Emily stared at Robbie. “You sure?”
“Yes. Really.” Elisabeth saw Daisy heading in their direction. Oh God. “I’ll be back at the booth in a few minutes.”
Daisy waited a few feet away. Elisabeth felt the heat of fresh tears over their support.
“Okay.” Emily walked away, keeping a threatening stare locked on Robbie until she ran into some guy and had to watch where she was going.
“Sorry,” Elisabeth said to Robbie.
Robbie shook his head. “What do they think I’m going to do, kidnap you?”
Elisabeth sank to the grass. She didn’t hate Robbie, and she wasn’t afraid of him. She was just overwhelmed and confused. She’d cried herself to sleep for weeks after they broke up. She never thought she’d fall in love again, or would ever want to. She’d thought Robbie was the one. It took a long time for her to realize how wrong she’d been. And now, with Ross, she realized for sure just how wrong she’d been.
“Robbie, how did you find me?”
He sat beside her and rested his elbows on his knees. He still smelled like football. That was the only thing she could liken his scent to, and it made no sense. It was a leathery scent that reminded her of the weeks when fall was turning to winter, cool and colorful. Oh God, she’d forgotten that imagery.
“It wasn’t hard. Your mom always did like me.” He smiled, bringing back a rush of memories.
In addition to his being a nice guy, he came from the type of family her mother lived to be part of. His father was a world-renowned director, his sisters were A-list actresses, and Robbie was headed in the direction of all the things her mother took stock in—a strong education, wealth, and notoriety. None of that had mattered to Elisabeth. It was his kindness that she’d been attracted to. His desire to help others, and the way he cherished his family.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, Aunt Cora had very strong feelings about love and relationships, and although she never thrust her feelings on Elisabeth, she’d simply told Elisabeth that she didn’t think Robbie was her forever love, because he wasn’t in the place her heart knew he should be, and she wasn’t sure his heart was as pure as Elisabeth thought. Aunt Cora had said that sight unseen, based solely on their conversations. Aunt Cora had also shared a few pearls of wisdom, and in the year since Elisabeth and Robbie broke up, she’d come to realize that Aunt Cora was right. It became clear that his efforts were a means to an end. He was a nice guy, there was no doubt about that, but much of his reaching out to the community was an effort to lobby for his future, secure his name in their minds, rather than humanitarian outreach from the heart.
“I missed you.” His sharp blue eyes softened, but he didn’t give her time to react before he spoke again, and it was probably a good thing, because she didn’t know how she felt about him missing her. “This reminds me of CaliFest. Remember when we went?”
She smiled at the memory. It was a good one, and it would have been hard to pretend otherwise. Being with Robbie was like being with an old friend. Everything about him was familiar and comfortable, which was nice after being met with such resistance from the people in Trusty. The anger that had snaked into her chest left as quickly as it had appeared.
“Remember how we danced on the lawn with all those sweaty people for like fifteen hours? God, did we stink afterward.” She laughed, and felt guilty for it, knowing that Ross had given them this time so graciously, when she knew he must be worried sick. At first she’d wondered what it meant that he left them alone, but now, after having a moment to reflect, she realized that Ross was granting her the space she needed to deal with her past, not walking away from their relationship. How could she have thought otherwise? It was Ross’s nature to put her comfort before his own.
Robbie turned and faced her. His jaw was lightly peppered with stubble, and his eyes darkened, grew more serious.
“I don’t have much time, Robbie. I have to get back to my booth.” She was still waiting to hear what else he wanted.
“I’m here for the night, and I’ll be leaving first thing tomorrow morning.” He reached into his shirt pocket. “This is where I’m staying.”
“Trusty Lodge.” It was at the other end of town, near the park.
“I’ll say my piece; then I’ll leave, and the ball will be in your court.”
Gulp.
“After we broke up, I immersed myself in completing my PhD, as you know, and, well, things were never the same after that, Elisabeth.”
Ross would have called me Lis.
He turned and looked her in the eye. “Elisabeth, I compare every woman I date to you, every relationship to what we had.”
