Sweet Hill Homecoming

by Ryan, Joya

  “What about all the other stuff that comes with a woman like her?” Luke put up his palms because Tate gave him a shut-the-fuck-up look with enough heat behind it to be a threat. “I’m not dissing on Mia. Calm down. She’s a cool girl. It’s just I know you. Mia is very different. Not to mention, men hit on her all the time and I thought she said she wasn’t interested in a long term relationship right now.”

  “Whatever she wants and will give me, I’m going to take. Long term, short term, I don’t fucking care.” Though Tate did. If she went with short term, he’d take it as a challenge to change her mind to long. “She looks at me like…” Tate shook his head. “It’s like she already sees in me the man I’m trying to be.”

  “That’s awesome.” Luke slapped Tate’s shoulder. “I just worry you haven’t made peace with the unknown. Because imagine how hard it’s going to be to let her go if she’s not interested in the same end game you are.”

  Tate had imagined it. And didn’t like the thought so he just cut it off and refused to go any deeper into it. If she really wasn’t interested in a long term future with him, then what?

  He shook his head. Sweet Hill was his home. Mia was here and his community was here. Everything would just have to work. All he focused on was that he had some time to convince her they could make it work. To show her how he felt and maybe, it just might be enough. He might be enough.

  “I appreciate your concern, but I have this covered, alright?”

  “Alright.” Luke put his hands into his pockets. “You going to the game tonight?”

  “Of course.”

  Ten hours until Kyle’s game. The kid was cleared to play and the scout would be there. This past week Tate hadn’t seen anyone near him or giving him a hard time. Maybe whatever was going on with him was finally over.

  “I’ll see you tonight then,” Luke said.

  Tate nodded. It was a beautiful Friday morning and with any luck, he’d be off his shift by five and with Mia at the game at seven.

  He looked around the ballroom one more time. Yeah, things really were coming together.

  ~

  “I’ll see you tonight,” Mia said and Kyle got out of the car. She’d been dropping him off in the mornings recently. Even though Kyle grumbled, it made her feel better that she could at least see him off in the morning. “You sure you’re feeling okay to play?”

  Kyle grabbed his bag from the back seat and smiled. “I’m sure.”

  She watched him walk across the parking lot toward the school. She drove toward exit. In her rear view mirror she saw a couple boys approach Kyle, then all of a sudden, Kyle went down.

  Mia slammed on the breaks. She tried to turn the car around but the one way curbs were boxing her in. So she parked it right there, exit be damned, and got out of the car and ran toward him.

  “Kyle!”

  She couldn’t make her legs move fast enough. Still several yards away, she saw Kyle stagger to his feet, just as three boys surrounded him. Fists went flying and Mia couldn’t tell whose was who. Once she got closer, she saw one kid throw a punch, but Kyle dodged and landed a punch himself.

  Mia ran faster and screamed again.

  “Kyle!”

  The boys heard her this time and fled. She got there just in time to see the one who tried to hit Kyle. She wanted to run after him, to take him down but she couldn’t leave her brother. At least she could ID the little fucker later.

  “Help!” she screamed as she got to Kyle and he clutched his side.

  “I’m okay. He just sucker punched me. No big deal,” Kyle said trying to gain composure.

  Two teachers ran out from the school.

  “There was a fight. Three kids ran,” Mia said pointing in the direction that the boys took off in.

  The teachers looked perplexed and stared at her for a moment. She snapped her fingers.

  “Look for the kid with a black eye,” she said, trying really hard not to curse at them.

  She got Kyle’s things and headed into the school straight toward the principal’s office. She’d be damned if these little assholes got away with this again.

  ~

  “He’s off the team,” the principal said.

  “What?” Mia yelled, not caring at all that she was staring down her old principal in his office and even with the door shut everyone outside could likely hear. “They jumped him! And this is the third incident I might add and you’ve done jack shit!”

  “That’s enough, Miss Blake.”

