“If you would just talk to me, then I wouldn’t have to keep approaching you. I just need you to answer that one question. I deserve an answer. It’s only fair.”
“Fair? I don’t owe you any kind of explanation. I don’t owe you friendship either. In fact, I don’t owe you anything at all.”
Chris’ expression hardened. “Listen, if you don’t tell me why you don’t want to be friends, it’s not going to be good for you.”
Shock jolted through her. “Are you threatening me?”
“I just need you to answer that question, and then I’ll leave you alone.”
“I’m engaged to the chief of police. Do you have mush for brains? If you keep stalking me, it’s not going to be good for you. Go away and stay away.”
She walked away from him to her family’s table and took a seat next to her sister. “Layla, what’s wrong?” her mother asked. “You’re white as a sheet and shaking all over. What did Chris just say to you?”
“He just threatened me.”
“And how did you respond? He looks furious,” Niki said from the seat next to Layla.
“I told him the truth. If he can’t handle it, that’s his problem.”
“Good for you!” Niki said.
Will pulled out the chair on the other side of her. “Did you just tell Chris off?”
Layla relayed the conversation she’d had with Chris to the entire table, including her parents.
A look of fury crossed Will’s features as she got to the part of the story where Chris had threatened her. “This is a serious problem. If this gets much worse, you may need to file a protective order against Chris.”
Her mom shook her head. “I was mistaken about that young man. I can’t believe the way he’s been treating you, Layla.”
“It’s like he’s going crazy,” Layla said.
“I agree,” Will said. “He’s clearly unstable. I’ll be keeping a close eye on him, and if it would help, I can have some patrol cars keep a watch over you house.”
“That would make me feel much safer,” Layla said, scooting closer to him, breathing in his woodsy scent. He responded by putting his arm around her and kissing the top of her head tenderly. Just being near him made her feel safer, actually. Throughout the rest of the dinner, Will kept her distracted with funny stories from his years as a police officer, and by the time the luncheon was over, she’d relaxed quite a bit and had even started joking around again.
They threw their trash away, and then Will walked Layla to her car. “Still driving the Corvette?”
Layla flashed him a smile. “You know it.”
“Just don’t speed.”
She giggled. “Are you going to give me another ticket?”
“Not unless you speed.”
“I’ll try to be a good girl. Just for you.”
“Layla.” Will took her hands in his. “All joking aside, I’d like to take you on a real date. I know there’s a lot going on with Chris and I’m not saying I want to rush into anything, but I want to see what a real date with you could be like. Is that something you’d be open to trying? It might help you get your mind off of things.”
Layla thought for a moment. Fear swirled in her belly. She’d been so resistant to the idea of any kind of real romance for such a long time. It was hard to even let her mind go there. But wait a minute. This was Will. Not some random guy from the bar. Well, technically he was a guy from the bar. But he was the police chief. The mayor himself appointed him. Her dad had been friends with the mayor for years. Not to mention the fact that she’d known Will since they both attended Maple Creek Elementary.
She looked into his hopeful eyes, but behind the hope she sensed something else. Worry. She hadn’t noticed before how deeply concerned he was for her safety. It was actually kind of sweet to know he cared so much, and it warmed her heart to see it. “Yes, Will. I’ll go on a real date with you. When do you want to go?”
“What are you doing for the rest of the day?”
“Nothing. The shop is closed on Sunday, so I have the rest of the day available. What did you have in mind?”
“How do you feel about the art museum?”
A wide smile spread across her face. “Are you kidding? It’s my favorite. I always get so much inspiration every time I go.” She felt giddy just thinking about it.
“I was hoping you’d say that. You ok with taking my car?” Will asked.
“Sure,” Layla said. She couldn’t help but feel relieved that he was offering to drive. After her mountain of tickets, driving in front of Will would be stressful, to say the least. And she’d had enough stress for one day. She was ready to lose herself to the joy of viewing the art at the museum.
Will drove to the century-old mansion on the outskirts of town where the art museum was located.
“I love this place,” Layla breathed as she stepped out of the car, looking up at the neoclassical brick structure with white pillars. “There’s something so magical about it.” The trees stretched overhead, shading the lawn in front of the mansion.
Will reached for her hand, and she placed her hand in his. She told herself not to overthink it. Just go with it. It was one date. Pretty innocent. Harmless really. Nothing to get worked up about. She just had to remind herself to breathe because she kept forgetting, and that was a bad thing. Not breathing could lead to something like fainting, and that could get awkward pretty fast.
They walked up the steps of the building, hand in hand, and Will opened the door for them. The inside of the building was covered in rich glossy wood. He paid for both of them to enter the museum, and then he led her past the ticket stand at the entrance. That was when she began to relax. She was in her element.
“You seem really happy here,” Will said.
He was observant.
“What are your favorite paintings?” Will asked.
“Definitely the paintings of flowers.”
“Why is that?” he asked.
She thought for a minute. “I’ve always loved painting floral arrangements. It was what made me want to own a flower shop. Arranging flowers is an art itself. It’s just a different type of canvas.”
“I can see that,” Will said. “Did you study art in college?”
