“I’ll give you the money.” Olivia felt like crying, from the pain and from the humiliation. Hatred pooled around them like oil floating in stagnant water. “Just… just let me go.”
Kyle’s lips dropped to Olivia’s exposed throat, and she spun her face to the side. Desperately. Searching, for someone, for something.
And that’s when she saw him.
Isaac stood on the edge of the dance floor, his dark eyes narrowed, and his hard expression unfathomable.
He stepped forward and then stopped.
Olivia’s heart did a somersault and she exhaled, the relief she felt in that moment instant and intense. Pure joy filled her entire body, the sting from Kyle’s tight grip nothing compared to the pleasure of the sight of Isaac Stone coming toward her.
Isaac looked taller than normal, a looming figure skulking out of the shadows. The hood of his jacket was pulled up over his head so that his face was partially concealed, his hair tucked up beneath the hood.
But Olivia felt his presence.
It was as if someone had flipped a switch and her body had reacted immediately, electricity to a light bulb, instant.
When Isaac’s dark eyes locked onto hers, no one else existed. Nothing else mattered. And the sense of relief that washed through her was gargantuan.
Though the expression on Isaac’s face was scrawled in torment and the hurt and sadness in his eyes quickly snapped her back to reality.
Shit. What must he be thinking?
She’d been so surprised to see him there that she momentarily overlooked the fact she was still wrapped up in Kyle’s arms. It was Kyle’s breath on her neck, and it was Kyle’s lips touching her throat, and if she could scatter the image and rearrange it, repaint it in a way that didn’t involve Kyle Mason, she would have stayed up all night to get the job done.
But the paint had already dried, the image was already embedded in the canvas of Isaac’s eyes and no amount of scrubbing was ever going to change that.
Isaac knew what he was looking at. It wasn’t a beautiful work of art. It wasn’t a Rembrandt or a Monet. It was Salvador Dali’s, The Face of War and he felt like he was going to war too.
He stepped slowly from the shadows, an air of influence in the way he carried himself—a sense of importance that made him look bigger, stronger, a confidence that he didn’t have before.
“Olivia?”
He came toward her quickly, closing the distance in a few long strides, and Olivia squirmed and wriggled until Kyle couldn’t hold her any longer.
She was suddenly standing on her feet again, staring into the face of a monster and then she squeezed her eyes shut tightly when Isaac swung his fist hard and fast and connected violently with Kyle Mason’s jaw.
Blood burst instantly from Kyle’s lip, a vibrant contrast of red against the striking white snow and it might have been beautiful if it wasn’t so tragic.
Kyle stumbled backward from the blow and fell to the ground, his hand over his blood-stained mouth, and Isaac had never before looked more like a force to be reckoned with.
“You ever,” he growled the words, low and deep, a rumble erupting from his chest as he glared down at the sorry sack of shit squirming around at his feet. “You ever touch her again and your life won’t be worth living. You’ve gotten away with too much, Mason. You won’t get away with this too.”
“Is that a threat?”
Kyle wiped haphazardly at the blood that oozed from his lip, before crawling back to his feet. Kyle wasn’t short, not by any stretch of the imagination, but he had nothing on Isaac. His nose barely touched Isaac’s chest.
“’Cause I don’t take too kindly to threats. Especially not from someone like you.” Kyle said the last word with complete disdain. “You’re nothing. You always were. Your mother was a whore, your grandfather didn’t want you. No one wants you. You’ll pay for this, Stone!”
“I’m not scared of you, Kyle. Not anymore.” Isaac spoke calmly, but his jagged breath betrayed him slightly and he despised himself for it.
He was furious and it took every ounce of self-control he had to tamper down the anger that bubbled up inside him.
His hood had fallen back from his face, his hair the only barricade now between him and the shocked, curious faces of the townsfolk who had all come to a grinding halt on the dance floor around them.
