Chapter Fifty-Eight
"Right, what did we need again?" Isabella asked her sister as they headed from the one clothes shop in town towards the grocers.
"I got a list here somewhere," the redhead said, leaning her bag on her bump as she rummaged. "Honestly I do, if I don't make one, I forget everythin'," Tatum swore when she heard her sister fight back a chuckle, looking up as she did. "I'll find it in a minute, can we please just get off the street?" she suddenly sounded a little panicked.
"Why?" the brunette asked as she looked around and spotted the youngest Miller and the Sheriff walking down the street. It didn't look like they'd spotted them yet.
"Quick, before they see us," Tatum said, trying to tug her sister along and dropping her bag in the process. She was seriously considering just leaving it on the street in order to make her escape, as she wouldn't be able to bend over and gather her things that fast with her ever-growing bump. Before she could though, she saw Sean look over and spot her. "Izzy…" she begged her sister as she started her retreat.
"Tate," Sean called out as he made his way over, his hand on her arm before she could even take three steps away. Isabella took that as her cue to make herself scarce and see if perhaps she could make one very reticent Sheriff talk to her. "Tatum, I've mis…"
"Do they know?" his girlfriend stopped him before he could get her to listen, or before she lost her senses and jumped him.
"I…" he started, his blue eyes pleading with her before he shook his head.
"Then we got nothin' to talk about," Tatum said simply as she pulled her arm back and crossed them in front of her chest. She was struggling to stick to her guns, and not to cry, the longer she had to see him. "I gotta…" she started as she wanted to turn and walk away from him, suddenly remembering her bag and its contents were still scattered on the ground in front of her. With an annoyed sigh, she sank into a crouch, leaning one knee on the ground, to get her things together. Sean surprised her by kneeling down in front of her and grabbing those items that were a little too far for her to reach. "Thanks," Tatum grumbled as he chucked them in her bag for her. He handed the last thing, her lip balm, to her, his hand closing around hers before she could pull away.
"Tatum, please…? I miss you," he said softly. The redhead raised her green eyes to stop him when he reached out to touch her face. He hated seeing tears forming and threatening to spill over, knowing it was his fault she was feeling upset. "I want you back," Sean added in the same soft tone, seeing her swallow.
"You know what to do for that to happen," Tatum told him, pulling her hand from his as she righted herself again and walked off with her bag clutched to her. One of her hands shakily brushed away the tears that had now started to fall down her cheeks.
She didn't know where her sister had gotten to, but she figured she'd find her at the grocer's eventually; she just had to get away from him now before she did something that undermined everything she'd just said, like kiss him senseless.
"Sheriff, may I have a word?" Isabella asked as he turned towards her disinterestedly.
"Sure," Austin nodded, his expression not changing, even as he saw how unhappy she was with him. He wasn't going to give anything away about how he was feeling, so lost without her.
The Colombian wasn't blind to his disinterest and sighed. All she wanted was to have his arms wrapped around her again, to feel his lips pressed against hers. But he couldn't even give her a smile. "Did I do something wrong?" she asked him what she'd already asked in a text message.
He didn't look at her and merely shrugged. He didn't seem to care that his actions were hurting her as he started picking through the apples, just to have something to do.
She wanted to beg him to please talk to her, not to make her feel like she wasn't even worth an explanation, but then she realised what an idiot she'd be. If he wanted to treat her like she wasn't worth a thing, he wasn't worth her time. She had had her fair share of abusive boyfriends, and she'd promised herself David had been the last one. She wouldn't set her heart up like that anymore. Even if the man in front of her was everything she'd ever wanted, even if he was all she could think about. "Fine, act like an idiot. I ain't beggin'," she told him, wiping a single tear away angrily. Austin had to jam his hands in his pockets so he wouldn't reach for her when she stomped away, cursing under her breath. She had every right to be angry with him. If only she could understand that this was for the best. He owed everything to the Millers.
"Austin," Aaron called when he spotted his friend crossing the street. "Sheriff!" he barked when it became apparent that Austin was either ignoring him or unable to hear him. The Miller jogged to catch up with his friend. "Hey, Austin, slow down," he said as he grabbed him by the shoulder.
"Aaron?" Austin asked confused, appearing to only see him for the first time now.
"I need to talk to you," he started, spotting Isabella heading towards the café from the corner of his eye. "I just spotted someone I need to quickly catch up with. Wait here for me, two minutes," Aaron continued to his friend and quickly ran towards the café. The Sheriff looked after him annoyed; first he made such a big deal of getting him to stop and now he was having to wait for him? His annoyance turned to feeling sick when he saw it was because he was talking to Isabella. He inched closer as inconspicuously as he could.
"So, I was thinkin', rather than runnin' into each other like this, how about we plan to meet up somewhere? Say tomorrow night at the ice cream shop?" Aaron was asking her, giving her his most charming smile.
"Eh, yeah, sure," Isabella said a little hesitantly. She wasn't sure if it was a good idea, but she didn't want to wallow at home with her sister and it would be nice to try and get past this feud, as he seemed to for the first time in years.
"Great, it's a date," the Miller smiled at her happily, at which Austin left in anguish; he couldn't stand to hear anymore.
"Ehm, yeah, could we maybe call it meetin' up as friends?" Isabella corrected the man in front of her. She could see him freeze momentarily.
"Of course," Aaron said, the smile back on his face. He wasn't taking her correction as a bad sign; after all, she hadn't objected to him, just to the word date. And that was most likely because she was still adjusting and getting back to herself after the whole David-debacle.
"Thanks," the brunette smiled, grateful he hadn't made it awkward by not accepting her words. "I'll see you tomorrow then, I guess," she continued, intimating she was about to head into the café now.
"Great, I'll pick you up at 7?" he suggested, to which she nodded. Isabella gave him one last smile and headed in now. Aaron couldn't help grinning to himself, savouring the moment before he turned to head back towards his friend. He frowned to himself when the Sheriff wasn't waiting for him like he'd said to and spotted him as he was getting into his truck. He stalked over to his friend and gave a harder than necessary knock on the window to gain his attention before he could drive off.
"What?" Austin asked exhausted as he rolled down his window.
"I told you to wait for me," his friend responded.
"Maybe you should try askin' instead of tellin'," the sheriff almost snapped in frustration at the whole situation and he saw straight away that that had not been the right move.
"Excuse me?" Aaron asked as he leaned in towards the open window. It was a good thing that Austin wasn't easily intimated thanks to his job, but he could see why many men had cowered before the look his friend gave him. The one that said, 'you'd better watch what you say next'.
"Nothin', I'm just tired. What did you wanna talk about?" Austin took the easier way out. He had been feeling more resentful recently that the Millers seemed to use him and expect him to bend to their will; he couldn't let the town's folk start thinking that he was merely their puppet. And that feeling had only increased since he'd had to give up on the idea of ever having a future with Isabella after all. But now was not the time to get into all of that, not in the middle of the town on an impulse. His friend seemed to have momentarily forgotten.
"Oh, right, just wonderin' how things were between you and Viv? Haven't seen you with anyone else and I know she still loves you," Aaron said now, remembering his cousin had begged him to have a word with his friend and talk some sense into him. He was surprised to see the Sheriff scoff.
"Viv loves the idea of us. It's not about me. She called us a power couple," Austin said, almost disgusted. "I want more out of a relationship than that," he said, adding silently, I want Bella.