She didn’t leave. You kicked her out. She could be here right now, discussing the situation, if you had taken the time to cool off before giving her ultimatums.

He wasn’t listening to his inner voice right now. His subconscious was looking for any excuse to forgive her and bring her back. It was selfish. He wanted her for himself. It had been all right when she’d been what was best for Noelle, too, but today had proven that instinct wrong.

He walked to the counter where he’d put her bag of personal items and the other brown paper bag he’d used to gather the dog’s things, and guilt sliced through him. He wasn’t even sure what he was feeling guilty about—asking Lila to leave or the fact that he’d brought her into their home in the first place.

“She’ll be fine,” Zep said, glancing around. “Don’t worry about Lila. She’s strong.”

“Yes, she is.” She had a forceful personality. It had sometimes rubbed the wrong way, but oh, when they were in sync he’d never felt better about life.

“She’s got her job. She’s very invested in that clinic of hers. I personally am happy to have her there.”

Armie nodded and wished that Zep would get out so he could sit and brood and try to put his life back together.

Zep’s brows rose. “She does still have a job, right?”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“It means I’m real bad at eavesdropping and by bad, I really mean good. I overheard Lila asking Lisa if she thought you would try to run her out of town.”

She thought that? “Why would I . . . I wouldn’t deprive the town of a medical professional so I didn’t have to deal with my ex-girlfriend.”

“Good, because I think she’s worried you’ll do that.”

“I’ve never given her reason to think I would be cruel to her.”

Zep nodded. “Yeah, well, sometimes things aren’t the way they seem to be. Not that I know much, but there was this perception thing I remember from high school. I was just thinking about that for some reason. I guess she has the wrong perception of you.”

“She definitely does if she thinks I’m going to run her out of town.” That was ridiculous. He’d never done a single thing that should make her think he was that kind of man. Sure, he could be short, and when he was working he used a different tone of voice. He had to. “I’m the sheriff. I have to be intimidating on some level, but I’ve never tried to intimidate her.”

“You can be intimidating even when you’re not trying,” Zep replied. “I should know.”

Zep turned and Armie meant to let him go. He meant to let him walk out that door and not say another word.