Page 27 of Unbroken (Poplar Springs #2)

TWENTY-FIVE

ELI

I t was the exact scenario I hated: what felt like the entire town crowded together on a sunny Friday afternoon, with the beer flowing and the gossip popping.

We were at a fundraiser to raise money to help rebuild the community center and playground that’d burned down a few months ago.

The town had received some funding from the state along with a portion of the insurance money to rebuild the elementary school, but the rest of the money to rebuild a central gathering place for the people of Poplar Springs and an outdoor play area for kids would have to come from other sources.

It was a good cause, so I felt like I had no choice but to go and support the event, but I hated that every head turned when Patrick and I showed up. So many busybodies around.

Fiona had said she would meet us there, but as usual, she was running late and there was still no sign of her even after Patrick and I had already been there for twenty minutes.

I scanned the crowd, easily looking over the tops of everyone’s heads so I didn’t make eye contact with anyone.

My father was there, speaking with the mayor, Bob Lumley, who was looking a bit green around the gills.

I’d heard he hadn’t been feeling well but that was weeks ago—shouldn’t he be better by now?

Talking to them were the other two Bobs—McCall and Jackson—who sat on our volunteer town council.

It’d been a running joke for years that your name needed to be “Bob” in order to be mayor or sit on the council.

To the mayor’s left, his assistant, Amy Thorne, was talking with Zoe Wilson, Josh’s fiancée, and they were looking at something on Amy’s phone.

Finally the buzz of a motor caught my attention and I looked up to see the town’s drone flying around.

They must be taking photos of the area and the people present as part of their fundraising efforts.

Zoe had used the drone awhile back to capture some amazing photos of Lost Valley that were used on the ranch’s social media accounts.

“Daddy, can I go play in the bounce house?” Patrick asked, jumping up and down in anticipation.

I peered at the giant blowup that looked like an old castle on the far side of the lot.

Clean up crews had cleared out all the debris after the fires.

What remained wasn’t welcoming in its current state, just a swath of pavement with weeds popping up through the cracks, but the rebuild committee had brightened it up tremendously for the day with a bounce house, games like cornhole and ring toss, and a mini carousel.

There was cotton candy and caramel apples, the evidence of both already visible on the front of Patrick’s shirt.

“Yup, but you’ll need a ticket.” I reached into my pocket and handed one of the tickets we’d bought at the entrance to Patrick. “I’ll be right behind you. Be careful.”

Patrick took it and sped off for the bounce house, leaving me to scan the crowd one last time.

Twenty-five minutes late. Typical Fiona.

I headed after Patrick and was nearly knocked off my feet when someone crashed into me from behind .

“Hi, baby.” Fiona laughed in my ear, hanging off my neck.

I turned around in surprise and plucked her arms off of me, stepping away, then glancing around to see if anyone was watching. I could still feel her weight and the heat of her body even after she’d let go.

“Uh, hi there. Could you tone it down a little?” I asked in a low voice, my eyes darting around.

She frowned. “Why? There’s no need to be formal, right? We’re a couple and I thought you’d agreed that everyone needs to know it.”

Fiona somehow managed to look both casual and dressed up for the event, with her hair ironed perfectly flat and her face looking more flawless than usual with the addition of bright red lipstick.

I wondered if she’d gotten any on me. Then there was her outfit: cutoff jean shorts that showed way more leg than I’d ever seen on her and a bright red tank top.

Some redheads wouldn’t have been able to pull it off, but everything looked amazing on her and I made a point of listing out breakfast cereals in my head to keep my dick from punching through the zipper on my jeans.

Fiona Cafferty looked amazing … and attention-grabbing.

Like she wanted every eye on her, which meant those same eyes would also be directed toward me.

“Yeah, I did agree, but can you watch the PDA? How about if we just hold hands? No need to crawl all over me.” Even if that was exactly what I wanted, just not here.

It occurred to me that we’d spent most of our “official couple” time working on the ranch.

We’d only been in town together for the wedding—and that had been a formal occasion.

It seemed that Fiona in non-work, non-formal mode had very different ideas of what constituted normal couple behavior than I did.

