“Are you angry at me?”

“No,” he said with a sharp shake of his head.

But he was.

He turned back to stare at the road. “I’m angry at the situation.” His voice was low and even.

“The situation of me trying to help someone?”

“You were reckless.” Another glance her way. Softer this time and not so full of reproach. “Brave, too, but reckless. I knew you were gutsy, but had no idea you would go out there with a baseball bat. After you called me, you should’ve waited inside Delgado’s. You could’ve been seriously hurt—or worse.”

If she had been, then it would’ve put him in a difficult spot with her brother. She hadn’t considered the impact her actions might’ve had on him.

“I didn’t mean to make things more difficult for you,” she said. During all their discussions, they had never talked about the hard time he was going through. Or the pervasive negative gossip about him that had spread through town like a disease...