Harlequin Love Inspired March 2021--Box Set 2 of 2 by Patrice Lewis (best large ereader .txt) 📕

at a future together. And if he was being honest with himself, that’s what he wanted more than anything.

“Has he been here before?” he asked, his suspicions intensifying with every passing second.

Ella bit her lip. She nodded. “Yes. Once before. When I first came to Owl Creek he helped me get settled.”

A feeling of disbelief swept through him. Clearly this man was important to her. He wasn’t a member of her family, and yet she wasn’t doing much explaining about his presence in her life. If he didn’t suspect she was sitting on a world of secrets, maybe this development wouldn’t bother him so much. In many ways it was the final straw of weeks spent wondering about the skeletons in Ella’s closet. He’d had enough!

“His name is Jonah. Like I said, he’s a friend.”

“He flew all the way here, but you didn’t want to introduce him to anyone? Show him around town?” If Ella had toured a stranger around town, Connor would have heard about it. The town gossips would have had a field day over it. But at least it would have been done out in the open. It would make sense.

She looked down instead of meeting his gaze. “H-he wasn’t here long. There really wasn’t time for sightseeing.”

Connor shook his head. It made no sense. Ella was playing him for a fool and pretending as if her actions weren’t suspicious. It felt like she was gaslighting him.

“You said you’re not used to snow, but Flagstaff gets tons of it,” he blurted out. “You didn’t know how to drive in the snow. You were completely unnerved when I wanted to take your ID picture. You didn’t want your picture put online. And the very first day we met you didn’t answer me when I called out your name. How do you explain these inconsistencies?”

“I… I can’t explain those things, Connor.” Her tone was flat and unemotional.

“Can’t or won’t?” he asked. Frustration had gotten the better of him. Although he felt badly about blindsiding her with his questions, he’d been driven to the brink. He was trying to bridge this chasm between them, but she wasn’t giving him anything to hold on to. She wasn’t giving him any answers. Nothing made sense. At this point he wasn’t even sure he could justify a friendship with her based on all of her evasions. After what his family had experienced in the past, Connor knew better than to ignore warning signs.

Ella wasn’t even trying to make eye contact with him now. She was shutting down on him, and he had no idea of how to get through to her. Perhaps he was being too insensitive. Maybe she needed a sympathetic approach.

He softened his voice. “Ella, I know you might be scared. I think you’ve been through something that frightened you. I think there are things you haven’t been able to express.”

Ella’s expression was shuttered. How could she be this calm? She wasn’t reacting as if any of this was a big deal at all. Didn’t she care about how he felt?

“Ella, I grew up with secrets. My whole childhood was affected by lies and deception. I can’t go through that again. It hurt too much the first time. And that pain only recently began to heal with Sage’s return. I care about you, but I can’t be involved with someone who won’t be honest with me. The truth is too important to hide.”

“I understand,” she said calmly.

“Is there anything you’d like to tell me?” he asked, offering her a final chance to open up to him. “I’m here, Ella. Here beside you, willing to listen.”

For a moment he thought he’d gotten through to her. She met his gaze and he saw a spark of something in her eyes that made him believe she cared about him enough to unveil herself.

“No, Connor. There isn’t,” she answered.

Her response almost brought him to his knees. He’d been holding on to hope until this very moment and praying for her to come to her senses. Instead, she’d flatly rejected his plea. And judging by the reserved look on her face, it didn’t bother her at all.

He let out a ragged sigh, then stood up from his seat. “Thanks, Ella. You’ve made everything perfectly clear. I’ll see myself out.”

Just as he reached the door, Ella called out to him. “Connor. Wait!”

Hope rocketed inside of him. Please, God. Answer my prayer.

“I’m so sorry,” she said.

“I am, too,” Connor said before stepping out the door. He didn’t bother looking back. Ella had made it clear that she wasn’t willing to bend in order to be with him.

After he got in his truck, Connor roared down the road, trying his best to leave all thoughts of Ella Perez in his rearview mirror.

* * *

As she covertly peered through the window and watched Connor drive away, Isabelle’s heart cracked into a million pieces. She knew she should feel relieved that her friendship with Connor was over. At least now she wouldn’t have to feel guilty any longer about the secrets she was withholding from him. She wouldn’t have to agonize about every slip of the tongue or the answers she could never provide to his questions. Shouldn’t she feel free right now? Free from having to tell the man she loved more lies. Somewhere along the way she’d fallen in love with Connor, which totally explained the knifelike sensation twisting in her gut. He would no longer be involved in her life. She’d seen it written all over his face right before he left.

When she was a little girl, she’d had a habit of curling up into a little ball and shutting out the world anytime she had been in pain. Although she’d outgrown the habit, this fresh hurt made her long to revert back to old patterns. Maybe she could forget about Connor and her feelings for him. Perhaps it wouldn’t hurt so badly if she stuffed them all down into a vast black hole and pretended as if