“Oh, you are an angel.” Her phone rang, and she withdrew it from her pocket and frowned. “Sorry. I have to answer this.”
“All good. I’ll pack up my tools.”
She moved down the hall to answer the call, and he began taking things back to his truck. He was just packing the back of his truck when his phone vibrated with a text.
Clara: Hey. Just letting you know I won’t be at running club for the next week.
What the hell? Why? Because ofhim? Or was it her health?
An uncomfortable pit formed in his stomach.
Holden: Is everything okay?
Clara: I’m not injured or sick, if that’s what you mean. Have a great week.
Itwashim. He started writing that she didn’t need to miss it on his account but stopped. If she was going, so was he…and she was clearly trying to avoid him.
And he couldn’t blame her for that. He’d kissed her twice, then pushed her away.
He didn’t know what the hell to write, so he went with something simple that didn’t even begin to fix anything.
Holden: You too, Clara. Call if you need anything.
He cursed and shoved the cell into his pocket.
Once everything was clean and his tools were in the truck, he stepped back into the house. Deb still wasn’t back. He started down the hall, only to stop when he heard a shouted whisper.
“Stop! You’re blowing everything out of proportion. You need to let it go. I need to go.”
Holden was just turning when a door swung open.
Deb’s brows rose. “Holden.”
He cleared his throat. “Hey. Just came to find you to tell you that I’ve finished.”
“Good. Great. Thank you.”
“Is everything okay?”
Her gaze flicked to her phone, then back to him. “Yeah. Like I said, every workplace is complicated.”
So, she’d been talking to someone from work.
“Thank you again for your help,” Deb hurried to add. “I’ll pay the rest of the invoice today.”
“Call if you have any issues.”
He turned and headed back to his truck. Once inside, he didn’t leave right away but kept his eyes on the house.
What was going on at that hospital? And why did it feel like a bigger deal than everyone was letting on?
CHAPTER 14
Clara stared at the text message as she leaned on the kitchen island, the cool evening breeze running over her skin from the open window. It was the third in the last three days from Holden. How was she supposed to get space from him when he kept contacting her? Did hewanther to never get over him? Because that was how it felt.
She’d ignored the first text. Responded with a short “I’m fine” text yesterday. And just now, he’d texted to ask if they could talk.
About what? About how they kept doing this thing where she told him she loved him, he kissed her, then he pulled away and they were back where they’d started?
