On the Outskirts

Twenty One

~Ryder~

"People are staring." Sadie muttered just loud enough for me to hear, her hands gripping the handle of the shopping cart ever tighter. I looped my arm around her, pulling her into my side as I pushed my hand into the pocket of her jeans, stopping her from slipping out of my hold. 

This was the first time we were out in public as a family of 3 and as much as Hallie was non the wiser to the entire town watching us go about our daily tasks, Sadie and I weren't. Alcombey was very evenly split on how people felt about me and Sadie. They always had been. She'd been brought up by a hyper religious mother who was heavily involved in the church, until her mom abandoned her and left tow with the preachers eldest son when Sadie was 6. The town kind of took her under their wing, supporting Jack as he raised his daughter as a single hard working dad, filling their stores with his produce and offering babysitting whenever it was needed. Of course the only person he ever let watch Sadie was Brynn's parents and that was only because he'd been friends with her dad since they were in high school. 

Me on the other hand, came from the other end of the stick. My mom was known for drinking too much and getting rowdy. There never felt like there was a tonne for me to do around town. Everyone else had huge friends lists, farms they could run around on with hobbies. There was very few people in town who's parents would tolerate me being around their kids. Meeting Sadie when she was 10 and I was 12 didn't change that and despite her dad's attempts to push us apart, it never did work. We naturally fell apart when I went off to high school and it was at some football game when I ran into her again. Freshly 15, looking every bit as stunning as she does today. 

When people first found out we were together, there was a lot of warning looks from parents. Daring me to hurt her. The other half of town were hoping that Sadie might bring me down to earth and force me to put my feet on steady ground. Which she did. She told me I was worth so much more than this town and that she hated how everyone looked at her like she was her mom's angel and not her own person. We swore to each other we'd leave and make a life on the outskirts of town so we were close to her dad and we made plans to have our own beautiful life. One I would be making sure came true now.  

"Let them." I leaned over, kissing her cheek softly. "I don't care what shit they've got to say. They're gonna say something either way. You can't please everyone." Hallie reappeared, putting something from the list into the cart and getting her next few items from her mom before running off. "You guys have this pinned down." 

"Less time at the store means more time binging TV." 

"Of course it does." 

"She's excited to cook with you tonight you know?" 

"Really?" 

"Mhm." Sadie nods, turning the corner and down another aisle, freezing as she did. I followed her eyes, landing on Sarah at the bottom of the aisle. Sadie didn't have a chance to run like she wanted to because Sarah had clocked her and the smug grin on her face told me she wanted to cause the same trouble she always had. Her eyes tracked down to where I was holding Sadie and as quick as it was, I saw the flash of anger that passed across her face and was gone in a heartbeat. "Sarah, nice to run into you. Nice Christmas?" 

"Oh it was lovely thank you." Sarah made her voice go a hell of a lot sweeter than it was 2 years ago in a bar in Cressbury, whispering all the things she wanted to do to me in my truck if I'd admit I dated Sadie to piss her off. She had some fucked up idea that every man in existence wanted her and anyone else they had was temporary. "My boyfriend was over. You'll have to meet him, he's around here somewhere. He got me a new car. Isn't that sweet?" 

"The sweetest." Sadie's fake smile almost had my bursting into laughter. "You remember Ryder, right?" Sarah rolled her eyes and nodded, looking over her shoulder and smiling huge and bright but I felt Sadie stiffen like a board. I pulled her closer but it didn't ease her up like it usually does. 

"Ah! Here he is! Baby, I want to introduce you to some old friends. This is Ryder and Sadie. Ryder, Sadie, this is Jason." My jaw tightened at the sight of a smug city boy I already knew the face of. This asshole from the bar. If he was buying his girlfriend a new car they had to have been together when he was asking about Sadie in the bar. Jackass. It was the way his eyes stuck on Sadie that made me full of rage. Staring at her like they had a history and he'd wanted to open the book and read it page for fucking page. 

"Mom?" Sadie's eyes went wide, freezing to solid stone. "I can't find- oh. Hi Sarah." Hallie wasn't old enough to hide the disappointment in her voice like everyone else was. Jason looked between Sadie and Hallie and I almost pulled her behind me like some protective shield. Sarah rolled her eyes at Hallie and looked back up to me and Sadie. 

"I took a trip to Montrose back in summer and bumped into this hunk in a bar. We've been taking trips back and forth since. You were in Montrose weren't you Sadie?" Sarah looked between the two of them and seemed to finally pick up on them staring at each other like ghosts. "Wait. Do you know each other?" 

"No." Sadie spluttered it out too quickly, at the exact same time Jason admitted he did, bending down to Hallie's height. 

"Hi. I'm Jay. What's your name?" 

"Hallie." Hallie side stepped into me and I put my arm over her shoulder. Her dad. My nightmares were coming true and Hallie's dad was right fucking here in the middle of the grocery store staring at my Hallie with wonder. 

"How old are you Hallie?" 

"Hal, come on babe, let's go home." 

"No it's fine Ry. You can answer him Hal." Sadie stiffens her shoulders, rolling them back and pulling me out of her pocket to move around to the outside of Hallie, grabbing her hand. 

"I'm 10." Jay looked up at Sadie and I know for a fact she's planning every single way she can murder this man and get away with it. Probably pin it on Sarah and take down 2 birds with 1 stone. "You're new around here." 

"Yeah, I - uh- listen Hallie. How'd you feel about getting some ice cream sometime?" 

"Its January. Mom says it's too cold for ice cream."

"Your mom never complained when I was bringing her it when you were in her tummy." His jaw tightened slightly. 

"Don't you think you should be running this past her mother before asking her?" Jay looked up at me and raised an eyebrow at me. 

"I think I can take my daughter out for ice cream if I want to."