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“Then why did you open the door?”
She willed herself not to let her voice wobble. “To tell you to leave. And take your wife with you.”
“Mandi is gone. And she won’t be back.”
A wave of relief washed over her. “Good. Now leave. I want you gone before the guests start to arrive.”
“So, you don’t want to hear how Mandi is my ex-wife?”
Her gaze narrowed. “But she was wearing wedding rings.”
He nodded. “She does that every time she has a fight with her boyfriend, and she decides she wants me back.”
“She’s done this before?”
He nodded. “But she’s never tracked me down out of state. That is definitely a new one for her.”
Her heart wanted to believe him, but her mind said to be cautious. “You must do something to keep her coming back.”
He shook his head. “I don’t. I swear. She just hears what she wants to hear. And she’s very spoiled—used to having whatever she wants. She was an only child, and her parents have always doted on her.”
Leah crossed her arms. “So what? You just let her interrupt your life whenever she wants?”
He rubbed the back of his neck. “I haven’t figured out how to keep her away. I even blocked her on my phone, but she didn’t get the hint. I’m still not sure how she found me here.”
“Maybe your family told her.”
He shook his head. “I doubt it. They know I’ve been having problems with her.”
“Could she have a tracking app on your phone?”
He started to shake his head, but then he stopped and arched a brow. “It wouldn’t be beyond her. But it would have had to have been put on there when we were still married. That was more than two years ago.” The more he thought about it, the more it seemed possible. “But it would explain a lot of things.”
“It doesn’t matter. Please go.”
He hesitated. “You won’t give me a second chance?”
She shook her head. “You didn’t mention that you had been married, but I opened up to you about my past—my family.”
She couldn’t let herself be vulnerable to another person, especially someone who shared bits and pieces of their life. She wasn’t going to live like that again.
“Goodbye.” She turned and stepped inside. Before she could get the door closed Mochi ran inside. She couldn’t just throw the pup out too. She turned back to Shaun. “If you want, Mochi can stay until you figure out how to get back to Louisville.”
“You’d do that?”
Her gaze moved to the pup, who was sitting obediently and sending her a pleading look, like she knew what they were discussing.
Leah nodded. “Yes. Just let me know when you’re ready to take her.”
“Leah, I’m so sorry.”
She closed the door. She didn’t want to hear his apology. Her mother had apologized a lot during Leah’s childhood—when she refused to reveal the identity of her father—when she lost yet another job—when she’d gotten them evicted from yet another apartment. Apologies were only words. It was a person’s actions that mattered the most.
Chapter Twenty-Five
It was over.
Shaun felt devastated as he walked into town. Lucky for him, the inn was on the edge of town, which made it possible to walk anywhere in town.
