“I said thank you.” Miller stood so close I could see the dark flecks in his blue eyes. “The girls came here because they knew you’d listen. They needed someone to hear them, and I couldn’t get past wanting to strangle a teen boy.”
Get it together, Hattie. Focus.“Ava’s really hurting.”
“I didn’t help by blowing up at her.”
“Her birthday makes her think of her dad.” If I tilted my head, my cheek would’ve rested in Miller’s palm.
“I didn’t know it was on her mind,” he said. “I’m stuck in the day-to-day survival of this parenting stuff, and I didn’t realize.” His finger lightly jostled my dangling earring. “I forget how important birthdays are when we’re young.”
Had I ever noticed how many tones of brown filtered through the stubble on his face at night? “And friends,” I managed. “She needs some of those.”
“I’ll buy her some.”
I hated how instantly bereft I felt when Miller’s hand dropped back to his side. “How about you give her more chances to talk. I’ll brainstorm a list of opportunities for her to meet more people and email that to you.”
“Or you and I could just have a conversation about it later.” His suggestion came out as hot as if he’d said, “Or we could meet up at the Sugar Creek Inn and skinny-dip in their pool.”
Between his fatigue and his fear, Miller’s guard was down, making him all the more alluring. Guys with dropped defenses weresomy weakness. “I’d rather not,” I forced myself to say, then pointed between the two of us. “This right now is testing the bounds of my kindness. I’ve got maybe ten, twenty seconds tops left of decency, then I’m back to ignoring you.”
Miller picked up a framed photo from my side table, smiling at the picture of my sisters and me. Returning it to its place, his attention lazily moved back to me. “Is that so?”
“Very so.” Did he know his eyes were hypnotic? If he did, it was very unfair to use them to his advantage.
Miller slid a hand up and down my arm. “And what if I said I’m sorry?”
Doing my best to ignore the chills throwing a party across my skin, I tilted my head to my better ear. “I didn’t hear that quite right. What did you say?”
“I’m sorry.” Now both his hands bracketed my arms, a loose grip that I could easily step out of—but didn’t. “I know you talked to Garrett today.”
“Might have.”
“I did as well, and he said you never suggested he quit therapy.”
I rested a hand upon my chest. “I’m shocked. Imagine that. I mean, it does sound like exactly what I told you when you came to yell at me in front of my family at the bookshop.But, I don’t know, perhaps the original insult has dulled my brain, and I’m just not correctly recalling.”
“There’s nothing wrong with your memory.” The thumb of Miller’s hand was now playing fast and loose with the hem of my sleeve. “I…I overreacted.”
“Uh-huh.”
“I said things I shouldn’t have, and I’ll apologize to your sisters for the disturbance.”
“How polite.”
“I’m sorry, Hattie.” Beneath the glow of my living room lamplight, all the shadows of confidence left Miller’s face. “After Jonathan died, nothing was the same.Iwasn’t the same. I’m still trying to figure things out, and I screwed up. I hate that I screwed up with you.”
I could feel my resolve melting like slow-churned butter on a Dixie Dairy Café pancake. “If you question my professional motivation or authority again, I will tell my grandmother,” I promised. “Do you understand what that means?”
“Scary, scary things.”
“The authorities will not even be able to identify your altered body.”
“I fully repent of my errors.”
“I work hard at my job, and you’re not the only one who feels a responsibility to every person who steps foot on that farm.”
Miller sighed, then nodded his head. “Garrett’s a wild card, and I just want him safe.”
“Maybe you should work on channeling those feelings in a different manner.”
