Page 17 of Still A Cowboy
“Why?” Fia asked, giving him a little side-eye. “Having renter’s remorse that you didn’t get it instead of the apartment over the Seaglass?”
“No remorse,” Cal said quickly. “I’m not a fancy kind of guy.”
Fia grinned and nudged his arm. “The photos of your office building in Dallas looked fancy-ish.”
He turned his head and raised an eyebrow. “You ran me?”
“Of course I did,” she admitted. “You’re a Texas cowboy with a mysterious knee injury who showed up in the middle of a full moon soulmate legend. I’d be a terrible sister if I didn’t run you.”
Cal chuckled but kept walking, the cool breeze tugging at his jacket. “Find out anything else about me?”
Fia’s grin softened a little. “Yeah. But I didn’tneed an internet search to help me with it. I know Willa’s attracted to you.”
His steps slowed. “Did she say that?”
Fia gave him a flat look. “No. She didn’t have to. I have eyes. I saw it.”
Cal stayed quiet, letting that settle.
“She doesn’t want to play into the legend,” Fia added, kicking at a pebble on the path. “She’s stubborn like that. All kinds of stubborn. The more people push, the more she digs in.”
“That’s not news,” Cal said with a small grin.
“Just letting you know. She’ll fight it even if she wants it.”
Cal looked out at the water, the breeze picking up as the sun dipped lower. “Yeah. I figured that part out too.”
Hell, he was fighting it as well and not doing nearly as good a job as Willa. She was keeping her distance from him, and he could hardly go more than a minute without thinking about her. About that kiss that nearly happened.
Fia’s voice cut into his thoughts. “Have you seen Eden yet?”
Cal shook his head. “No. She’s still in Portland. Not sure when she’ll be back.” And he hadn’t texted her to find out. Ironic, since the reason he’d come here was for Eden, and he’d sent her just that one text.
Fia hesitated, dragging her sneaker across the path. “That’s probably why Willa’s holding back.”
Cal looked at her, curiosity and frustration knotting together. “What do you mean?”
Fia sighed and crossed her arms. “You don’t know?”
“Know what?”
She looked him over, like she was weighing whether to say it, and she motioned toward the photo on the sign. “Brent. Willa’s ex. He cheated on her. With Eden.”
Cal blinked, the weight of the words slamming into him. “Wait, what?” Willa had said Eden and Brent had gotten together, but she hadn’t mentioned a word about cheating.
“Yeah.” Fia’s jaw tightened. “Willa was engaged to him. They were weeks from the wedding when it happened. Completely blindsided by it. It crushed her.”
Cal stared at the ground, disgust rising sharp and fast. “I didn’t know. I had no idea.”
“She’s not over it,” Fia said, soft but certain. “She acts like she is, but trust me. It messed her up.”
Cal rubbed his jaw, the shock still sinking in. “I don’t even know the adult Eden. It’s been twenty years since I’ve seen her. All I know is the teenager I used to hang out with.”
Of course, they’d done more than hang out. Eden and he had been each other’s firsts and had been hot and heavy for most of the year before she’d up and moved here to Wild Rose Point.
Fia lifted one shoulder. “Yeah, but Willadoesn’t see it like that, that Eden is your past. You’re here, Eden’s connected to you, and that’s a mess she doesn’t want any part of.”
Cal’s chest tightened. “I’m sorry that happened to her.”
