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“Who knows? It’s none of my business,” she said.Or yours, she wanted to add but didn’t. “Anyway, things can always change.”
He shoved his hands into the pockets of his wrinkled chinos. “I never expectedthatto be one of them.”
“Maybe it isn’t. I don’t know anything about it.” She hiked her purse up higher on her shoulder. “Well, I’ve got a lot to do. I’d better go.”
“Of course,” he said. “You’re a busy person.”
She managed another smile despite the sarcasm in his response. These days, he could barely conceal how much he hated her. But at least she hadn’t married him. That would’ve been worse.
Lifting her chin in an attempt to make it appear he didn’t bother her, she started to walk away but had taken only a few steps when her phone dinged. She’d received a text.
Because she was still conscious of that white Audi, which might or might not belong to Jordan Forbes, she paused to see if it was from Ellen.
Sure enough, it was. But her friend’s response wasn’t what she was expecting.
That looks like his Audi to me.
“Shit.” Talulah would’ve gone back and tried to look through the stores and businesses nearby to see if Jordan was really there and to find out what he was doing. But she’d just gotten rid of Charlie, and she didn’t want to run into him again.
Seventeen
“What is it?” Hendrix could tell that Ellen had just received a text message that bothered her.
“Nothing.” She had to yell above the sound of the machinery to be heard as she slid her phone into her pocket.
“It’s something,” he insisted, also raising his voice.
She gestured to signify the noise was too difficult to talk over, no doubt assuming that would put an end to the conversation. But they’d just hit their depth target, so he shut the drill down. After that phone call from Stuart last night, he’d been trying not to interact with Ellen too much today. But trying not to speak to someone he actually enjoyed speaking to seemed so contrived it required too much effort. It came much more naturally to tease and joke around with her, especially since she had such a quirky personality and could be so sarcastic, which he found amusing. They’d even shared some of the food they’d brought for lunch. “What aren’t you telling me?” he asked.
She scowled. “I can handle it.”
That could be true, but she was worried about something. He’d seen the alarm that’d crossed her face when she looked at her phone. “You won’t tell me what’s going on?” He gestured at the rig. “We still have to set and wire the pump. We’ve got nothing but time.”
When he came to help this morning, he’d assumed they’d finish in half a day. But thanks to a worn-out bit and a trip to the hardware store, it was nearly three and they still had several hours of work to go. He’d left a few times to pick up parts for the Fetterman drilling crew he was in charge of and to drop some paperwork by the office—to put in an appearance and keep things moving forward somewhat while he was away—but then he’d returned.
With a sigh, she pulled her phone out and showed him what Talulah had sent her.
“That looks like Jordan’s Audi,” he said as he studied the picture.
“I think it is,” she responded.
“Can you be sure? There are more trucks and SUVs than anything else in this part of the state, of course, but Audis are popular enough, especially white ones.”
She moved closer to be able to point at the license plate in the picture. “This Audi has Oregon plates.”
He grimaced. “What reason could that asshole have for coming back?”
“I have no clue, but I saw this car last night, so if it’s him, he’s been here for a while.”
“On a Tuesday. Doesn’t he work?”
“Maybe he’s so weird that he’s already ruined the practice he purchased and doesn’t have enough patients to keep him busy.”
Hendrix laughed at her response. “That would certainly make him available. But what’s his purpose in coming?”
“To make me regret lodging a complaint against him, I guess.”
“Do you still have his number?”
