“Sure. Let’s chat.” I turned my gray eyes to Violet and Eva. “Why don’t you girls go in the back for a few minutes and convince Sophia to make you some fresh milkshakes? On the house.”

Violet shrugged and walked around the far end of the counter. Eva Grayson studied Donovan Caine with open interest. She sniffed, clearly telling me she didn’t think the detective had anything on her big brother. Then she folowed Violet.

I waited until the two college girls had disappeared through the swinging doors and were out of earshot before I looked back at the detective. “I saw you on TV at the coal mine. Looked like you had your hands full recovering Tobias Dawson’s body.”

The detective nodded. “I did. But Owen Grayson was a tremendous help with that. So were all the other emergency and disaster workers.”

We could have been talking about the weather for as interesting as the conversation was. But the detective’s hands gripped the edge of the counter like he wanted to break it off. He was upset about something. I had no idea what it could be. Because he was the one who’d turned his back on me that day at the mine, not the other way around. So I decided to get to the heart of the matter.

“Why did you come here, Donovan?” I asked. “What do you want?”

The detective stared at me, his golden eyes tracing over my face. “I’m leaving Ashland, Gin. I thought you should know. I thought I should tell you in person.”

For a moment I was stunned. Simply stunned. Of all the things he could have said, I wasn’t expecting that—and the emotions it stirred up in me. Hurt. Anger. Sadness.

“You’re leaving town? Why?”

Donovan ran his hands through his black hair. “A lot of reasons. Too many to get into right now.”

“Well, let’s get into the only one that matters, the real reason you’re here. Me,” I snapped. “You’re leaving town because of me, aren’t you?”

“Guilty as charged.” The detective tried to smile. It didn’t come off very well.

“Why?” I asked. “You turned your back on me at the mine that day. I got the message. For some reason, you don’t want to have anything to do with me. Not anymore. You don’t have to leave town to accomplish that, detective. I’m not the sort who runs after a man, begging him not to leave her.”