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She walked out of the room, leaving him staring at the empty doorway. He heard the front door jingle as she opened and closed it with a snap and the quiet of the store surrounded him, suffocating him, and he needed to get out of there.
Declan wrote a sign for the door and left his food practically untouched to tape the note on the door. Once the till was in the safe and the back door was locked up, he set the alarm and went out the front, his keys jangling in his hand as he twisted the deadbolt into place.
“Declan?” Holly called behind him, and he turned to find her standing on the sidewalk alone, watching him.
“Yeah?”
“Is everything all right?”
He followed her gaze to his hand-written “family emergency” sign and shrugged. “It’s fine. I was just going to get a jump on your display today.”
“You’re closing your store for that?”
He couldn’t tell for sure if that was disapproval in her tone, but it rubbed his already raw nerves like sandpaper and he snapped, “Why not? I’ll make more money doing that than standing in there all day waiting for someone to purchase a package of something they forgot to order online. Is your back gate unlocked?”
“Yes, but are you sure you’re okay?”
Declan touched his chest. “It’s sweet of you to pretend to care, but I’m good.”
She reeled back like he’d slapped her with his sarcasm, and she held up a hand. “So much for taking things slow and changing our ways, huh? You know what? Forget it. I’ll do the display myself. You’re fired.”
It was only for a split-second but he saw the sheen of tears in her eyes as she moved to walk past him and a knot twisted in Declan’s chest. Holly relentlessly took his snark, his bad temper, and his cutting remarks in stride, but he’d gone too far once again.
He couldn’t let her walk away not knowing it was him, not her.
Declan took Holly by the arm, maneuvering her into the alley between the hardware store and the vacant space next door. A flood of emotions slammed through him like waves, crashing against his insides, forging together until he couldn’t decipher exactly what was propelling his actions, rage, frustration, or plain old unhappiness.
“Declan, let go of me,” she snapped, jerking her hand out of his grasp, and he released her, hands in the air.
“I’m an asshole, all right? I’ve been one for years, and sometimes I even recognize it and think why did I say that? I should apologize. But I don’t because it’s easier to just move on and pretend like I don’t care about anyone in this place. But that isn’t true.”
He ran a hand through his hair and gave a bitter laugh. “This was supposed to be temporary, you know. Come back to help my dad and then go back to my real life. I wasn’t supposed to be here this long.” He met her wide-eyed gaze and stepped out of her way, adding, “I don’t know why I’m saying all of this to you, but I want to apologize. For the other day and a few minutes ago and, hell, probably a lot of other things the last few years. I thought you should know that.”
Holly’s expression softened slightly and the corners of her mouth curled up. “Go ahead then.”
“What?”
“Saying you want to apologize isn’t the same as actually doing it.”
Declan groaned, dragging his hands over his face. “It’s like you can’t help yourself.”
“What’s that?”
“It’s got to be involuntary, this constant need to get under my skin.”
“So what? You’ve been getting under mine for two years. It seems only fair.”
Declan shook his head. “I don’t know why this keeps happening.”
“What? Because I’m pretty sure this is the first time you’ve dragged me into an alley.”
“Things between us getting blown out of proportion. Me lashing out. You calling me on my bullshit. It’s become a pattern with you and only you.”
“Or maybe it’s that no one else cares enough to call you on your bullshit. Maybe I actually think that under the asshole there might be someone redeemable.”
“I’m sorry to disappoint you, but I’m not an onion. There aren’t any layers to peel back.”
“Then why didn’t you walk away? Why pull me aside and tell me you want to apologize if there’s nothing more to you?”
