Page 117 of Tumbleweed Temptation
A leap of faith. He thought about how he’d felt when he first came back to town, no faith in anyone. When he’d left town, no faith in anyone. But Ginny had been there for him then, she had been there for him when he came back. When the baby died, she’d taken him to the place that brought her the most peace, told him her deepest secret, and then made love with him.
And he’d shut her out.
Lacey was right. He needed to talk to her.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Having the last competitionat Delgado’s was a mistake. The Wheel House had been a nightmare to set up, and Delgado’s was even worse. The restaurant itself was long and skinny, just two rows of booths, and the kitchen was small. Tiny. They’d had to limit this competition to three contestants, and the audience would necessarily be small because they couldn’t move the booths, or add chairs. They’d borrowed the big screen TV from Hailey, and Javi and Beck had mounted it temporarily on one wall.
But the food had been ordered and the contestants were ready, and they were going to have to make do.
A cold front had blown in and wearing a jacket made Ginny feel even more claustrophobic in the small space as she and Sofia carried in the baskets of groceries for the competition. Mr. Delgado had given them the key, but made himself scarce, since today was his usual day off. She didn’t know what he did in his spare time, but he didn’t intend to spend it here.
Austin, of course, was absent again, even though he’d promised to step up. Why had she believed him?
“So have you talked to Con?” Sofia asked.
Con? Why Con? She expected Sofia to ask about Austin, even though Ginny had tried to downplay their relationship. “I haven’t even seen him in weeks. Why?”
Sofia angled her head. “You don’t know.”
“Don’t know what?”
“His dad is getting radiation treatments every day in San Angelo. He asked for help driving him. I’m taking him next Tuesday. Con’s been doing it every day but Monday, since Monday is also his chemo, so Austin takes him.”
She set the basket on the counter for a moment and turned to look at Sofia. “Austin does.”
“Yes, on Mondays, because the treatment is longer and he was having reactions at first. Austin didn’t tell you?”
She hadn’t spoken to him since the other evening, when he’d promised he’d be helping her out today. But if he’d been driving back and forth to San Angelo every Monday with Mr. McKay, the man who’d made his life miserable...
Why hadn’t he told her? She would have understood. She certainly would have spent less time being angry at him. Of course he’d been distressed about losing the baby, when the fault didn’t lie with him, then he was having to help a man who he had dreaded dealing with. He was driving him back and forth, sitting with him. All he’d told her was not to schedule appointments on Mondays.
The timing had sucked, right on the heels of their night together, but if she’d only had a hint, she could have reacted better.
She was used to people who kept their emotions and problems close to the vest. Her grandfather and Janine were both experts at it. She always thought she would find love with someone who would be more open. She’d kind of thought that Austin was that guy.
