a reason to live(37)

He made me feel like a child, making my temper flare. “Well, I didn’t ask you because I’m not your problem.”

“The minute you drove into this town lookin’ for me is the minute you became my problem.”

Hearing that, I thought my head might explode. He’s hot, then he’s cold, he’s distant, then in my face. I was done with his mood swings. Broken or not, he didn’t have a right to order me around. No one did.

“Really? Well, you’ve made it clear since I arrived you wanted me gone, that I should forget about you. So you’ll be over the moon to know I’m letting you off the hook.”

Mia giggled at that point and turned to Max.

“Remember this part?”

“Yeah,” Max grinned. “Foreplay.”

I scowled at them both and they smiled. Then I turned to Shane. “Since nothing can happen between us as you said, you steer clear of me and I’ll steer clear of you. Does that work for you?”

“Not in the fuckin’ least,” he replied, crossing his arms.

“You’re a smart guy, you’ll adjust.”

“Sage?” Chester called out so I turned and headed toward him, more than done with Shane at that moment.

The man who’d attacked the little boy and me was being ushered away in handcuffs. He glared over his shoulder at me as he fought the handcuffs, but I ignored him.

“Do you know that man?” I asked Chester.

“Yeah, his name is Roger Brown. He gets mean when he’s been drinking. We took his son to a squad and contacted his mother. I’m chargin’ him with resisting arrest, public intoxication, and assault.”

“Chester, if he’s willing to manhandle his son in public, I can only imagine what he’s doing behind closed doors.”

“Agreed. I’ll have one of my men look into it. If we need assistance with the boy, do you have time in your schedule?”

“I’m leaving Friday on a rafting trip, but I’m available until then. Just call if I can help.”

“Sounds good,” Chester answered, then reached out and squeezed my hand before he turned and headed toward the parking lot.

When I turned back toward Shane, I caught him scowling after Chester. Then he leveled his oh so unhappy frown on me. The urge to stick out my tongue was strong, but I held it back.

“I think what we need is a distraction,” Mia said as she walked up to me.

“Ferris Wheel?”

“House of Mirrors, I think. Come on.” Mia grabbed my hand and dragged me toward the building. I shot Shane a look of scorn as we walked away, but he upped the ante and won the stare-off when a twitch developed in his right eye.

“Asshole,” I mumbled.

“How’s that list looking right about now?” Mia asked as we paid the ticket vendor.

“Like a stupid teenage girl wrote it and didn’t have a clue.”

“Give it time, you’ll change your mind,” she giggled as we walked into the House of Mirrors.

“Probably,” I sighed. “But the way I’m feeling right now, if I could find someplace else to hide while my stalker cooled his heels, I’d go. Oh, well, at least I have a job to take my mind off Shane. I can’t wait to go rafting this weekend.”

We stopped in front of a mirror that distorted our heads and Mia said, “I’ve always wanted to learn. Is it hard?” as she made a face.

“I didn’t think so. But I’m sure when you’re in grade five rapids, it’s a different story.”

We moved around the corner and found a maze. Turn one way, and you find a dead end; turn the other, and you find your way out. In the center was a circle of mirrors that distorted our body image. We moved to each one and laughed. In one, our already generous breasts looked ginormous and Mia giggled, “Max would love that.”

“How do you like being married?”

“Most days, it’s paradise.”

“And the others?”

“I understand why Maxine sleeps with an ax under her pillow,” she deadpanned.

“Wait, she actually sleeps with an ax under her pillow?”

“Oh, yeah. Max said she used his dad for target practice. I think she had the right idea.”

A group of people moved in behind us so we turned the corner.

“Left or right?” I asked.

“You go left and I’ll go right and we’ll see who gets stuck.”

“Sounds good,” I laughed, then turned left and made my way around the corner. More mirrors reflected my image as I turned and then turned again. One mirror made me look like the five-hundred-pound woman at the carnival, so I puffed out my cheeks and turned sideways to see what a big butt would look like on me. As I checked out my ass, out of the corner of my eye I saw movement and looked up. I caught what I thought was a man wearing sunglasses and a baseball cap watching me. He ducked back into the shadows, and the hair on the back of my neck began to rise.