Only His (Fool's Gold #6)(85)
“Because you learned the wrong lesson. Love isn’t a trap. Love is a gift. It makes us stronger. Look at Will. He’s a great guy and loves his job and his life, but have you ever seen him happier? He’s walking away from all of this because he wants to be with Jo.”
“That’s his decision.”
“Do you think he’ll regret it?”
“I don’t know.”
“Yeah, you do.”
He shrugged. “Okay, he’s happy. So what?”
Here it was. The moment of truth. Did she have the courage to say it? To put herself out there? Until this moment, she never had. She’d always taken the safe road, made the easy decision. The biggest risk in her life had been applying for this job. Now it was time to take the next step.
“I love you,” she told him. “We’re good together. I want you to stay and be a part of my life. I want us to have a future.”
She paused, not sure if she could continue or not. As she was trying to make up her mind, she saw horror enter his eyes. Instead of being happy or intrigued, he looked angry.
“Don’t start,” he said, standing. “Dammit, Nevada, why do you have to do this? I told you before. You said you understood. Don’t you get it? I’m not interested.”
With that he walked out.
She stared after him, her heart pounding, her mind unable to absorb what had just happened so quickly. Then she heard the rumble of his truck, the spray of gravel and he was gone.
NEVADA DIDN’T TELL ANYONE. She couldn’t. Pain and shame were an uneasy combination she wasn’t willing to share. She finished her day, went home, got through the night and returned to work the next morning. She didn’t cry. She also didn’t sleep or eat. She was numb most of the time, but when the pain came, it was like knives.
She walked into the trailer telling herself she was getting her hard hat, but secretly she wanted to see Tucker again. Tucker, who hadn’t called. Instead she found Will at his desk.
He looked up when she walked in. His look of concern warned her, but couldn’t begin to prepare her.
“Nevada,” he said. “I don’t know….” He cleared his throat. “He just…” Will crossed to her. “I’m sorry.”
She got it then. Reality slammed into her, nearly knocking her to her knees. She looked around the trailer, seeing what was still there, noticing what was gone.
“He left,” she said flatly.
“I’m sorry,” Will repeated.
Tucker was gone. He hadn’t called in sick or left to meet with a subcontractor. Instead he’d fled Fool’s Gold completely. Without a word.
She knew without asking that he was never coming back.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
DESPITE MAYOR MARSHA’S best efforts, people found out about the unveiling ceremony. Nevada had noticed the lack of signs and postings in the online events calendar. For a town that prided itself on keeping its citizens informed, the powers that be had been completely silent when it came to the original sculpture by Caterina Stoicasescu.
Nevada appreciated that she wasn’t asked a lot of questions. She’d managed to get through the past few days by sheer force of will. She’d done her job, and when it was time to go home, she went back to her place, curled up in bed and got up again in the morning.
Some nights she cried. Others she laid in the dark, waiting for the pain inside to lessen just a little. One night she’d actually slept, which would have been a blessing, except she kept dreaming about Tucker.
Before realizing she was in love with him, dealing with her sisters’ double wedding had been a little uncomfortable. Now it was going to be a nightmare. While she’d never imagined she and Tucker would join them as a couple, she’d counted on having him around. Later, she’d imagined a whole lot more. Now all of that was gone. Lost.
Because the construction site was outside of town, no one was used to seeing him around very much. Word of his departure hadn’t spread. The guys on the site knew, but they weren’t going to talk, not to people in town or even to her. They were just a little protective on the job, and they watched her cautiously, so she figured out that they knew.
Will kept his distance. Perhaps because he didn’t want her asking him questions or maybe because he felt bad that he was so happy. Nevada planned on telling him she was glad he and Jo were together. That having her heart broken and losing the man she’d probably loved for the past ten years wouldn’t change that. Just because she wasn’t getting her happy ending didn’t mean she wasn’t interested in other people being together.
If she felt guilty about anything, it was keeping the truth from her family. Not so much her brothers, but her sisters and her mom. They would want to be there for her, to offer comfort. Her friends in town would feel the same way. But she couldn’t face one of those huge “the guy’s a jerk” events that inevitably followed. Until she figured out how she was going to survive the loss, she had to manage her heartache alone and get through the unveiling ceremony without anyone figuring out there was a problem.
The mayor had scheduled the event for three in the afternoon—just when most of the schools were letting out. Nevada guessed her plan was that the mothers and kids would be busy and unable to attend, and most businesspeople would be at work. That left only a small group of the community who would be available to attend.