by Bella Andre
But before he could explain anything to Lola, he first had to make his apologies to Moira.
After Duncan’s corporate records had been destroyed, he hadn’t been able to piece together enough information on one of the six companies that had signed on. Now he knew that Moira’s company was the one that had slipped through the cracks.
Though the current situation couldn’t be more fraught, he was glad that he’d finally found Moira. At last, he could make amends for what Alastair had done to her and her company.
“For five years,” he began, “I’ve tried to find you—”
“You could have done that easily with a simple Internet search,” Moira cut in, red blotches of color staining her cheeks.
“I promise you, if I could have accessed any information about you and your company, I would have. Unfortunately, all of your files were—”
“No!” Moira pushed up from the chair. “I’m not going to listen to your excuses. I don’t want to hear them. It’s taken me a long time to rebuild, but I have. And I won’t let you drag me back into the past.”
“Please, if you would just let me explain. I’m so sorry for—”
“You heard Moira.” Lola stepped in front of him. “She wants you gone.” Lola’s eyes were full of pain. Anger. And deep betrayal. “I do too.”
Duncan felt like his insides were completely shredding as a knife twisted around and around. “I don’t want to hurt Moira again. And I swear I never intended to hurt her five years ago either.”
But Lola wasn’t interested in listening to his pleas as she walked barefoot to the door and held it open. “Leave. Now.”
Was there anything he could say, or do, that might convince her to let him explain? But given that even the previously docile dog seemed to be snarling at him now, he knew he wasn’t going to get that chance.
Only little Ruby was still smiling, her wide eyes innocent as she looked up at him. But he wasn’t innocent. No matter how many apologies he made, no matter what he did to make amends, he hadn’t saved Moira from Alastair’s schemes.
And Lola was right to want nothing to do with him.
The truth that he’d known all week, but had tried to shove back into the darkness, was that he didn’t deserve her love. This was exactly what he deserved—her disgust and fury.
“I’m sorry.” He said the words to Moira and to Lola’s family, but most of all to Lola. “More sorry than you’ll ever know.”
He stepped outside, and the door behind him closed with a bang, the lock slamming shut. The night had grown cold and dark, wet and windy. The perfect mirror to the way he felt inside.
Because nothing, and no one, would ever compare to the joy that he’d known—and had just lost—with Lola Sullivan.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Lola was shell-shocked. Beyond devastated.
But her broken heart didn’t matter now. All that mattered was Moira.
Beth knelt at Moira’s side, clasping her hands tightly. Ethan had his hands on her shoulders, a comforting presence behind her.
Lola’s voice was thick with regret and concern as she said, “Moira, I promise you, I had no idea who Duncan was. Are you all right?”
Moira nodded, but it was halfhearted at best. “I’ve let the Lyman brothers steal away so much time and energy and health from me already. I won’t let it happen again.”
“We won’t let it happen either,” Lola vowed. “If I could turn back time, if I had known last weekend what he and his brother had done to you, I would never have let Duncan sign up for my class, let alone spent time with him outside of it.”
Moira reached for Lola’s hand. “You have nothing to blame yourself for. How could you have known who he was, when I only just learned it myself?” Her mouth tightened and her brow furrowed even deeper. “I hadn’t realized the Lymans were behind Brilliant Funds until my assistant recently digitized my old contracts and pointed out Duncan and Alastair Lyman’s signatures buried deep in one of the many documents I signed. I know this is no excuse, but five years ago when my own lawyer said everything looked fine, I was so excited at the prospect of attracting the attention of a startup incubator, especially one willing to put half a million dollars into my brand, that I signed the contracts without reading the fine print myself.” Her expression was bleak. “Believe me, I’ve never made that mistake again. And I have a different lawyer now too.”
It wasn’t until Moira had nearly lost her business that they had found out about her deal with Brilliant Funds. Though Lola hadn’t known what startup incubators were at the time, she’d learned that they promised mentorship, connections, and manufacturing help for growing companies. Brilliant Funds had promised to match Moira’s nonrefundable hundred-thousand-dollar investment in the incubator with five times as much in six months, after she proved that there was a strong demand for her innovative handbags that incorporated a phone charger and wifi booster inside sumptuous leather fabric. Unfortunately, at the five-and-a-half-month mark, they had cut her loose, saying that though they’d done everything they could to help her, the market for her products wasn’t there. Moira had gambled her life savings on their promise to help grow her business, but that gamble had failed.
In the aftermath, Moira had blamed herself for not having a good enough product. But Lola had always suspected foul play behind the scenes. According to her research, some startup incubators were run by greedy crooks looking to take advantage of people’s desperation to succeed at their dreams. Clearly, given Moira’s reaction to coming face-to-face with Duncan, she now seemed to believe that the Lyman brothers had played a nefarious role in taking her money without ever intending to actually invest in her business.
