“Parfait. A bientot.”
I heard the dial tone and I booked the flights I was looking at before turning back to my mom. She watched me open-mouthed as I stood and marked my flights into my calendar.
“Bailey,” she murmured after a beat and I sat back down, not sure I wanted to have another conversation with her about anything.
“Mom, what is it?” I asked with a touch of impatience in my tone, and she blanched a little before she stiffened her shoulders and sat up a little straighter.
“Jan came to see me today. She’s worried about Cooper’s behavior since they’ve been back here, and she thinks you have something to do with it.”
Her words stung and as usual, she believed everyone else over me.
“No, Mom, I don’t have anything to do with it. Cooper’s an adult and is capable of making his own life decisions. Now if that’s all you came to discuss with me, I’m rather busy and I need to leave early so…”
“Bailey, don’t take that tone with me. I know you were in love with Cooper. I could see it every day and I know it isn’t easy, but you need to accept he’s moved on, and he’s in a better place now.”
I glared at my mom as she spoke.
“Gee, thanks for the update, Mom, now can I get back to work?”
She nodded as she stood and walked towards the door. I watched her go not sure which emotion I was feeling because they were all inside me, like a melting pot about to explode.
She paused at the door and turned back towards me; her face indifferent as she spoke.
“Now maybe you can get over him and find someone who isn’t related to you.”
My hands clenched into fists as I fought the urge to knock her on her ass. I wanted to so much, but I fought hard to control my temper. I closed my eyes and put my head on my desk as she closed the door, completely overwhelmed with emotion. As I sat trying to gather my thoughts, my cell rang, and I searched through my bag to get it.
It was an out-of-state number I didn’t recognize, but I answered it in case it was a client or another gallery.
“Bailey, hi, it’s um… It’s your dad.”
I sucked in a breath and my mind raced over the reasons my dad would be calling. “I’m sorry to tell you that your grandma passed away last week. We buried her this morning.”
I sucked in a breath and dropped my cell onto the desk. My grandma was dead and buried, but I’d spoken to her last week. I was telling her my ideas about the gallery in France, and she was encouraging me.
“Bailey, are you there?” my dad’s voice called out and I picked my cell up, asking brokenly…
“Why didn’t you call me? I would have come down for her funeral.”
I choked on the word and tears rolled down my cheeks. I put my head down on my desk as my dad sucked in a breath.
“We just thought you’re too young and you don’t need to be going to funerals.”
My thoughts raced in circles and I wondered why he’d even bothered to call.
“Why are you calling me? I mean, my grandma is already dead and apparently I don’t get to decide, even though I’m twenty-five, if I go to her funeral, so what could you possibly be calling to tell me?” My dad’s voice sounded hoarse as he spoke.
“She’s left almost everything to you. She asked the lawyer to make sure that you get almost everything because you need it for your dreams to be fulfilled. She left your stepbrother and sister a substantial amount, but the majority of her money is yours and the farmhouse is too. She also left you the house in Fort Lauderdale, but she asked that you let your stepsiblings use it as they wish.”
He rattled it all off and gave me the name of his lawyer before clicking off the line as I wrote it down.
“Thanks, Daddy,” I murmured to myself and I pinned the number to my board before closing my laptop down and leaving for the night. I needed to go home and change before dinner. I decided not to tell my mom and Shawn anything about my inheritance. It was none of their business and I had never forgiven Shawn for threatening to stop me going to college when Cooper and I were together. He’d ruined us, and for that, I’d always resent him.
We might not have worked, but it was for us to decide and since he’d take that decision out of our hands, I’d always kept my distance from him. Even when Cooper had left and it was just me in the house, I kept my distance, only seeing my mom and Shawn when I absolutely couldn’t avoid it.
As I stood in the shower, my tears fell, tears over my grandma who loved me and who’d given me everything she had so I could make my dreams come true, tears over what had happened with Coop, and tears of happiness over Zane and Coop reconnecting.
