Did anyone in the world not know about his trouble? The gossip mill had worked quickly. “How the hell do you know she’s gone?”
Cain leaned over, putting his big hands on the bar. “Let me see if I can put the chain together. Major talked to one of the girls at Miss Marcelle’s while she was cutting his hair earlier today. According to her, he doesn’t like the way the barber shop does it, but I think he’s sweet on the hairdresser. Anyway, her sister is one of my waitresses, and according to her, the deputy is on her way back to the city, never to be heard from again. Or as she put it, she got away. Did she get away from you?”
“She’s not gone forever. She’ll be back in a couple of days. She just has a job interview.” Nosy people were always talking. Usually he was one of them. It wasn’t like there was much else to do, but he had to admit it felt different being on the other side.
“Yeah, but she would just be working out a notice because she would be crazy to not take a job in New York.”
It was perverse but Zep felt the need to argue. “Why? Why is New York so much better than here? She wouldn’t be crazy for staying in a job she loves, even though it’s not the most high profile. Some people don’t want to live to work. They work to live. Some people want to have a life outside of the office.”
“But not the deputy? Well, I suppose our lifestyle here isn’t for everyone.”
But it had been good for her. “She’s been happier the last few days than I’ve ever seen her. Happier and more relaxed despite the fact that her parents were in town causing all sorts of trouble.”
Cain backed off. “Then I wonder why she’s leaving. I always liked the deputy. She seemed smart and fair, although obviously not when it came to you. She was pretty rough on you.”
“She was never rough. She was . . . It was her way of staying close to me.” He sighed and stared at the beer. Was he actually unhappy he might never get arrested in this town again?
“Well, she won’t be close now.”
“Don’t you have customers to serve?”
Cain shrugged. “Like I said, my waitresses are on top of things. It leaves me with all kinds of time on my hands. So what do you think made the deputy run? Was it dealing with Otis, because he does have a particular smell.”
“She’s not running.” He bit back a groan. “Except maybe she is because I didn’t tell her what I should have.”
“What should you have told her?”
He stared, unwilling to say the words he hadn’t said to her.
“Ah,” Cain said with a nod of his head. “You love her but you didn’t tell her. You know you have a phone. You could tell her now.”
Call her from a bar? That didn’t seem like the best idea. He’d sat up all night thinking about what he would do when she came back, how he would handle it during those two weeks before she left again. Should he be friendly or just leave her alone?
Or should he ask her to stay? Should he get on his knees and beg her to give him another chance to show her how good life could be if they were together?
He glanced at his phone. All afternoon he’d watched the app that gave him all the information about the flight she was taking. Her flight was around three hours, so she wouldn’t have landed yet. She would still be in the air.
He could text her so it was waiting. Or leave her a voice mail.
He chose to text because she would at least see part of it on her notifications. She might not listen to a voice mail.
I love you, too. Please call me.
It was all he needed to say, and the minute he sent it off, it was like a weight had lifted and he could breathe again.
That had been his true mistake. Not what happened back when he was barely old enough to vote. His real mistake was not being open with her, not trusting them enough as a couple to get through whatever came their way.
“Good for you, man,” Cain said with a smile that quickly turned down. “There’s some trouble. Did I mention all those girls’ nighters? You’re one of the only men in a bar full of women who’ve had a few. Do you know what that means?”
It meant he should probably go home and wait for his lady to call.
“Hey, Zep,” a feminine voice said. Debra Griffiths slipped onto the barstool beside him. She was dressed to kill in a short skirt and a barely there tank, boots on her feet, and her hair teased halfway to heaven. “Happy to see you out in the world again. I’m partying with some of my friends. Maybe you want to come join us? Misty and I have been talking for a real long time about how hot you are.”