Smith should have known this would happen after his relentless push back against all of her conciliatory attempts. He’d married a strong, proud, driven woman. And those were all traits that he admired in her. Traits that had drawn him to her
But she’d come here and had bravely revealed a fragility—asoftness—that she usually kept shielded. And what had Smith done with that trust? He’d gone and validated her reasons for protecting that rarely seen vulnerability from the world.
He’d brutally rejected her over and over again and had thrown her trust back in her face.
So fucking convinced that it was too late for them.
Only, maybe it hadn’t been too latethen.
But thanks to Smith’s colossal fuck-up, it certainly was now.
Kenny half expected Smith to be waiting for her on her porch when she returned home. She’d braced herself for that eventuality. She was relieved and maybe just theslightestbit disappointed when she arrived back to find nobody waiting for her.
Caleb helped her up the steps, watched her unlock her door and step inside, and then he dashed back down those same steps like a carefree kid after the final school bell.
Kenny chuckled as the man started the Mustang and spedaway with a squeal of tires. She had no doubt he’d be taking a bit of a joy ride on his way back to the rental company.
He’d be driving her around in her unexciting old SUV from tomorrow onward, so she didn’t begrudge him his fun now. It was a half an hour drive to the rental place. She hoped he enjoyed the ride. He deserved it after what must have been an extremely boring day for him.
She sank onto her new sofa with a relieved breath. She hadn’t wanted to give Caleb the satisfaction of seeing how drained she truly was. She didn’t need to see histold you sosmirk. She had to take her victories where she could.
She finally checked her messages from Smith and shook her head at the increasingly desperate parade of threats, pleas, and demands. The five voice notes followed a similar pattern.
But the last one, sent just half an hour ago, was different.
“I’ve been an arse today, Kenna…”
She raised a brow at that.“Today? Try all week.” Saying it out loud made her feel slightly better and she listened to the rest of the subdued message.
“I’m sorry. I hope you enjoyed your day. Maybe, next time, we could go—uh—sightseeing together? I’m not too familiar with the area either. We could discover it at the same time.”
What? Where was this all coming from? Was it his aim to confuse her? Was this his revenge for her being a shitty wife? A campaign of confusion to keep her constantly bewildered and wrong-footed?
She sighed, a noisy, impatient exhalation of air from her nostrils.
She tossed her phone aside, refusing to be drawn into a conversation with him. Refusing to even think about this any longer.
She’d bought a pizza for dinner, had a stack of romance novels obtained from the secondhand book stall at the fleamarket in Wilderness, and was looking forward to an early dinner with a glass of red wine and then…
Bath. Book. Bed.
Bliss.
Kenna
Tina has invited me to the football game tonight. I’ve accepted.
Smith’s fucking stupid heart actually stalled for a second when Kenna’s message came through unexpectedly at noon the following day.
He’d all but given up on hearing from her again. He’d fully expected her to avoid him for the remainder of her time in Riversend.
And he’d been trying to sort through the ethical dilemma of how to insert himself back into her life without being a total stalking bastard about it.
This unexpected message gave him a sliver of hope.
Before it had come, he’d been half listening to Harris rhapsodizing about how little Flynn—the older twin—was starting to toddle. And how Jamie had just said his first word. Harris predicted that Flynn would be more athletic, while Jamie would excel at academics.
Not exactly riveting stuff.
