Page 96 of Trouble Walked In

She could call him to find out, but if she did, he probably wouldn’t answer. He hadn’t reached out to her since he left.

This debate wasn’t getting her anywhere. She should just be an adult and call.

She scrolled through her contacts until his face popped up, then hesitated. What, exactly, was she going to say? Hi, sorry I was such a jerk the last time we spoke. Thanks for fixing the pipes?

“This is ridiculous,” she told herself.

She’d start with thank you and go from there. She touched his number and waited. It rang once, then went straight to voicemail.

She hung up before the beep sounded.

Great, now he’d have a notification that she called but left no message.

She glared at the phone. She could call him back and leave a message, or she could text him instead.

Text seemed like a safer way to go.

She opened a text message and stared at the blinking cursor.

Finally, she tapped out,I’ll pay you back for the repairs. Let me know how much.

She waited a few minutes, but he didn’t respond.

She tried again.Heard about the deal. Congrats?

Still nothing.

Either his phone was off, or he was really busy.

Or he was ignoring her.

Irritated, she thrust the phone into her back pocket and drained the wine glass. If he didn’t want to talk to her, there was nothing she could do about it from here.

Three weeks later,Renic still hadn’t responded, even though she’d sent enough text messages to qualify for a novel, and tried calling twice. Piper texted a short,Go C him, while Mattie spent an hour on video chat late one night talking through her latest love song lyrics because, as she said, “They might help you sort out some things.”

Carrie advised her to hunt him down and bang him like a tambourine to get him back.

Despite what she’d told Della, she wasn’t sure she was going to the kickoff until the day before, when she went over her accounts in anticipation of the next event and realized that with the repairs paid for, plus the amount Renic paid for the rooms, she was well ahead of where she needed to be.

It felt wrong.

He couldn’t ignore her if she was at the launch.

She’d go to Della’s show, hand Renic a check for the repairs, apologize for her bad behavior, and leave with a clear conscience.

With that firmly in mind, she drove from the inn to the city in the old truck she and the Belhurst staff used for deliveries, which left her with plenty of quality alone time to think about what she’d say when she finally stood face to face with Renic. She rehearsed out loud, to be sure she wouldn’t stammer through it when the time came.

“I’m sorry for what I said, but my point still stands. You’ve been so busy you can’t even pick up the phone or text me back, so clearly you don’t have time for a relationship. Tell me how much I owe you, and I’ll get out of your life.”

It sounded petty and spiteful even to her own ears.

She tried again. “Look, we had a good time, but we both have very different lives. This was never going to work. So please just tell me how much you paid Bill and I’ll get the money to you.”

No. That didn’t feel right, either.

After an hour of silent driving, she tried saying what was really going through her head.

“I can’t stop thinking about you. Every time I go to Lookout Point I feel you next to me. I’ve been to the Still & Grill three times, because it reminds me of you. I sat in the Rose Room for hours one night, picturing myself next to you in that bed.”

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