“I did. I majored in business and minored in art. Then I worked myself to the bone to be able to finally own the flower shop. Starting a business is no joke. It takes a lot of hard work and dedication. Even then, a lot of people don’t end up making it.”
“What do you think helped you do so well with your business?” Will asked.
“I didn’t get involved with anyone. I just focused on my business and nothing else. There was no guy to disappoint when I was working eighty-hour workweeks. No one expected me to cook or clean.”
“But would it have been so bad to have a guy there to cheer you on as you found your success?”
“I wouldn’t have been able to give him anything back. He would have deserved better.”
“And what about now? Are you too busy for a relationship?”
Layla thought about it for a moment. “I’m definitely not as busy as I used to be. I have employees to help me share the workload.” She eyed him. “Why do you ask?” Surely, he wasn’t dropping hints. She’d been more than clear with him about her feelings on relationships.
He shrugged. “No reason. I just wanted to understand where you stood on the topic.”
“You mean you’re interested in pursuing a relationship with me?” she said. Might as well get to the point. She was sick of tiptoeing around the topic.
“I’m going to be completely honest with you, Layla. I have feelings for you. Every time we’ve kissed, it’s cost me sleep for the next several nights. I know you’ve been very clear on your stance on relationships. But I still feel like I need to be honest with you about my feelings. You made a huge impact on me when we kissed in seventh grade, and that hasn’t changed, even after all these years. Only that those feeling now goes much deeper. I’m in love with y
ou, Layla. I can’t keep pretending. It’s too hard for me. One way or another, we have to stop this silly game, whether that means we stage our breakup earlier than planned, or we never stage one at all, and we just let this all become a reality. I just know it hurts to be near you but not really with you.”
Layla’s heart swelled in her chest at Will’s declaration. She cared deeply for him him, too. But that was the problem. She was teetering dangerously close to the edge and she was about to fall. She had to do damage control while she still could.
“I care about you a lot, Will. I like you as a person, and I’ve had a lot of fun pretending to be engaged to you. But nothing has changed for me. I don’t do relationships. And neither should you. You still need to heal from your divorce.”
“Maybe it would help for me to explain to you what happened with my ex.”
“Okay. That’s fair.”
“Jessie was a nurse at Maple Creek Hospital for the head surgeon. She worked very closely with him. Eventually she started sleeping with him. But I want you to understand that Jessie and I had fallen out of love well before she ever cheated on me. We’d grown apart. I was focused on my career, and I didn’t give her the attention she deserved. I take full responsibility for that. So although I talk about being fresh out of a nasty divorce, the truth of the matter is the worst of it happened long ago. I’ve had a long time to come to terms with the fact that my marriage was dead. Am I happy that Jessie betrayed our marriage vows? No. Am I devastated? Not really. Because my heart isn’t and wasn’t with her anyway. But at the same time, I learned a valuable lesson. I will never let my career take precedence over a future relationship.”
“What made you decide that a relationship is back on the table for you?”
Will looked directly at Layla. “You.”
Chills ran down her spine. “What did I do?”
“You’re beautiful and vibrant and funny. You don’t take life too seriously.”
“Ha! You’d be surprised. I can definitely take life way too seriously.” Like the fact that she didn’t want to be in a relationship because of her lack of trust in humanity as a whole. That counted as taking life too seriously. But she wasn’t ready to give that up. She just couldn’t. The fear of landing herself in another abusive relationship was too strong.
“Layla, you’ve drawn me in, and I can’t stop thinking about you.”
“I don’t know what to say.”
“Say you’ll go on another date with me. I’m not saying we have to move quickly or anything. I just want to see what step two might look like for us,” Will said.
“You just said you’re in love with me. That’s not exactly step two. That’s like step one hundred or something. Will, I like you, and I completely respect your feelings as valid. But I’m just not in that place. So I stand by my decision. I don’t do relationships. Period.”
The vulnerable look on Will’s face changed to the hardened look he usually wore when he wrote her a ticket. “I understand,” he said in a curt, businesslike manner. “You’re entitled to that decision.”
He was trying to cover up his pain, but it was oozing past the mask he’d hastily slapped on. She turned away from him to study a painting of a farmhouse that had always intrigued her. But she couldn’t focus on anything but Will’s pain.
They walked through the rest of the museum in silence, and then Will drove her back to the church parking lot where she’d left her car. They exchanged still goodbyes, and Layla travelled home. She sat in her empty house and listened to the clock ticking and the sound of the heater kicking on.
Was this the life she’d signed up for? Emptiness and loneliness? It had never seemed that way before—but that was before Will had come into her life. And she didn’t want to go back to the way it had been.
But she couldn’t risk ending up in another failed marriage. She just couldn’t. She knew she was the type to attract an abuser. There was no way around that. There was no hope left for her. She’d come to terms with that fact years ago. But she still felt terrible. And she wasn’t sure she would ever feel okay again.
Chapter 7
Early the next morning, Will woke to the sound of his phone ringing. “Hello?”
“Will, this is Layla. I told my parents last night that we broke up. Are you home right now? I want to drop off your grandmother’s ring.”
