Chapter 4

Callie

“Your order should be up in just a minute, Callie.” I glance up at Carmen as she tops off my coffee. She’s been serving at Zed’s for as long as I can remember, and yet, she still looks the same. Even when I was a little girl, she had that dark hair liberally streaked with strands of gray, laugh lines around her kind, brown eyes and in the corners of her mouth that bespoke of a woman who enjoyed good humor.

“Thanks, Carmen.” I smile at her, reaching for the creamer and sugar. As I doctor up my coffee, I turn on my phone to check my messages.

Immediately, my screen is filled with incoming texts from Will. Except I changed his name in contacts from Will Tynnick to “Judge’s Bitch”. Petty, I know, but it does sting slightly the lengths he had to go to have some “excitement” in his sex life. It’s just one more reminder to me how pathetically dull I must have been.

More stinging is the fact that we clearly didn’t have the type of relationship where he could have asked me for something spicier if that’s what he wanted. Why he considered me a doormat, I have no clue.

Well, wait… yes I do.

Because I acted like a fucking doormat.

I grimace over that sad realization as I flip through the texts.

I’m going out of my mind with worry. Will you please call me and let me know you’re safe?

I’m so sorry, honey. Please, please talk to me so I can explain.

Callie… I love you. I’m going insane here. Call me.

Nothing all too different than what he’s been sending me for the past three days. I wondered if he was going to call my parents at some point and tell them what happened. Any sane person at this point would do that if someone had been missing going on four days now, but I don’t think he’s prepared to let my mom and dad know exactly what happened. Hell, I’m not prepared for that either. I just told them when I showed up on the doorstep at the Governor’s Mansion in Cheyenne that we had broken off the engagement and I didn’t want to talk about it. They abided by my wishes but then ushered me home to Jackson where my dad’s been working from so he can keep an eye on me. I know he’s worried but I’ve assured him I’m okay, and I expect he’ll head back to Cheyenne soon.

I read the last text. If you don’t respond to me before the end of the day, I’m going to the police. I have no clue if you’re dead in a ditch somewhere. I get you’re mad, but now you’re just being selfish by not at least responding so I know you’re okay.

A small tremor of guilt rumbles through me. I know Will is worried. I totally get that from his texts, and I can’t have him calling the police and filing a false report, because I am very much okay. I think for a moment and choose my words carefully.

I’m home in Jackson and I’m fine. I’m not ready to talk but hopefully one day. Don’t bother texting or calling me. I’ll call when I’m ready.

I read over it twice and satisfied, I hit send.

His response is instantaneous. Please, please just call me right now. I need to talk to you.

I set my phone down and ignore it.

“Here you go,” I hear, and a plate with eggs, bacon, and home fries clatters in front of me. I look up and see Kelley Jacobs looking down her nose at me, which is nothing new. Kelley is one of those locals who just can’t seem to get her shit together and thinks all of her woes are to blame on others. She seems to think that I, as the governor’s daughter, have something to do with the fact that she dropped out of college five years ago and now works as a waitress.

The bell over the front door to the restaurant jingles, and my eyes flick up at the sound. Kelley’s head turns too, and she even hums approval to herself under her breath. “Mmmmmm. Mmmmm.”

Yeah… that would describe the man walking in the door.

Woolf steps inside, takes his hat off, and looks around the crowded restaurant. His eyes stop on me, and I give him a cautious wave. I’m feeling a little awkward after last night. He gives me a tight smile and continues to look around for an empty table. His eyes come back to mine, and I make a motion toward the empty chair opposite of me.

I don’t miss the subtle grimace and for a moment, I think he may just walk back out the door, but then he looks resigned to sit with me and heads my way.

Woolf pulls out the chair, throws his hat on the chair next to it, and gives a beautiful smile to Kelley. “Hey, sugar. Can I have some coffee and a buckwheat stack?”

Ugh. He called her sugar… and it sounded all sexy too.

Kelley beams at him and gives him a flirty wink. “Anything for you, darlin’.”

I clear my throat. “Can I get some hot sauce?” But she’s already spinning away from me. I watch her retreating back for a moment, and then sigh as I turn to face Woolf.

“Sugar?” I ask him blandly. “Isn’t she a little young for you?”

Woolf throws his head back and laughs, and seriously… were his teeth always that white and straight? I know his lips were always that full, and that must be why I never noticed his teeth.

Shaking my head, I pick up my fork and scoop up a tiny piece of scrambled egg. I shouldn’t have indulged in that last whiskey with Woolf last night, which tipped me over the edge from buzzed to drunk. My stomach’s been swimming a bit this morning.

As I put the food tentatively in my mouth, he says, “Gotta hangover?”

I don’t fail to notice he didn’t address my last question, but seriously… not any of my business. Nope. Doesn’t bother me at all who Woolf is interested in. I learned my lesson a long time ago. It’s never going to be me, so why wish for it?

“I’m feeling a little poorly,” I admit with a smile and then try a bite of bacon.

Woolf seems to think that’s good enough opportunity for him to get all brotherly on me. He leans in and murmurs softly but with chastisement. “Seriously, Callie… what were you thinking last night? Getting up on that bar… flashing your shit for everyone to see?”

My cheeks start to burn not only from embarrassment, but also from anger. “Who are you to judge me?” I grit out.

Woolf pushes back and shoots me a surprised look. “Hey… I’m not judging. It’s just… that’s not you. It’s not the girl I know.”

“I’m a woman,” I point out as I turn my attention back to my food.

“That you are,” he mutters, but I don’t look back at him, keeping my gaze on my plate. I eat in silence and don’t even bother to look up when Kelley brings Woolf his coffee. They chat for a bit. He asks her if she’ll be coming by The Wicked Horse anytime soon, and she giggles and simpers for a bit, assuring him she’ll be by. Woolf turns on the charm and flirts right back with her, and she giggles some more.

Makes me even more nauseous.

After Kelley totters off, I just can’t seem to help myself. “So… you and Kelley, huh?”

Woolf gives me a knowing grin. The type that knows I might be a little jealous and he finds it amusing. He places his forearms on the table and kicks his legs out, brushing them against mine under the table. “Come on, Callie… that was just a little bit of harmless flirting.”

Hmmmm. That sounds sincere and my shoulders sag a bit, telling myself with brutal honesty that I had been a little on edge over the thought of Woolf with another woman. Which was just utter ridiculousness. He doesn’t think of me like that. He was painfully clear about that after Richard died.

And then he knocks away any remaining doubt about that issue. “Besides,” he says as an afterthought as he picks up his coffee cup and looks me square in the eye. “I don’t go out with brunettes.”

Kelley is a brunette.

But then, so am I.

My mouth drops open slightly at the blatant and backhanded slap at me. I mean… I don’t know if that was directed at me intentionally, but it hit me squarely. And my shoulders sag just a bit more as I realize that maybe I am still harboring some feelings for Woolf.