“I don’t want you to love me.” She walked away, taking his heart with her.
He dropped his chin to his chest. How was he supposed to live without a heart?
Chapter Forty-Four
He loved her.
The words to tell him she loved him, too, had burned on Skye’s tongue. Thankfully, she’d managed to hold them back. Unable to sleep, she slipped leggings on over her boy panties and a hoodie over her camisole. She slid her feet into the rhinestone-encrusted flip-flops Fanny had talked her into. She looked down at her feet. Glittery things were so not her, but she liked them. Maybe she didn’t know who she was anymore.
He loved her.
She couldn’t get his words out of her head. It would be so easy to walk upstairs and slip into his bed. The longing to do that almost brought her to her knees. She’d hurt him in the worst way possible when she’d walked away after he’d opened his heart to her.
Not just once, but after leaving him in the barn when she’d slung her hateful words at him, she’d done it again when they’d arrived back at his house after a silent car ride. He’d walked beside her to the guest room.
“Give me ten minutes to get my stuff together, and I’ll be gone.” She’d had no idea where to go, but that wasn’t his problem.
He’d put his arm in front of her, bracing his hand on the doorjamb. “You’re not leaving tonight.”
“Says who?” She focused on her shoes so he couldn’t see the longing in her eyes, wishing he’d ignore her ridiculous bravado and carry her upstairs to his room. That he would wrap his arms around her and make her forget this night.
“Me.” He scrubbed a hand over his face. “It’s late. If you leave, I’ll follow you to make sure you’re safe. Stay, even if it’s only for tonight. Here, in the guest room.” He dropped his arm to his side. “Please.”
So she’d stayed, but she couldn’t stay in this room, in the silence of it, with her thoughts. She needed fresh air, then maybe she could breathe. She let herself out the back door. Clouds covered the moon, stealing the light. The darkness suited her. She walked to the steps and sat on the top one.
If Mason had only dropped the bomb that she and Tristan were together, even if it had been the way he’d said it in front of everyone, she would have shrugged it off. Tristan had said no one cared if they were in a relationship, and she was beginning to accept that was true.
But Mason had made sure they believed she’d stolen money from a drug dealer and was now screwing their beloved police chief. That they did care about. She’d seen it in their eyes, had heard their whispers, and Tristan had chased after Mason, leaving her to face them alone. The only people who’d talked to her were Katie and Earl.
Would she have reacted differently if Tristan had stayed by her side? Not slipped out the back door with Earl, her tail tucked between her legs. She didn’t know, but it didn’t matter now. She’d made a home here, had been happier than when she lived in Florida, and what had she done? Brought along dangerous drug dealers.
The two-day warning they’d given her was up, and she wished she could believe Thomas Grant had decided she didn’t have his money and had left, taking his enforcer with him. He hadn’t, though. She could feel danger in the air. The best thing she could do for Tristan and for the town was leave before someone got hurt. And if it was Tristan, she would never forgive herself.
There was nothing stopping her from leaving. Just get in her car...right, a problem with that. She didn’t have a car. The vehicle she drove belonged to the sheriff’s department. Besides, she didn’t have it in her to walk out on her deputies.
She brought her knees up, wrapped her arms around them, and lowered her face. She wished she could believe she’d made a mistake walking away from Tristan. Then she could go upstairs, tell him she’d been wrong, and he’d hold her and tell her everything would be okay. But she couldn’t do that. Who knew how this mess would play out, and she wouldn’t allow him to tarnish his reputation by association with her.
He loved her.
Stupid tears burned her eyes, and she squeezed them shut. He loved her, and she loved him, too, but that was her secret. If she told him, he’d move heaven and earth to have her. That was the kind of man he was.
“I love you, too,” she whispered into the black night. “So much.” And it hurt...so much.
He loved her.
Those were the worst and the best words anyone had ever said to her.
“It’s pickle time!” Everly screamed as she jumped on the bed, then landed on Skye.
“Omph.” Skye put her hands on Everly’s waist and lifted her to the side. “Girlfriend, you’re a pickle.” She goosed her under her arms. “A ticklish pickle.” Everly laughed so hard she got hiccups, and Skye wrapped her arms around the little girl she’d grown to love. She swallowed past the lump in her throat. “Let’s go eat pickles.”
“Yay!” Everly bounced up, then jumped off the bed.
This would be their last pickle morning, and Skye never would have dreamed how sad she would be over such a silly thing. She glanced out the kitchen window as she poured a cup of coffee. A light fog swirled around the distant Blue Ridge Mountains, making them appear mystical.
That was another thing she loved about North Carolina, the landscape. Maybe it was because she’d grown up in the flat lands of Florida, but even after a year of living here, she was still in awe of the mountains. She’d considered herself blessed to have those views to enjoy every day.
“Let’s eat our pickles on the porch.” If her time here was going to end soon, she didn’t want to miss a minute of feasting her eyes on the beauty surrounding her.