Page 67 of You Shouldn't Have Come Here

“Sure.” I turned my head, staring out the cracked window. We weren’t okay. I wasn’t okay. I should have gone with my gut feeling on day one and left. Something was off with this house, with this town, with Calvin. He took another step toward me and sat on the edge of the bed.

“You sure, Grace?”

“I’m sure.”

He scooted a little closer and rested his hand on the bed in the space between us. There was more than physical space between us now. There was distance. What added to the distance were all the uncertainties, the unanswered questions, the answers I could not or did not believe. Calvin moved his hand on top of my bare knee, and my body instantly tensed up. Last night when he touched me my skin warmed, now I felt a coldness run through me. They say love makes you blind. This wasn’t love though. This was lust, and it makes you downright stupid.

“I’m really sorry, Grace. I’m going to make this up to you. I want this to work. Us, that is. We still have a few days together. Please don’t shut me out yet.” His voice was deep yet soft. He patted my knee. “You haven’t shut me out yet, have you?”

I looked at his hand resting on my body. A shiver ran down my spine. I shook my head.

He smiled and leaned in, planting a kiss on my cheek. “I’ll be back soon.” Calvin’s eyes lingered on me while he stood. I thought he’d say more but he turned and left the room, closing the door behind him.

I took a deep breath. Calvin was right about one thing: we only had a few more days left, he only had a few more days left... and then I would leave all of this behind me.

32.

Calvin

I pulled my truck into a parking spot in front of Betty’s Boutique and grabbed the empty cake pan from the passenger seat. Only a few people walked the downtown area because it was still early in the day. I exchanged greetings with them as I made my way inside.

“Hey, sweetheart. To what do I owe the pleasure?” Betty asked, standing from her seat behind the register. The store was empty, another slow day for business.

I held up the cake pan. “Just returning this,” I said, setting it down on the counter.

Betty came around and wrapped her arms around me, pulling me in for a tight hug. “How ya doing today?”

“Not great.”

She took a few steps back and looked me up and down. Her brows pinched together. “What’s wrong, Calvin?”

I ambled around the store, glancing at some of the men’s clothes. I didn’t really need anything, just needed to talk. “A mountain lion nearly attacked Grace this morning.”

Betty’s eyes widened, and her hand sprung to her mouth. “Nearly?”

I nodded. “Yep. Shot and killed the thing just as it was coming at her.”

“Oh dear,” she gasped. “Lucky you know how to shoot. Must have been quite the scare for her.”

It wasn’t the first time I’d shot an animal, and I knew it wouldn’t be the last. I pulled ared-and-black flannel shirt from a stuffed rack and held it up. “Grace is real shaken up.” I put the shirt back and continued flipping through a few others.

Betty looked as though she wanted to say something but was holding back. Her mouth closed and opened and closed again.

“What?” I asked.

She waved her hand at me. “Oh, nothing.”

“Go on and say it.”

“Well, in my experience mountain lions go for easy prey, the weak. That girl don’t belong here and even nature is trying to tell you that.” She shook her head.

“That’s a strange thing to say, Betty.”

“She ain’t built for Wyoming is all I’m saying.” She raised her chin and shrugged.

“I don’t think I am either.”

“You are, Calvin. That girl has gotten in your head likebrain-eatingamoeba. You ain’t thinking right.”

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