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“What, now?” she gasped. “We’re still working on the barn.”
“No. We’re pretty much finished,” he countered casually. “I think Tristan can handle the rest. I’ve been pretty itchy for a while. It was only a matter of time, right?”
Her bemused expression tore through him unexpectedly, which felt oddly appropriate. Of course this should hurt—and probably a lot more. He’d never have enough pain piled on top of his chest to atone for his crimes.
“I was always kind of braced for it. I just didn’t think it would happen so soon,” she said.
“What can I say? It’s time and there’s not really any reason to stay.”
The lie nearly lodged in his throat but he managed to spit it out without tripping over it. The real test lay in whether he’d sold it—she’d picked up on his angst earlier, so there was no guarantee she wouldn’t sense something amiss now.
But she seemed to absorb his statements readily, nodding fast and blinking a lot. “Okay. I’ll miss our conversations. But I understand.”
“Okay, good.” There didn’t seem to be anything else to say, though why he was so reluctant to walk away remained a mystery. “I’ll miss you too.”
Not their conversations. But her. She didn’t seem to notice the slip, just backed away quickly. “I have to get to the diner. Please don’t leave without saying goodbye. Promise me.”
“I won’t.” Though that might be a lie too. He didn’t think he could do this again.
How was he supposed to leave when he’d just realized he’d found the place where he could breathe? It was wherever Aria Nixon was. And he had to go.
Fourteen
Aria doubled back around as soon as she was out of sight of the barn, her heart pounding in her chest as she ran full tilt toward Cassidy’s house. Isaiah was leaving. She had to let Cassidy know this was her last chance with the man. If she wanted to make a move, she had to do it soon.
Then Aria’s conscience would be clear. She didn’t have to feel guilty about how every time she got near Isaiah after Tristan’s revelations, she’d searched his face for some indication that he was looking at her a certain way. And saw nothing more than the way he always looked at her, with his blend of complete focus, a slight smile as if he found everything she said fascinating and his dual-chromatic eyes melting with unfathomable things she wished she could explore.
In short, she was in a lot of trouble.
Cassidy answered the door as if she’d been standing there waiting for her. But then her friend’s face registered mild surprise and she glanced over Aria’s shoulder. “What are you doing here?”
r /> “You were expecting someone else?” she joked and then realized that Cassidy actually was craning her neck in expectation of seeing someone besides Aria on her doorstep. “Oh, like who?”
“I thought maybe Tristan had followed me in order to get the last word in. That man is the worst combination of player, flirt and egomaniac. It’s like he loves the sound of his voice so much that he thinks the rest of us do as well.”
“Um… I think he’s mostly nice,” she ventured, a little thrown off by the venom in Cassidy’s voice. “And that’s not what I came to talk about. You have to hurry up with Isaiah. He’s leaving town. Probably permanently.”
A puzzled frown drifted over Cassidy’s expression. “Isaiah. What am I hurrying up with him for?”
“You know.” Exasperated with the cluelessness of basically everyone on the planet, she rolled her hand in a get on with it motion. “Because you like him. You haven’t made a move yet and now he’s leaving. Maybe if you tell him how you feel, he’ll reconsider leaving and stay. That would so romantic, if he—”
Cassidy cut her off with a bemused laugh. “Aria, I’m not interested in Isaiah. I think he’s cute and all, but I gave up on him a long time ago. Right about the same moment when I figured out that you two were perfect for each other.”
“You, um…figured out—you…I mean, what?” Her eyelids fluttered closed as about forty-seven different emotional reactions swamped her at once, none of which she could sort fast enough to pick the strongest.
“I thought you guys were spending time together. Alone.” Cassidy smiled gently. “Getting to know each other. You forget how small this town is, clearly, if you thought that was a secret. Besides, I’m not blind. I see your face when he talks to you.”
“What does it do?” she whispered, fairly certain she was going to hear that she looked at him like he hung the moon, or some variation thereof, because of course she did.
All of this felt strangely inevitable. She’d started falling for him and her stupid face had broadcast that. Probably that’s why the almost kiss had happened, because she’d given away what was going on inside without realizing it. He’d responded in the way that made sense to him—and thank goodness she’d fled.
Imagine if she’d given in. They would have shared an amazing kiss, maybe more. Probably more. She’d certainly been primed for it. And then she’d have floated away in a cloud of bliss, only to wake up the next morning to learn that once again, she hadn’t been enough to keep someone she cared about in town.
Because he’d still be leaving. Of that she had no doubt.
“You look like a woman who has found everything she’s looking for. Which begs the question. Why do you look like you’re about to cry?” Cassidy asked, her concern bleeding through the palm she reached out and placed on Aria’s forearm. “Am I wrong about all of this?”
“No.” She sniffled as she realized Cassidy had called it in one. She was about to cry. “He’s on his way out of town. What am I supposed to do about that?”