“This is the first time I’ve ever met Duncan, though I’ve seen his picture in the Boston papers plenty of times,” Moira continued, “and I only met his brother once at a startup networking event. It was a shock to learn they weren’t simply investors in Brilliant Funds, but owned it outright. Honestly, the more I go over everything that happened during the five and a half months I worked with Brilliant Funds, and how they pressured me to put in even more money before they booted me out of the incubator, I’m more and more convinced that there was something shady going on. But,” she added quickly, “the last thing I want to do is rewind history and go back to that dark place I was in for so long afterward.” She looked exhausted. “I think it’s best if we all forget what happened tonight and just move on with our lives.”
“Why don’t I get you settled in the guest cottage with a warm drink?” Beth suggested. “I’ll bring you a plate of food.”
“I couldn’t possibly eat,” Moira said. “But a drink would be wonderful.” She looked five years older as she walked away with Beth.
Lola sank into the seat Moira had just vacated. Her father poured another glass of whiskey and handed it to her. “I’ve been such a fool,” she said. “If only I had been less trusting, less charmed. If only I’d spent five minutes digging into Duncan’s past, surely I would have put the pieces together.”
“You can’t beat yourself up, Lola,” Hudson said. “Who knows if digging into the guy’s past would have turned up anything? Even Moira said his name was buried deep in her contracts. It’s just a crazy coincidence.”
“A horrible coincidence.” Pride was all that held back her tears. Like hell she’d let Duncan make her cry! “I can’t stop thinking about the look on Moira’s face when she saw him and realized I was dancing with the enemy.”
Only in the last year or so had her friend started to be like her old self, full of energy, and enthusiasm, and positivity. If seeing Duncan tonight had taken that away from Moira, Lola would never forgive herself.
She’d never forgive Duncan either.
“At least you found out before things went too far,” Ashley said. “I mean, you’ve only known him a week.”
That was true on the surface. But while Lola had known Duncan for only a week, she’d loved him as deeply as if she’d known him a lifetime.<
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Somehow she would have to forget him.
Forget what it was like to be held in his arms.
Forget his passionate kisses.
Forget that she’d felt as though she’d finally found her other half, the missing piece of her heart.
Though her siblings offered to stay with her, she insisted that she would be fine on her own. Knowing better than to argue, they all put on their coats and gathered up their things, giving her hugs and saying that they knew everything would seem better in the morning.
But how could she give away her heart one day, then take it back fully intact the next? Even if it turned out that the man she had fallen for was a liar, and a traitor, and a cheat, how could she forget her happiness and give up on her dreams of true love that quickly?
While her father saw everyone out, Lola headed toward the guest cottage to check on Moira. Her mother was sitting on the edge of the bed, the two women talking quietly.
Lola stood in the doorway, not sure of her welcome. “I wanted to see how you were doing before I head home.”
Moira held out her hand. “Come here, my darling girl.”
Lola threw herself into Moira’s arms. She felt like sobbing, but she couldn’t. She needed to be strong for her friend, given that she had been the one to bring Duncan back into Moira’s life.
Moira stroked her back. “Everything’s fine. I was shocked at first, but don’t worry about what happened for even one more second.”
Lola needed to nod and smile so that she wouldn’t make things worse for Moira. “Okay, but if you need anything, anything at all, I’ll be there for you.”
“You’ve always been there for me, Lola. You’ve done more for me than I can ever repay.” Before Lola could speak, Moira held up a hand. “I know there’s nothing to repay because we’re family, maybe not by blood, but blood doesn’t matter. I love you as much as I would a daughter.”
“I love you too.”
Her heart heavy, her chest tight, Lola walked out into the kitchen to gather up her things. Her father was waiting for her.
“Honey, if you don’t need to rush off, stay and talk with me for a few minutes.”
Before he could try to absolve her of blame in the same way Moira just had, she said, “How could I have blown things so badly?”
He pulled her into his arms and squeezed her tight. “You didn’t.”
“We both know that’s not true.”
But her father didn’t look like he agreed. In fact, he looked more pensive than anything. “I don’t know much about Duncan, obviously, but from what I saw of him tonight, he didn’t seem like a liar.”
Surprised by her father’s words, Lola reminded him, “You heard Moira. She thinks there was something fishy going on with the startup incubator.” Lola didn’t modulate her bitter tone. “She thinks all Duncan and his brother wanted was her money.”
“Perhaps,” her father said. “Or perhaps there’s another explanation for Duncan’s involvement. One that none of us could guess at.”
“You’re not actually saying I should give him a second chance, are you?” She was stunned that her dad wasn’t jumping down Duncan’s throat. He’d never liked any of her boyfriends. But now that they had proof that one of them had done something bad—Duncan had admitted it in front of everyone!—her father was practically taking Duncan’s side? “You are the very last person on the planet who I would think would advocate for that. You’ve always been so protective of us, especially me, Ashley, and Cassie.”
“Of course I’m protective of you. You’ll always be my little girl, no matter how old you are. But you’re also one of the smartest, most intuitive people I know,” her father told her. “And I think you need to give yourself a whole heck of a lot more credit, because you’re also a great judge of character.”
“Really?” She snorted. “Then what about all the losers I’ve dated? The ones you’ve hated.” And, she silently thought, what about Frank, the older man she’d never told anyone in her family about? No question about it, at eighteen she’d been a terrible judge of character.
