Chapter 20
CHAPTER TWENTY
W ith his newspaper tucked under his arm, Stewart entered the café. It was nearly empty. Good. The Community Center was crowded already, and he needed a bit of peace. He had ended up being far more involved in getting the event together. Katie was great, but she did have her horseback riding lessons.
The event consumed his days, leaving no room for reflection. The nights, however, were vastly different. No matter how many times he told himself Aurora was just an ordinary woman, his heart didn’t believe it. He had made up his mind to search for her. He’d call the detective on Monday. Maybe if he knew she was safe, he’d move on.
He sat at his usual table, unfolded his newspaper and began to read it. He heard the coffee mug being set down, but he didn’t glance away from the article he was reading. It was about drug trafficking in Montana and, of course, McKenna’s name was in the middle of it all.
His cinnamon roll was set down.
“Thanks, Ruby Lou,” he mumbled. It occurred to him she wasn’t her usual bubbly self.
His heart jumped as he set the paper down. Aurora. He watched her as she took an order at another table. There was laughter, and hers sounded wonderful.
She hadn’t even said hello to him. He still wasn’t sure what he’d done to make her depart without saying goodbye.
Maybe he should just leave. Walk away and not look back. She was safe, and that was all he needed to know. Right?
She looked good. She was wearing her ranch clothes, and she appeared like she’d been living in a small town instead of a mansion. It was a good look. Was she staying at Gus’? Why hadn’t anyone told him? His family must have seen her at some point.
He frowned. Nothing had been the same since the whole McKenna thing. They weren’t as cohesive as before. He’d begin to work on rebuilding some of that next week.
There was color in her cheeks, and the circles under her eyes were gone. That was good. After refolding his newspaper, he set it on the table. He might as well eat. If she had wanted to speak to him, she would have.
The door opened. Thunk. Someone really needed to cut that bell down. Glen Brewer swaggered through the door. There was something odd about that kid, but he couldn’t put his finger on it. It was more of a feeling.
Glen seemed put out about something as he walked to the counter and sat down. Now all Stewart could see was his back.
Aurora looked wary. He might as well eat his food and see what happened.
Glen was saying something that Aurora wasn’t happy about, but he couldn’t hear the words.
Aurora poured Glen coffee, and he shoved it away, causing it to splash all over the counter. Aurora reacted calmly as she cleaned up the spill until Glen grabbed her wrist.
The screeching sound of the chair moving on the floor was loud as Stewart stood and then strode over to the counter.
Glen still had a grip on her wrist.
“I’d let go of her if I were you.” It took every effort to maintain an aura of calmness.
“It’s not your business, McKeegan. Don’t you have drugs to sell?”
Aurora gasped.
“I said let go. You don’t treat women that way. What’s wrong? Is your coffee not to your liking?” Calm. Calm. You need to stay calm.
“No, Aurora stood me up this morning. We had a date, and I waited for over an hour. To my surprise, Ruby Lou spilled that Aurora was working and had known she was working when we made the date. So, I have good reason to be mad.”
“Let her go.”
Glen released her wrist. “I’ll be back, and you have some explaining and apologizing to do.” It sounded like a threat. Glenn suddenly stood and left.
Was she involved with Glen?
Aurora stood behind the counter, looking at the wrist she was rubbing.
The racing of her heart wasn’t slowing. She needed to thank Stewart. What was she supposed to say? Taking a deep breath, she lifted her eyes.
Their gazes collided and stuck. There was rage in his eyes. She glanced away first.
“Thank you, Stewart.” Her voice was thick with emotion.
“So, you and Glen? I’m glad you found someone, but he seems to have anger issues.” He gave her a weak smile.
“Not dating. He comes in every day, actually twice a day. Breakfast and lunch. He’s become possessive of me and truthfully, I’m trying to figure out how to deal with it. Obviously, making a date with no intention of keeping it doesn’t work.” She sighed. “How have you been?”
Stewart sat down at the counter, placing his elbows on the Formica. “It’s been busy. The Fundraiser and the whole thing with McKenna.”
“I asked how you are doing, not the ranch.”
“Truthfully, I’m finding it hard to sleep. I try to keep busy so I don’t have to think.” He hesitated. When he spoke, his voice was thick with emotion. “Why didn’t you say goodbye to me? I know I wasn’t very positive about you staying, but I did want you to stay. It threw me when you left. I’ve been wondering what I did wrong.”
Grabbing two clean mugs, she then filled them with coffee. He watched her as she poured cream into hers.
“Katie never told you?” She rolled her eyes. “Well, why would she? According to Katie, there was a family vote, and I was to leave. She expected me to write a note that would be hurtful enough that you’d never think of me again. I couldn’t do hurtful. Not to you. But I left for your sake and the sake of your family. I didn’t want to be part of having your name dragged in mud.”
“There was a note,” he said softly.
“Katie said she’d write it since I refused. There was to be no goodbye because, according to her, you had a soft spot for me and couldn’t see the harm I was causing.” She winced as memories threatened to overwhelm her. “When I asked to stay until my stepfather was sentenced, I was disappointed in your response. It hurt. I know you didn’t want me there on top of everything else you were dealing with. I was dropped off at the bus terminal, but I thought I’d see if I could stay at Gus’ garage apartment.”
“I thought you were going to your mother’s. I had a detective check to see that you were fine.”
She gave him a sad smile. “I wouldn’t have been welcome. I don’t even know why I thought… I guess it seemed better than having no one to turn to and nowhere to go. I didn’t sleep well either.”
She followed his gaze as he glanced at the clock.
“I guess you probably should go to the fundraiser.”
He grimaced. “I’d rather talk to you, but you’re right. I need to get going. I, uh, I want us to be friends again. Of course, that’s up to you.”
His sadness was unbearable for her to witness. “Of course I do. We were good at being friends. Life just got in the way.”
“I’ll talk to you soon, that is if you unblock me. It was really great to see you.”
Would he really call or was he being polite? She shook her head. He was just being polite.
If it didn’t hurt so much, she’d just pretend it didn’t matter. She was making it on her own. There were too many times when doubt got in the way. There was still a long way to go. She’d walked out of the shadow of her sheltered, untrue life, but not into the full sun yet.
What was the sign of being a strong woman? Did people need to see you as strong? The amount of upheaval she’d been through seemed vast. Getting through it made her strong, didn’t it? How did one measure another’s strength? Where did faith come into the equation?
The bell at the top of the door thunked . She put on a smile and grabbed a couple of menus.