Lucas got out, went to the back of the car, and opened the door. Nick shrugged off Lucas’s attempt to help him out. “This is an abuse of power.”
“Some women like bad boys. Maybe you should look for that type next.”
Nick stomped off toward the station. “Maybe you should get over Riley and find someone who likes self-important, squad-car-tyrants.”
Nick added a few stronger adjectives to the list, but Lucas had stopped listening. Being called names was nothing new. The odd thing was that this was the second time in a week that someone had told him that he wasn’t over Riley.
It wasn’t true.
Okay, perhaps tonight proved that it was alittletrue. But that didn’t change things.
Still, after he was through with Nick, he found himself messaging Winter and telling her to call him when she had some time to talk.
He didn’t expect to hear from her until the next day, but she called a few minutes later. He was due for a break, so he went to one of the empty back rooms and answered the call.
“What’s up?” she asked.
“I’m surprised you are,” he said. “It’s late.”
“You keep odd hours when you have no place to go.” A note of self-pity played in her voice.
He kept his voice low even though he was alone. “Going stir crazy?”
“I’m counting the days until my due date.”
“It’s not too long.”
She gave a wry laugh. “You only think that because you don’t have a baby lodged into your lungs. So, why did you call?”
He wasn’t sure how to broach the subject of Riley. He’d thought he’d have more time to plan what to say. “I ran into Riley tonight.”
“Oh.” Winter drew out the word. “How is she?”
Still beautiful. Still angry. And dating idiots now. He wouldn’t tell her about Nick, though. He didn’t gossip about what happened on the job. “She still sees me as the villain. What makes that worse is that Carson is putting in an offer to buy The Riverside Inn and wants me to manage it. I’ll probably end up being her boss. Riley and I need to be able to have a working relationship.”
“It’s been a while since you two broke up. Sounds like Riley needs to get over herself.”
“It would help if I could explain why I was at your house that night.” He’d told Winter this before. They’d talked about it after the breakup. Back then, she’d made a veiled threat of what she’d do if Lucas told Riley anything.
But like Winter said, it had been six months. They’d all had time to cool down.
There was a pause on the phone.
He waited.
Finally, Winter let out a long sigh. “I only took you into my confidence because you promised I could trust you. You promised me you would keep my secrets.”
“I think you could trust Riley to keep your secrets too.”
Another sigh. “I’m sorry, Lucas. I really am. But I haven’t even told my friends about this. I don’t want your angry ex-girlfriend who hates me to find out about it. I have to think about my future and my baby’s privacy.”
He’d understood her insistence for privacy when she’d still been deciding what to do about her unplanned pregnancy. It seemed less urgent now. “You don’t have to keep everything a secret,” he said. “These things happen. People understand.”
“People understand?” Winter repeated in disbelief. “How many women do you know who’ve given up a baby for adoption?” Without waiting for an answer, she added, “And how many of those women are planning on competing in the Miss Montana pageant? I don’t want my situation and choices debated on every single media platform.”
He couldn’t argue that people would be kind or even respectful online.
“I’m sorry,” she went on. “If I’d known this would ruin things with Riley, I would’ve never come to you for advice. I shouldn’t have done it.”