Page 11 of Stormswept Colorado (Hart County #3)

TEN

Teller

By the time I finally reached Emma and Ashford’s building, every light was on. It sounded like the party was well underway.

As I stepped inside, music and voices greeted me. The downstairs of the building was devoted to teaching spaces for Ashford’s martial arts school and Emma’s music lessons. They lived in the apartment upstairs. But tonight, it seemed like the impromptu party had taken over both floors.

I heard a laugh that might’ve been Ayla’s, and the sound twisted around my spine, refusing to let go.

At the station, it had taken another two hours to square things away.

We’d released Bryan Krueger and the other brawlers with strict warnings.

If they stepped a toe out of line again, I was going to make them sorry they’d stayed in Silver Ridge.

Ayla had waited for Bryan, and they’d left the station together.

A couple of brawling tourists had wanted to apologize to Ayla personally. But she didn’t need to give those dumbasses more attention. So instead, I made them sit and write out a one-page, single-spaced apology essay. Mrs. Torkelson, my third-grade teacher, would’ve been proud.

I dodged as Stella loped by, ears flapping, followed by Ollie. My nephew changed course when he saw me, but didn’t slow his speed. He lowered his shoulder and crashed into me like a defensive lineman. Oof .

“Uncle Tell, you’re here! Finally! You’re super late.”

“Really sorry about that, buddy. Work stuff.” But guilt closed its fist around my heart and squeezed. I hated disappointing him. Ollie already had too many disappointments courtesy of his father. “I’m here now.”

Ollie’s face scrunched up, dodging when I tried ruffling his hair. “We were supposed to work on the treehouse.”

“Can’t work on the treehouse when it’s after dark, bud. We’ll do that soon. I’m sure you’ve been having a blast here with Stella and Maisie.”

“Yeah, I guess. But Maisie just wants to play with these dumb horses in her room upstairs. It’s lame.”

I arched an eyebrow. “That’s not a great way to talk about your best friend.”

“Sorry,” he muttered.

Ollie was only nine, but he’d been shadowing the middle-school boys up the street lately. Any minute now, he wouldn’t be interested in that treehouse at all. Time was always slipping by way too fast.

If not for that mess with Ayla, it would’ve been Ollie and me tonight.

But Ollie needed more than just me and his mom.

I needed more too. I’d been keeping to myself way too much, neglecting my friendships.

Being antisocial. Almost arresting Ashford’s sister-in-law hadn’t helped with my standing around here.

I really didn’t want to be the bad guy.

Piper appeared, carrying a longneck beer. “Teller, you made it!”

I stood up, ruffling Ollie’s hair again, and he ran off after Stella. “Yeah, long day.”

My sister shrugged. “I guess you had a decent excuse. Sounded a lot more exciting than my afternoon cleaning out the espresso grinder.” Piper’s hair was a similar shade of dirty blond to mine, slightly darker at the roots but paler at the tips. “Food’s upstairs in the kitchen.”

“Good, I’m starved. What about the bride and groom? I should say hello.” And hopefully get on better footing with them.

“Living room, last I checked.” She pointed her beer at me. “If you can get Ollie to eat some dinner, not just cake and chips, I will be forever grateful.”

“Consider it done.”

“He always listens to you. It’s not fair.”

“He doesn’t always . But I do get a lot of practice convincing people to listen. Especially when they don’t want to.”

“I would love that superpower.”

I smiled. “You feeling any better about the Danny situation?”

“It is what it is. But you’re right. We’ll get through it.”

“We will.” I lifted my chin. “Go have fun. I know the plan changed, but I can still be in charge of Ollie tonight.” I would let my nephew run wild for a few more minutes, then find him and get him to eat.

“You’re the best.”

“I know.”

I went upstairs in search of food. Passed through the living room and said hello to Emma and Ashford, who didn’t seem so pissed at me anymore. Then continued on to the kitchen.

Callum, Ashford’s younger brother, was there breaking open a bag of tortilla chips. “Yo, Teller. You want guac? My special recipe.”

“I’ve never said no to guac, and I don’t plan to start anytime soon. Need help?”

“Find a bowl for these chips. Aside from that, I just need you to stand back and let the master work.”

I chuckled, grabbing the chip bag. “I’ll stay out of the way. But can you set some aside with no jalapenos?”

“Because you can’t take the heat? Surprised at you, Chief.”

“No, for the kids. I have to make sure Ollie eats dinner. ”

“Then I don’t envy you. But I’ll keep the jalapenos on the side.”

“Much appreciated.”

Callum pointed at my clothes. “You look nice, by the way.”

“Thanks,” I said evenly. I smoothed a hand down my shirt. I was wearing dark jeans and a button-down. Something had possessed me to dress up a bit for tonight, since it wasn’t just me and Ollie.

