Page 126 of A Dream for Daphne

“That’s it?” Ella asked. “You’re not going to give me another chance? You said you loved me.”

“You got more chances than you should have gotten,” he said and disconnected the phone.

He felt a little shitty doing that but then told himself it wasn’t his job to explain it anymore.

He wasn’t going to be worried if he hurt Ella’s feelings when he had Daphne in front of him staring.

“Are you going to tell me what that was about? From my position, it looks as if she wanted to get back with you.”

“That is what she was calling about,” he said. “She thought we could give it another try even though she was with someone not that long ago.”

“Nash,” she said. “You said that name. How do you know that?”

He sighed. “I knew she was dating someone. I ran into her months ago. Right before I met you in the casino. Around then. She looked happy, made eye contact with me, smirked, and went on with her time. I left and that was it.”

“You said she talked to you a few times when you were out,” she said. “When and what happened?”

“I ran into her in the hardware store,” he said. “She came over to talk to me and made a comment about hearing my business was doing well with my big job at the McGills’ estate. She had plants in her cart. I said things were good and I went to leave. I told you about this, remember?”

“You did,” she said. “And it sounds like you didn’t tell her about me. Right? Guess I didn’t think of it back then.”

Probably because that conversation was the first time they’d said they loved each other.

He was more focused on what he’d found than what he’d lost.

“I didn’t,” he admitted. “I didn’t want to talk to her. We’d just started to date really, but that isn’t the point. She approached me and I didn’t need to tell her my life. She was with someone else and I moved past her. End of story.”

“That was two times,” she said. “There were no others?”

His shoulders dropped. “One other. I went to give a quote for a job and found out it was a friend of hers. I didn’t know that. The person admitted it. I brushed it off. I didn’t want to talk about Ella and didn’t care. They work together.”

“Which means she talks about you a lot even though she is dating someone else,” she said. “It sounds to me like she never got over you.”

“That’s not my problem, is it?” he asked.

“Go back to this quote you were giving. Did Ella show up there or something?”

He wouldn’t lie. “She did. I felt like it was a setup, but the people signed a contract with me. I haven’t started the work, but they put a deposit down. She seemed almost embarrassed that Ella came over, but that is their issue. We talked in the road, then I got in my truck and drove away after she made some comment about us being good together. We weren’t. I’m not sure what world she lived in.”

“How long ago was this?” she asked, crossing her arms.

“Before your accident,” he said. “I don’t remember the exact date unless I look in my calendar. Do you want me to do that?”

“That would be petty of me to say yes. It’s even more petty of me to say this, but I’m going to. You are in a relationship with me and at this point could have told her and didn’t. Why?”

“I left,” he said. “I didn’t want to talk to her. Every time I look at her I see what a failure I was as a man. No one wants that.”

“So you still love her?” she asked, her voice rising.

There was the anger he hadn’t seen from her before.

“No! I stopped loving her a long time ago. Even the last time we got back together it wasn’t because of love. It was more like I wanted to see if it was me or my fault.”

“No,” she said, shaking her head. “It’s not your fault if someone doesn’t like the person you are. I think you’ve said that to me enough times yet you didn’t listen.”

“Probably not,” he said. “Why are you so mad at me? I told you about Ella. It’s not like she was a secret.”

“No,” she said. “But you didn’t tell me that you’ve talked to her since that one time. Enough that she felt like she could call you now to rekindle something.”

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