Then he wouldn’t know for certain. And he wouldn’t feel that whatever he said or didn’t say, he was withholding the truth from Willa.
“Nick . . .” Willa’s soft voice drew his gaze back to her. “What’s wrong?”
He didn’t want to tell her.
But he didn’t know if he could live with himself if he didn’t.
“Willa, there is something you should know,” he said carefully. “About your father’s Miracle Elixir.”
She tilted her head to the side just a bit as a tiny frown moved across her face.
It was too late now. He’d already said too much. There was no going back, no matter how much he wished for it. He took her hand in both of his, resting it between his palms as he searched for the strength to speak the truth. “It isn’t what it claims to be.”
Willa narrowed her eyes slightly, but she didn’t speak.
“I . . . Well, I had the opportunity to inspect it, and from what I could tell, the primary ingredients are mint, basil, and whiskey. There was something else in there I couldn’t quite identify, but I suspect it’s some sort of oil or other liquid to thin out and disguise the alcohol.”
Willa’s face had grown colder, her eyes more distant, as he’d spoken. “You inspected it? How, precisely?”
“It doesn’t matter—”
“But it does.” She pulled her hand from between his, but remained where she was, close to him. “Did you purchase a bottle?”
“No, I happened to be in the livery and—”
“You stole it?” Her eyes were ice and fire at the same time.
“No! Of course not. It was merely that the wagon was unattended and I . . . Well, I took advantage of that situation to answer a few questions I’d had since your father first arrived in this town.” The words didn’t come out the way he meant them to. He knew the moment they were out of his mouth that nothing he’d said sounded right.
“You trespassed onto property that wasn’t yours and took the liberty of perusing what was inside without permission, all to prove yourself right.” She took a step backward, and Nick’s heart ached with the very movement.
“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have done that. But Willa, you must admit it isn’t helping him. I couldn’t stand idly by and watch you rely on something that’s— that’s—”
“That’s what?” she said coolly.
He didn’t answer. Instead, he ran a hand over his chin in frustration. None of this had gone how he’d hoped. Why did he have to pry? No, he was right! She was angry with him for telling her the truth. But what had he expected? He knew she’d be upset. But he’d figured she’d feel betrayed by her father . . . Not him.
And yet here she was, standing now with her hands on her hips, the very image of when he’d first met her. Back when she’d thought him nothing but a pompous doctor, set on driving her father—and her—out of town.
“Did it occur to you that I didn’t want to know what was in the elixir? Did you think that perhaps I wanted to trust my father, to enjoy what . . .” She squeezed her eyes shut before opening them again, unshed tears shining in the lights. “What little time he might have left. And you’ve ruined that. How am I supposed to go up there and act normally with him, now that I know he’s been selling people . . .” Willa gestured uselessly at the hotel, which was only a few buildings away from where they’d stopped.
“Willa, I—”
“You’ve done enough, Dr. Gatewood,” she said, her manner colder than all the snow that lay in Creede. “Merry Christmas.”
And with that, she left him there on the street.
Alone.