Pain seared through Will’s heart. “I still don’t understand why it has to be this way.”
“I can’t give you what you’re looking for. You deserve someone with a heart to give. I locked mine up years ago. So while it was fun while it lasted, it doesn’t make sense anymore to continue this fake relationship. I think we accomplished what we set out to do. My mom won’t be bothering me about getting married for a long time.”
Bitterness lanced through Will. “I’m glad you accomplished your goal. At least I was of some use to you.”
“Will, I didn’t mean it like that. I really like you, and I had a lot of fun. I just can’t take our relationship to someplace real. I hope you can understand that.”
“I understand you perfectly.”
“Good. What’s your address? I want to get this ring back to you.”
“I’ll text it to you. I’ll be leaving within the next hour, so you’ll have to get here quickly.”
They hung up, and Will rolled out of bed and took a quick shower. He toweled off and dressed and then fixed himself a cup of coffee. As he stirred in his creamer, his German Shepherd, Bud, barked. He glanced out the window to see the Corvette pulling up in his driveway. He lived in a secluded cottage in the woods next to the river. He loved his privacy, but lately, it had felt more lonely than private. He’d made the mistake of allowing himself to daydream what it would be like to share his home with Layla. Now he knew that would never happen.
He heard the car door slam, and he went to the front door to greet her. He swung open the door and took in her gorgeous appearance. She was dressed for work and had her hair half pulled back again with those tendrils framing her face. It hurt him to see her looking so beautiful. So ready to conquer the world, one bouquet of flowers at a time. She spent her life sending flowers to people to cheer them up. But here she was, breaking his heart.
“Hi,” she said. She removed the ring and dropped it into his palm. “I never meant to hurt you, Will. I should have known better. I’m really sorry.”
“I’m sorry too.” But he was sorry for a different reason. He was sorry that she couldn’t see that she deserved happiness. She deserved to learn to trust again. But that wasn’t a gift he could give her. Only she could discover that for herself.
“Goodbye, Will.”
“I’m sure I’ll see you around on the road,” Will said in a lame attempt to lighten the mood, despite his own heartbreak.
“Well, it won’t be to pull me over. I’ve learned my lesson about speeding.”
Somehow, he doubted that, but he didn’t have it in his heart to pull her over anymore. He’d let another cop take over that duty.
Will sat in a chair by the river just outside his home. He’d spent the past week renovating his bathroom after work. He had to do something to get his mind off of Layla. But now that he’d finished the renovation, he found himself with extra time on his hands, and he didn’t know what to do with himself. So he sat in one of his chairs and stared at the river rushing past. Bud sat next to him, and Will reached out to pet his soft head. He scratched behind Bud’s ears, and the dog wagged his tail. Will smiled. Everything was so easy for Bud. All he had to worry about was when he’d get his next meal.
Will reflected on his divorce from Jessie. Whenever he thought about her, he just felt emptiness. He’d cried his tears over her years ago. He had nothing left in his heart for her, so there was nothing she could do to hurt him.
But Layla? She was everything he’d every looked for in a wife. She was spontaneous and fun, witty, intelligent, and beautiful. He just wished there was a way he could show her he wasn’t one of the bad g
uys. Now that he’d spent so much time with Layla, he knew how full life could be with her in it. His emptiness was overwhelming him.
His phone rang next to him. He didn’t recognize the number. “Hello?”
“Will? It’s Mrs. Bowen.” Her voice sounded panicked.
“Is everything all right?” he asked.
“It’s Layla. I think she’s been abducted.”
Will’s heart raced, but he forced himself to allow his police training to take over. “What makes you say that?”
“She was helping me with a fundraiser at church, and she ran out to her car to get some art supplies. She never came back, and when I went out to see what was taking her so long, I found her car in the parking lot with the doors hanging open.”
Will jumped from his chair and raced to the house with Bud on his heels to get the keys to his police cruiser. He had a good idea who may have taken Layla, and he knew exactly where to check first.
Chapter 8
Chris forced Layla to sit on his couch. A wave of nausea rolled over her when he caressed her cheek before removing her blindfold. She pushed his hands away from her with her wrists still tied together, and he said, “Now, now. I don’t want to hurt you. As long as you behave yourself, we can have a wonderful evening.”
Layla looked around and saw candlelight flickering over a table with a white lace tablecloth. A bottle of champagne and two champagne flutes sat beside a basket of rolls, plates, and silverware. On the couch next to her sat a strapless purple satin evening gown and a pair of black pumps. “You look the loveliest in purple. I even got your shoe size right. I checked your shoes when you took them off to get in the duck pond.” Layla’s skin crawled. Did that mean he’d been planning her kidnapping since they were at the pond?
Layla looked around to find the exit, but Chris had a gun tucked into the waistband of his dress pants. The same gun he’d used to force her to get into the trunk of his car and place the blindfold over her eyes before tying her wrists together. If she wanted to escape, she would have to get creative. But right now, she was completely out of ideas.
Oops, I Kissed Him Again: A Maple Creek Romantic Comedy Page 5