The band kept playing, a song about a girl who felt like weeping, and Olivia felt like weeping too. She knew Isaac, and she knew how hard this must be for him. But she was so proud of him right there in that very moment that she wanted to weep.
She slid in beside him, wrapping her fingers around his bulging bicep, but when he shook her off, she felt like crying for a whole other reason.
Isaac still had Kyle to deal with and he couldn’t afford to lose focus. “You made my life a living hell when we were kids. But we’re not kids anymore. Well, some of us aren’t. Nothing you do scares me.”
The malicious grin that slid across Kyle’s mouth made Olivia shiver. It made the cold air that surrounded them even colder. He was evil in a way that slowed down time. And just as she was about to take Isaac’s hand and head back toward the parking lot so they could talk things through in private, Kyle Mason did the most evil thing of all.
He reached deep into his pocket and pulled out a green cigarette lighter, flicking it so quickly that the grind of the element sounded like sharp blades scraping against steel.
“Nothing I do scares you, eh?” he said maliciously, through tightly gritted teeth.
The hairs on Olivia’s arms all stood to attention and she felt a huge knot form in her stomach. But that was nothing compared to what Isaac felt when Kyle pushed the lighter forward, the bright orange flame licking and lunging toward his face.
His eyes widened and Olivia could see the reflection of the flame dancing in the darkness. She didn’t move at first, and neither did Isaac. He just stood frozen, on ground as old as time, and his fears felt just as old.
The heat of the flame reached his face, pushing through the brisk night air and Isaac fought to breathe in a regular pattern that might ease the ache in his lungs and the erratic beat of his heart.
He felt eyes on him just like he always had, and just like always he was frozen in a world he couldn’t control. Hushed whispers mingled through the crowd, gasps, and tuts that couldn’t be mistaken for anything else.
And Isaac wasn’t even sure if Olivia was still there.
His vision clouded over and he felt like he might faint when Kyle waved the lighter back and forth in front of his face, teasing him, taunting him—so close now that the flame licked at his nose and almost caught his hair alight.
Terror made his blood slow, and fear made his thoughts zip and zoom around his head like the fireworks from earlier, uncontrolled and unpredictable.
Olivia studied Isaac’s trembling lips and she wanted to reach for him. She begged to be allowed into his world, but the entire town was watching and she’d already been reprimanded once for interfering in his business.
But just like before, Isaac wasn’t doing anything.
He’d flinched, but that was about all. She thought she’d caught the sound of a quick breath jerk roughly through his lips, but she wasn’t sure.
Kyle burst out laughing, throwing his head toward the sky when Isaac looked to be blinking back tears.
And that’s how he missed it.
The lighter was suddenly gone, the flame instantly doused, when Abe Hathaway tore through the crowd and knocked the stupid thing clean from Kyle’s hand, leveling him with an angry fist that would leave a bruise for weeks to come.
He didn’t slow, didn’t let his eyes wander to Isaac. He’d seen enough, and Kyle cursed bitterly, realizing in that instant that a lighter was no shield against the bitter force barreling toward him.
Kyle hit the ground so hard his head bounced and his eyes rolled back. His nose was bleeding now, as well as his lip, but never before had there been a more worthy recipient.
<
br /> Abe bent and grabbed Kyle by the collar, yanking him back to his feet. He shoved him in the opposite direction, his warning dark and deathly. “I swear to God you come near this man ever again and you’re mine to deal with as I see fit.”
Abe’s wide shoulders hindered Olivia’s view of Kyle, but she thought she heard him grunt something garbled in reply.
“I don’t care who your father is,” Abe shouted. “Or what he does for a living. You’re a damn fool who really ought to know better by now.”
Sheriff Mason suddenly appeared out of thin air, as if the mention of his name had somehow summoned him. He was dressed in jeans and a pea-coat, officially off duty, but he clutched his son’s arm and twisted it so hard behind his back that maybe he was in fact on the clock after all.
“What the fu—” Kyle screamed in protest.
