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“Oh, okay.” California was Antarctica.
She looked up at me expectantly.
“What did you tell him?”
“I said I wasn’t sure.”
“Um, well, I’ll be on nights for another month, but if you wanted to go out sooner, I’m sure I can?—”
“No. I don’t. I’m not even sure I’m going to go out there.”
My heart slammed into my chest. “Are you thinking about going back to New York?” Was she going to get back together with her ex? The one who cheated on her?
Before she could answer, a call came over the radio hooked onto my shoulder strap.
“Kane, you on shift? We have a break-in over at the sawmill. It’s probably just kids, but the captain wants you and Sam to go check it out.”
“Yeah, I’m heading out now.” I released the button on the radio and forced myself to say things I didn’t mean. “Whatever you want to do, whenever you want to leave, we’ll be fine.”
Her lips pursed tightly together as she nodded.
“These are really good.” I held up the papers I’d been looking at. “You should do something with them,”
“Thanks.” She grinned, but the smile didn’t reach her eyes. “Have a good shift.”
I nodded, then turned and left.
Part of me wished I could have finished the conversation with her, but another part wasn’t sure if I was ready to hear what she had to say. What if she was going to get back together with her ex.? I knew he’d been calling and texting her. Was that the reason she wasn’t heading to California?
It was none of my business, but it felt like it was. She deserved better than someone who would cheat on her. She deserved someone who loved her, who cherished her, who loved the way she snorted when she laughed, and who loved how she hummed when she was washing dishes. She deserved someone who missed her when she was just in the next room and who wished he could climb into her brilliant brain to see the inner workings of her creative genius.
Someone like you, Tay’s voice sounded in my head.
I ignored it. Even if I could be that man, I was a panda. My life was here with the pandas, and she was a penguin.
27
RUBY
“It is what it is, but it’ll be what ya make it.” ~ Miss Dottie
I watched as Harper took off, racing across the green grass at the park toward her bestie, Lilah. Just like the rest of my life here in Wishing Well, meeting up with ‘the girls’ had become a routine. Every Friday afternoon, Destiny and I met at the park after summer camp, so Lilah and Harper could play. Sometimes, other people joined us. Harmony, Cara, Kenna, Kelsi, and about a dozen others also made the rotation. Most of them were Harmony’s SILs (she had a boatload). All of them were either married or engaged and madly in love with their significant others.
There had to be something in the water.
It was strange to have such a close network of supportive females. I’d never had a group of women friends like I had here. I’d had a lot of women who I’d thought were friends in New York, but the truth was they weren’t. One of the women I’d thought was my friend had given me ecstasy instead of a muscle relaxer, which could have been an innocent mistake, but I had a feeling it was to sabotage my performance. The other had slept with my boyfriend and then told me I had to move out because it was uncomfortable for them.
The ladies in Wishing Well weren’t like that. They were genuine, kind, and supportive. They actually cared about me. Today, it was just Destiny and Harmony at the park bench, sipping coffee, and I was grateful. If it were more than that, I’d feel the need to be ‘on’, which was something I was working on.
“So, how are things at Casa Kingston?” Harmony asked as I lowered myself down beside Destiny.
“Good.” I grinned, hoping that neither Destiny nor Harmony would notice that my nose was growing from my Pinocchio-sized lie. Things weren’t going well. Kane had been distant.
Ever since Kane came to my room to ask me to go to Wyatt’s wedding, he’d been different. Our routine hadn’t changed. We still all ate dinner together, and he was cordial with me, but there were no moments. The underlying sexual tension that was always present was gone. It just evaporated.
Kane had put up walls between us. I’d tried to tell myself that I was just being paranoid, but last night, I got proof that my intuition was correct. After dinner, Madison Turner stopped by with cupcakes she’d baked, and he sat out on the front porch with her for nearly a half hour talking.
I’d spent thirty minutes listening to her giggling and him being charming.
