I no longer have a relationship with you.”
“Now see, that’s just crazy! Of course we have a relationship, a very important one, just a different one than we had a couple of years ago.”
It was exactly this kind of talk that had pushed her over the edge. And while it used to just break her heart, she’d had enough. “Are you insane?” she demanded. “Are you seriously nuts? Because it’s different all right—I don’t like you anymore, don’t you get that? I don’t want to be in touch with you. I don’t want us to be friends. You wanted a new life, a different life. Go home! Wallow in it.”
Now he was doing the head-shaking. “Leslie, what’s happened to you? We’re going to have to work on that. We’re much too civilized to have hard feelings like this between us after all the good years we’ve had. We’re going to get past the misunderstandings and forge a new, stronger friendship. I care about you. You’re very important to me. Very important!”
She stared at him in disbelief that had become common for her when faced with Greg. “This is why I moved. Because you need medication. Listen to me carefully,” she said, stepping toward him. “You cheated on me. You left me. You somehow conned me out of my half of our community property, you remarried and your new wife is pregnant with the baby you didn’t want to have with me. If everyone in my life cared about me that much I would be the most pathetic creature on the face of the earth.”
“The way you look at things,” he muttered disparagingly.
“How did you find me?”
“I asked everyone we knew. Your parents wouldn’t tell me, your old boss wouldn’t tell me—”
“And did they tell you why they wouldn’t tell you? I asked them not to. It’s because of conversations like this one that I moved! So, who told?”
“One of the crew for Haggerty’s said he heard you went to work for Paul in Virgin River.”
“And you drove down here?” she asked, astonished. “Why didn’t you just call the site?”
“I want you to look me in the eye, Leslie, and tell me we can’t ever be on good terms. Because it kills me to think you hate me.”
She took another step toward him. “We can be on good terms, Greg,” she said with more confidence than she’d had even a few weeks ago. “As long as I never have to talk to you or see your face again. Now go home and leave me alone.”
“I want to make this right, because I—”
“I know. Because you care about me. You’re too late to make it right. You made your choice and I made mine and I’m done.”
“I wish there was some way I could make you understand. Everything changed in an instant. I became a different man with different needs, with different expectations. It was a transition, Leslie. It wasn’t something I thought about or planned. It was as if—”
In a second he was going to say, I’d never been in love like this before. He’d said it to her before, and she could still feel the ache. “Go. Leave! ”
“Now, Leslie, listen to reason....”
She marched over to the kitchen sink, pulled the fire extinguisher off the wall, freed the hose and aimed it at him.
“Okay, now you’re acting unbalanced,” he said.
“If you don’t get in your car and head for Grants Pass immediately, I’m going to mess up your pretty cashmere coat. And your perfect hair! ”
“Now look—”
She fired at his shiny John Lobbs.
“Hey!” he yelled, jumping back.
“Seriously, on the count of three. One, two—”
“You’ve lost it, Leslie,” he said, but he was backing toward the door. “You’ve never acted like this. I’m worried about you.”
“Then give me a real wide berth,” she advised. “Three!”
He nearly fell out the door.
Conner watched as Paul Haggerty was just pulling up to the trailer. Greg Adams was standing behind his car, trunk open, cleaning his shoes with a rag he’d pulled off his golf clubs. Paul screeched to a stop and jumped out of the truck.
“Now see, that’s just crazy! Of course we have a relationship, a very important one, just a different one than we had a couple of years ago.”
It was exactly this kind of talk that had pushed her over the edge. And while it used to just break her heart, she’d had enough. “Are you insane?” she demanded. “Are you seriously nuts? Because it’s different all right—I don’t like you anymore, don’t you get that? I don’t want to be in touch with you. I don’t want us to be friends. You wanted a new life, a different life. Go home! Wallow in it.”
Now he was doing the head-shaking. “Leslie, what’s happened to you? We’re going to have to work on that. We’re much too civilized to have hard feelings like this between us after all the good years we’ve had. We’re going to get past the misunderstandings and forge a new, stronger friendship. I care about you. You’re very important to me. Very important!”
She stared at him in disbelief that had become common for her when faced with Greg. “This is why I moved. Because you need medication. Listen to me carefully,” she said, stepping toward him. “You cheated on me. You left me. You somehow conned me out of my half of our community property, you remarried and your new wife is pregnant with the baby you didn’t want to have with me. If everyone in my life cared about me that much I would be the most pathetic creature on the face of the earth.”
“The way you look at things,” he muttered disparagingly.
“How did you find me?”
“I asked everyone we knew. Your parents wouldn’t tell me, your old boss wouldn’t tell me—”
“And did they tell you why they wouldn’t tell you? I asked them not to. It’s because of conversations like this one that I moved! So, who told?”
“One of the crew for Haggerty’s said he heard you went to work for Paul in Virgin River.”
“And you drove down here?” she asked, astonished. “Why didn’t you just call the site?”
“I want you to look me in the eye, Leslie, and tell me we can’t ever be on good terms. Because it kills me to think you hate me.”
She took another step toward him. “We can be on good terms, Greg,” she said with more confidence than she’d had even a few weeks ago. “As long as I never have to talk to you or see your face again. Now go home and leave me alone.”
“I want to make this right, because I—”
“I know. Because you care about me. You’re too late to make it right. You made your choice and I made mine and I’m done.”
“I wish there was some way I could make you understand. Everything changed in an instant. I became a different man with different needs, with different expectations. It was a transition, Leslie. It wasn’t something I thought about or planned. It was as if—”
In a second he was going to say, I’d never been in love like this before. He’d said it to her before, and she could still feel the ache. “Go. Leave! ”
“Now, Leslie, listen to reason....”
She marched over to the kitchen sink, pulled the fire extinguisher off the wall, freed the hose and aimed it at him.
“Okay, now you’re acting unbalanced,” he said.
“If you don’t get in your car and head for Grants Pass immediately, I’m going to mess up your pretty cashmere coat. And your perfect hair! ”
“Now look—”
She fired at his shiny John Lobbs.
“Hey!” he yelled, jumping back.
“Seriously, on the count of three. One, two—”
“You’ve lost it, Leslie,” he said, but he was backing toward the door. “You’ve never acted like this. I’m worried about you.”
“Then give me a real wide berth,” she advised. “Three!”
He nearly fell out the door.
Conner watched as Paul Haggerty was just pulling up to the trailer. Greg Adams was standing behind his car, trunk open, cleaning his shoes with a rag he’d pulled off his golf clubs. Paul screeched to a stop and jumped out of the truck.
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