While I buffed and scrubbed, I thought about my life and although I loved my gallery, something was missing. Perhaps while I was in Paris, I could look for an apartment and make the move permanent. Maybe over there I could meet a nice French man and settle down in the city of love.
As I emerged from the shower I decided to keep an open mind and as I dried my hair I talked firmly to myself and told myself that I could leave if I needed to, there was no need for me to be trapped here pining over a love that was more heartache than happiness.
Jay would support me; Zane would support me, and my mom and Shawn would be delighted that I was leaving. I’d never intended on coming back to Minnesota and staying here. I’d always wanted to go abroad or travel the States and find artists for my collection. That was my dream and perhaps Cooper getting engaged had just made me realize it.
As I left home in a red sweetheart knee-length dress made of chiffon with black jewelry and my hair straight down my back, my confidence returned, and as I reached Shawn’s home and slipped my feet from my driving shoes into my heels, I knew I could face and overcome whatever was thrown at me. I would walk tall and socialize and have fun and I would not get sucked into their little dramas. I was leaving, my life in Paris was almost within my grasp.
I grabbed Shawn’s gift, a sixty-year-old bottle of scotch that had belonged to my grandfather and a watch with jewels around the edges and went into the house. I also had Zane’s card and photo envelope tucked under my arm, and I was more nervous about that than about my own gifts.
At first, I thought I had the wrong house, but as I made my way to the kitchen, voices sounded out of one of the bedrooms.
“Are you sure?” a voice asked, and it was a voice I’d know anywhere. Coop was here already.
“Of course, I’m sure! I’m four weeks late. We’re having a baby.”
I carried on walking and went into the bathroom downstairs. I stared at myself in the mirror and chanted Paris at my reflection for a moment before walking out and into the kitchen. The reason for the house being vacant became evident as I made my way to the back porch and took a glass of champagne from a passing waiter.
As I sipped at the champagne I glanced around and saw Cate on the dance floor with Nixon. She smiled as I waved over at her and her eyes darted behind me for a second before coming back to rest on me. Coop and Jan must have decided to join the party. I moved across the lawn towards friends of my mom’s and family that I didn’t know.
My mom reached me and hugged me.
“Bailey, you look beautiful.”
Her face shone with happiness as she watched me, and I smiled at her with genuine affection before moving on to Shawn. He leaned over kissing my cheek as he took the envelope and present from me, setting them on the table before turning and whispering in my ear.
“Bailey, you didn’t need to make such an effort for me.”
In other words, I thought, Bailey, you look like a slut, you shouldn’t have come dressed like that. I refrained from rolling my eyes with difficulty and managed to wish him a happy birthday while sounding sincere.
As I moved to Cate a hand grabbed me around the waist and twirled me around. I laughed and turned to see Nixon standing in front of me, grinning down at me.
“Bailey, you are beautiful,” he said as he kissed my cheek and I smirked at him.
“But don’t you think I’m a little overdressed?”
I rolled my eyes and he burst out laughing.
“Shawn dishing out the compliments again?” he asked in a low voice.
I nodded, smiling as he walked me over to Cate. She pulled me in for a hug and I realized I couldn’t remember the last time I saw my aunt. She grinned from her seat and I glanced down seeing she was sporting a cast on her foot.
“What happened to you?” I asked her in concern, and she rolled her eyes.
“Damn kids,” she spat out, then laughed as she took me in. “Come sit by me, Bailey. Tell me what’s going on with you.”
She grabbed another few champagnes, and we spoke for a little while as I filled her in on life in the gallery, how Sean-Paul had been banned from ordering since we had enough coffee to stock a small country, and I told her I was going to Paris during the week.
“Oh Paris, I adore Paris. We went there on our honeymoon.”
She beamed at me and I beamed back, speaking without thinking or checking who was in the vicinity.
