Chapter 33

CHAPTER

THIRTY-THREE

Late afternoon the next day, Colton sat in the far back booth of the Eagle's Nest, nursing a drink. His face was grim enough that nobody had approached him, not that there were many people here.

He'd gotten up before dawn and gone rock climbing. The activity never failed to help clear his head.

Except today, it hadn't helped. All he could do was see Ella's face as he tried to talk to her last night. He'd run the conversation over and over again in his mind. Trying to figure out exactly where it had broken down. They'd both seemed to be on the same page when she'd first shown up—wanting to talk about the social media post concerning the sporting goods store.

Yeah, she'd been embarrassed about that scrapbook, and maybe he could've been a little gentler in how he'd brought that up. Coaxed her into explaining more about that.

Because…that look on her face. He hadn't been able to sleep at all last night, but if he had, that look would've haunted his nightmares.

He couldn't wrap his head around it. He thought he was doing the right thing by giving her a chance to explain. Yeah, they would need to establish some ground rules moving forward, but the important thing was he still definitely wanted to move forward .

Nothing in the way she'd left her office last night had suggested she wanted the same.

The thought of that did way more than send him into a panic attack—it sent his whole world crashing down. He had to find Ella and figure out a way to make things right. Figure out a way to make her understand that one indiscretion was completely forgivable. The fame elements of his life could get overwhelming and out of control.

Yeah, he'd expected her to understand a little better, given her family, but they could still work this out.

He should have gone after her last night as soon as she left the office. Should've dragged her back and fought it out and then cleared the air. That's how it had always been between his parents. Tempers could burn hot, but then after the fight, the anger dissipated and the air between them was fresh. That was what he'd been expecting from Ella—for her to push back with some anger of her own to match his.

But the more he thought about it today, the more he realized that wasn't sweet, gentle Ella's style. She was a peacemaker, through and through. Fighting was not in her nature.

He sat up straighter in the booth. Neither was drawing undue attention to herself.

Fuck .

She hadn't done it. She hadn't been the one to leak the info about the sporting goods store. Of course she hadn't been. He couldn't believe he'd been stupid enough to even consider it. He didn't give a shit what it had said on that sticky note.

She. Hadn't. Done. This.

He needed to find her now more than ever. He'd stopped by her house last night, but she hadn't been there. He should've gone by again this morning—hell, camped out in front of her front door—but he'd thought he'd been in the right and had gone rock climbing to try to take care of his own mental needs instead.

Putting himself first. Goddamn it, Ella constantly put others' needs in front of her own. They all took for granted the fact that she never let them down.

And then he'd gone and accused her of the unthinkable.

He had to find her and make this right. If he could make this right. He was sliding out of the booth as Tony slid in across from him.

Colton shook his head. "Whatever it is, it's going to have to wait."

"It's about Ella and what happened on social media."

"She didn't do it, Tony. I know it looks like she's the one who leaked our location, but I promise you she's not the one who did it."

The other man looked surprised. "I know that. But how do you know that?"

"I just know." Tony's other words registered, and Colton tilted his head at him. "Wait, how do you know?"

"I know you don't want to talk, so I'll make this brief." He flipped around the tablet that was always in his hand so a signature page was facing Colton. "This is an employment termination notice for Rick. I found out he was the one who released the information about you being at the store. He must've been following you. He's the one who opened that social media account and knew exactly where to post it. Then he tried to blame it on Ella by pretending to find that sticky note."

Colton wanted to put his fist through the wall. But he was just as pissed at himself as he was Rick. Rick may have been the one who started the problem for whatever dumbass reason, but Colton should've been the one to shut it down before it ever went anywhere.

"We can talk about the details of everything later," Tony continued. "Just sign, and hand me your phone so I can finalize everything."

Colton did what the other man asked almost in a daze. The true ramifications of what he'd done—what he'd accused Ella of—were finally starting to hit him. Fear was a fist in his throat at the knowledge that he'd broken something so precious .

He signed and slid the tablet back to Tony and took his phone back from the other man. "Okay, done. Rick Wynnsworth is no longer in the employ of your team, and I've notified him that there will be an official inquiry into everything. You can probably sue him for what he did."

"Money isn't going to help." Colton scrubbed a hand down his face. "I have plenty of money. It's not going to change the fact that I accused Ella of something unforgivable."

Tony let out a sigh. "I don't know. She seems like the forgiving sort to me. Maybe you just need to give it a little time. A little distance."

"What if I've lost her over this?"

"You went rock climbing this morning, right?"

Colton nodded. He wasn't sure how Tony knew that, but then again, it was Tony's job to know pretty much everywhere Colton went.

"How did you feel up there? Better? Worse?"

"Better, I guess. It always helps me clear my head." But then again, he hadn't had all the information when he'd been out there.

