“I think I’ll take a looksee.”
Earl stepped in front of him. “She don’t want to talk to you. Not tonight.”
“I know you’re trying to take care of her, and that’s a good thing. But I’m not leaving without seeing her.” The old man meant well, and Tristan could appreciate that, but he wasn’t leaving Skye to build up what happened and make it bigger than it was. He put his hand on Earl’s shoulder. “You’re right. I made a mistake tonight, and I need her to know I’m sorry for that.”
“You tell her you’re sorry, then if she still wants you to go, you do it.”
Stubborn old man. “I promise if that’s what she wants, I’ll leave.”
“All right, but only ’cause you promised.” He stepped aside.
When Tristan reached the entrance to the barn, he stopped. Skye sat on the floor while a half dozen kittens climbed on her. Fuzz was on his belly next to her, his attention on the little things. Hay bales were piled up behind her, and Billy and a cat he assumed was the mama stood on top of the bales, watching the goings-on below. A donkey or a mule, he wasn’t sure which, had his head over a stall door, also observing.
It was like a scene out of a fairytale, the princess and her devoted woodland creatures. He took out his phone and snapped a picture of her surrounded by the assortment of animals. How could he not? “I see you’re making friends.”
“They’re so innocent.” She didn’t seem surprised to see him. “They don’t know how mean people can be.”
“That’s a good thing.” He eased down and leaned against the stall. “I’m sorry, Skye.”
She finally looked at him. “For?”
“For leaving you alone. It was stupid to chase after Mason. I should have stayed with you.”
She shrugged, returning her gaze to the kittens. “You did what you thought you had to. The thing is, I’m not some fragile woman you have to take care of.”
“I know that.” But she was, or maybe it was more that he wanted to take care of her. No doubt she was being talked about after the scene at the Kitchen. People liked to gossip. What she wasn’t getting was that Mason would come out on the wrong end of his stunt before it was all over.
She had nothing to be ashamed of, no reason to be embarrassed or humiliated, yet she was. As he sat across from her, the silence between them heavy, her eyes avoiding his, all he could think was that he was losing her. He thumbed through the words going around in his head, trying to find the ones that would bring her back to him.
He chose to start with the ones he thought might show her the town wouldn’t turn against her. “Miss Mabel called Mason a self-centered boy, too lazy to work for what he thinks he deserves.”
Her gaze darted up to his. “When did she say that?”
“Tonight, after Mason left. I know you feel like you’re back—”
“You don’t know what I feel.” Her attention returned to the kittens.
“Fair enough. Listen, Mason’s been building up to pulling a stunt like he did tonight.”
“What do you mean?”
“He’s been watching you...us.”
“You didn’t think that was something you should tell me?”
“I was keeping an eye on him. You had enough to worry about with your apartment fire and a drug lord targeting you.”
Her lips thinned and her eyes narrowed. “That wasn’t your decision to make. He was my deputy, my problem.”
“If I told you he was watching us, you would have spooked. I was hoping with enough time, you’d see that no one has a problem with us dating.”
“We’re not dating, Chief, we’re...we were having sex. Nothing more.”
“Lie to yourself all you want, but what’s between us is definitely more than just sex.” He didn’t like the “were having sex.” He leaned toward her and put his hand on her knee. “We have something, Skye. Something good. Don’t walk away from us. Don’t give Mason that kind of power.”
“I don’t know what you mean.” She gently set the kittens aside, then pushed up. “Would you mind giving me a ride back to your house? I’ll get my stuff and get out of your hair.”
As he stood, he forced himself to swallow his anger. “You’re not in my hair.” Okay, that had sounded as angry as he felt. He sighed. He had one last card to throw on the table, and he hoped it was a winning one. “I’m in love with you, Skye. Have been for a while.”