Chapter 18

Grimacing, Darrell rapped on the door.

“You can go home, Barnaby,” Travis’s voice called through the door.

He twisted the knob. “It’s not Barnaby.”

Sitting behind his big oak desk, Travis looked up from his paperwork. “Oh, hi.”

“Look, I don’t want to take up a lot of your time.” Darrell closed the door and came forward.

Travis nodded and gestured to a chair in front of his desk. “Have a seat.”

He took the chair and folded his hands in his lap, feeling awkward. He ducked his chin for a moment, but then raised his gaze to look at Travis. “Can I ask what I did?”

Travis set the pen he held tightly in his grasp on his desk. He inhaled. “Darrell, I’ve been trying to figure out how to tell you. I guess it’s not easy.”

“You don’t want to see me anymore,” Darrell supplied.

“I think that would be for the best.”

“Why?”

The other man frowned. “Why?”

“I thought we were doing pretty well. Now, all of a sudden, you’ve shut down on me. I think I have a right to know what happened.”