Page 54 of Denim & Diamonds

“Well, I’m glad you liked it.” I winked. “And no biggie. I needed a good deed of the day anyway.”

February elbowed me. “I should get sick more often.” Her smile faded.

I started to worry again about what was really going on. Something still seemed off.

“I should probably get going.” I moved off the bed.

“Please stay. I want to talk to you.”

Lying back down next to her, I said, “Okay. What’s up?”

“Did you come for any other reason than to bring me soup?”

“I’ve had a lot on my mind today, actually…”

“Like what?”

“I wondered whether I went a little too far in telling you how scared I was about my feelings for you. I don’t want to scareyou.” I hesitated. “And…there’s some stuff you don’t know about my past relationship. I never explained why Nina left town. And I kind of feel like getting that off my chest for some reason.”

A look of concern crossed her face. “Why don’t you tell me now?”

“It’s not very complicated. But it’s not what people think. Everyone knows Nina left. They assume she wasn’t happy here in Meadowbrook and that she eitherdumped me or Idrove her out of town—whatever that means.”

She chuckled. “I picture you driving her out as she sits in the cab of your big red truck.”

“Right?” I shook my head. “Ridiculous.” I sighed. “Anyway, that wasn’t it.”

“So what happened?” She rested her chin in her hand.

“Nina wanted me to make a full commitment to her. And I wasn’t ready to do that. She’d been wanting to move out of town, but that wasn’t the whole story. She’d told me she would stay if I’d commit. But I wasn’t ready—with her.”

“Well, you can’t be forced into something as important as marriage.”

“The thing is…she didn’t even want kids or a family. She just wanted to get married. It felt like more about having a ring on her finger than anything else. Something felt wrong.”

“And you don’t want to get married at all or...”

“I didn’t say that. But I knew it didn’t feel right to marryher. And when she gave me the ultimatum, it all became clear.”

She cocked her head. “So you might be open to marriage someday?”

I needed to be honest. “I’m not sure if marriage and kids are for me. I’ve always said that. But I am open to finding the right person and seeing how it plays out. I feel like what’s meant to be will happen.”

“Thank you for being open with me, Brock.” She caressed my arm.

I arched a brow. “Will you be open withmenow?”

She let out a shaky breath. “What do you want to know?”

“I want to know why you made up a sickness to get out of seeing me tonight.” I stared into her eyes. “You don’t look sick, Feb. You’renotsick. Am I right?”

February closed her eyes for a moment. “Iamsort of sick, but not with a fever or cold.”

“What’s wrong?”

“I’m sick to my stomach. But it’s nerves, not a virus.”

“Nerves over what?”

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