“Yes,” Rick snapped.
“Fine. Like the time Jared moved back to Canada. Now can you leave me alone?”
Rick sucked in a breath and paused again. I could practically hear him checking flight times.
“I can probably get there by morning,” he said, more to himself than for my benefit. “No, you don’t need to come,” he replied to someone else.
Slush filled my stomach at the thought of anyone else seeing me like this or at his lumberjack learning what a mess I was.
“No one needs to come!” I said loudly.
“Babe. You have no choice. You can either tell me about it now or tell me about it when I get there. Either way, I’m coming.”
“That’s what he said,” I replied, closing my eyes at the shit storm that had become my life.
“That’s my girl,” he said. “Text me the address of that café you’re staying at. And so help me, Riley, if you don’t, I will turn up in that town and visit every café until I find you.”
He would too. He’d even gone to June’s when he couldn’t find me after the Jared thing. I hadn’t been there, of course. Sharing my vulnerability with family had never been my thing.
“There’s only two cafe's in town.”
“Then it won’t take me long.”
A noise escaped me like a hiccup, although I’d stopped crying hours ago.
“Can you hang out with Breeze tonight? Or that tiny dog—what’s its name? Croissant?”
“Taco,” I corrected. “I don't want to tell anyone.”
“Then tell the dog.”
“She doesn’t want to hear my crap.” Even as I said it, I knew it wasn’t true. Taco was like a magical little unicorn that absorbed every negative feeling around her and replaced it with love.
“Try her,” he said and hung up.
But inside the flat above the closed café, Taco was nowhere to be seen. I guessed Breeze was taking her business budget nights more seriously than I’d thought.
My phone buzzed again as I fumbled in the dark to get upstairs, and I answered it on autopilot.
“Farrrk off,”I sighed into the speaker. Rick was winning the award for most annoying friend tonight.
“Riley?” came the gravelly voice.
Heat flooded my face.
I threw my head back and groaned. “Thought you were someone else.”
Dax cleared his throat. “Sorry. I was calling to see how things were going with the house. I can call back another time.”
“Why?” I snapped, more sharply than I meant to. “It’s not like you’re here. Why are you still calling about it?”
He’d left. Like everyone always did.
Silence filled the line.
“Why do you care at all?” Apparently, I was on a roll. “You’re all so bloody nosy. If I wanted you to know, you would know. If there were a problem, I’d call the police. I know you’ve got some kind of saviour complex, but you’re not the only person working in this town, no matter how much you want people to think that.”
I heard him swallow, and he cleared his throat again. “Sorry about the misunderstanding. It won’t happen again.”
