“I wish you’d let me go.”
“I doubt she would’ve done it if you were there. And after today, I’m even more convinced she’s not right in the head. I’ve said that for years, but I didn’t mean it the way I do now. I don’t want you anywhere near her. Ever. For all we know, she’d get it into her head that you were behind my decision to trick her, or that I’d want her if I didn’t care for you, or...whatever. The way she twists things, there’s no telling what she might do with the most harmless detail.”
Taking his hand, she drew him over to the couch. “Have you told Olivia and Brandon?”
“No. My phone’s dead, remember? After Chief Bennett put her in his squad car, I came straight home. But I’m sure they’ve heard. Noelle’s probably called her parents by now, and her parents have called Brandon and Olivia.”
Lourdes tried to imagine what it would be like to hear that one of her sisters had set fire to someone’s business—and couldn’t. “I feel sorry for them. Bad enough finding out she’s guilty of arson, but doing what she did to someone else they know and love? They’re definitely going to have mixed emotions.”
“Brandon won’t. He pegged Noelle for a sociopath from the start. He won’t feel bad to see her get what she deserves. But Olivia? She’s always felt guilty for being popular and well liked when her sister wasn’t. That’s why she’s cut Noelle so much slack and tried to get along with her.”
“Do you think this is the end of it? That Noelle will leave you alone from now on?”
He ran a hand over his face. “Who can say? While I was there, she mentioned how long Phoenix has loved Riley—that Phoenix hung on through all those years in prison—which makes me a little nervous.”
Lourdes smiled ruefully. “I can see why, especially since she won’t have to spend as long behind bars as Phoenix did, will she?”
“No. Chief Bennett said it could be two to six, depending on the judge. But he’s guessing it’ll be at the lower end of that range, because no one got hurt.”
“That means she’ll be back one day.”
“Whoa!” He held up a hand. “Let’s not talk about her coming back. Let’s enjoy the fact that she’ll be gone for a good, long while.”
“Okay.” She snuggled up to him, content just to feel the warmth of his body, to hear the sound of his heart beating so steadily beneath her ear.
They sat like that, in silence, for several minutes. Then he said, “We’re down to one more day.”
Closing her eyes, she wrapped her arms around his waist. “Let’s not talk about that, either.”
*
When Lourdes woke up the next morning, Kyle was gone. Assuming he must’ve had to deal with something connected to the fire or Noelle’s arrest, she clasped her arms around his pillow and relived the tender moments they’d shared during the night.
She’d never been like this, she realized. Never been so head over heels. Given her situation, it didn’t make a lot of sense that she could fall so deeply in love. She’d come to Whiskey Creek firmly believing she was in love with someone else. And yet there was no denying how she felt. She could only hope she’d be so busy in Nashville that her enthusiasm for her work would take some of the sting out of leaving Kyle behind.
Throwing back the blankets, she sat up and searched for her phone. Derrick had texted her several times yesterday. He’d tried to call, too, but she hadn’t answered. That could wait until tomorrow, when she hit Nashville, or later in the week. But her mother had also called, to confirm the time she’d be arriving.