“What in the world is going on out here?” Camri asked as she and Judith joined the trio. “I could hear you all the way inside the warehouse.”
“Micah, are you all right?” Judith asked.
“I assure you, my dear woman, this man is hardly the one to concern yourself with,” Arthur replied. “He’s threatening me, not the other way around.”
Micah still held Arthur’s arm and looked as if he would pummel him at any moment. Kenzie didn’t know what to say or do. As Micah and Arthur began to talk over each other in explanation, Kenzie wanted only to get away from them all. So, with everyone clearly occupied, she did exactly that.
CHAPTER
11
Camri had little tolerance for ranting. “Silence, both of you!”
Micah looked at her in surprise, while Arthur straightened and freed himself from Micah’s hold.
“Honestly, the two of you shouting over each other is hardly the way to explain yourselves.”
“Then ask Kenzie,” Micah said. He turned to question the redhead, but she was gone.
“I can’t say I blame her for leaving,” Camri declared. She looked at Arthur. “Who are you?”
“I’m Arthur Morgan, the man Kenzie was supposed to marry.”
Camri couldn’t hide her surprise. Her mouth dropped open, and she wanted to speak, but the words stuck in her throat.
“He says he never deserted Kenzie. That the letter you encouraged her to write proved to him that his family were the ones to blame,” Micah interjected.
Camri regained her composure. “I think maybe we should go inside and sit down. Judith, would you get us some coffee and maybe something to eat? I have a feeling this is going to take a while.” She started into the warehouse and called over her shoulder. “Don’t just stand there, gentlemen. Come along and let me hear what you have to say.”
Once they were inside, she waited until Judith brought coffee and cookies before she posed the first question. She fixed Arthur Morgan with the look she gave students who failed to turn in an examination.
“Are you saying that you had nothing to do with leaving Kenzie at the altar?”
“I swear I didn’t. I received a letter on the day of our wedding. It was supposedly from Kenzie, and she said she was canceling the wedding. She refused me. Or so I thought,” Arthur declared. He straightened his suit coat and brushed off the sleeves. “I was just as deceived as she.”
“Where is she?” Judith asked.
Camri glanced down the warehouse toward the private quarters. “I imagine she’s gone off to be alone. We can talk to her in a bit. Right now, I want to know why Mr. Morgan is here.”
“But I’ve already explained. It was all a mistake, and I’ve come to rectify it. I want Kenzie to come away with me and marry me.”
“Well, we don’t always get what we want,” Micah said, his eyes narrowing.
“I do,” Arthur countered with equal hostility.
“Look, you two. This isn’t helping.” Camri poured them each a cup of coffee. “Drink this and calm down.”
Micah ignored his coffee. “This buffoon thinks he can show up months after the fact with a story of how he didn’t leave Kenzie at the altar and just expects us to believe him. I’m telling you it’s a bald-faced lie.”
“How can you be so sure?” Judith asked.
“Because what man in his right mind wouldn’t fight for that woman? He just accepted the notion that she was rejecting him.” Micah grinned. “That would never have stopped me, as you both well know. I find it hard to believe any man who was truly in love with her would have let it stop him.”
“I tried to go to her. Her father refused me.” Arthur put down his cup. “I did my best to see her.”
“I find that hard to believe.”
“I do too,” Camri replied. “Kenzie said you never came to explain or offer her any kind of understanding. You simply went abroad.”
