Page 70 of Small Town, Big Storm

How much I want her to take me up on them.

Stupid as shit.

Yeah, I might have been spending the last seven years avoiding this town, but I’m not just here for Holly.

Poppy has always been in my heart.

Your heart, huh?A cold voice that sounds very much like my dad slides through my head.And how did that go with Joey?—

I slam the door on those thoughts.

Joey was different.

This…well, Poppy isn’t Joey.

But even as I think that, a part of me isn’t convinced.

“That’s not a good idea,” Poppy murmurs, echoing my thoughts, my worries, that fucking voice.

“No?”I ask, not sure why I’m pushing it.

She’s right.

But…fuck, I don’t want her to be.

“No,” she says gently.“Not with Holly?—”

“I won’t hurt Holly,” I promise even though I’m not sure if that’s true.

Because if I’m anything like my dad…

She straightens, tugs against my hold, but I keep her close.

“I won’t,” I say, more firmly.

To her.Tomyself.

“Does that mean you’re staying?”she asks, glancing up, her eyes locking onto mine, something like hope flickering through the emerald depths.“I know you and Rain are working on the house together, that your dad left it to both of you”—I don’t ask her how she knows that.This is Cedar Hollow, after all—“but does that mean you’re here for the long haul?”

I open my mouth.Iwantto promise I won’t leave.

But I can’t do that.

Because once upon a time, I thought I had stability, family, permanence.

And then I was traded to the Hawks.

That’s my reality.

I could be traded tomorrow.

Could have to leave?—

“Right,” she says, my silence answer enough.

That stings.

Not that I blame her.Career aside, I was the one who left.Who stayed away.