Chapter 31
Xavier
When the alarm sounded the next morning, I was already awake because I hadn't gotten one fucking minute of sleep.
Rosalee's words and that look on her face haunted me all night.
Every time I closed my eyes, there she was with tears in her eyes, staining her cheeks while she stood there and faced every accusation I tossed at her.
She hadn't tried to change my mind, though.
With dignity, she simply pointed out where I was wrong, and then she left me to sit in it for the rest of the night.
She'd left her phone, too, which allowed me to see the truth of the matter.
Her ex hadn't stopped contacting her. At all.
He tried sweet-talking her, telling her how much he missed her and reminding her how good they were together, too.
When that hadn't worked, he started with threats, over and over, before he used the same words against her that I had.
I'll ruin you.
"Fuck." I was such an asshole, and I didn't deserve her.
I didn't even deserve to breathe the same air as her.
I knew that as surely as I knew anything, and it turned my stomach to acid just thinking about it.
But today was a new day, which meant I had a chance to fix it.
To get on my knees and grovel until she agreed to give me another chance.
The house was still quiet when I headed for the shower, and nothing changed when I traipsed back to my room to get dressed. My hands flexed and bunched as I inhaled and exhaled, working like hell to calm my nerves before I went out there and made everything worse. If that was even fucking possible.
The scent of coffee hit me first, and I walked a little faster, letting hope expand in my chest. Violet was already babbling, and I even recognized some of the words she attempted, but what I didn't recognize was the middle-aged woman holding my daughter and drinking from Rosalee's mug. "Who the hell are you?"
My question startled a cry from Violet, but the woman just bounced her and held her closer while she smiled at me. "Good morning, Mr. Holloway. The name is Cathy McGee, and I'm Rosalee's replacement."
Her words slammed into my chest like a felled tree, making it difficult to breathe, to think. Rosalee's replacement. "Where is she?" My manners had taken a holiday, and I would apologize for it later—maybe—but for now, I needed to find Rosalee.
Sympathy darkened Cathy's kind blue eyes.
"I don't know, Mr. Holloway. Serenity sent me up here, and I met with Rosalee for about an hour.
She told me what I needed to know about Violet and the job, then she thanked me for coming on such short notice.
" Her silver brows knitted into a frown. "Is something wrong, sir?"
Yes, every goddamn thing was wrong. "No, Cathy. Nothing is wrong." Nothing except that Rosalee had taken off in the early morning hours before I could get my head on straight. Before I could offer up an apology. "How long have you been here?"
"A little over an hour." Her lips pulled into a tight line. "I assumed it was some kind of family emergency."
Oh, it was an emergency all right. She needed to get the hell away from me as quickly as possible. "I need to go out for a while. Did Rosalee give you my number?"
Cathy nodded. "She said you were often out of touch but to leave a message if I needed a callback."
Perfect. She was perfect, and I fucked it all up.
"If you have any questions, please call.
I won't be on the mountain, so I'll have good coverage.
" Without waiting for her to answer, I shoved my feet into my boots and doubled back through the living room, where I found Rosalee's phone wasn't where I'd left it.
She took it.
I started calling her before I even made it to my truck, and at first, it rolled right to voicemail, which made me think maybe her phone had died, but the fourth call rang and rang before it rolled to voicemail, and that gave me hope. "Rosalee, it's Xavier. Call me back. Please."
I drove for nearly an hour, calling her nonstop like her crazy-as-fuck ex had, but I needed to talk to her, to apologize and let her decide if she still wanted to walk away. I would, of course, do everything in my power to make her want to stay, but I needed to find her first.
"Hello?" I picked up the phone, my heart racing. "Rosalee?"
I was met with silence and then familiar laughter. "You fucked it up, huh?"
"Nate," I growled. "What do you want?"
"As charming as ever, I see." He laughed again, and my hands clenched the steering wheel tighter. "This is a friendly reminder that you haven't responded to any of Mom's calls and she's coming to see you."
"What? When?"
"Don't know. She said something like if the mountain man won't come to his mother, then she'll have to go to the wannabe mountain man."
"Nate," I growled.
"That's what she said, Xavier, and that was two days ago."
With a grunt, I pulled into the parking lot of one of the many roadside diners that lined the Interstate and pinched the bridge of my nose. "You're just telling me now?"
"Got tied up in meetings all day yesterday," he explained. "But you're welcome for any heads-up when we both know it would've been far more entertaining to let her ambush you."
"Yeah, yeah, thanks, Nate. You're a real gem." I looked around the diner parking lot and spotted a familiar vehicle. My heart sped up as my gaze scanned the inside of the diner and landed on familiar blond waves. "Holy shit, Nate, I gotta go."
"Wait, what's going on? How did you screw up with Rosalee?"
"I screwed it up bad, but I'm getting ready to fix it. Call you later."
"Good luck, and call if you need my expert advice."
"Thanks, but that's like asking a drowning man for swimming lessons," I laughed and stepped from my truck.
"And thanks for the heads-up. If you hadn't pissed me off with your news, I would've driven past this place.
" With those words, I ended the call and made my way to the diner doors.
One deep breath later, I stepped inside to find that the empty booth seat opposite Rosalee was now occupied by the man in the photos with her.
I saw red.
My hands curled into tight, angry fists.
Neither of them had spotted me yet, which gave me the advantage as I closed the distance between them.
"How did you find me?" she asked the man who was trying to grab her hands.
"I have my ways, babe." He was even smarmier than I imagined. "Now that you're available, I have a ticket back to Miami with your name on it."
I smiled and slid into the empty space beside Rosalee, wrapping one arm around her shoulders before I smacked a kiss on her temple. "Sorry I'm late, babe. Did you order yet?"
Rosalee stiffened beside me before she relaxed and gave me some of her weight. She wasn't happy to see me—that much was clear when her honey-brown gaze met mine—but she was willing to do whatever it took to get rid of her ex. "Not yet. Got an unwanted distraction."
We both turned to face the idiot who'd been too stupid to hang on to this incredible woman. "Something we can help you with?" I asked, one brow arched to let him know I wouldn't take any shit.
The man's mouth opened and closed as if he couldn't find his words. "What are you doing here?" he asked when he finally found them.
"Having a late breakfast with my girl. The better question is, what are you doing here?"
He smiled. "I'm here to get my girl back. We had an argument, and you know how women can be. She overreacted, and now she's ready to listen. Isn't that right, Rosie?"
Her body tensed again, and my protective instincts rose.
"Overreacted? Let's see if that's the word the police use when they catch up with you. I'm pretty sure harassing and threatening someone over a cellphone is a federal crime."
"I didn't—,"
"You did, and we have the proof, or we did until we handed it over to the police."
He sat up straight and glared at Rosalee. "You wouldn't do that. They won't believe you."
"They will believe me, though, won't they?" He knew who I was; I was sure of it. "I assume that's why you sent the photos—to break us up. Well, it didn't work, and now you need to go back to Florida while you can."
His gaze narrowed, again in Rosalee's direction. "When he dumps you, don't come crying to me."
She met his gaze head-on. "I wouldn't dream of it. Not in a billion years. Goodbye, Jason."
I gripped her shoulder tightly in a sign of pride and solidarity.
It was short-lived, however, once the Jason problem was gone. Rosalee shrugged off my touch and glared at me. "Thank you, but you can go now."