“Yeah, I love Paris too. It’s so vibrant and alive. We’re thinking about opening a gallery there and I’m seriously considering moving over there full-time.”
She smiled viciously at me and I glanced over my shoulder in time to see Coop storming away from the party.
“He’s engaged?” she asked quietly as I watched his retreating form and I nodded saying nothing.
“You okay?” she probed, and I shook my head.
“No. I’m really not. My grandma passed away and my dad only called me today after her funeral to tell me.”
She pulled me into her arms as my eyes began stinging again, but I shrugged again, and she let go.
“He’s such a shit. I hope she left you everything.”
I nodded and spoke without thinking again, “She did,” and then I laughed because Cate could do that to me. She could get me to open up without even trying, but my mom could close me down just as easily.
As the night progressed, I started to watch what I was doing. I didn’t want to have to stay overnight in the house that had more bad memories for me than good, and shortly before midnight, I strolled to the tiny gazebo on the water’s edge. I sat down, dangling my toes off the end of the deck, but hidden by the chairs and for the first time the whole night I was completely relaxed.
“Hey,” Coop spoke overhead, and I glanced up to see him standing with a bottle of champagne. I nodded up at him, then turned back to the lake, watching the breeze ruffle the surface of the water.
“Can I join you?” he asked in a quiet voice and I answered, “Can I stop you?” in just as quiet a voice.
He laughed and sat down pouring the fizz into the flutes and passing me one.
“Bails, are you serious about moving to Paris?”
I turned with a small smile on my face.
“Sure, I am, there’s nothing for me here anymore.”
His nod and quiet acceptance of my words drove another stake through my heart. It was too dark for me to make out his expression, so I turned to gaze over the water again.
“I love sitting here,” I muttered, forgetting for a moment he was there as I rested my head on the wooden frame.
He didn’t speak for a moment and then his fingers found mine. He ran his hand over mine and my heart raced at the energy racing through me.
“It’s getting late,” I muttered, “I need to get going. See you at ten tomorrow.”
He nodded at me and whispered something, but I was sure I heard him wrong.
“Stay with me,” was what I thought I’d heard, but when I asked him what he’d said, he just smiled and said, “See you tomorrow.”
I waved and took off up the path watching as Jan paced around the kitchen. I didn’t want to see her, so I took off around the house, walking along the garden path. A faint rattling sound made me run back into the lawn and I collided with Coop almost at the back door. His arms went around my waist, and he pulled me into his arms.
“Why do you feel like home?” he murmured against my skin, but I didn’t answer as the rattling sound grew.
My spine stiffened and Coop stepped away from me. He took in my terrified expression and I mouthed, “Rattler,” at him. He nodded and grabbed my hand leading me into the kitchen. Jan stopped pacing, with her arms wide as she took us in. I didn’t care, I just wanted to go home.
“Dad,” Coop called across the kitchen, but Shawn didn’t answer him.
He was staring at something in his hand and his hand was shaking. I couldn’t tell if it was rage or emotion, but I had a suspicion about what it was, a suspicion that was confirmed a moment later as he lifted his eyes and rushed at me.
“You, you did this?” I stared at him in shock as he came towards me.
“Your mom’s gone to bed with a migraine, you ungrateful little slut, get out of my house, and don’t darken our doorway again.”
He pushed me towards the front door, and I left the house feeling numb and more than a little scared to be outside. I wanted to get in my car and take off, but it was pitch black, and what if I stood on the rattler? I stood against the doorway, quaking in fear as I contemplated getting from the door of the house to my car.
The door began to open, and I slipped a little before regaining my balance. Coop was there helping me, but I shrugged him off and walked towards the path, but something moved across the path and I screamed leaping into his arms.
“Bailey, it was just a mouse.” My heart hammered and my palms were sweating against his blue dress shirt.