Her expression darkened. “Okay, fine. I was just trying to help the cause.”

“Oh, that’s what I am? A ‘cause’?” Why was I getting upset with her ?

“Stop, you know what I mean,” she scolded quietly and there was a brief flash of hurt on her face.

Fiona took my outstretched hand reluctantly, threading her fingers with mine, and we headed for the bounce house.

“Shit, there’s Amanda Knight,” I muttered when I spotted the petite blonde hovering near where the kids were waiting in line. “She’s basically gossip ground zero.”

“Oh, I remember her,” Fiona said, squeezing my hand. “Queen of the mean girls. Let me handle this.”

She broke out in a peal of laughter and slapped me lightly on the arm. “You are so naughty! Stop it, Eli.”

I looked at her with a confused expression and Fiona tilted her head to where Amanda and a group of other young moms were gathered, watching us. I managed a chuckle even though I felt deeply uncomfortable about what was going down.

“Well, if it isn’t Fiona Cafferty,” Amanda said, oozing with fake excitement. “I heard that the old enemies had kissed and made up, but I swore I wouldn’t believe it until I saw it with my own eyes, and now, here you are! How quaint.”

The four other women moved closer, and I realized that we were facing down the former gossip coven of Poplar Springs High.

Fiona laughed and stood on her tiptoes to kiss me on the cheek. “Yup, enemies to lovers is the only way to go, if you ask me. All that pent-up anger makes things way hotter. Right, babe?”

She swatted my ass.

I felt my face go red, and I glanced over my shoulder to see who else might be listening to her.

Thankfully, the kids waiting in line for the bounce house seemed oblivious to the adult conversation.

I didn’t dare look past the immediate area although I was sure I felt my father’s eyes on us.

I really hoped he wouldn’t make a scene and add to my growing discomfort.

“Is that a fact?” It was Kelly Peters, who’d had a very obvious crush on me all through high school. She was pregnant again with her third or fourth child and looked none too pleased to be standing in the hot sun. “Maybe you’ll be joining me before ong.” She rubbed her belly.

Fiona threw her head back and laughed so loud that I swore the entire place heard her.

“That’s not in the plan any time soon,” she said. “But let me tell you, we’re having a great time practicing. Let’s just say my man knows a thing or two about keeping his woman happy. I’m very lucky. I only wish I’d known that sooner or I might not have stayed away so long.”

The group shot each other shocked looks, then laughed knowingly.

“Hey, uh, Patrick is bouncing right now, let’s go watch him,” I said, pulling Fiona away before she could do more damage.

“Bye, girls!” she trilled, waving at them.

We walked away in silence, with me gripping Fiona’s hand.

“What was that ?” I growled at her once we were out of earshot. I let go of her hand and took a step away.

“We can’t even hold hands now? But I wasn’t hanging on you! I figured that was acceptable PDA.”

“That’s not what I’m talking about. You shouldn’t say shit like that; it’ll only kick off a new branch of the gossip chain.”

“What? Why is it so bad for people to know that Fiona Cafferty likes fucking her boyfriend, and that he’s good at it?

You should be thanking me not scowling like you drank the last of the milk before I could pour it on your cereal.

Come on, Eli. If people are going to be talking about you, what would you rather have them say?

That you’re the poor sad sack who got left by his wife, or that you’re in a happy relationship with lots of great sex? ”

My frustration boiled over. “That’s just it, though. I’d rather they not talk about me at all . Why is that so hard for you to understand?” While Fiona always seemed to thrive on the attention she received, I was the male equivalent of a wallflower and that suited me just fine.

The bounce house attendant called for the kids to leave so the next group could go in, and I saw Patrick heading out.

“I need to grab him,” I said, happy for the interruption.

I walked to the doorway and nearly ran into my father, who was standing around the corner of the bounce house, hovering with an exasperated expression on his face.

As always, Samuel Carter was perfectly turned out in khakis with a knife-crease up the front and a pale blue golf shirt.

His salt-and-pepper hair was so flawlessly held in place that the comb lines were still visible.

“Hey, Dad,” I said, bracing myself for the sermon to come. I had a premonition as to what it would be about, and I could tell by my father’s expression that it wasn’t going to be pleasant.