  “No, it’s not enough. Kyle has been bullied and once again, nothing is happening.”

  “Kyle hit another student. I have two other boys as witnesses saying Kyle started the fight.”

  “The other two boys are the ones who were wailing on my brother. They’re lying.”

  Sheriff Branch walked into the principal’s office and Mia didn’t need to ask why he was there. Bullying. Law enforcement gets called. And she didn’t have high hopes Branch would be any help.

  “I have Jared and Kyle out there now. I spoke with the other boys and they said Kyle started the fight.” Before Mia could come to her brother’s defense again, Branch held up a hand. “And Jared is the one with a swollen eye. A black eye Kyle admitted to giving him.”

  “I can’t believe this!” She would not let Kyle go down like this. Mia stormed from the office just in time to see Tate walk into the school, scowl on his face and looking at Kyle and Jared.

  “Tate, you’ll never believe this. It was him the whole time,” she pointed at Jared.

  The Sheriff came out behind her.

  “Kyle assaulted Jared on school grounds,” the Sheriff said in a board tone. “He needs to be arrested and taken in.”

  Tate glared. “Excuse me?”

  “He was defending himself!” Mia cried.

  “I don’t see a scratch on Kyle, but Jared has a black eye there and you even admitted to witnessing your brother hit him.”

  “But I also saw Jared and two other boys take Kyle down first.”

  “The boys have a different story,” Branch said, looking at his booklet of miniscule notes.

  “Of course they do, because they’re lying. Tell them, Kyle,” Mia begged.

  “Yeah, tell them, Kyle,” Jared said.

  Kyle stayed silent.

  Branch sighed. “Arrest him, West.”

  Mia’s eyes shot wide. “Tate, don’t. You know he’s a good kid. You know what’s been going on.”

  Tate looked at Kyle. “Tell me right now what happened. Tell me the truth.”

  Kyle glanced away and Mia knew, just like Tate obviously did, that he wasn’t saying anything.

  “Haul him in, son,” Branch said to Tate. When Tate didn’t move, Branch frowned as if extremely confused and stepped toward him. “How are you expecting to be Sheriff when you can’t even arrest an assailant? A bully no less. “

  Mia shook her head, there was no way…

  But when Tate grabbed his cuffs, her stomach lurched and her heart broke.

  “No!” she said and went to step between them.

  “Mia, don’t,” Kyle whispered.

  Tears pricked her eyes and she couldn’t hold them back anymore. She glared up at Tate as her entire world fell apart.

  “You know him better than this,” she said looking Tate in the eye. “I thought you were on our side.”

  “He’s not giving me a choice, there’re two witnesses—”

  “I’m a witness!” she said. “Why don’t you believe me over the kids?”

  “Because there’re two against one, Miss Blake,” Branch said. “Rules are rules.”

  Then it hit her. The man Tate looked up to, the man he mirrored himself after, wasn’t going to budge. And neither was Tate.

  “We’ll sort this out, I just need time. It’s better I take him in,” Tate whispered to her.

  All Mia saw was the man she came to trust, to count on, prepare to arrest her brother. He didn’t stand up for her or Kyle. Didn’t listen to her as a witness
because two jack-ass teenagers apparently had more credibility than her. Didn’t consider the past several weeks and what Kyle had gone through. All that went out the window because “rules were rules.”

  She shook her head. “You’re a coward.”

  His face fell like she had slapped him.

  Everything in her body felt weak, splitting at the seams from her ribs to her knees, she felt like a paper doll being torn apart. The clicking sound of the cuffs going on and the look on Kyle’s face was something Mia would never be able to erase. Time slowed and everything they’d been building toward, all her hopes that Sweet Hill was where home could be for them, went out the window.

  When Tate walked Kyle out, Mia was right on their heels.

  “I’m right behind you, honey,” she said to Kyle.

  He looked over his shoulder with the saddest expression she’d ever seen. Her baby brother was in cuffs being escorted by the man she stupidly fell in love with sometime this past month and watched as the future crumbled before her eyes. Kyle’s future. A future he was meant to have. A future he worked hard for and deserved.