He lowered me to the ground and walked me to my car. As he opened the door, he leaned down and pressed his lips gently to my forehead making my heartbeat stutter. He whispered something, but I couldn’t hear him over the pounding of the heartbeat in my ears. I closed my eyes and backed into my car, closing the door and shooting away from him, from them, and all their little dramas.
The following morning, I woke up around eight am and went downstairs to make coffee, but the pot was already on. I grabbed some bread and made myself breakfast while I waited on the coffee pot to finish. As it finished a man walked into my kitchen, he was familiar to me, but I wasn’t sure why he was there.
“Dad, what are you doing here?” I asked and he turned to look at me.
“I want to get the kids something to remember my mom and dad by if that’s okay and I want you to sign some of the money over to your brother and sister.”
So that was what it was, it was about the money, Alexa was probably furious that I’d been left the majority of everything.
“No, I will not. Gran left it to me, and I intend to use it as she wanted.”
“Bailey, be reasonable. How can you spend seventeen million dollars?”
His tone was gruff as a ringing started in my ears, seventeen million, damn I knew my grandma and granddad were well off, but I never expected that.
I shook my head at him, sipped my coffee in silence as I stared out of the window. I knew my grandma loved me and felt guilty about abandoning me as a child, but she didn’t need to do that.
“Dad, can we discuss this later? I have somewhere I need to be.”
He shrugged and walked out the door, slamming it closed behind him. I poured another coffee and walked back to my room in a daze to get dressed. I chose loose jeans and a scoop-neck blue T-shirt. I slipped my feet into sandals and walked downstairs, taking my empty mug with me and filling it up before going to the bathroom to fix my hair and makeup, and when I emerged, I was ready to deal with the day.
As I left the house my dad called me into the sitting room, his face a picture of fury.
“Where are my dad’s trophies and my mom’s figurines?”
My grandma collected porcelain figurines and after I almost smashed one while cleaning, I’d decided to box them up and store them in the basement. I checked on them every week, but my dad looked as if I’d destroyed his life by moving them.
“They’re in the basement. If
you wait until this evening, I’ll get them for you. The key to the basement is at my office.”
I’d also taken down the art that hung around the house, storing it in sealed containers until I could take it to my gallery and hang them. My dad nodded stiffly and sat down on the sofa flicking through the channels on the TV.
As I got in my car and made my way to town, I realized Zane never said where they were staying, so I texted him to ask, and he didn’t reply. I parked in our lot behind the gallery and entered the gallery through the back door, meeting Sean-Paul as he crossed the lot.
“Bailey, aren’t you supposed to be off?” he chided me as he swept me in for a hug and a kiss on both cheeks.
I laughed at him and nodded before speaking.
“I am. I’m meeting my stepbrothers today.”
He dipped his head in acceptance as he held the door open for me and I walked through as my cell rang. He wandered down to the office as I answered the call.
“Hello,” I began, and Zane spoke.
“Bailey, morning. We’ll just meet you at Kade’s playground in an hour.”
His voice was off, and I was about to ask what was wrong when he clicked off the call. I shrugged it off and made my way out to the café, dread making my stomach drop as I thought of spending the day with Coop and Jan.
When I walked out one of my clients came over to see me, rather upset, so I ushered him to a table at the back as he told me he’d been kicked out by his lover and had nowhere to stay, so could I pay him in advance for his work? I asked him to wait and walked back to Sean-Paul’s office. As I knocked a bolt of electricity ran down my spine and I turned to see Cooper watching me.
“Give me a few minutes, and I’ll be with you. Grab a coffee and a cake.”I called over to him.
His eyes were on fire as he met my gaze and I turned away from him with my face heating as the door opened. Sean-Paul’s eyes roamed between Coop and me, and he smiled as he grabbed me around the waist and yanked me into the office.
“Hey,” I complained as the door closed, but he just laughed.
“Oh, to see the jealousy on that man’s face as my arm circled your waist, who is he? He’s gorgeous.” I shrugged as I answered him.
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