She snuck in and closed the office door behind her. Leaning against it, she crossed her bare legs in a way that might’ve been meant to entice me.
“This has got to stop, Gideon. You’ve been an ass since you got back.”
I had been. I glanced at the computer screen. The future wasn’t looking so hot either.
“Does this... does this have anything to do with that redhead?”
“My wife.”
“Excuse me?” She blinked her crystal-blue eyes.
“That redhead is my wife. And yes, it all has to do with her.”
Taya huffed. Hurt wiped out the astonishment on her face and an angry flush crawled up her skin. “Oh my god, Gideon. What were you thinking?”
“I’d be very careful how you continue.”
Tension radiated across her face. She shifted her weight from high heel to high heel. “Okay,” she said carefully. “I can read between the lines. You’re here and she doesn’t seem to be. So, I guess there must be trouble in paradise. Maybe you need to ask yourself what she can give you that you don’t already have?”
I didn’t have to ask myself. “Everything.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Gideon
Light snow was falling. I got out of my pickup and rolled my shoulders. The drive had been long, the roads had been crap for some of the way, but I’d made the haul in one day.
I faced the modern-looking condo buildings. They were single level and zero entry, hooked together and built in three different sections to make a courtyard that would be nice in the summer. Right now, the gazebo was full of snow. Same with the walking paths.
The sounds of distant engines surrounded me, but this neighborhood was quiet. The light in the unit before me glowed through the closed curtains.
I knocked on the door. The shuffle of footsteps was faint on the other side.
The door swept open without hesitation, not even enough time to have looked through the peephole. Dad’s brows lifted. His beard was neatly trimmed, but he worethe same old clothing as before. He was a wealthy man, but he appeared to be living simply still. “Giddy?”
“Hi, Dad.”
He didn’t move. I didn’t move.
He leaned out and looked around. His gaze landed on the brand-new red truck I’d bought the day before last. “You alone?”
So goddamn alone. “Why didn’t you sell to me? I need plain words.”
He sighed and pushed the door open. “Come on in. We’re heating up the neighborhood.”
The inside of his unit was completely different than the house I’d grown up in. He’d bought much-needed new furniture. A simple love seat and recliner. Not much more would fit. A small dining room linked the living room and the kitchen.
One thing was the same. The last family photo we’d taken the summer before Mom died hung on the wall across from the recliner. He’d have to look at Mom’s smiling face every day. In the picture, I was grinning. Mom had just teased Dad about his crooked mustache and we’d all laughed. The moment was captured for eternity.
I didn’t sit. I shoved my hands in my coat pockets. It was the same coat I’d used when I was here last time. “I know you said we all have to be free to live our own life. I think I understand, but I’m afraid I don’t. And I have to be sure.” My throat threatened to close up. “I have to be certain.”
He lowered himself onto the edge of the love seat and pressed his fingertips together. “Did you know your mother wanted to be a teacher?”
Shock hit before a slow burn of dawning horror. Theback of my neck grew hot as a few comments Dad had made when we’d talked last month crept in. “No.”
“She wasn’t allowed to leave town for college. Her place was the farm. Only child and all.”
The dismay seared worse in my gut. “She loved Percival.”