But it seemed the Sheriff wasn’t the least bit interested, and he certainly wasn’t in the mood for any of his son’s self-righteous crap.
“Keep it up and you’ll find yourself doing cell time. And there won’t be a single thing I can do about it. I might have a certain level of pull here in Woodlake, but I swear boy, the road you’re headed down… that’s way out of my jurisdiction.”
Kyle had staggered only a few paces when Abe was on him again, and the Sheriff spread his arms in some lame line of defense, swearing and screaming for Abe to stop, and it felt like all hell was about to break loose.
But Olivia wasn’t interested in Kyle, or Sheriff Mason, or even Abe Hathaway for that matter.
All she was worried about was Isaac.
She needed to make sure he was alright. She needed to know he was okay.
But when she turned to face him, there was nothing there but empty space and the earthy scent of his cologne lingering in the air.
She looked all around and found his dark silhouette loping with purpose toward the parking lot at the back of the hardware store.
He’d walked away. From her.
And that’s the part that terrified her the most.
“Isaac. Wait!”
Olivia ran as fast as she could in her knee-high boots. The sidewalk was slippery and she squinted against the glow of the street lamp as she jumped over piles of snow built up on the side of the road.
Every step Isaac took felt permanent.
Why wasn’t he stopping?
Why wasn’t he at least slowing down?
He’d heard her calling his name because Olivia had seen his shoulders stiffen briefly, then he was striding toward his truck again and the sting of his rejection was worse than anything else.
He was purposefully avoiding her. Purposefully keeping his back to her, as if he dared turn and look at her then he might not really see her at all.
Isaac reached his truck, then hesitated when he heard Olivia’s voice ring out behind him again. He placed both hands on the roof, letting his head fall between his shoulders. He inhaled raggedly, knowing his pause in time would mean Olivia would catch up to him.
But he was done with running.
Fight, flight, or freeze.
The words spoke loudly inside his head and he felt shallow, a man torn between what he wanted and what he deserved. Tightness formed in his jaw.
Olivia pushed the hair from her face as she gained, the wind picking up slightly as she braced herself against the decline in the road and stepped carefully over the clumps of packed snow. Her eyes filled with tears. The fact that Isaac had not driven off just yet meant something, though she wasn’t sure what that was just yet.
She finally caught up with him, breathless. She planted her hands low on her hips and sucked in as many breaths as she could to fill her screaming lungs with air.
“What do you want, Olivia?”
“Why are you running from me? Talk to me. Tell me what’s going through your mind right now.”
Isaac spun around, his eyes slamming into hers. “You do not,” he said sternly. “Want to know what’s going through my mind right now.”
The measurement of his words was heavy, off somehow, and Olivia wasn’t sure what she’d done. “Yes, I do!” She walked closer, grabbing a fistful of Isaac’s thick, black coat between her fingers. “Don’t do this. Don’t shut me out because you think I can’t handle whatever it is you’re thinking.”
Isaac bit his lip like he was contemplating something, and then he shook his head. The resolve in his eyes was terrifying and Olivia hated the thought of what that might mean. He took a few tense moments to respond.
“I’m not shutting you out, Olivia. The problem is… I should never have let you in in the first place.”
His words were as sharp as a sword and Olivia felt them slice through her. He’d just slapped her, figuratively, and she felt it as painfully as if he’d done it literally. She recoiled at the thought, but asked anyway, “Are you breaking up with me?”
Isaac’s eyes went glassy as he stared back. The pain that washed over his expression was tangible though and Olivia felt it rolling off him in waves so big they almost pulled her under the whitewash, almost drowned her in the choppy wake.
He was silent for longer than he should have been, deathly still, the only movement his long lashes sweeping across his cheek when he blinked. His voice was barely a whisper and he covered his eyes with his hands, as if he couldn’t stand to see what was coming. “You deserve a life better than this.”
“Better than what?”
