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“I’m here if you ever need me,” he tried again, desperate to reach her, to not lose what they had started to build. Which really was nothing in the grand scheme of things but it had felt like the beginning ofsomething.
*
Will meandered through the rest of the week, struggling to turn his frown upside down, which was unlike him, but he was dejected after his encounter with Rebelle. Or rather, her door.
He also missed the dogs and Betty and Veronica. And he wanted to know how the new cat, Oscar, was getting on. Was he ruling the place or were Betty and Veronica keeping him in line? Was Bryan still following Rebelle around all day making moon eyes at her? Had any new animals come into the shelter?
It sucked big balls that he didn’t know the answers to any of those things and he was missing Rebelle. Her warm whiskey eyes that he could drown in. Her stern voice admonishing him, making him put a shirt on when she clearly found his shirtless torso interesting, even if she tried not to stare.
Tonight, he was at the bar, like he was every night, praying she was working. He hadn’t seen her for five days and he was getting withdrawal symptoms. She avoided him like he avoided his mom’s calls.
The knot in his chest was back. His anxiety soared at the mere thought of all those people counting on him, waiting for him to come back to work. Charities needing his attention. And he was hiding out in Citrus Pines because he couldn’t bear the thought of dealing with them all. Guilt burned in his throat, he triedto swallow it down, tried to shrug it off but the knot stretched tighter, stealing his breath.
Then she entered his atmosphere, distracting him, his whole body humming and on alert just in her presence. He was playing pool with Beau when she came in. His eyes flew to her, taking in her slight frame, the dark circles ringing her eyes and the stiff way she held herself. Their eyes connected and she stilled, only moving when the door banged closed behind her, startling her. The noise broke their connection and she rushed toward the bar. He heard her rushed apologies to Taylor as Taylor gently shushed her.
“Hey, bozo! It’s your turn,” Beau said, waving his hand in front of Will’s face.
Will blinked, tearing his attention away from Rebelle and focusing on making his shot. He sank his last two balls before the black, shooting Beau a smug smile.
Beau pouted. “Best two outta three?”
“You’re on. Rack ‘em up while I get us a couple more drinks.”
Beau followed his gaze to Rebelle then shook his head. “Man, you’ve got a death wish, don’t you?”
Will’s eyes flicked to Beau and he bristled. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means, no matter how much Blake warns you away, you’re determined to keep trying with Rebelle, aren’t you?”
His shoulders relaxed, realizing that Beau wasn’t referring to Rebelle’s past and whatever happened that night with her husband.
Will had meant it when he’d told Rebelle he Googled her. He hadn’t found much except a couple of poorly written local news articles that gave very few facts and a whole lot of hearsay. In his opinion Rebelle could have sued for defamation and made a tidy sum to help out with her shelter. But based on what little he knew about her, he figured she stayed away from the news.The only thing that Will took away from the detail he’d found was that she was married to a fucking asshole who left her with nothing.
“I’m glad Blake’s protective of her, she needs someone looking out for her.”
“Uh huh. And you want it to be you from now on?”
Will inspected his cuticles. “Maybe.”
Beau whistled. “Damn, Will. You really care about her? I’ve never seen you this interested in a woman before.”
Will shrugged him off and headed to the bar, his eyes never leaving Rebelle as she bustled about fetching drinks. Although she didn’t once meet his stare, she avoided him consistently like she knew he was there.
Eventually, when he was seconds away from having a bitch fit and demanding she look at him, Taylor appeared and served him. He slunk back to the pool table with his tail between his legs.
He played another round of pool, beating Beau again despite his attention being focused on the beauty behind the bar who refused to look his way all evening. Finally, he decided enough was enough and he went back to his cabin.
While he lay in bed, mulling over how to reach her, an idea struck him. Sometimes people needed something tangible, they needed to see the detail, the evidence to make an informed decision. Just like when he made a big business deal, he needed to see it laid out in black and white. The numbers, the facts, to tell him whether it was the right investment or not.
Will messaged Blake asking if he could swing by the station in the morning, then placed a call to his favorite reporter, asking for her to email him every article, good and bad that had been written about him. He contacted his clients and other people he’d worked with asking for a reference. He woke up his accountant and got access to his financial records. Pulled hiscontract withThe Viper Pit. And in the morning, he was up bright and early, that pep back in his step because he had a plan.
Will went to Palm Valley, stopping by the general store to buy a manila folder and went to the library and printed off all the emails he’d received and compiled everything.
It was all there, in black and white.
All his evidence.
His life laid out, every moment illuminated and exposed. He jumped in his Bugatti, his midlife crisis car as she’d called it, the thick folder on his passenger seat and drove back to Citrus Pines.
