Page 59 of The Night Ride
Wholly.Completely.With every fiber of my being in love with her.Leaving her felt as if I’d carved what remained of my heart and soul out and left it on her doorstep.
Beth had only wanted me to love her.It didn’t mean we couldn’t commit to each other, get to know each other more during my last two years in the Navy before I hit retirement.As long as we kept the lines of communication open while I was away it could work.
Would she be content with a slower speed?Could she be patient while I finished what I needed to complete?
I had no clue.But I knew the answers didn’t lie in California, they were behind me, in a small little suburb in Saint Louis with a woman that took my breath away, a woman any man would be proud to call their own.And if I left things where they were, eventually another man would take my place in her heart and in her bed.It was inevitable.
I sent a silent apology to Evan for once again breaking another vow I’d sworn to him.Pulled off the interstate at Saint.Clair, Missouri, and headed east back up the highway toward the woman I intended to make mine, if she would still have me.
By now she would already be at the bakery.
The sun broke through the clouds and beams of light shone upon me as I drove.I took it as a sign that Evan knew about my relationship with his sister and approved.Wyatt had been right.Who better than a SEAL to protect her and love her.
I only hoped she would forgive me for being such a dunderhead.
***
When I arrived at the bakery, it was still dark outside.I was a little late given the total breakdown I had after Aiden left.For the first time in recent years, the last place I wanted to be was the bakery.A part of me wanted to put a closed for business sign in the window today.Head home, and crawl into bed where I could sob my heart out until it no longer felt like this leaded weight in my chest.
It was ridiculous.I was a grown woman.I knew going in that our relationship was temporary and that he wouldn’t choose me.
But even after everything life had tossed my way, I was an eternal optimist.And had hoped after everything we shared, he would choose me.That he would look me in the eye and say yes, Beth, I want to be with you, let’s tackle this life together.
No such luck.
He left just like everyone else in my life.
And I hated the knee jerk reaction, wondering if there was something inside me that was inherently unlovable, because everyone left me.No one ever stuck.The logical explanation would be that it’s me.I’m the problem.
I did my best to lay to rest the storm of grief swimming in my chest.I had a business to run.After Tracy’s betrayal I wouldn’t leave it to someone else.That didn’t mean that once the dust settled and my employees knew that Tracy had embezzled funds, that I wouldn’t take a day or two off.I needed some time away, even just a weekend to burrow into my house and not deal with the outside world.It’s the only thing that would mend my broken heart.
I headed in through the back door, making sure to lock it behind me.And got to work, firing up the ovens.But as the ovens heated the scent of gas permeated the air.But it wasn’t natural gas that came from an oven or burner.It smelled like gasoline.
Cool air blew in from the back.
Was an employee here early?Because no one else was supposed to start until nine this morning and that was hours away yet.
I walked toward the back wondering what the hell was happening.When I reach the back hallway, all the air expelled from my lungs.Justin, Tracy’s husband, stood at the back door with a gasoline can and a lit match.
“Justin?What are you doing?”
He was a short, stocky man, his chestnut hair in wild disarray.“You just couldn’t leave it alone, could you?You take it all when Tracy should have the nice shop.”
Excuse me?I hustled my ass to afford this place.I still hustle for it.“I built this place from the ground up.I didn’t take anything from Tracy.She’s the one who has been stealing from me.The forensic accountant found thousands of dollars in discrepancies.And it was every time Tracy closed.”
“So you automatically accuse a woman who has been a friend to you, who fed you and put you up in our home?”
“It was for a single weekend while I waited on the keys to my house and had to move out of my apartment.You both insisted.I bought groceries and cooked for you two the entire weekend as a thank you for putting me up.I’m sure I can find the receipt for that bill somewhere, because I know those Kobe beef steaks cost a pretty penny.”
“Yeah, you just had to rub it in our faces how much better you were doing.”Justin sneered with his face contorted in rage.
“That’s not why…do you honestly believe it justifies the fact that Tracy stole from me?That you’re standing here with gasoline and a match.Are you planning to burn my bakery down?”
“That’s right.And you can burn with it, bitch.”He tossed the match.It arced through the air and landed on a puddle of gas near the back door.Fire exploded along the back wall.
Justin raced out the back door and closed it with a resounding thud.Fire raced across the exit.Smoke began filling the back.I knew any minute the sprinkler system would kick on.It had to, but as the seconds ticked by, the smoke billowed thicker, creating a haze in the bakery.I raced into the kitchen and grabbed one of the fire extinguishers we always keep in the kitchen.And I called nine-one-one.
“Nine-One-One, what’s your emergency?”
