And then she was gone.
Chapter Seventeen
ALEX SQUINTED UP at the sun as she stood leaning against the wall of the back of Payton and Sons Automotive, knee bent, one booted foot resting on the brick. She tapped the bottle of cold soda against her jean-clad leg.
She’d seen a robin the other day, the first indication that spring was well on its way. She was glad for that. It’d been a hard winter with lots of snow. The shop had been filled with cars that wouldn’t start, alignments that had been wrecked by snow banks, and lots of grumpy customers.
The good thing about that was Gabe had the chance to learn. A lot. And he was coming along well. Once he focused, he really focused. It just took him a long time to get there.
Jack said he was proud of her patience with Gabe and that was why he’d asked her to teach him, because Brent or Cal probably would have killed Gabe. She’d smiled at that, happy she had a skill the others didn’t, happy that she was wanted.
She leaned her head back against the wall and closed her eyes, enjoying the warmth on her face.
It’d been six months since Spencer had left. He hadn’t contacted her, and she wondered every day how he was doing. She didn’t want to wonder, but she couldn’t stop herself.
They had heard from his company’s lawyers. The negotiations—well, the lawyers called them that, but Jack called it harassment, because there was no negotiation on his end—were officially over a couple of weeks ago, when Jack said for the last time he wasn’t selling. Construction apparently would start on a Royalty Suites near MacMillan Investments later that spring.
Even after she’d heard what Spencer had to say that afternoon in the hotel room, she’d clung stubbornly to her anger for months, comfortable seeing Spencer as the enemy rather than admitting how much she’d missed him.
When she’d left Robby, the bad times felt magnified, so all she could do was remember all the ways he hurt her. In fact, it was to the point she couldn’t remember how she fell in love, just that she did, and he used that to hurt her.
But with Spencer, she hadn’t been able to hold on to her anger for long. And she had definitely been furious. She’d felt betrayed and maybe a little like she’d been played for a fool.
As time passed, though, all she could do was remember all the good times they had, the way he smiled at her, talked to her, that night they held each other at River’s Edge.
Her mind built up the good times so big that she knew nothing else would ever compare. Which should have told her something. About how what they had was real. Ill-fated, but real.
She thought about what Penny had said, that being on your own gave you time to learn to love yourself again. And that was what Alex had been focusing on. Now that her last relationship didn’t make her nauseous, now that she wasn’t haunted by it, her head was clearer. She remembered all her strengths—her job, her honesty, her loyalty. She spent time with her family, and she enjoyed the time she was alone. She’d even tried to learn how to cook. She hadn’t been very successful at it, but she’d had fun failing.
She thanked Spencer often—in her head—for kick-starting her on the path she’d needed to love herself again.
She unscrewed the cap of her soda and tilted her head back, letting the sweet liquid fizz down her throat.
The sound of loud exhaust drew close and she wiped the back of her hand across her mouth, then tossed the empty bottle in a trash can. She wiped her hands to go back inside the shop when the exhaust grew closer.
She stopped and cocked her head, because there was something about that exhaust that was familiar.
Too familiar.
She waited for the dread to hit and it did, but at least she was prepared, and what surprised her was that the dread faded as quickly as it came, as a kind of serenity washed over her.
Serenity.
Ivy would laugh if Alex ever called herself serene, but that’s exactly what she felt like, even as she saw the familiar head of her ex-boyfriend through the window of his Camaro. She had wondered when he’d find her. She’d been in the newspaper because of the battle over the land. There had been a shot of her standing outside the shop with Jack, right on the front page, her name in the caption. Robby wasn’t a genius but he could use Google. She figured he might search her name and show up here.
She’d been right.
She walked around the corner of the building and watched him pull into the parking lot. It was another couple of minutes before he got out.
He looked about the same. Sandy-blond hair. Green eyes. A face that she’d once thought was so handsome but now filled her with . . . well, nothing really.
As he spotted her standing there, leaning against the wall with her arms crossed over her chest, his steps faltered a little and that was all she needed for her confidence to soar.
