She studied the reel for a moment. “This seems too easy.”

I took a step back, gesturing to her. “Have at it, then.”

She tested her hands, trying a few different positions to get comfortable with the feel of it, then slung it over her shoulder carefully, eyeing the hook. “It won’t bounce back and stab me, will it?”

The question was cuter than it should’ve been. “No, Sage, it shouldn’t.”

She nodded, looking back out at the water. I could tell she was hesitant to cast, so I came back behind her, wrapping my arms around her to fold my hands over hers on the pole. “Like this.” I slowly swung it behind us, setting a finger on the bail, then cast it out, her arms easily moving with mine. When the hook hit the water, I released the bail, letting the end of the line sink a bit. I tugged on it gently, mimicking the movements of a fish with the bait, and slowly reeled it in with my hand still placed over hers. 

She let me have complete control, watching each movement like if she didn’t memorize it, she’d fail the test. She didn’t have to know how to fish or ride a horse for me to be entranced by her. Opposites attract, right? And though Sage wasn’t my opposite in every way, she didn’t have to know everything I did for us to have fun or get along.

I got the feeling she’d been through a lot more than I had in life, and that was fine. I’d take Sage for who she was, and if she wanted to learn things, I’d show her. But I wouldn’t mold her into someone she wasn’t.

I stepped back, letting Sage try her hand at it on her own. Taking a seat at the rock she was sitting on previously, I watched her get a feel for the weight of the pole and how to get the hook to land where she wanted it to. 

I glanced over at Avery, who was making some kind of tower out of her rocks, but it kept falling over when it got too high. Scanning the ground, I found a few flat rocks and made my way over to her, taking a seat next to her on the blanket. 

“Maybe these will be easier to stack,” I told her, placing the rocks next to her pile.

She picked one up, studying it like the shape of the rock was the difference between life and death. “This might work.”

She began her stack again as Sage’s phone buzzed on the blanket next to the basket. I shouldn’t have done it, but I glanced at the screen. Whoever had texted her, the number wasn’t in her contacts.

“Do you think we can come back here after my next lesson?” Avery asked, keeping her focus on the rocks as she balanced another on top.

“You’ll have to ask your mom. But if she’s okay with it, I’d love to.” Maybe I could teach Avery how to skip rocks next.

Stop it.

Avery was a student, and Sage was her mother. Thinking of future plans with them was not what I needed to be doing. It was one date, and chances were, Sage wouldn’t want to continue whatever this was. 

This could very well be nothing, though.

One date didn’t mean jack shit, yet here I sat, my unforgiving brain growing attached to something that didn’t even exist. 

Lost deep in my thoughts, I didn’t hear when Sage walked up to us in the grass. 

“We should probably head back,” she said.

My eyes shot up to hers, then I quickly pushed to a stand. “Right. I’ll pack all this up.” The way Sage said it made me sure she wouldn’t want a second date. What the fuck was I thinking? I was stupid for even asking. Stupid for letting my brothers talk me into this. All that talk about Lettie and Bailey’s wedding had messed with my head, and now here I was, envisioning a future with someone I’d just met weeks ago. 

I got to work putting everything back in the basket as Avery put her rocks back on the shore. 

“Thank you for today,” Sage said quietly.

My hands slowed as I was rolling up the blanket. “Of course. I hope I wasn’t overstepping in any way.”

Her brows pulled together. “What? No. This was so thoughtful, Callan. Avery and I had a lot of fun.”

I nodded.

Fun.

That’s all this was.

But why was it so hard to get that through my fucking head?

20

Sage

“Don’t forget this!” I grabbed Avery’s pink lunchbox off the passenger seat, holding it out the window to her. 

“Thanks, Mama,” Avery said, wrapping a tiny hand around the handle. 

“Have a good first day, sweetie. I’ll be back to pick you up later.”

She gave a small nod and a quick smile, then turned to run up to the fence where her friends were already waiting at the playground. First grade was a big step from kindergarten, but she hadn’t been scared. My little girl was fearless and so beyond excited that she’d barely slept at all last night. 

I liked to think that she got it from me, but I couldn’t say I was exactly brave all the time. There were too many moments in my life that I’d stayed quiet and let the worst happen. 

Heading out of the U-shaped parking lot after drop-off, I headed toward Bell Buckle Brews for my shift. I’d be off by the time Avery got out of school, so I didn’t need to worry about her pickup situation today. Most days during the school year, I could get off around the same time she was released, but on the occasional day that wasn’t possible, I’d either have her go to a friend's house after or I’d use my lunch to pick her up and bring her to the cafe. At least, that worked for kindergarten. First grade was a whole different ball game.

A few minutes later, I pulled into my usual parking space out front of the cafe and headed inside. As the cowbell above the door sounded, my phone dinged in my back pocket, but I ignored it until I passed through the back doors to clock in.

With school drop-off, I got in a little later than I usually liked to, but I didn’t want to drop Avery off at the crack of dawn just to get a head start on some pastries. I already dropped her off about forty-five minutes before the first bell. Thankfully, her teachers didn’t mind, seeing as a lot of parents dropped their kids off early so they could head to work as well.

The beauty of working in a cafe meant I could bake and cook things all day—it didn’t all have to be done before opening. Sure, we might run out of things, but it wouldn’t be the end of the world if a customer had to wait ten minutes for a specific baked good to be done in the oven. We had a variety of items to choose from anyway. 

That was the nice thing about places like Bell Buckle—life didn’t move too fast to where people couldn’t wait a few minutes for their food. In the city, though? That would cause havoc and a bad Yelp review. 

Thank goodness for small towns.

I slid the baking sheets full of assorted items into the ovens in the back, my wrist slightly twinging with the weight, but I ignored it and headed to the front to deal with the register and other opening duties.

My fingers worked to tie a knot with the strings on my apron as my phone buzzed again from my jeans. Remembering I had ignored the text from earlier, I pulled it out to check who it was.

An unknown number sat in the message field of both text messages, and I clicked it to read them. This time, it was a different number than the one that texted me during my date with Callan.

Unknown: You’ve been ignoring me.

Unknown: You know who this is. I know what game you’re playing.

My fingers froze, clutching my phone like my grip might keep the fear away and erase what was on the screen. If this was him, how was he texting me? Did he get someone to smuggle a burner phone into the prison? There was no way he could be out. He still had just under two years left of his sentence at the Oregon State Penitentiary.

I didn’t know if a minute passed or ten, but a knock on the glass caused me to jump out of my spiraling thoughts. My hands retracted from my phone like it might bite me, the device landing on the counter with a clang. My eyes shot to the window, my heart beating out of my chest. My whole world had frozen with the terror that crept into my mind at the thought of him being free. That he might be able to find me and Avery. 

Oakley stood outside the window, her hand lifted in an eager wave as a smile creased her cheeks. She pointed to the handle on the door and I realized it was locked.