He cut into an avocado. “Can’t believe you arrested Ayla, though.”

I groaned. “I have to hear about that from you too?”

“Dude, you’re going to hear about it from everybody .”

The O’Neals had lived across the street from us when Piper and I were growing up.

Piper and Grace had been best friends pretty much since birth, while I’d been closest to the oldest O’Neal brother, Grayden.

Grayden and I had both been in charge, since our parents hadn’t been around much.

Grayden and I had also been the first to leave Silver Ridge for the Army.

What happened with Grayden after that was a very long story. Even I didn’t know all of it. Grayden had reconnected with Grace in the last few months, or so I’d heard. Callum and Ashford still didn’t talk to him.

I hadn’t spoken to my former best friend in, what, ten years? Twelve? But if it didn’t impact me or Piper, then I figured I should stay out of that drama. Wasn’t my place.

Anyway, Ashford and Callum were like younger brothers to me as much as Grace was like another baby sister. I considered all of them family, but when it came to Ashford and Callum, we’d never been super close.

Callum was easygoing in all the ways I wasn’t.

He was a volunteer firefighter, so I’d crossed paths with him plenty of times in dangerous situations.

He had a knack for keeping the mood light, which could make all the difference to a team’s morale.

Even if I hadn’t been the police chief, I never would’ve been the jokester. But it took all kinds .

“I didn’t actually arrest Ayla,” I said. “I let her off with a warning.” A few chips escaped as I dumped the bag into a serving bowl.

“Good thing. Otherwise, you’d have a team of scary lawyers flying in from LA as we speak to flay you alive.”

I grunted my disapproval of that sentiment. That wasn’t why I’d let Ayla, Bryan, and the others off the hook. “I’d be more worried about Grace, honestly. She was on the warpath.”

Callum laughed. “And what about that guy who came to town with Ayla? You let the boyfriend go too, I hear?”

“Bryan’s her driver and bodyguard, not her boyfriend.”

Callum stopped his work on the cutting board and looked up. “I stand corrected.”

I shrugged nonchalantly, as if I hadn’t just snapped at him. “Just trying to be accurate. Facts matter.”

He chuckled. “Got it, Chief.”

I crossed my arms and glanced around. “Is Bryan here tonight?”

“You seem very concerned about Bryan’s whereabouts.”

“I’d like to know if a man I almost arrested is at a party with me.”

“It is a small town. I’m sure it’s happened before.”

Okay, that was true.

Callum smirked like this was top-notch entertainment. “But no, I don’t think Bryan’s here. Ayla is, though. Nobody seems to know what she did to get arrested. She’s not talking.”

I rolled my tongue against my teeth. “She assaulted a police officer. Namely, me.”

“Holy sh—” Callum dropped his voice to a whisper. “ Shit . I knew Ayla was pretty fierce, but I didn’t know she had that in her.”

I’d gotten more than I bargained for with her, that was for sure. No wonder she’d built such a successful career. A lot of that kind of thing was luck, but there had to be countless hours of hard work behind it .

Ayla Maxwell was a whole lot of determination and a fierce attitude wrapped up in a gorgeous package.

Maybe I’d been wrong about her, and she wasn’t the spoiled diva I had thought. But I doubted she would ever let me close enough to find out.

“She wanted to make a point,” I said. “Whole thing was ridiculous, really. It got out of hand. Not sure if she has an issue with all police, but she definitely doesn’t like me.”

Callum turned thoughtful as he mashed the avocado in a wooden bowl.

“You remember Ashford and Lori met on-base, right? Lori and Ayla’s father was a colonel and a certified asshole.

” His voice was still low, so nobody else but me could hear him.

“Colonel Hopkins was the reason Ayla ran away at sixteen. That’s why Ayla and Lori didn’t speak for so long.

Ayla wanted a clean break from her family. ”

My brow furrowed. “Was their father abusive?”

“I don’t know the whole story. But if she’s got a problem with authority figures, that could be one of the reasons why.”

Hell, I hadn’t known that. Ayla had a way of pushing my buttons. I hadn’t realized I was pushing hers right back without meaning to. No wonder she got so defensive with me.

Some people assumed I was a stereotypical cop who wanted to throw his weight around. Feel powerful. But that wasn’t me. I just wanted to keep our town safe and thriving. My daily job had a lot more to do with community service than locking people in jail.

But it wasn’t just the fact that I was a cop. The evidence of my military service was right there on my skin, the scars prominent for anyone to see.

Did I remind Ayla of a man who’d abused her?

Fuck, I hated that thought.

The past was never really gone, was it? You could tell yourself it didn’t matter. But those old wounds still ached. And those old voices echoed.