Whispers of a Broken Halo by Abbi Glines

I followed her out to the customer service desk, and a guy—about my age with long, dark hair pulled back in a ponytail, wearing a pearl-snap plaid shirt, jeans, and boots—stood, watching us approach. All he lacked was a damn cowboy hat.

Who the fuck is he?

“That’s him,” Hazel whispered.

I stepped forward. “Can I help you?” I asked.

“I’m looking for Bryn Wallace. I was told she works here,” he replied.

“What do you need with Bryn?”

He smirked. “That’s between me and her.”

The fuck it was. I was a guy, but I also knew when another man was attractive. Cowboy Bill was the kind of guy females didn’t miss. He had already caught the attention of several. I could see two of my employees currently checking him out from across the fruit section.

“You want to talk to Bryn? Then, you’ll need to give me a reason,” I told him.

An amused grin touched his lips, and he tilted his head back and let out a hard laugh. “I’m gonna take it, Bryn just got prettier with age, and she’s got you pussy-whipped.”

I didn’t remember getting from one side of the counter to the other, but rage blared hot in my chest when I grabbed his fucking pearl-snap shirt. “Get the fuck out of here,” I snarled as I shoved him backward.

That damn smirk on his face didn’t leave, but he held up both hands as he moved back a few steps.

I stalked forward, ready to plant my fist in his face when Bryn called my name. I swung my gaze to see her walking toward us.

“Stop,” she pleaded.

Fury pounded in my veins, but I lowered my fist and took a deep breath, hoping it would calm me down. She knew him. I didn’t like that.

When she reached me, she touched my arm and looked up at me, then shifted her gaze to him. “What are you doing here, Decker?” she asked, her voice shaky, although she didn’t stammer.

The appreciative gleam in his eyes as he took her in had my hand balling back into a fist.

Who the hell was Decker? She’d never once said anything about him or any man.

“You didn’t stutter,” he replied.

“Why are you here?” she repeated.

“Heard about Tory’s death and was able to track you here,” he replied.

Bryn was tense beside me, and that only made me hate this man more. I put a hand on her back and was ready to walk her back to the offices to get away from him. She didn’t want to see him. Her body language said as much.

“Why?” she asked. “You’ve no reason to come looking for me.”

Decker ran his thumb over the stubble on his jaw and tilted his head in an obnoxious way. “That ain’t exactly true, sugar,” he replied.

I took a step toward him, and Bryn pulled me back.

“No,” she said to me.

Her eyes were a mixture of anxiety and fear. I didn’t like seeing her upset.

Why wouldn’t she let me punch this dickhead in the face? Send him away?

“Go back to your rodeos,” she said. “There is no reason to come find me.”

Of course he was a rodeo guy. I rolled my eyes.

“I want to see my kid,” he told her.

Bryn was the one to take a step toward him now. “He isn’t yours. Tory told you that when she was pregnant,” she said forcefully.

“She lied because of you,” he said, his smile gone. “And I fucking let her because of you.”

Bryn let out a laugh and shook her head. “No, Decker. You wanted my sister, and she wanted any man she thought could give her something. You were not the only guy she was sleeping with at the time.”

Decker leaned his head down closer to her, and I moved in behind her, pulling her back from him and against my chest. He wasn’t touching her if he wanted to walk away from here alive. His eyes went to me, and he nodded as if he understood. However, he still looked amused.

“I’ll be wanting a DNA test,” he said then.

Bryn shook her head. “Why are you doing this, Decker? Just leave us alone.”

His eyes did another quick scan of her. “I’m sorry, Bryn. Not gonna be able to do that. You had me all messed up back then. I didn’t want you hurt. The idea of that sweet smile of yours not looking my way anymore was too much. Letting y’all leave was the best thing I could do.”

I held Bryn tighter against me, placing my hand flat on her stomach. This conversation was going in a direction I didn’t like. She didn’t want me to hit him, but it was starting to become inevitable, the more he talked.

“That was another lifetime ago. I was a kid. Cullen is not yours. His father is dead. I know who his father was. He even looks like his father,” Bryn said.

Decker lifted his shoulders in a small shrug. “Sorry, sugar. I’m not leaving until I get the DNA test. I stayed away because I knew Tory would fight me, and then there was you. Hurting you was something I couldn’t bring myself to do for a long time. But she’s gone now.”

“Then, you need to get a lawyer. Please leave,” Bryn told him with a firmer tone than her trembling body betrayed.

He looked disappointed. “All right. If that’s what you want to do. But it doesn’t have to be that way. I hoped we could catch up. Talk about your last five years.”

“Just leave,” Bryn said between her clenched teeth.