One Foot in the Grave - Denise Grover Swank Page 0,56

quickly closed it. “That’s not necessary. I know him, and I’m not surprised. I abruptly ended a conversation with him right before coming over here, and I suspect he’s here to continue it.”

“Are you safe?” Gladys asked with worry in her eyes.

I gave her a reassuring smile. “Totally. Wyatt would never hurt me. In fact, he’s out there because he wants to protect me.”

“Does he have somethin’ to worry about?” Roberta asked.

Did he?

“No,” I said truthfully. But I suspected that could easily change—the more I snooped around, the more dangerous things were bound to get. “Thanks for looking out for me.”

“Always,” Gladys called after me as I headed for the exit.

“You be careful!” Roberta shouted. “You’re our puzzle hookup. If anything happens to you, who knows when we’ll get another one.”

I shot her a grin before I walked out the double glass doors, putting on my game face.

Wyatt was leaning against my driver’s side door with his arms crossed. His dark gaze was trained on me as I headed toward him.

“Do I want to know what you were doin’ in there?” he asked, remaining in place. His pose sent a clear message. You’re not leaving until I let you.

I stopped several feet away, hooking my hand on the strap of the purse slung over my shoulder. “I don’t see what difference it makes to you.”

“We need to finish our conversation.”

“Okay,” I said, shifting my weight. “It’s simple. If you want me to continue looking into this, you need to give me something else to chase down, along with some kind of incentive to put up with your bullshit. You said you were going to give me answers.”

He glanced away, into the trees surrounding the property, then turned back to me. “I asked Heather to marry me. That was what really caused my big fight with my parents. My father actually respected me for demanding ownership of the tavern, and he would have probably given it to me, only I told him I wanted it because I planned to marry Heather and we wanted to start a family.”

I stared at him in shock. “Why in God’s name didn’t you tell me any of that earlier?”

“Because I was embarrassed. She refused to marry me if I didn’t get ownership of the tavern, and no one else knew.”

“Not even her friends?”

“Did Abby mention it?” he asked with a questioning look.

She hadn’t, but then again, she might not have known. According to her, Heather had operated by an out of sight, out of mind policy, and Abby had been out of town when all that went down. If Heather shared the news with anyone, it was likely Mitzi. Who refused to talk to me.

I shook my head. “How the hell do you expect me to clear your name if you won’t be honest with me?”

He glanced away. “I want you to find out most everything from other sources. That’ll help you see this through their eyes, not mine.” He turned back to me. “I didn’t kill her, Carly. I swear. And if you come to that conclusion on your own, maybe you’ll find it in your heart to trust me again.”

“That is such bullshit, Wyatt,” I said, raising my voice and not caring a bit. “You don’t give a shit whether I trust you. You made that clear when we broke up last December.”

“That’s not true!”

“I believed you when you told me you’d help me,” I said, feeling angrier with every word. “I believed you when you said you’d share your past. Like a damn fool! Then you stonewalled me at every turn. You had to know I’d call you on your bullshit. You had to know how much it would hurt me, especially since you knew I’d been deceived before.”

He studied me with wary eyes.

“Well, say something!” I shouted, taking a step closer.

“I can’t,” he said, his voice thick. “Because you’re right. About all of it.”

That was what I wanted to hear, yet somehow it made everything worse.

“Do you realize how badly you hurt me?” I asked, my voice cracking. “You convinced me to trust you, and then you screwed me over just like every other guy before you.” Tears stung my eyes. “You broke me, Wyatt Drummond. I’ll never trust another man again, and now I’m destined to be alone for the rest of my life. So fuck. You.”

Dismay covered his face. “Carly…”

Embarrassment washed over me like hot tar. I hadn’t even realized I felt that way until that very moment, and