Page 20 of Trophy
Her expression shifted into a slight frown as she came back to the card table, where they were sitting. She must have seen something in his face.
He smiled and said, “Thanks,” trying to keep his eyes from reflecting an undue amount of lust.
She relaxed, so he must have been successful.
“Chelle said that the girl with you yesterday was your ex-stepdaughter,” Allison said, picking up her sandwich again.
Rob was startled by the shift in topic, but he replied easily enough, “Yeah. She is. Her name is Cali.” He cleared his throat. “Her mother named her California.”
“Oh.” Allison was obviously trying to hide whatever her response to this information was. “How long were you married?”
“Six years.”
“And she was your first wife?”
Rob shifted uncomfortably. “No. I was married before Dee.”
“And what happened there?”
Rob tried to tell himself it was a good thing that she was interested in his personal life, but he didn’t like to share this kind of thing—particularly with someone he was into as much as Allison. It made him look like a fool, and he didn’t like that at all.
His first wife, Maria, had cheated on him repeatedly. Everyone in town had known before he’d known. It was the most painful thing to ever happen to him, and he’d tried to clear his life of everything that reminded him of it—including a few things he’d always enjoyed, like singing and playing the guitar, since he associated them with his years with Maria. He didn’t tell Allison any of this, of course. “We married young. We were both just eighteen. It didn’t work out.”
“Is she still in town?”
“No. She got remarried and moved away.”
Allison nodded, her eyes down on the grapes on her plate. “Arthur was my only marriage.”
Relieved they were focusing on her now, Rob jumped on the new topic. “I figured that. You said you were eighteen when you married him.”
“Oh. Yeah. I guess I did tell you that.”
“What was he like?” Rob had a few faint ideas, based on Allison’s situation, but he was dying to know more details. He wanted to know what made her tick.
She gave a little shrug, her eyes still lowered. “He was… used to being in control and getting his own way.”
Rob’s lip curled up as he thought about what that must mean. “So he was an asshole.”
Her eyes flew up to his. “It wasn’t just his fault, though. I knew what I was doing when I married him. I wanted what he could give me. I thought it would be okay, but it wasn’t.”
“You were eighteen. How could you possibly know what a decision like that would mean for your life?”
Allison held his gaze, and her expression softened in a way he found irresistible. “Still. I don’t like him—at all—but I know he’s not the one to blame for how miserable I was in my marriage. I like to take responsibility for my own mistakes.”
Rob had never met another woman like her. Not in all his life. His mind was whirling with interest and excitement, and he couldn’t wait to learn even more about her.
To his disappointment, however, she cleared her throat and straightened up. “I guess I better get back to work.”
“You’ve already done a lot today. What else do you need to do?” Whatever it was, he was planning on doing it with her. He’d made more progress with her today than he had all week, and he wasn’t going to say goodbye quite yet.
“Since I’m on a roll, I’d like to tackle that last bed in the back, if you don’t mind letting me borrow your tools for a little longer.”
“No problem.” He stood up and picked up both of their plates to carry to the sink. “I’ve got nothing better to do. I’ll help.”
She looked for a moment like she might object, but then she gave a little laugh and shook her head. “Eventually you’re going to run out of things to help me with.”
“Maybe. But until then…”