  She hustled around the school and back to where she left her car and got in. Hitting her palms against the steering wheel, she cried and screamed and cursed the world, cursed her own judgment, cursed the man she loved and very much hated in that moment. She cursed it all until her throat hurt.

  And then she broke down and cried.

  Chapter Thirteen

  “Start talking right now, Kyle,” Tate said and sat him in his office, removing the cuffs. “You have about two minutes before everyone gets here and I can’t hold off booking you unless you tell me what happened. You take fault for this, and there’s going to be serious trouble.”

  Kyle shook his head. So Tate pushed harder.

  “You have any idea how hard your sister works?”

  Kyle frowned up at him and Tate knew he hit a nerve. “Of course I do.”

  “She does that for you. And you’re pissing away your future covering for this kid and if you get booked? If he presses charges? Not only do you get a record but there will be fines and penalties. You want your sister to take on another shift to pay for that?”

  “No!” Kyle said. “I’m doing this to save her.”

  Tate frowned. “What do you mean save her?”

  “When this started, it was all about football.” Kyle palmed his head. “Jared was pissed because I took his starting spot. He was trying to get me off the team. I could deal with it, I just had to make it to this game. But then he threatened Mia.”

  When Kyle looked at Tate, there were tears in his eyes.

  “Jared said he’d hurt her if I didn’t quit. Said no one would know it was him and no one would believe us.” Kyle’s eyes got dark and he snarled. “Before they jumped me today, Jared said bad things about Mia. He said that even being the Deputy’s slut wouldn’t help her once he was through with her.”

  That made Tate snarl too and slam his hand on his desk. The kid was a punk, but threats were serious. He looked at Kyle and the honesty of that moment sank in. The kid was willing to sacrifice everything for his sister in order to keep her safe. Including his own future. Just like Mia would do for him. They were better people than he could ever be. People he wanted to protect and stand by.

  “We’re going to fix this,” Tate said and stood Kyle up. “You hear me?”

  Kyle nodded.

  “I want you to understand one thing,” Tate clasped the kid’s shoulders, “No one threatens what you love. Understand?”

  “Yes, sir,” Kyle said firmly.

  Tate nodded once. “Good.”

  ~

  Mia showed up to the station same time Branch did. But what was interesting was both Tate and Kyle stood outside as if waiting for them.

  “What’s going on here, son?” Branch said, getting out of his car and slamming the door. “That kid should be booked.”

  “Actually, I’m going to take him back to school because he has a game to play tonight.”

  “Like hell,” Branch spat and walked up to Tate. Tate just remained calm, but there was a sad look in his eyes.

  “Sir,” Tate said lowly and put his hand on Branch’s shoulder. “This is what’s right. What you taught me to do. Kyle is innocent. He’s been tormented and was defending himself.”

  Branch shook his head like he didn’t understand. “But, there’s a system. A protocol. And back when I dealt with the Rowly twins in ‘85—”

  “Sir,” Tate said, cutting off the Sheriff’s rambling. Mia’s throat tingled because she realized right then what Tate had meant by Branch being “unwell.” He was mentally struggling. She heard it in the way he spoke. How he tried to make sense of things, but his words didn’t actually resonate. This whole time, Tate was trying to save face for Branch’s sake.

  “I’m asking you to trust me. You taught me well, but in this case, things aren’t black and white. I’m asking for your faith and support, sir.”

  Branch took a deep breath and hugged Tate. “You have both, son.” With a pat on the back, he released Tate and walked into the station. The look on Tate’s face tugged at Mia’s heart. He got the one thing he’d been looking for.

  She looked at Kyle who was smiling like he had some kind of bro-code going on with Tate.

  “He talked to coach,” Kyle said to Mia, all but beaming.