He waved his hand in the air as if those guys were of no consequence. “None of them were anything serious. You were just growing up, coming into your own, then biding your time until the right man came along.” He let his words sink in before he added, “The only man I’ve ever seen you look at like he matters to you is Duncan. And I’m just not convinced that your heart could play you wrong like that.”
“Even with the evidence proving otherwise?”
“I can’t shake the feeling that there’s more to this situation than meets the eye. The question is, what actually happened five years ago? What exactly was Duncan’s involvement?”
Lola’s insides felt brittle and bruised. She felt like she’d gone ten rounds with a boxing champ. Her father was trying to help, she knew that. But she also knew that she couldn’t take anything else in tonight. “I need to go home and sleep. I can’t think straight about anything right now.”
Her father hugged her tight again. “If you want to go for a hike tomorrow, or punch some bags at the gym, or even get stinking drunk in the middle of the afternoon, you know where I am.”
She finally let her tears fall. Her dad was so great. She’d get through this because her father and the rest of her family would all rally around her until her broken heart had healed.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Though she’d barely been able to keep her eyes open by the time she crawled into bed, Lola hardly slept on Friday night. Come Saturday morning, she was surprised to find Cassie, Flynn, and Ruby on her front porch.
“Any chance you could help us with our baby group this morning?” Cassie asked after giving Lola an extra-tight hug. “The organizer called in sick, and now Flynn and I are responsible for ten eighteen-month-olds on our own.”
There had to be someone else they could have asked to help, but frankly, it was a huge relief to have a reason to get dressed and do something that didn’t involve thinking about him.
For the next two hours, she herded moms and dads and their little ones from the park’s sandbox, to the small jungle gym, to the hand-washing station, to snacks, and finally to blankets for naps. All the while, Cassie and Flynn did their best not to shoot her too many worried glances.
Little Ruby settled in on Lola’s lap instead of her blanket. “La-la sad.”
Lola had to work like crazy to keep her eyes from filling with tears. “I was sad before you came to see me. But now that I’m with you, you’re making me so happy.” She gave the little girl kisses all over her face and on her tummy, making Ruby laugh so hard that even Lola couldn’t help but laugh.
Thank God her family understood how much she’d needed this break from being alone with her thoughts. Which was why she wasn’t surprised to see Rory and Zara swing by the park as the Saturday-morning baby group was wrapping up.
“We just painted our living room, and it looks terrible,” Zara said, linking her arm with Lola’s. “Rory says you’re brilliant at wall colors.”
As she agreed to head off with them to pick new paint, she knew this was part two of the Sullivan family plan to ensure that she made it through to Monday without drowning in her sorrows. For the next several hours, she helped them repaint their living room walls. By the time they finished, it was time to eat takeout Thai food in front of the TV.
Lola fell asleep in front of Die Hard—one of her favorite movies—blissfully tuning out everything that had happened the day before.
On Sunday morning, while she was staring at a plate of bacon and eggs she couldn’t possibly stomach, Turner arrived at Rory and Zara’s. He must have gone to her house beforehand, because he had her hiking gear with him.
“My hiking group is headed up Gorham Mountain today. I thought this would be the perfect day for you to join us. Visibility should be exceptional, so I also brought your camera.”
It was another fait accompli, but she didn’t mind. Panting her way up a steep mountain and t
aking pictures of stunning vistas would be a good way to spend a Sunday morning that would have yawned on depressingly otherwise.
Though she lagged far behind the rest of the group, it was a beautiful hike. The panoramic views of Mount Desert Island, Frenchman Bay, and the outer islands never ceased to stun her. And fortunately, she could blame any tears on the wind.
When she got home, Ashley asked if Lola could come help Kevin build Buckingham Palace out of Popsicle sticks for his history class. For the next couple of hours, Lola diligently arranged and glued each Popsicle stick into place, architecting a wobbly, and very sticky, rendition of Buckingham Palace alongside her nephew.
She fell into bed exhausted again, hoping to sleep in her own bed as dreamlessly as she had the night before at Zara and Rory’s house. But as she tossed and turned, she couldn’t stop thinking about Duncan…and how stupid she’d been to trust him. She’d thought he was different, when it turned out that everything he’d said to her had been a lie.
He’d known exactly how to play her so that she’d believe his lies. Even going so far as to stop them from having sex that first night so that she’d think she actually meant something to him.
How could he have lied to her face so blithely, telling her, Every day, I do whatever I can to be a good guy.
And how could she have believed him?
Worst of all, though, was the part of Lola that still didn’t want to believe Duncan could have played a part in destroying Moira’s business. A desperate and foolish part of her that wished there was a good explanation for what had happened.
Though she knew better, she couldn’t help going over and over what Duncan had told her about his brother and the secrets he’d kept from him. And yet, if Duncan had been innocent of any wrongdoing, wouldn’t he have told her the truth the night they’d stayed up all night talking and professed their love to each other? If he had really loved her, wouldn’t he have known he could trust her with absolutely anything?