Page 87 of Wild Love

"You could have told her at any time."

"I planned to. I just knew she wouldn't like it. I was avoiding this." I waved a hand.

Chance shook his head. "Is she leaving now?"

I ran a hand through my hair. "She got a job offer. I should have known this was going to happen." But what could I havedone? Let the theater be turned into something else? I wanted to preserve a piece of the town's history.

"How did she leave things?" Chance rested his elbows on the table.

"She needed to think. But it sounded like we were over, and she's probably going to take the job in Tennessee. She mentioned something about her old boss giving her trouble, throwing his weight around, and me not being any different. Did she talk to you about that?"

He scowled. "She didn't. If she was in trouble, she should have told me. When is she planning to leave?"

"She wants to finish the performance on Friday. Then I think she'll leave after that."

Chance looked out the window. "So you have a few days."

"A few days for what?" I wasn't sure what my next move was or if I should even make one.

His gaze swung to me. "I don't know, but I think you have to do something. You can't just let her walk away. Scarlett's in fight-or-flight mode right now, and she's preprogrammed for flight."

"But what can I do? She'll view anything as me manipulating her into staying."

Chance shook his head. "Show her you're okay with her leaving. If that's the case."

"I don't want to change who she is. I hope she'll come back to me." The question was, how could I do that?

Marigold stopped at the end of our table. "Can I talk to you?"

But she was already sliding into Chance's side, and he moved over for her.

The waitress arrived. "Can I get you a drink?"

"Coffee, please, and the biggest stack of pancakes you've got." Marigold placed her elbows on the table like she meant business.

Chance raised his brow. "I took you more for a yogurt and granola girl."

"You obviously don't know me at all," Marigold said sassily.

I chuckled, and Chance glared at me.

Chance cleared his throat. "What's going on?"

Marigold looked from Chance to me. "Scarlett is leaving again."

I nodded miserably, knowing that Marigold was going to give me hell for it. "It's all my fault."

Marigold let out a breath. "She is the most frustrating human being I've ever met."

I exchanged a confused look with Chance. I thought she was here to defend her friend.

Marigold held up her hand to me. "Let me just say that I think buying the theater was the sweetest gesture ever."

I scoffed. "Scarlett doesn't seem to think so."

"Buying Scarlett a theater is like buying me a bookstore or a library. It's the sure way to our heart," Marigold said

"A bookstore? But what if a man can't afford to buy their woman a building?" Chance asked.

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