  “Kyle is playing tonight and Jared is lucky Kyle’s not considering pressing charges,” Tate said. “I called the principal and we have several boys from the team waiting. I’m going to talk to them all and get to the bottom of this. But with Kyle now admitting the truth, this should be pretty easy.”

  Mia rushed to hug Kyle.

  “You really okay?”

  Kyle nodded. “Yeah, I’m sorry, Mia. I didn’t want you to be brought into it. It’s a long story but I just never wanted you to be hurt.”

  She hugged him. “It’s okay, honey. I’m just glad you’re alright.”

  “I was going to take him back to school if that’s okay with you?” Tate said.

  She eyed the Deputy. “Kyle, can you give us a minute?”

  He nodded and walked over to stand by the Deputy’s cruiser.

  “I ought to slap you in the face,” she said with all the anger she felt.

  “Yes, ma’am,” he agreed. “I deserve that. But understand that it’s because of you I’m a better man.”

  Her heart stilled. “What? You can’t possibly mean that and I’m not interested in flattery or empty words.”

  Tate’s expression made her stomach somersault. He looked so sincere yet in pain at the same time.

  “It has always been my goal to protect the people of this town, and I failed you, Mia. I should have hashed it out there at the school instead of taking Kyle in. Please just know that Jared won’t come near Kyle again.”

  She bit her bottom lip to keep her chin from trembling.

  “It’s not because I didn’t believe you or him,” Tate said softly and stepped closer. “It’s because I was just trying to protect you both and I couldn’t without the truth. The truth Kyle finally gave me. See, we both agreed on one thing…” He cupped her face and Mia met his eyes. “We both love you.”

  That time her lungs just shut down and her lashes hurt from shooting so wide. “What?”

  “I love you,” Tate said with a smile. “Everything else is secondary. And I know I’ve broken your trust, but I’m not going to stop fighting for you, Mia.”

  She was so tired. So done with all the badness. She just wanted Tate. A man that like her, wasn’t perfect, but he was trying.

  “You’ve got a long battle ahead of you, Deputy. And I’ll warn you now, I don’t fight fair.”

  Tate smiled. “Ah, there’s my fiery girl.”

  Mia launched herself into his arms and kissed him. In public. In uniform and he didn’t care. Because for the first time, she felt seen. Really seen for who she was. And Tate stood there and not only accepted her, but loved her.
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  “I guess taking a step back to sort out a situation before jumping in wasn’t a bad thing,” she said and kissed him again. “Maybe some of your logical reasoning will rub off on me.”

  “God I hope not,” he said and kissed her back.

  “Well in that case, I’m going to tell you exactly what I think,” she bit his lower lip then kissed him hard. “I love you so damn much it pisses me off sometimes.”

  Tate laughed and the sound warmed her heart.

  “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

  “Ah, when you guys are done making out, I’d like to get back to school,” Kyle called from over by the cruiser.

  They both laughed. Tate took her hand and for the first time, Mia felt like she had a partner in the world.

  And that last empty space in her chest finally closed.

  She was home, with two men she loved, and a promising future for all.

  Epilogue

  “It’s purple!” a little girl screamed and hugged the small jacket.

  Paul delivered as promised and since so many of the families showed up to the event that were signed up to receive the coats, they were able to start handing out some of them.

  “You did good, sweetheart,” Tate said and kissed her temple. “Leave it to you to get designer jackets.”

  She smiled and took a sip of her homemade cider and spice milk shake, complements of Sammy and his booth. Annie’s apple pie was a hit and she was nearly sold out, and everyone seemed to be having a great time.

  Kyle was laughing with Will and a few other friends in the corner. All of them wearing their jerseys.

  “I’m so proud of him,” Mia said, looking at her brother.

  Tate nodded. “Yeah, they played a great game and did you see his face when the scout introduced himself to Kyle?”

  Mia smiled. “Yeah, I guess he’s going to email him.”

  “Everything is looking pretty promising,” Tate said.

  She looked at the man that made her feel like a part of things. Like a part of his world. Proud that it was her world too. “It sure is.”