A Winter Wedding(27)
He hated to contemplate the answer to that question. “I’m changing the locks.”
“That should solve the problem.” She frowned at the dinner table. “Thank goodness there’ll be no more meals appearing out of nowhere!”
He could tell she was being facetious. But when he looked more closely, he noticed the blush on her cheeks and the glassiness of her eyes and decided she was also a little drunk. “Did you break into the wine?”
“I didn’t think you’d mind, since you promised to bring more. It helps to focus on something other than my own misery.”
“Like alcohol? What happened after I left? Did you hear from Derrick?”
Tears filled her eyes as she shook her head.
“It’s his loss, Lourdes.”
She blinked quickly. “Right. That’s what I’m supposed to tell myself.”
“In this case, I’m convinced it’s true. You seem like a really nice person.”
“So do you. You obviously are a nice person—taking me in.”
“Don’t give me too much credit. I was supposed to have that rental ready for occupancy, wasn’t I?”
She cleared her throat, somehow managing to avert her tears. “You tried. But...tell me this. Do you wish I wasn’t here?”
He remembered how hard he’d searched for a contractor to get the heating unit fixed so she could leave. But it wasn’t because she was bothering him. “Not at all,” he said.
“You’re sure?”
“Positive.” He rested his hands on the back of a kitchen chair. “Did Noelle recognize you when she saw you?”
“Not at first. Eventually.”
“I bet she flipped out.”
“She said she couldn’t wait to tell everyone at work. I guess she’s a server at some honky-tonk where they play my music?”
“Sexy Sadie’s.”
“I asked her not to mention my being in town to anyone.”
“That won’t change anything. I hate to say this, but you should brace yourself. She’ll spread the news all over town.”
Lourdes covered her face, rubbed her eyes and then dropped her hands. “Just what I need. Everyone wants to be gawked at when they’re at their most vulnerable.”
“I won’t let that happen,” he said. “You’ll be fine as long as you’re here.”
“And when I move back to the farmhouse?”
There wasn’t much he’d be able to do then. He’d be her neighbor, but he wouldn’t be next door. “We’ll figure something out.”
Lourdes jerked her head toward the note he’d tossed aside. “What’d you do to help Noelle?”
“Gave her a used water heater.”
“That’s romantic.”
He grinned at her sarcasm. “It wasn’t meant to be.”
“So she believes what she wants to believe.”
“She looks for any reason to bug me. And this has been going on since the divorce. She’ll make a concerted effort, I won’t respond, and she’ll give up. Until she decides to try again. Sometimes I’ll catch a break when she starts seeing someone else. But when the relationship fails—and they always do—she gets lonely, and the next thing I know, she’s set her sights on me all over again.”
“Because there’s no one else in your life,” Lourdes pointed out. “She doesn’t see why it can’t be her, especially since it was before.”
He shrugged. “There’s not much I can do about that.”
“Maybe not. But you could quit giving her things, even water heaters, if you really want her to leave you alone.”
“Trust me, I’ve tried. She drives me so crazy, I finally give in just to get rid of her.”
“This isn’t an accusation—and I’m not digging for information—but...if you’re still sleeping with her, you may never get rid of her.”
He stood up straight. “I’m not sleeping with her!”
“Well, she’s offering.” She gestured at the food. “That’s what this means.”
“I’m not interested.”
“How long has it been?”
“Since we slept together?”
She nodded.
“Before the divorce.”
“Has there been anyone since—for you?”
He nearly laughed. “Are you asking me the last time I’ve had sex?”
She waved a hand. “Sorry. You don’t have to answer that. My curiosity’s getting the better of me again.”
Curiosity and too much alcohol. But Lourdes didn’t live in Whiskey Creek and wouldn’t be staying long—certainly not long enough to encounter many people in town. So he didn’t have to be guarded with her. “A little over three years,” he said.
She rubbed her palms on her sweats. “Wow. It’s only been a month for me, and even that feels like forever.”
“You haven’t been with Derrick in a month?”
“We’ve been having problems. What’s your excuse?”
“I live in a small town. That doesn’t present a lot of sexual options, if you know what I mean. Out here, a relationship has to be serious before it gets...serious.”