Tony gripped the edge of the table and leaned forward intently. "Colton, I've been with you day in and day out for over a year now. I know things are in a state of flux with you, but I'm telling the truth when I say I think you might ought to give this a little bit of time and distance. Let's just get back to work. You want to simplify for a while? No problem. No social media. No television. But let's get you back out there doing what you love. It's what you need. Then, when the time is right—six months, a year—you can come back here and see if you still feel the same way about…everything."

Colton stared at the other man. Maybe Tony was right. Maybe he'd jumped the gun when he'd decided to retire. Maybe staying here in Oak Creek was the wrong plan, even with Ella.

His hands started shaking, jerking him out of those thoughts.

No. Damn it, no .

"No. I'm not going back into stunts full time. Even if Ella won't take me back, I'm still done with that part of my life." Immediately, his hands stopped shaking. Because he was making the right decision. Because he wasn't going to allow himself to be talked into a life he didn't want any longer.

"Colton, I really think you should reconsider?—"

"Have we switched to day drinking?" Bear didn't even wait for an invitation, just slid into the booth beside Colton, forcing him to scoot over.

Tony shook his head. "I've got to go take care of some things. Think about what I said, Colton. I'll catch you later."

"I'm not going to change my mind, Tony."

Tony didn't say anything, just slid out of the booth.

Bear moved over to the other side to replace him. "He doesn't seem too happy."

"Tony is the least of my concerns right now."

Bear nodded. "Is this about that social media snafu?"

Jesus . Word had gotten around fast even for a town as small as Oak Creek. "How'd you know? It wasn't Ella."

"What wasn't Ella? Lilah was pretty sure that shit was targeted at her."

"Targeted at her? What do you mean?"

"All that mean girl shit. I'm not one to condone violence toward women, but I would not mind watching those bitches get a taste of their own medicine."

Colton shook his head at his friend. "Dude, I don't know what you're talking about."

Bear pulled out his phone and showed Colton one of the most popular social media websites and what had been said during and after the sporting goods store incident.

If Colton had felt awful before, it was nothing compared to how he felt seeing this.

And furious. So very fucking furious. At the posters of these malicious remarks. At Rick for having planted the seed of doubt that had kept him away from Ella.

But mostly at himself .

"I'm sorry, man, I thought you already knew. Ella was upset—rightfully so—when she saw this."

"Who wouldn't be? Basically being called fat and ugly by a number of strangers when she hadn't done anything but stand over to the side and mind her own business?" Rage was eating through Colton's system.

"Lilah told her to talk to you about it last night. I guess this isn't the first incident."

Colton pushed Bear's phone back over toward him, unable to handle reading any more. "It's not?"

Bear shrugged. "Yeah, the night she was helping with the sting operation, she overheard a couple of people talking some shit about her in the bathroom."

Goddamn it. He'd known something had been wrong that night and even the next day when they left for the wilderness survival camping trip. Ella wasn't one to complain, but he should've pushed. Should've made her talk about it. Should've figured out how he could help.

But he hadn't, and now he'd made it all so much worse.

"You're looking a little green around the gills there, brother."

"I've fucked up worse than anything I've done in my entire life."

Bear raised an eyebrow. "I've been around when you've done some pretty stupid shit. Are you sure about that?"

Colton explained everything that had happened in the past twenty-four hours.

"Goddamn, you did fuck things up," Bear said when Colton was done.

"In my defense, somebody showed me this scrapbook thing Ella had collected over the years, and it sort of freaked me out."

"That thing?" Bear looked sheepish. "Not to make you feel any worse, but that scrapbook is not even Ella's. Or at least, not just Ella's."

"But it was on her computer."

"On a shared file we all use. A few years ago, somebody came across some articles she had collected about you. You know all of us, we are such assholes, we all started collecting every digital clipping about you we could find and sending them to her in a group file. That thing has to be huge at this point. It's a running joke between us all."

And there was strike three against him. "I am the biggest asshole on the planet."

"Today, I'm afraid you don't get much argument from me."

Colton couldn't blame his friend.

"I need to talk to her. I went by her house last night, but she wasn't there. And today, like the self-obsessed jerk I am, I went rock climbing rather than figure out that I should be groveling at her feet. I wonder where she is right now."

"She's not at Fancy Pants. I went by there an hour or so ago. Lilah said she wasn't at home either. Maybe she just needs a minute to cool off."

"I need to see her. To explain how stupid I was."

"I think it's gonna take a lot more than that. Better prepare to grovel."

Colton scrubbed a hand down his face again. "I'll do whatever it takes. No matter what."

"Holy shit," Bear laughed. "You're in love with her."

"Hell yes, I'm in love with her. There's not even one piece of me that's ashamed to admit that."

Bear leaned back against the booth seat, looking smug. "Maybe telling her that is the first step in getting back into her good graces. And here's the good thing about Ella O'Conner…the woman is as softhearted and kind as they come. Wouldn't know how to carry a grudge if someone put it in a backpack and tried to slip it on her shoulders. She will forgive you."

"She has to, Bear. I can't live without her."

"Then that's the line I would start with."