Page 56 of Liberating Bells
“I’ve been trying to call you.”
“I know,” I say, ignoring the pang of regret at the betrayed tone in her voice.
“I’ve just been getting your voicemail.”
“Yup.”
She sighs and purses her lips, aggravated. “You’ve been sending me straight to voicemail.”
“I was just following your lead after you no-showed at Siriano’s.”
“It wasn’t on purpose!” she shouts at me, and I snap my head around to her. I take her in, recognizing the way her eyes have that pleading look to them. Right away, I suspect I’ve made a mistake not being open to listening to her explanation. Izabel squares her shoulders and stares me down with a hard gaze. “I want to explain myself and apologize.”
I wave my hand. “You don’t have to.”
“Yes, I do,” she says. “You deserve to know the truth. Last week was a mess. I was getting ready to head out when Mark showed up and?—”
I frown. “I don’t need to hear it. It’s fine, really.”
“Would you justlet me finish?” Bells all but growls at me. I jolt back in surprise. I haven’t heard her use that tone of voice on me in years.
Stepping back, I cross my arms over my chest, giving her the space to say everything she wants to say.
“Mark showed up at my house unexpectedly, and so that’s why I wasn’t able to meet you. And we have this dumb rule,” she tells me, shaking her head. “No cell phones during date nights, and every time I tried to sneak away to text you, Mark was right there watching me.”
I narrow my eyes at the beautiful girl who consumes most of my thoughts. I try not to let it hurt me that she ditched me for her fiancé, because that would just beridiculous. But it stings anyway. I’m not sure what I was expecting. That is a perfectly valid excuse. After all, she is still planning on marrying the guy.
“I feel awful about it, really. I would have much rather been with you that night,” she says, her voice breathy. Her fingers come up to graze the base of her neck, almost as if she has anitch, but she doesn’t scratch it. The action has the rest of my defenses lowering and my shoulders dropping.
“Bells,” I say her name hesitantly, fully aware that the whole truth might not be something I want to know.
She waves her hand, brushing off my concern before looking at me with hopeful eyes. “I’d like to make it up to you. Are you busy this weekend? We could get a coffee or something. I promise there won’t be any type of interruption this time.”
This weekend is the Fourth of July. I’m due to be in Nashville tomorrow afternoon for my presentation. Then I was planning on staying Saturday and Sunday just to be away.
My fingers fiddle with the whistle around my neck. “I won’t be in town this weekend.”
“Oh…” She frowns. “Where are you going?”
“Nashville. I have a meeting with Bates.”
Her eyes light up. “You’re going to Nashville? Will you be seeing Teddy and Sage?”
“Likely.” What is running through her head right now? I can practically see the gears shifting in her brain, piecing something together.
“When are you leaving?”
“Sometime tomorrow morning, why?”
Izabel smiles and shrugs. “Oh, no reason. Okay. Well, I’ll let you get back to practice! Bye, Ryan!”
She spins on her toe, grabs her stuff, and struts off. Scratching the back of my head, I mull over our strange encounter. She’s definitely up to something, I just don’t know what. My suspicions are on high alert, but I turn and head back to practice.
The following morning, as I’m heading out to my car, I’m not surprised to see Izabel leaning against it. I halt in my steps and stare at my favorite brunette. She has a duffel bag drapedacross her shoulder. Her hands are placed on her hips, and she’s grinning at me from ear to ear.
I grip my keys in my hand. “What are you doing here?”
“I thought I’d come with you. It’s been a while since I’ve seen Sage, and I need to get out of Cedar Ridge for the weekend.”
