“You can count on me too.”
“I know.” She felt her lip quiver and hoped he didn’t notice. She buried her face in the pup’s fur.
“Then tell me what’s going on. You were on cloud nine, and now it’s like everything is crumbling. What’s on your mind?”
“I can’t…”
He took the puppy from her and put him on the ground. “You can.” He put his hands on the sides of her arms. “Look at me.”
She did, and her lip trembled as she tried to hold in the thoughts racing through her mind. “Something is going on.”
“What? With me?”
“No. You’re perfect. It’s this town.”
“What? You love this town. You’ve said it like a hundred times.”
“I do, but I overheard Orene talking to Tucker. They’re lying to me about something.”
“No. Wait. What did you hear?”
She went through the conversation she’d overheard.
“‘Lie’ can mean a lot of things. It could be a little white lie. Don’t get upset. And that Tucker, he’s kind of a hot bag of wind if you ask me, the way he got all puffed up when he was over here that day could go either way. I think he has your best interests at heart though. He didn’t seem sinister. It’s probably nothing.”
“Hewasodd that day.” She steadied her breathing. “Why do people want to lie to me? Am I that naïve?”
“No. Stop that right now. Natalie, what happened to you was not your fault. And this has nothing to do with that. I promise you.”
“You aren’t going to want to believe this, but here are the statistics.” He turned her face toward him. “Look at me. Listen.”
She nodded.
“Women who are targeted like you are cherry-picked because they are highly intelligent and empathetic, and in a weird way that’s a compliment. You are smart, caring, and so special. You should be treated that way.” He stopped, and took her hands into his. “If you’ve been taken for a ride by a manipulative liar, all that means is that you’re an honest person. Nat, that’s a good thing. I love that about you.”
She hated it, though. She was tired of being a victim. “See what that got me.”
“He was dishonest, arrogant, lacked empathy, and exploited others for his own gain. You can’t distance yourself from people. You’ll let the liar change who you are and how you live in this world if you do. His lies do not deserve that power. You are stronger than that. I’m here for you.”
“I know. You’re amazing. You’re too good to be true and probably in a good way, but I’m terrified I’ll make another mistake.”
“I know. I know. I would never.” He pulled her into his arms. Holding her. “Slow down. We’ve had good news today. One thing at a time. Right?”
She nodded, sniffling back a tear.
“Let’s get this guy behind bars, and we’ll tackle the other stuff together. No one is going to hurt you on my watch.”
“You can’t watch me twenty-four/seven.”
“I can if you’ll let me. Natalie, please give me a chance.”
“But could I ever let my guard down? It wouldn’t be fair to you if I didn’t.” How her heart wanted to believe that shecould love him the way he deserved, but her heart had fooled her before. She put her hand on his chest. “Go do your job.”
“This is more than my job, Natalie. Don’t go letting an overheard conversation turn into shrapnel that blows everything up. I care for you. This is notjustdoing my job.”
“I’m sorry. That wasn’t fair.”
“Do you want to ride back to Richmond with me? We can bring the puppy. You could stay at my place.”
