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The buzzing grew louder. “Find out what? That you’re in town and didn’t tell me? That you work for my biggest competition?” And louder still, she said, “That you’re a low-down dirty liar?” The words were harsh, her delivery hard, and all the while she was fighting back angry tears of disappointment.
Why was she so dumb? Why did she let him hurt her again? She knew better, she’d already been down this road with him once before. What was worse, her heart still wanted him to reach for her, to hold her tight, to tell her how sorry he was.
Even now!
It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t right. She shouldn’t be this desperate for love.
This needy.
“I didn’t lie,” Jimmy said. “I’ve only been in town for a couple days.”
“Then why not tell me?” She couldn’t give him an inch—she wouldn’t.
He rubbed a hand through his hair, mussing up the curls that brushed the back of his neck. The curls she used to like to run her fingers through when they watched TV. She shook that thought right out of her head and hardened her heart. She had been thinking about him, about reconnecting and getting a second chance, for a solid year.
What a waste!
Her temples started to throb.
What a fool she was.“So you work at my competition? At the place that is trying to put me out of business? Why would you do that?” Her voice was hard. Sharp.
Surprise widened his eyes as his head swung back and forth. “No. Of course not. We’re not trying to hurt your business. I swear.”
She didn’t hear him. She didn’t care. She jumped to her feet so fast her chair fell backward behind her and hit the floor with a loud crash. “Well, let me assure you, you will not succeed. I will stop you.” Her cheeks burned as she turned and saw everyone in the surrounding area staring at her, whispering. Humiliated and heartbroken, she fled from the room.
Why did she let herself believe they could have a chance?
There were no second chances.
Ever.
CHAPTER4
Jimmy picked up the chair off the floor and watched Roni and her friend leave the coffee shop. He felt horrible. He should have said something to her yesterday when he saw her at her coffee shop, but after hearing her and her friends complaining about his family’s business, he didn’t know what to say. So he turned tail and ran.
He didn’t run from confrontation in his normal life, so why did he always do it with her?
“What’s going on?” his mom asked, standing beside him as they both watched Roni through the window until she disappeared from view.
“I blew it, Mom. I didn’t tell her about this place. That I was working here, that I was even in town.”
Confusion crinkled her brow and her eyes narrowed. “Why would you have to tell her anything? You haven’t seen Roni since high school. Why would she expect you to suddenly call her the minute you get back in town?”
“Mom, I told you last Christmas we started talking again. I was planning to come home then, but we went on that cruise instead. We continued talking all year. Regularly.”
“Oh.” Her eyes widened with surprise. “I had no idea.”
“She runs Coffee Corner downtown. I didn’t tell her about this place or that I was even in town. Apparently, Frankie’s has been cutting into her business. That was probably why she was here, to check out the competition, and then she found me.”
“I suppose that must have been a shock.”
“I’m sure it was. I was going to surprise her last night, but then I heard her and her friends talking about the tree trimming event we’re having, and I left.”
“Well, she shouldn’t hold that against us. She certainly can’t expect to be the only coffee shop in town, and if our success in the short time we’ve been here has caused her problems, then maybe she needs to take a good look at her business plan. She’s not the only one working hard to make her business a success.” She gave his arm a pat, then turned and walked back to her customers.
Jimmy didn’t know why he expected anything different from his no-nonsense, tell-it-like-it-is mom. She had a point, but that didn’t mean he shouldn’t have told Roni about this place before she walked in and was confronted with the truth head-on.
She deserved better.
