.

"Wait, are you the same Beau Whitley who played for Deerfield High? Wide receiver?"

"Oh, a lifetime ago, sure. Was never good enough to go pro, though," he chuckled lightheartedly.

Colton was silent a moment, eyeing Beau with a look I did not care for. And in an instant, his expression changed, like he was recalling some memory that made his face sour.

"Oh, I remember you," his voice had lowered an octave, sounding rough and aggressive.

I decided it was time to cut in.

"Colt, we're having dinner. Please leave," I didn't have the patience to be polite. Nor did he deserve politeness.

Colton's smile appeared gradually, growing the longer he stared at me, eyeing my lips before moving up to my eyes.

"Well, I'm sure Beau here doesn't mind a bit if I were to join you, he knows I haven't seen my Callie Cat in a while. Right, Beau?" He didn't look away from me while he spoke to Beau.

"Actually, baby," I swear I could hear a growl from Colton as Beau spoke, "my phones buzzing off the hook, it looks like I'm going to have to head in."

My shoulders slumped, disappointment washing over me.

"You can't even finish dinner?" I asked defeatedly, already knowing the answer.

I stood to leave as Beau did, Miss Betsy giving me a knowing look that we weren't sticking around long enough to eat.

"Well see you later then, Officer Beau." I rolled my eyes at Colton's childishness. Beau took off in a rush.

"Wait, Cal, where are you going?" Colton hurriedly followed me out of the restaurant.

"Home."

"Why don't we head to The Outhouse or just stay here for dinner? Or I could grab some beer and we could sit down by the docks. I can—"

I turned on my heel, stepping as close to him as I could. My head only came up to his bulging chest. Damnit, why did he have to be so tall?! I was trying to be intimidating.

"What the fuck do you want, Colton?"

"Cal, I—" I put my hand up to stop him.

"Don't. You show up here after THREE YEARS pretending like everything is alright? Like you didn't just up and leave me here, cutting me out of your life? You don't get to just come back and act blasé about throwing away our friendship of two decades."

"I wanna fix it, Callie, I—"

"I don't, Colton," my tone had turned from cold to sad and desperate, "just stay away from me."

****************************************

As I lay in bed that night, I cried for the first time since Colton left.

I cried because I had loved Colton my whole life. I had trusted him with my darkest secrets and my deepest fears. Every memory worth remembering in this small town had him in it, experiencing it all with me.

And he threw me away like I was week old tuna salad. He spat on every memory we made, every secret we kept, every promise we made. How could I forgive him for that?

Seeing him show up today after all those years has thrown me an emotional curveball. And since my boyfriend is currently at work and unable to help level me out, I'm drowning my sorrows in scary movies and whiskey.

Tomorrow, I wouldn't take the day off and would instead wrestle that beast Ranger until I broke him in. That would help me get my mind off of Colton.