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He swiped a wedge of pancake. “Don’t I know it.”
“Did you just take a pregnant woman’s food?”
“Yup!”
She shook her head at him, smiling and he waved goodbye, heading back to the counter to sweet talk Ruby into making him a raspberry tea, which she thankfully had.
He sang along to the Iron Maiden track blasting from the car’s sound system as he drove out towards the shelter, cradling the raspberry tea like his life depended on it. It was his lifeline to Rebelle.
When he arrived, he noticed the door to the shelter wasn’t open like it usually was and she wasn’t waiting for him.
Concern furrowed his brow which had developed even more freckles from his time in the sun. He stuffed the donut bag under his arm, grabbed the tea and his coffee and headed towards the door, turning the handle but it didn’t budge. He tried again and nothing.
He knocked. “Rebelle? You there?”
There was silence but he could have sworn he caught her scent and the hitch of her breathing through the door.
He knocked again. “Rebelle? Can you let me in? I’ve got something I think you’re going to like,” he teased, trying to reel her in with intrigue but it didn’t work.
Will pressed his ear to the door and heard movement. “I know you’re in there. Rebelle, what’s going on?”
“I don’t need your help anymore, Will. You can leave,” came her voice. The sadness in her tone had him worried.
“What do you mean? There’s loads to do. Is everything okay? Are you okay?”
“I’m…” she trailed off and he held his breath waiting for her to say more. “Just please go, Will.”
“Belle, just tell me what’s going on. You can trust me.”
He heard her adorable snort through the door. “Can I?”
“Can you open the door? At least let’s talk in riddles face to face,” he tried to joke.
There was more silence then a firm, “I Googled you.”
His stomach lurched. This is why he hadn’t wanted to play the celebrity card with her, hadn’t wanted her getting some preconceived notion of him when he only wanted to be himself with her.
“Rebelle, I can explain-”
“You’ve been lying to me, misrepresenting yourself. You’re not who I thought you were. The man I saw on those clips, he was…” The quiver in her voice nearly broke him. “I don’t know him, and I don’t want to. I don’t want anything to do with him. Please leave, I don’t want you around me or my shelter.”
“You’re not even going to let me explain?”
“Don’t make me call Blake again.”
She would do it, he knew she would, and that was the last thing he wanted. Hurt that they had reverted back to this tried to prick at him but he refused to feel discouraged. He just needed to try another angle.
“You know, I Googled you too.” More silence. “And you know something, I knew that wasn’t you. Not for a second did I believe you were some black widow, husband-murdering evil woman. But did you stop to think that maybe what you saw isn’t me either?”
“It’s different, I actually saw your behavior.”
“On TV, for entertainment. That’s…that’s not the real me, Rebelle, it’s just a part I play. I’d like to show you the real me, if you’ll let me?”
He heard shuffling behind the door, then a softly muttered, “I should have known better.”
When it became clear the door wasn’t going to open he bent down and left the donuts and raspberry tea on the doorstep. “I’m gonna go, give you time to think on it. There’s some breakfastand a raspberry tea out here for you which a reliable source tells me you’re going to enjoy. I’ll come back in a few days.”
“Please don’t.” The wobble in her tone hit him like a punch to the gut.
