“Did you like the ring I picked out?”
“Yes. It’s perfect.”
“I’m glad you like it.”
“I love it. I just…I can’t…” More tears welled up in her eyes. Valene sniffed them away and looked down at the space between them. They were less than two feet apart, but it felt like a canyon-sized gap.
“I love you, Valene. I don’t know what the problem is, but I’m willing to do just about anything to fix it.”
She nodded. “I know.”
“Please trust me. Just tell me the problem.”
Valene opened her mouth to blurt everything out. Everything. She slammed her lips shut before she did. Closing her eyes, she got hold of herself, breathing deeply in and out a couple of times to steady her nerves.
Valene opened her eyes, focused on his gorgeous face and said, “I understand. I truly am sorry.” She reached behind her to grasp the doorknob, knowing that if she didn’t get out of here right this second, her resolve would vanish completely.
“Please don’t leave, Vee.”
She paused. The vision of being with him on Alpha-Prime after he gave up everything for her dropped into her mind. His only bonus was having her as a wife, but in a completely foreign and literally alien land. Would he think she was worth it? Maybe she didn’t want to know the answer to that question. What if one day he regretted the decision to be with her while his family suffered not knowing what had happened to him? Easy. She couldn’t. She just couldn’t do that to him or his family.
Valene found a slim shred of resolve, twisted the knob, opened the door and slipped outside without another word. She stood on the back porch for a long moment after closing the door on the only man she would ever love. Valene’s heart was about to break, but it didn’t hurt as much as hearing Wyatt slide the dead bolt into place.
Locking her out of his home, his life and his love forever.
Chapter Five
Diesel tried not to be annoyed, but it wasn’t working. Nova directed him upstairs to the Big Bang Truck Stop’s human convenience store area to speak to Daphne Charlene Dumont. He had heard of her, of course. She ran a business in a neighboring town, but he’d never met her. And he couldn’t fathom a reason for her visit.
Diesel looked at the surveillance feeds before going to greet her.
Tall, willowy, and fairly pretty for a woman who wasn’t his wife, Daphne Charlene waited by the registers with an expression he defined as determined.
Diesel emerged from the back hallway and the sign above his door that labeled him Fearless Leader. He walked past the Maxwell the Martian fortune-teller box end cap and down the snack aisle to greet his unexpected visitor.
“Miss Dumont?” he said when he got close enough.
She whirled to face him, a large smile in place. “Diesel Grey. Please, call me Daphne Charlene.”
“How can I help you?”Please let this be quick.
Daphne Charlene looked over her shoulder at the clerk, moved closer to Diesel and asked, “Is there somewhere we could go that is more private? The matter I want to discuss is a bit, shall we say, delicate.”
Space potatoes. This willnotbe quick.
He motioned her toward the back of the convenience store and down the aisle with the sale items of Maxwell the Martian products. Currently it was the quietest place in the store.
“Will this do?”
She looked around and shrugged, looking disappointed. She’d likely expected an invitation to the back office. Too bad.
“Last night I happened to be in Old Coot at a local biker bar of all places, and I saw your sister there with someone very surprising.”
“Oh?” His heart sank.This will be a lengthy disaster.She must have seen Valene with Wyatt.
Daphne Charlene’s expression shifted to one of innocent concern. Diesel didn’t buy it for one minute. She wanted to tattle on them.