It’d been almost two years since she’d seen him.
He doesn’t have power over me anymore.
That was why she couldn’t be angry with Spencer anymore. It was because of him she’d found her power again. Her knowledge that she could be loved. Her knowledge that she loved herself.
And that was why, when Robby stood in front of her, his eyes narrowed as his gaze swept her body, she held her ground.
She knew Jack, Cal, Brent, and Gabe were inside the shop, but she didn’t need them. In fact, she didn’t want them. She could handle Robby herself.
“Hey, sweetheart, long time no see.” Robby smiled. The charming smile stirred some memories back to when they first got together. What that smile didn’t stir was affection.
“I’m not your sweetheart anymore,” she said. “And it’s been a long time on purpose. In fact, I think it’s a little too soon to see you again.”
Irritation flickered in his eyes before he smoothed it over. “You don’t mean that.”
“I do, Robby. I do very much. This is my place of business, and you aren’t welcome.”
He gazed up at the brick building with an expression of distaste. “Could use some new gutters.”
“Thanks for your observation.”
“Don’t you think it’s time to come home?”
She laughed at that, a loud outburst that made Robby jolt in surprise. “I am home. This shop is my home, and so is this town.”
His jaw clenched and the familiar flush of his skin signaled his anger was rising. She didn’t care this time. She wouldn’t be scared. He leaned in and jabbed a finger at her chest. “Your home is with me.”
A voice boomed from the back of the building. “Alex? Where’d you go? There’s a cookie here that’s labeled but my name is spelled wrong. Brent is spelled B-R-E-N-T, not A-L-E-X.”
Alex rolled her eyes. “Don’t touch my cookie.”
“Ah, don’t be like that,” his voice came in answer. “Hey, where the hell are you?”
Robby’s head whipped to the side as footsteps came around the corner. Brent stopped abruptly, holding a cookie that he’d already eaten half of. He stared at Robby, then Alex, then back to Robby. All traces of charming Brent were gone as soon as he took in their body language. “What’s going on?”
“Who are you?” Robby asked. He looked at Alex. “Who’s that guy?”
“I’m her coworker, and what I’d like to know is why you’re standing that close to her, because she doesn’t seem to like it, if you can’t tell by how far she’s craning her neck back to get away from you. Wanna step back, bro?”
Alex cleared her throat, figuring she should get this over with before he called the rest of the Payton cavalry. “This is Robby.”
Brent’s eyes widened immediately, then his silver eyes flashed. “Are you fucking kidding me? And you’re here? At her work? That’s not smart.”
Robby hadn’t ever been smart. And why she hadn’t seen that from the beginning was her fault. Because even as another deep voice sounded, now from the front of the shop, Robby didn’t back down. “This is between her and me. You’re not needed here.”
“I’m not needed here? Really?” Brent leaned against the wall beside Alex and took another bite of her cookie. “Huh. I dunno. I think I’m serving a real purpose. Go on, explain why you’re here.”
“Where the fuck did Alex go?” Jack’s voice sounded closer now.
“Brent disappeared too.” Oh great, Cal was with him.
Gravel crunched as the two rounded the corner and stopped dead at the sight of Robby. Cal’s eyes took in the scene quickly, assessing, but Jack honed in on Robby immediately. “Step away from Alex.”
Robby’s green gaze lasered into Alex and his lip curled into a sneer. “I can see why they hired you now.”
She didn’t even answer him, because really, she didn’t care what he thought. He could think she slept with every customer, for all she cared. It didn’t matter anymore. He didn’t matter. So she waved a hand and grabbed Brent’s cookie, taking a bite. “Go on, Robby. Tell me more about my life.”
She said his name on purpose, and she got the reaction she wanted when Cal surged forward at the sound of it and Jack cracked his knuckles.
Robby did one smart thing and stepped back, glancing around uneasily. But he wasn’t done trying to convince her. “You didn’t really mean to leave, right? We just needed a break. Come back, Alex. You know no one will love you like I did.”