For the first time, Quinn could see why it was so easy to get caught up in small town drama. She so wanted to know what was going on with these two.
But she had her own drama to deal with first.
The minutes ticked by, but Baby didn’t show up. It was okay, she knew he was busy. He’d been out in the shop every spare minute while she’d been in Boston trying to make up for all the other minutes he’d spent with her the past two weeks.
And then the message came.
A text message, which would have made her smile if it wasn’t for the content.
I went by the Eagle’s Nest but didn’t stay. I’m sorry, Quinn. That’s not the new start and future I want.
Quinn read the words over and over until she couldn’t read them anymore because of the tears flooding her eyes.
He’d come, he’d seen her, and he’d left.
She had her answer. She wasn’t the future he wanted. She should appreciate that he hadn’t come made a public spectacle of telling her that to her face.
There was no reason for her heart to feel like it was shattering into a million pieces.
“Hey, are you okay?” Lexi asked when Quinn slid the bar stool back with a little too much force.
“Yeah. I got a message from Baby. He’s not coming.”
“Oh. Well, go over and see him if he can’t make it here.”
Quinn shook her head. Her tears fell down her cheek, and she wiped at them. Her composure was shot, but she couldn’t seem to care. That was part of embracing both sides of herself, right? She didn’t have to always be composed.
Which was good because she couldn’t seem to be composed at all.
“He doesn’t want me. That’s why he was going to meet me here. A new start. I—” She broke off, shaking her head.
Lexi reached out a hand toward her. “Quinn...”
“I’m okay.” She took a deep breath. “This way is probably better. He has his world and I have mine.” She wiped the tears away and took a breath. “I hate to leave you in a lurch, but I’m afraid I have to quit without giving you two weeks’ notice, Lexi.”
“Why?”
Quinn tried to smile enough so it wasn’t obvious that her heart was in pieces all around her. “It looks like I’m moving back to Boston.”
Chapter Thirty-Five
Baby didn’t like lying to Quinn. He dropped back down on the couch, laid his head back against the cushion, and stared up at his ceiling.
But for fuck’s sake, did she really expect him to go meet some friend of hers at the bar? Someone she thought would be perfect for him?
The past two days that she’d been in Boston had been hard enough— hearing her talk about them courting her, wooing her, how desperately they wanted her to come back.
And they damned well should. They should get on their knees and beg someone as talented and caring and perfect as Quinn to come back to teach; he didn’t care how good of school it was.
So he’d encouraged her and told her how proud he was. Damn near bit his tongue all the way off to keep from begging her to come back to Oak Creek.
To come back to him.
And evidently, he’d done a fantastic job because not only was she still in Boston, she was trying to set him up with someone new.
He didn’t want someone new. He wanted Quinn.
But all of her dreams were coming true. Everything that Ramford had taken from her was being given back in spades. She deserved that. He wanted it for her, and, damn it, loved her too much to force her to split her focus between two things she cared about.
The ceiling he stared up at didn’t have any answers. She hadn’t responded to his text, not even to remark about the fact that he’d texted instead of called.
He kept hoping for more. Kept staring up at that same ceiling, hoping she’d call and say it had been a joke. That she’d never really meant the friend for him. Or hell, even to ask what he hadn’t liked about her friend’s looks.
Because if she had, he was going to tell her the truth. There was no way in hell he was going to be looking at another woman anytime soon, even if Quinn was in Cambridge.
He was still looking at the ceiling when he woke up the next morning. Quinn had never called, never responded to his text.