Page 17 of Rip Ryder's Second Chance

“It’s no longer my home.” She averted her eyes.

“Apparently the house where you’re living now won’t be home for too much longer either.” He picked up his cup and gulped the semi-warm brew. “Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why is Second Chance no longer your home? What happened?” He’d always wondered why she’d changed so suddenly. One minute they were talking about their future and the next she was breaking up with him.

“I didn’t come here to talk about this.” She took a step toward the door and laid her hand on the knob.

“That’s it. Run. You’re good at that.” He blew out a long, frustrated breath. His patience had thinned.

“Excuse me?” She glanced at him over her shoulder.

“I didn’t stutter, did I?” He didn’t have the tolerance for this. He started for the bathroom, wanting to hit the road within the hour.

“You have no clue what you’re talking about.” She was behind him now.

He swiveled and faced her, seeing the storm brewing in her eyes. “Really? Then I imagined that you broke things off fifteen years ago without explanation?”

They stood like two warriors, nose to nose. “Let’s not rehash the past.”

“Of course not, because you don’t want to face the facts.” He turned his back to her and stepped into the cramped bathroom.

“I’ve moved on from the past and so should you.”

He reached for his toothbrush, squeezed out some toothpaste, and then looked at her. “If you’ve moved on then why can’t you go back?”

She stared at him. “That’s my choice,” she said in an elevated tone above the sound of him brushing his teeth.

He spit into the sink. “No one said it isn’t your choice but I’m making a point. We’re talking about Tuck’s legacy that he wanted you to have. Heisyour father.” He reached for the towel and wiped his mouth then stepped back into the outer room.

“Which must not have meant much or he would have mentioned it to me before his death.”

“Have you asked your mom why she didn’t tell you?”

“We spoke. She established that Tuck was my father.”

He rummaged inside his bag. “And Tuck wanted to keep you a secret?” When she didn’t answer, he stopped what he was doing and looked at her. “Well?”

“Mom didn’t want anyone to know. She felt she would be judged harshly because everyone was so fond of Cybal.”

He shook his head. “Figures your mom would only see the selfish gain in this.” He went back to grabbing his clothes.

“That’s unfair. You don’t like my mother so you’d look at her opinion negatively.”

He turned and faced Noelle. “We’re talking about the same woman who told me I wasn’t good enough for you. No, there’s no love lost there.” He chuckled. “Is that why you broke things off? Patricia made a good enough case against me?”

“No, Rip. That’s not the reason.”

He shrugged. “No reason to worry about spilled milk.”

“Then why are we discussingourhistory?”

***

Noelle regretted coming to see Rip. She should have just let him figure things out for himself.

Why did she allow him to crawl under her skin? She could just walk away, and yet, she felt…what? That she owed him some kind of explanation? She didn’t owe him anything.

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