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I wasn’t about to miss this opportunity. Turning to Mark, I could smell his cologne, and it helped to settle some of the nerves that I had been experiencing.
“I will be fine.” My whisper wasn’t loud enough for anyone else to hear. His face was tilted down so that he could look into my eyes.
“I don’t like it.” His words seemed to pain him. “I won’t allow anything bad to happen to you.”
A look of confusion must have been evident on my face because he continued, “I know the way people in this town treat you. I won’t have it, Sutton. You won’t be disrespected, not on my watch.”
It was beyond sweet. Here I had thought that he was just being a territorial prick. But it had all stemmed from the desire to keep me safe. I knew what I had to do.
“Knoxy?” I called out, still staring into Mark’s eyes. “I need my fiancé with me.”
There was a stunned silence in the room. Candice knew the truth behind my fake engagement. But nobody back home had been aware that Mark and I had become engaged. Even if it was just to save face.
“Kitten?” he floundered for a minute. “If you’re sure about it.”
I had a feeling that Knox was just being the protective older brother. I slipped my hand into Mark’s large one, enjoying the way sparks traveled up my arm.
Then I led him into the back where the one cell of Otterville Falls resided. I had been here enough as a child. Mama had a habit of getting picked up, so I knew just where to go.
Looking smaller and beaten down, Max lay sprawled across the thin mattress. His hair was matted and there was a particular stench of old booze and body odor.
“Oh, Max.” I hadn’t even realized that I uttered the words when his bleary eyes popped open.
“Sutton.” He blinked, trying to focus his gaze. “What are you doing here?”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Sutton
Sitting around my old kitchen table, I watched as Candice kept giving serious glances towards Knox. The part of me that wasn’t hung up on Max’s odd behavior was very much aware of my friend’s attraction to the sheriff.
It was endearing in a way. Candice has always been the consummate professional. I have leaned on her all of these weeks because she seemed impenetrable, unshakable, the epitome of the perfect business icon.
With her blushing cheeks and stammering sentences, it was nice to see that Candice was just as fallible as the rest of us.
Knox had promised to stop in and chat with me once his shift was over. Mark didn’t seem to care two licks for Knox. His arm was casually draped over the back of my chair. But that was only a ruse. There was nothing casual about the way Mark was claiming his territory—me.
“Listen, Sutton.” Knox leaned in. “I appreciate you coming down here to help Max. But honestly, there is nothing you can do. He’s a grown man. You did your part and tried to get him to talk about it.”
And I had tried. All afternoon I had begged and pleaded with Max to let me in on what was going on with him.
“Knox, you know he was like a father to me.” I felt Mark tense up beside me.
Mark loved and respected my birth father, but the truth was that I had never met him. So, my feelings could never be the same. The more I learned about the man, the more I respected him. But there would always be that doubt in the back of my mind.
Why did he sleep with my mama? Why didn’t he ever contact her again? Was she sick back then? Was Hollingsworth Sutton leaving the real reason Mama turned to drinking and drugs?
Or worse, was it me? Being an abandoned single mother, was I the reason Mama’s world imploded?
Knox shook his head adamantly. “No, Max liked to fuck your mama. You are looking at things through rose-colored glasses, Sutton. He was sweet on you, yes, but that man wasn’t anymore your father than the bastard that raised me.”
It felt like a blow.
Candice fired up. “How dare you?”
Knox swung around to face her, surprise lighting his face.
“Sutton really cares about this man. You have no right to be so callous with her feelings.” Her chest was heaving, and her mouth was drawn into a tight line.