He clutched his chest over his heart. “You wound me.” Not that he hadn’t thought about helping her spend her windfall, but that was before Arnie showed up, before Malcolm had complicated things, before Donovan found himself wanting more from this woman. “If you change your mind, I’ll be in my room keeping the champagne cold.”
“Right now,” Goldie said as she picked up one of the café aprons with her name printed on it, “I just need to be alone to say goodbye one last time.”
MAX SAW THEclosed sign and beyond it the light coming from the kitchen. He knew Goldie would be there. He recalled how she loved to go in early to work when it was quiet so she could start her day. Because of that, he assumed she would be alone.
Except when he came around the back through the alley, he saw Donovan Cole leaving and swore. For a moment, he hesitated. But what he had to say to Goldie couldn’t wait. He hung back until Donovan disappeared down the alley before he entered the café through the back door.
“Goldie!” he called out, not wanting to startle her. He could hear no sound as he headed toward the kitchen and that worried him. “Goldie?” Max knew that if she was here, she must have heard him and yet she still hadn’t answered. A feeling of dread settled in his stomach. He had no idea how Donovan and Malcolm Mandeville were involved, only that they were. If something had happened to Goldie—
As he came around the corner, he pulled up short. She was standing in the middle of the kitchen facing him. Her expression was one of hope and that alone broke his heart.
“What are you doing here?” she asked, her voice strained.
“I need to talk to you.”
She nodded, looking both emotionally and physically exhausted. “Just tell me whatever it is.”
Who could blame her after all this time of him saying nothing to her at all? He’d handled this so badly and had no excuse. Just the sight of this woman made his heart ache. “Could we maybe sit down?”
Goldie shook her head, her blond ponytail wagging. She crossed her arms. “I’m fine right here for whatever you have to say.”
Max already felt off balance. He knew this conversation wasn’t going to go well. Given that she was already angry, he wasn’t sure how to proceed. “All right,” he conceded as he glancedaround the kitchen. He saw that she’d been pulling down some of her personal things from this place she loved.
He swallowed the lump that rose in his throat, knowing he was responsible for this. Earlier, he’d seen hope. But it had been quickly dashed, as if she knew he hadn’t come to reconcile. Now there was anger and more pain than he’d ever seen in her eyes. He swore under his breath. The bad news he’d brought was only going to make this harder.
“I understand that a man by the name of Arnie Adams is buying the café.” She said nothing, waiting impatiently. “Did he mention where he learned to cook?” Her eyes narrowed to slits. “Prison. Recently he’s been working as a cook for Malcolm Mandeville, a known crime boss living outside of Laramie, Wyoming. I suspect Arnie is being backed in his purchase of your café by Malcolm and I’m not sure why.”
Her lips had drawn into a straight line. He noticed also that her right hand had dropped to the counter behind her, closing around the handle of an iron skillet.
He rushed on, afraid she wasn’t going to let him finish before she started swinging. “He isn’t the only one who’s associated with the crime family. Donovan Cole has been dating Lolly Mandeville, Malcolm’s daughter—that is, until he showed up in Dry Gulch.”
Her eyes widened for a moment, then quickly narrowed again. A flush had come to her cheeks. He could see the rapid rise and fall of her chest but had to tell her his greatest fear.
“For some reason, Malcolm has taken an interest in our town, and I fear Donovan is going to involve you,” Max said. “Whatever is going on, it could get dangerous.” He stopped and the room fell deathly quiet.
“That’s what you had to say to me after all of these months apart?” she asked in a whisper as she picked up the iron skillet. “After all this time of not being even able to look me in theeye, that’s what you just had to tell me today, of all days?” she demanded, her voice rising.
“Goldie,” he said, holding up his hands as she advanced toward him.
“Get out. Get out, Max. Now.”
He took a step back. “Goldie, I had to warn you. I’m not sure what they’re up to but I fear you’ll get caught in the middle. Whatever is going on between you and Donovan Cole, at least help me stop Arnie from whatever he has planned. Maybe Donovan isn’t part of it. But maybe he is. If you’re close to him maybe—”
“You want me to spy on my lover?”
He winced, the word was like an ice pick jabbed into his eye and straight into his brain.Lover?He didn’t want to believe it had gone that far, but he’d seen the change in her. If putting the café up for sale and Donovan was about making him regret breaking up with her, then it had worked. He was miserable seeing her with another man let alone even considering that she might leave Dry Gulch and never come back.
“That’s all you have to say to me after five years together?” She flung the skillet at him. It ricocheted off the wall next to him before thumping to the floor.
He saw her looking around for another weapon. “Goldie—” Breathing hard, she’d picked up a huge metal bowl and winged it at him like a Frisbee.
If only he had stopped all of it before it had gone this far… But he hadn’t. He’d stubbornly held on to his determination that Goldie was better off without him. He’d driven Goldie into another man’s arms. Possibly a very dangerous man.
He ducked. The metal bowl clanged against the wall next to him before joining the skillet on the floor. “I’m leaving,” he said, holding up his hands. There was so much more he needed to say, but now wasn’t the time. He’d never seen her like this, hethought as he quickly turned and rushed down the hallway to the back door. He could hear her behind him throwing things, her rage turning to angry tears as he reached the back door.
As he opened it, he turned to look at her and felt his heart shatter. She stood at the end of the hall as broken as he felt. He loved her. She was the only woman he would ever love and all he’d done was hurt her. For a moment, he couldn’t leave her like this. He desperately wanted to go back, take her in his arms and promise her that everything was going to be all right now.
But he couldn’t do that for so many reasons, he told himself as he stepped out into the alley, closing the door behind him and bending over in pain as he tried to catch his breath.
