Chapter Fifty-Seven

He missed her eyes, her bright green eyes, and her full, soft lips. He sighed as he imagined those lips kissing him. It had only been a few days ago when they really had kissed him, as his fingers ran through her beautiful red hair. 

The only reason she wasn't kissing him now was because of his own cowardice. Because he was too scared to tell his family that she was the one that had captured his heart. Because he hadn't text her yet to say he'd do whatever it took to be with her; he knew if he texted her once, he'd not be able to stop, like some kind of addict. And he couldn't risk annoying her. 

Sean sighed again as he opened his eyes and stared up at the ceiling, wishing he could see Tatum again. Well, he'd seen her once or twice in town since she told him to come clean about their relationship; what he really wanted was to hold her in his arms again. Even if only for a minute. Even if only to find out how she was feeling, how her baby was; no, how their baby was. He needed to sort himself out, to find a way to tell his family about her. Because there was no way he could live without Tatum in his life.

"Hey there, Sheriff," Isabella whispered in his ear as she wrapped her arms around him, expecting him to pull her in closer and kiss her, as he stood by the bar. Instead she felt him freeze in her arms before he uncomfortably cleared his throat and made to move away from her. "Everythin' alright?" the brunette asked, a horrible feeling settling in her stomach.

"Yeah, course," Austin nodded as he tried to act naturally with a shrug. "I just needed to tell you that I ain't gonna make dinner tomorrow. Sorry," he continued and was about to walk away without waiting for a response.

"Well how come?" Isabella asked. She obviously didn't mind rescheduling, but it would need to be for a good reason. Without meaning to, her hands settled on her hips, in a very good impression of an impatient wife or angry mother.

"Just, stuff's come up," he shrugged nonchalantly, ignoring his breaking heart as a frown settled on her Colombian features.

"Stuff?" she repeated, clearly getting confused now.

"Yeah, stuff," Austin repeated, putting on an annoyed tone. He was going to try and play it as if he was some Neanderthal who needed his own space, as if she was crowding him too much already. "I'll see ya around," he made to leave, without giving her a second glance.

"Austin," she reacted incredulously, hoping he would stop and actually talk to her like a normal person. He didn't as he left Bellum, leaving her to wonder what the hell had just happened. A customer wanting another beer stopped her from following him to get an answer.

As soon as she finished serving, she went into the office to get her phone, 'Austin, what just happened? Did I do something wrong? x'. 

By the time she left the bar early, with Sue staying to lock up, she still hadn't heard back from him. She was feeling ignored, denied, and she couldn't help being flooded with memories. The one where Aaron and Sean had arrived at the summer cabin where Austin and Isabella had gone for a swim and a quiet night. The one where Aaron had asked his friend in disgust and disdain what he'd been doing here with her and, did he not know who she was? The one where she'd turned to the guy she thought was her boyfriend, only to see him step away from her. The one in which he said, "I have no idea why she's here. Who is she?" The one in which his look had continued to haunt her ever since, making her feel so small. He'd made her feel like she wasn't worth defending, not worth even knowing.

Just the fact that she was close to feeling that way again was infuriating. And he had another thing coming if he thought she was going to let him get away with it this time.

Tatum sniffed and quickly wiped her eyes when she felt her sister's weight join hers on the bed.

"Izzy, what are you doin' back already?" she asked, trying her best to sound normal and not like she'd been crying her eyes out, which she had been; it had been her decision after all not to want to see Sean until his family knew about them. She just hadn't expected to not hear from him at all; if she was honest, she'd been expecting to get at least a text a day from him. But she'd had nothing, just radio silence.

"Sue's closing up. And well, boys suck," the Colombian said with a sniff of her own as she lay behind her sister and cuddled up to her.

"You can say that again," the redhead muttered. "What did yours do?" she asked when she realised what her sister had actually said.

"I don't want to talk about it yet," Isabella sighed. She didn't get it herself yet after all.

Her sister turned in towards her a little. "Sure?" Tatum offered.

"Sure."

The redhead turned back as she tried to keep her mind away from her useless boyfriend, wondering what the Sheriff had done to be stupid. She was on the cusp of thinking of a possible scenario when she felt the baby kick. "You should feel this," she said, grabbing her sister's hand and placing it on her belly before the brunette could say anything.

"Wow," Isabella breathed amazed, feeling a tiny foot or hand push back against hers. "Does it hurt?" she asked.

"Not usually," Tatum shook her head. "You're not gonna leave if Austin stays stupid, right? My baby's always gonna need his or her auntie," she continued after a few seconds. She and her sister had missed ten years of each other's lives and she didn't want her child to miss out on her presence as well.

"And I'll always be there for him or her," the brunette promised, planting a big kiss on her cheek. They both laughed for a few seconds before they fell silent again. "If it's a boy, we're gonna make sure he grows up into the best man ever, right?" Isabella asked now.

"Definitely," the redhead agreed convincingly; no son of hers would ever hurt a woman like their father or David had.

Austin didn't look up when he heard someone sit down next to him on the porch, taking another swig from his beer bottle.

"Room for one more?" he recognised the younger Miller's voice.

"Yeah, make yourself comfortable," the Sheriff nodded, taking another beer from the box beside him and handed it over.

"Cheers," Sean said as he took it, unscrewing the cap, and took a big swig. He sighed deeply, cursing himself for choosing to sit here drinking rather than coming up with a way to do as Tatum had asked him to. They sat in silence as they finished their first beer.

"So why are you in need of silence and beer?" Austin asked his friend as he handed a second beer over.

"Tatum said I have to tell my family about us or forget about being with her," he told him.

"That sounds like it has a pretty straight forward solution if you really want to be with her," the Sheriff pointed out.

"Well it ain't that easy. You know what pa's like about the feud, and single mothers," Sean answered, his shoulders sagging slightly. Logically, it should be easy; like Tatum had said, if they really wanted to be together, it shouldn't be a tough decision or any decision at all. But realistically his father would most likely force him to choose between her and his family. And that was a big ask, either way; he didn't want to give up the person who'd made him happier than he'd ever been, but he wasn't sure he wanted to give up his parents or brother either.

"Yeah I do. But you can't let that stop you livin' your life," Austin advised him now, completely ignoring the fact that that could apply to his situation as well.

"I know," the younger man said as he cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Anyway…" he said the dreaded words his friend didn't want to hear. "How 'bout you? You still spendin' time with Izzy?" Sean asked to change the topic. At this the Sheriff shook his head, not saying anything. He couldn't hope to explain this properly, so he really didn't want his friend to ask any questions. "But I thought…" the Miller started confused. The last time he'd seen him, and her for that matter, he'd seemed so happy.

"I don't wanna talk 'bout it just yet, Sean," Austin cut him off, with an almost despairing sigh, which was enough for his friend to know that he needed to lay off. He gave a bemused chuckle when Sean held his beer out for him to clink; they both needed to sort themselves out.