“Robbie—”
“Let me finish, please.” He pressed his lips together, then smiled again. “I was stupid to think I had to have a degree in hand before we could take things to the next level.”
“Robbie—”
“I want you back, Elisabeth. I want you to come back to Los Angeles with me, start a family. You always said you wanted a big family. I want that, too. You know that.” Robbie searched her eyes.
That had been exactly what she wanted, and a year ago she might have gone wherever he asked her to.
“Robbie, don’t interrupt me,” she said quickly. “You needed your degree, and I understood that. I was happy that you went after what you needed in your life. But I have, too. I need to be here, and you’ve always known that I wanted to come back here.”
He furrowed his brow. “I know. I think we can make it work.”
What? This tripped her up for a minute. Did he really think they’d fall back into their old relationship? She glimpsed the line of people and pets by her booth.
She looked at Robbie’s bright, hopeful eyes, and she rose to her feet. He did, too, and reached for her hand again.
“Elisabeth, just tell me you’ll think about it.”
“Robbie, I’m sorry you came all this way. I’m with Ross now, and I’m happy.” She began walking toward her booth.
“I’ll be at the hotel until tomorrow morning. Just think about it. That’s all I’m asking.”
That’s all? Like it was nothing?
She caught sight of Daisy waving her hands over her head from within the booth, and when she glanced over, Daisy pointed to Wren Wynchel, standing at the booth with a frustrated look in her eyes, Barney and another of the dogs tugging at their leashes beside her.
“I’ve got to go.”
Elisabeth took a few steps away and sensed Robbie staring after her. She knew she was hurting him, and she hated that. It wasn’t in her nature to hurt someone else, especially someone she once cared for.
If only walking away was as easy as boxing up their past and stowing it away had been.
Chapter Twenty-Two
ROSS COULD HARDLY concentrate on Jake pulling off one life-threatening stunt after another. He checked his cell for the hundredth time that hour. Still no text from Elisabeth.
“Sun’s going down. Why don’t you go find her?” Wes suggested. “I can call Callie and see if she’s back at her booth.”
“No. She’ll text when she can. No need to get everyone involved.”
Wes arched a brow. “Everyone’s already involved.”
Ross’s phone vibrated and his pulse sped up with hope that it was Elisabeth. It wasn’t. It was one of his clients.
“Was it her?” Wes asked.
“No. Mr. Ricker. Problem calving. I’ve got to go check it out.” Ross headed for the parking lot—the opposite direction of where he wanted to go. “Wes, Elisabeth will need help taking down her booth.”
“I’m on it, and, bro, don’t worry. She loves you, man. We know that. I’ll make sure she’s taken care of. Go help the cow.”
Ross was halfway across the fairgrounds when he heard Margie Holmes’s voice. He’d seen her outside of the diner so rarely that it took him a minute to put the voice together with Margie without her waitress uniform.
“Is that one of my favorite Bradens?” Margie caught up to him.
“Hey, Margie. Sorry, I’m in a hurry.” He continued walking at a fast pace, not the least bit interested in small talk, worried about the cow and its calf, and going crazy over Elisabeth.
“Uh-oh. I guess it’s true, then.”
“What?”
“That the guy who was asking about Elisabeth this morning at the diner and who we saw sitting with her in the grass was her ex-boyfriend.” She made a tsk sound and shook her head.
Sitting with her in the grass?
“What is it about this town?” Ross picked up his pace.
“We care about you, Ross. It’s a shame. We were all just starting to really like her.”
Ross stopped cold and closed his eyes to reel in his anger. “Margie, do me a favor. Don’t add legs to this gossip, okay? Yes, he was her ex-boyfriend. Ex being the operative word. She’s with me, and that’s all there is to it.”
Margie tilted her head and her eyes filled with compassion. “I’ve known you since you were just a boy, and you’ve always seen the best in people. It’s one of your strongest traits.”
What the hell is that supposed to mean?
Margie stepped away. “I’d better go find Alice. We came together, but she went to get a funnel cake. That’s something I can afford to skip.” She patted her hip and walked away in the direction of the snack pavilion.