Page 35 of Falling for the Grumpy Stranger

“I hardly think that’s your business.”

“That answers my question, and it is my business. You see, I intend to show the divorce judge that you have broken me down in spirit and left me so heartbroken and in such despair that the only thing that will help would be a much larger portion of your fortune. And if you’re seeing someone, that’ll help. Unless, of course, you just want to get back together and pretend that mess with Mike never happened.”

I flinched again. This time it was due to her utter lack of compassion. “How casually you talk about Mike, a man who died a horrid death in a burning car. He was a big part of both our lives—more yours for the last few months, but that’s beside the point. You’ve proven my earlier theory that you are heartless.”

“I wasn’t the one who let Mike burn to death in that car.”

Every muscle in my body tensed. “Get out,” I said between clenched teeth. “I can’t stand to see or hear you for another minute. Just get out. Now.”

Christine huffed as if she’d been terribly put out by my order. “Fine. I’ll freeze to death in this house anyway. You’ll be hearing from my lawyer again. I’m not happy with the offer.”

I followed her sharp heel clacks down the hallway. I shot ahead of her and pulled open the door. Her green Mercedes was parked next to my truck. She turned her nose up at the house as she walked down the steps.

“Were you here earlier?” I asked.

She stopped and looked back with a disaffected expression. “I parked on the road because I wasn’t sure how you’d react if I drove up. I can see now my worries of you pulling out a shotgun were not far off. I walked up and knocked, but you didn’t answer. Maybe you were in the shower. You do have plumbing?” she asked with a smirk.

“Just go and don’t come back. We’ll only communicate through lawyers from now on.” I shut the door and then walked to the window to make sure she left. Dust flew up as she spun her car around and drove off. I was glad she’d be long gone before Ella arrived. With any luck, I’d never have to see Christine again.

Chapter Twenty-Six

ELLA

“Cookies. They were long overdue.” I held up the plate to the very dashing man standing in the front doorway. “I whipped them up pretty fast. I think I’m getting the hang of baking. I can almost see why Isla enjoys it so much. Especially the taste-testing part.”

I handed Rhett the plate and took off my coat and scarf. I realized then I’d been doing all the talking. “Everything all right?”

Rhett looked up from the plate in his hand. There was a deer-in-headlights look on his face. My mind went straight to the thought that he regretted last night, and now he was acting awkward because he knew he’d have to send me on my way.

“Everything is fine,” he said and forced a smile. “Just stunned into happy silence by the prospect of homemade cookies.”

I wasn’t buying his response, but since he hadn’t asked me to leave, I pushed the earlier dreadful thoughts from my mind.

“I’ve made some coffee.” He was still not himself. He was almost back to square one, the mood he was in when we first met, and it wasn’t a mood I wanted to meet again.

I followed him into the kitchen. It felt like there was this big, unspoken thing between us, and I wasn’t into awkward silence, so I decided to clear the air.

“I’m fine,” I said to the cup of coffee. His mood had soured my stomach. “All right. We kissed. It was nice. Maybe it was just the wine, and we jumped ahead too quickly. That’s fine. We can do an entire restart, and the ending can be different.”

Rhett turned from the coffeepot. Instead of looking distracted, he looked hurt. “You don’t want—you don’t want this?” he asked.

“Well, do you? Because I feel like this”—I moved my hand back and forth between us— “just got really strained.”

He set down the coffee he’d poured himself. “I’m sorry. It’s not you.”

“Uh oh, it’s the whole ‘it’s not you, it’s me’ conversation.” I hated how much this was upsetting me. We hadn’t been a thing long enough for me to react like this, and it was very unsettling.

He raked his fingers briskly through his hair. “No, that’s not what this is.”

I sensed he was getting irritated with my flippant attitude, and I wasn’t loving it either. “I’m sorry. Guess I’m on defense. Really, Rhett, it’s alright. We jumped into something. But we can forget it happened. Back to the way we were.” I knew that was total baloney. It couldn’t be undone.

“My ex-wife stopped by,” he blurted.

“Here? This morning?”

He raked his hair again. “Yeah, I wasn’t expecting her, of course.”

“Of course.” It was becoming painfully clear. “I understand. The two of you are going to make a go of things. I’m happy for you.”

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