A quick look fanned her fears. A rental sticker was on the car. Maybe it belonged to Tom Whitefeather. She could only hope his real car was in the shop or something—anything but what she was imagining.
Moving as fast as she dared in her high heels, she scooted toward the front door, spraying small stones with each awkward step. In the day’s heat, she fiddled in her purse for the house key Chance had given her. Out of frustration at not finding it, she tried the knob. The door flung open and a breeze of air-conditioning greeted her. She stepped into the foyer and stilled. No voices. The place was deadly quiet. Except for the dull thud of her heart pounding in her ears, that is. She scanned the great room. No one was there. She headed for the hallway that led to Chance’s room, when a deep voice halted her.
“We’re in here,” Chance called from the vicinity of the kitchen.
She took a measured breath and listened to the pulse pounding at her temples as she turned around and, slowly, headed back down the hall. She halted in the doorway to the kitchen. Ben stood stiff and erect, dressed in a gray suit, looking boyishly handsome as he leaned against the countertop, his right hand clasping and unclasping as if he needed to keep his circulation going. His blue-eyed gaze was wide and questioning. With his brown hair perfectly combed and a tie loosened at his neck, it was clear he’d come straight from corporate headquarters in Texas.
Chance sat at the kitchen table, arms crossed over his chest, eyes focused in her direction, and long legs stretched out, including the foot encased in the soft black cast. Those legs encompassed most of the table like he was settling in for a while and claiming his territory.
“I see you two have met,” she managed to get out.
“I’ve met your fiancé, as he introduced himself.” Chance said each word distinctly, slowly, as if he was grinding them out between clenched teeth.
“And I’ve met your ex-husband,” Ben snapped.
“Chance, I’d like a few minutes alone with Ben, so we’re going to step outside.”
“Suit yourself,” he growled, the frown on his face deepening.
Ben’s narrowed eyes said he thought there was something going on between the two of them. Didn’t matter that technically there wasn’t, at least yet. Truth was, there might as well have been. She had feelings for Chance, even if Chance didn’t return those feelings.
Ben followed her out the front door into the summer heat, cooled only slightly by the mountain breeze. Libby closed the door carefully behind her and turned to face him.
“You still care for your ex-husband,” he accused. It was more statement than question.
“Yes.” She wouldn’t deny the truth.
Ben leaned against the wooden porch railing that ran the front of the ranch house and crossed his arms over his chest. “Why weren’t you straight with me? When were you going to tell me? Why did I have to find out about this from your father? Why didn’t I hear this from you?” Those blue eyes of Ben’s had clouded over, his face flushing red. He was already hurting.
And to know her father had contacted him just added to the mess she’d created.
“I planned to tell you everything, in person, when you got back. I didn’t want to discuss this over the phone. I thought I owed you that.” It was the truth, though when he closed his eyes, she knew he didn’t believe her. When he opened them again, she was sure of it.
“You could have told me a long time ago that you’d been married before. You could have told me he was the friend who had gotten hurt and you felt helping him was the charitable thing to do. You could have told me you had feelings for him. You know how miserable I’ve been trying to figure out what I did to have you turn away from me? I thought you just had a temporary case of cold feet. I never imagined you found someone else, someone who you’d married once.”
Ben may have been angry, but she couldn’t deny he was also right.
“I’m sorry.”
“That’s it?” he bellowed. “That makes everything right? I was going to ask you to marry me. I bought the ring, Libby.” He patted the breast pocket of his suit jacket. “When I got back, I’d planned to take you to look at a house I found in Casper. On five acres. Enough to have a horse or two.” His eyes were moist, his expression one of grief. “That’s where I was going to propose. I was going to try to convince you that we had a future.”
“If it matters, I didn’t know I still had feelings for him. I was trying to do a good deed. Make up for walking out on him when he needed me.”
Ben gave a disheartened chuckle. “Seems that is your MO, Libby. Walking out on people. Only don’t try to make it up to me—ever. And certainly not by walking out on someone else who loves you.”
The poker plunged right into her heart. She deserved the pain. He didn’t.