“THIS!” Isaac suddenly shouted, waving his hand toward the square where the lights of the festival twinkled and the music played on as if nothing had happened. “Do you really want to spend the rest of your life going to places by yourself because your man isn’t man enough to go with you?”
“I understand why you—”
“No, you don’t. Not really. Be honest with yourself. You wanted me here with you tonight, and you were disappointed with me when I refused. It was in your eyes. If we keep doing this, whatever this is between us—I’ll just disappoint you over and over again.”
“No. You won’t.”
Isaac turned back toward the truck and slammed his hand down hard on the roof. “You were dancing with him. You were dancing with him and I was a goddamn fool for ever thinking you were mine.”
Of all the words he’d just spoken, these last few were the ones that surprised Olivia the most.
What was he talking about?
Of course she was his. He owned her heart completely. There was no room left for anyone else. She struggled to breathe and her hand shook when she wiped it across her mouth. This had all blown up so quickly that she didn’t know what to make of things or how to feel.
“I came for you,” he said, turning back to face her. He glanced at her, his lips contorted with anguish. “I came to the festival to find you. Because I missed you. Because I wanted to be where you were. And I had something important to tell you. And then I get here, and…” Isaac looked at the ground, only half the man he was before he’d arrived. He felt hollow, the craters in his chest begging to be filled with something other than the crushing pain he felt inside. “And you’re wrapped up in the arms of some other guy.”
Olivia took a step away from the car. Then she took another one and Isaac looked up, feeling the growing distance between them like a cavernous void.
“He… he, was…” Olivia didn’t even want to say Kyle’s name. She was furious with him, but right there in that moment she was even angrier at Isaac.
The moon was bright and full above them and it lit up their faces so that she could see Isaac clearly and she knew they couldn’t go back, but they couldn’t go forward either.
“I was dancing with my father, and the whole entire time I was wishing more than anything else that I was dancing with you.”
Isaac looked off to the side at nothing, but Olivia didn’t pause.
“And then I went to get a drink, and Kyle cornered me, and he held me so tightly that I couldn’t escape. He figured it out about the box, and he threatened me.” Olivia
paused, blinking back heavy tears. “He said disgusting things to me. He wouldn’t let me go.”
Isaac kicked a nearby pebble, sending it hurtling into the rear of the hardware store, making Olivia jump.
He paced back and forth across the small parking lot. His hands were working through his hair, tugging hard on the ends. But the longer Olivia stood there, staring at his expanding and deflating chest, the angrier she became.
“I didn’t ask him to dance with me, Isaac!” she shouted. “I didn’t ask him to be anywhere near me. And he probably wouldn’t have even bothered me at all, not if you’d been there with me!”
Isaac spun on the balls of his feet and rushed forward, stopping an inch from Olivia’s face.
“That’s right, he probably wouldn’t have. But I wasn’t there. And he did! Don’t you get that, Olivia? You deserve someone that’s man enough to be by your side every minute of every day, to protect you, to stop creeps like Kyle Mason bothering you.”
“You did protect me!” Olivia threw her hand out behind her, back in the general direction of the festival. “You just busted up his lip, and you told him never to touch me again. So, yes, you did exactly what you’re afraid you can’t. What the hell are you talking about?”
“I should have been there before it happened.” Isaac groaned loudly. “You deserve more than I can offer you. That’s all there is to it. You should be with someone that can take you to a stupid town festival for no other reason than because you wanted him to. You should be with someone that can go on a picnic with you. Or take you out to dinner. Or swim with you in the river without the fear of someone else coming along and seeing him without his shirt on.”
“Don’t I get to decide that for myself?”
“Not this time. No.”
“What if you make me happy? Isn’t that enough?”
“This isn’t a fairy tale.” A broken sound left him and he hung his head. “Happiness is fleeting.”
“No, Isaac… what’s fleeting is your faith in yourself. You could do all those things you just mentioned if you wanted to, if you actually stretched yourself. You could try harder.”
The Winter Before Page 20