Daryl shrugged. “No one that I know of lately.”
“What about the baby’s daddy? Is he still in the picture?”
“Nope. Not that anyone knows who it is. She went off not long after you left to care for an aunt or something. She came back about six months ago with a kiddo.”
“And no one knows who the father is?
Daryl shook his head. “She won’t say. All my sister will say is that he was a jerk who wasn’t ready for the responsibility.”
A certain right fist wanted to show an asshole what happened when he ditched his responsibilities. Caleb knew what it was like to grow up fatherless. Despite the fact that Renny probably hated him for leaving, Caleb didn’t like knowing she was struggling.
But that still didn’t excuse her choice of work.
Caleb stood abruptly, the chair screeching back against the floor. “I need to see her.”
Reaching out, Daryl grabbed his arm as he went to walk by. “Dude, don’t do it.”
“Do what? Say hello to an old friend?”
“You guys were more than friends. Everyone thought you were going to get hitched. And then you left. No warning. Nothing. She was hurting. Bad. You can’t blame her for mistakes she might have made.”
Mistake? He’d left, and she had a baby by another man.
He should have been happy to know she’d moved on. Instead, he wanted to kill something.
Biting is good.
He ignored the voice. He did that a lot, and he didn’t give a shit what that damned shrink said. Some things were better left locked away.
Because some acts couldn’t be unseen.
“I don’t know why you think I’m going to blame her for anything. I just want to talk to her. Say hi. Let her know I’m back.” And that there were many nights he wished he’d never left.
Seeing her again reminded him of the most precious thing he’d lost.
Yet not leaving was never a choice.
Talking to her would prove a cruel form of torture, but he couldn’t stop himself, even as Daryl reminded him, “Dude, don’t do it. She knows you’re back. Trust me, she knows. So sit down and have another beer. Or, even better, let’s take off and go to the Bitten Saloon. It’s a short stagger to my place then.”
“You know I hate Western. And you’re worrying for nothing. Better I get this out of the way now. We were bound to run into each other at one point.” Caleb had just hoped he’d find himself better armed when he did—like with a gun so he could shoot any asshole who dared to touch his girl.
Or we could eat them.
The cold thought wasn’t his own. He paid it no mind, just like he paid Daryl no mind. Gaze narrowed, he made his way across the room. People wisely stepped out of his way. Could it be the intense glower he wore as he watched a certain pert ass—an ass I groped too many times to count— sashayed away? He followed.
Renny ducked into the women’s washroom. Did she think to escape him? Caleb was a master when it came to getting his prey. It was what had gotten him into this situation.
I’m coming to get you. Given the women’s public washroom was in a strip joint, and the employees had their own behind the scenes, Caleb felt pretty safe following.
No screams as he entered, a good sign, but neither did Renny acknowledge his presence. She knew he was there. She could see him approach in the mirror, just like he could see the tight set of her shoulders and the thin press of her lips.
A peeved-looking woman who sounded it, too. “You made a wrong turn. This is the women’s washroom.”
Ignoring her welcome, he said, “Hello, baby.” The familiar nickname purred from him, unbidden, but once spoken, unable to be retrieved.
A long time ago, that endearment might have once curled her lips into the most beautiful smile. Now it just served to make her eyes flash with anger. “Don’t you baby me, Caleb. I have no interest in talking to you.”
“I get that, and I don’t blame you.”
“How magnanimous of you,” she retorted dryly.
“You look good.” Again, he spoke without thinking—or filtering. I’d better start watching my words, or I’m going to get myself in trouble.
Too late. He was in trouble the moment he came seeking her.
At his praise, she sucked in a breath, and a slight flush heightened the color in her cheeks. “You look good, too,” she said.
At her obvious lie, his lips tightened. “I’m very much aware of how I look. No need to coddle me.” The burns had left a scar, not just on his skin but his psyche. Even if she could ignore the one, he couldn’t ignore the other.
“Coddle? I can assure you that would be last thing I’d do for you.”
Renny always did have that irritating tendency of telling the truth, but even if she didn’t find his scars ugly, that changed nothing.
“As you can see, I’m back.”
“So everyone keeps telling me,” she mumbled. “As if I care. I stopped caring a long time ago.”
A lie that hit him hard and low. She still feels something for me.