“That’s inappropriate language for a young lady,” he hissed without a preamble.

“What?” My face screwed up in confusion. “You were eavesdropping on us?”

“It was hard not to. That Cafferty girl practically shouted the F-word! There are children here,” he shot back, gesturing toward the kids walking out of the bounce house.

“Her name is Fiona, not ‘that Cafferty girl,’ and come on, the kids were screaming so loud there was no way they could overhear us. I’m shocked that you could.

” I knew he’d been eavesdropping. The need to control and judge others was strong in my father, but it was mostly directed at his family, and now, Fiona.

Patrick wandered over and took my hand. He glanced up at his grandfather with wide eyes.

“Hello, young man,” my father said, reaching out his hand to Patrick.

Patrick looked at me with a worried expression.

“It’s okay, shake Grandpa’s hand.”

It was one of my father’s lessons that I’d never understood but had learned not to argue with.

According to Samuel Carter, hugs were for home, handshakes were for public.

And the hugs part rarely ever happened. Not that I missed them.

Even when he was attempting to appear like a loving parent, his body was always painfully stiff as if it physically hurt him to have to embrace me or my mother.

Patrick took his grandfather’s fingertips gingerly, his hand so small that he could barely wrap around them.

“Oh, come on, boy!” Samuel boomed. “Did your daddy not teach you how to shake hands like a man? Do it like this .”

He adjusted Patrick’s hand so that it was enveloped in his and squeezed hard, making Patrick gasp and me see red.

“Okay, okay, that’s good,” I said, pulling my son away and tucking him slightly behind me.

“He’s just come out of the bounce house and he’s tired.

Let’s not turn this into a thing.” I wanted to tell him off for treating Patrick that way, but escalating this into an argument would just backfire on me in the end.

While my father would never “air his dirty laundry”—as he called it—in public, it didn’t mean that he wouldn’t make sure we regretted saying or doing anything he didn’t approve of later .

“Hmm,” my father answered skeptically. “I keep telling him he’s got a lot to learn before he starts school.”

“Dad, come on. It’s kindergarten .”

“Building blocks for a better tomorrow!” Samuel boomed back in his pulpit voice, and the gossip girls glanced over at me again.

“Okay, whatever,” I said, moving Patrick even farther behind me as I took a step back. “It’s late and I’m sure Patrick is ready for a nap. I think we’re heading out. Talk to you later.”

I swung Patrick into my arms and rubbed his back while he clung to me. The past few minutes had proved to me that leaving town was the best option for both of us. My eyes landed on Fiona, and she brightened when she saw Patrick. She jogged over to us.

“Hey, monkey! You looked good bouncing around in there. Your monkey skills are on point.”

“Will you come in with me next time I go?” he asked, tentatively starting to smile again.

“Oh, bud, no. We’re gonna head out now,” I said. “We’ve been in the sun for too long, plus you need to eat something other than sweets.”

I hoped that Patrick had lost his sense of time because we’d been at the event for less than an hour.

“Aw, Daddy,” he pouted.

I pulled out my ace in the hole. “Dino chicken tenders for lunch?”

“Yay! Can Glinda come too?”

Fiona and I exchanged a tense glance. She must have gotten the message because she started making her excuses.

“Aw, sorry, monkey, my sister just got here, and she made me promise to do the ring toss with her. Next time, okay? ”

Patrick pouted harder and Fiona tapped her cheek as if she were thinking hard. “How about if I try to win you something? What do you think? Do I have what it takes to beat my sister?” She flexed her arms one at a time in a muscleman pose and Patrick giggled and nodded his head.

“We’ll talk later,” I said to Fiona, starting to walk away.

She tilted her head toward the gossips, then shook it gently, reminding me that we were on stage.

“Bye, hon,” Fiona said, jogging to me, then giving me a quick kiss on the cheek.

It was the kind of kiss you’d give a distant aunt, but it still made me shiver down to my boots. Fiona was committed to her role as my girlfriend, there was no doubt about that.

“Later … babe.”

I realized as I walked away that “later” was speeding toward us faster than I could handle.