He pinched his eyes shut and threw his head back. The pain etched across his face meant nothing to her, not when she was feeling so much of her own pain.
Matt held the diary out to her. “Take it,” he said. “I don’t care anymore. Just take it.”
Tamryn almost turned around and walked out without it, just to spite him. But her career was worth a hell of a lot more to her than the brief satisfaction she would get from hurting Matt. She took the diary from his fingers, turned and strode out of the library, never once looking back.
When Tamryn arrived at Belle Maison, she climbed onto the bed. Handling the diary with supreme care, she laid it on a pillow and gingerly opened the brittle pages. She sat with her head hunched over the diary for more than an hour, poring over stories about the perils Adeline and Nicolette faced during the early stages of the school’s development. Twice the small shed they’d used as a schoolroom was burned to the ground. Both had suffered numerous threats to their lives, but had soldiered on.
Tamryn swiped at the tears that continued to stream down her cheeks. Whether they were tears of pride or tears of relief, she couldn’t be sure. She’d searched so long, and to finally have this proof of her great-great-great-grandmother’s tireless efforts to educate young children of color...it was overwhelming.
That was what she was. She was overwhelmed with pride.
Her phone rang, and Tamryn was surprised that she was able to tear herself away from the pages of the diary long enough to check it. A small part of her thought—hoped—that it was Matt calling to apologize. It would take a lot to rectify the pain he’d caused her, but now that she’d had some time to come to grips with her emotions, she would be more receptive to an apology than she had been just a few hours ago.
But it wasn’t Matt on the other end of the line; it was Victoria. Tamryn felt the blood drain from her face as she listened to her colleague. When she ended the call, she quickly pulled up a travel website and booked the first flight back to Boston.
Chapter 12
Matt wasn’t even thinking as he got in his car and started for Belle Maison. He just knew he needed to get there. He needed to get to Tamryn. Before he did anything else, he needed to explain to her why he’d deliberately kept the diary from her.
But he’d done that already. There wasn’t much more he could add to the reasons he’d given her before she’d stormed out of his family’s library.
He’d kept the thing she’d spent years searching for from her to save his own ass, even though he knew how much it meant to her. Maybe if he’d asked her to keep the other stories hidden within the pages of the diary a secret, she would have honored his request. He hadn’t given her the chance.
Matt briefly shut his eyes. He was so overwhelmed with self-disgust he could hardly stand to be around himself.
He pulled up to Belle Maison and climbed out of the car, taking the four porch steps in two strides. He knocked once before opening the door he knew Phil kept unlocked most of the day. He bounded up the stairs, but Phylicia’s yell stopped him halfway to the top.
“Hey, where are you going?” she called from the base of the stairs. She had a dish towel slung over her shoulder and a juice glass in her hand.
“I need to talk to Tamryn,” Matt said.
“She isn’t here,” Phil answered.
Her words sucked all the wind from his sails. Matt trudged down the stairs and stopped in front of Phil. “Where is she?”
“I’m not sure I should say anything. It would be bad business practice.”
Matt eyed her. “Don’t do that to me, Phil. I need to know where she is.”
“She went to Boston.”
Matt’s chest felt as if it was caving in. “Boston?” he choked out.
“About an hour ago. She left most of her things, so she’ll be back.”
“Did she say how long she would be gone?”
She shook her head. “Sorry.”
Matt dragged both hands down his face.
“You messed up, didn’t you?” Phil asked.
“More than I’ve ever messed up before,” he admitted.
“Well, you probably have a few days to figure out a way to make up for it. I suggest you start working on it right now.” Phil patted him on the arm and headed toward the back of the Victorian, where the kitchen was located.
Having no reason to linger at Belle Maison, Matt got into his car and started back toward his house. He took the scenic route home, driving through downtown Gauthier, past Heritage Park and his law firm. As he meandered through the residential neighborhood south of Main Street, Matt thought about all the chances he’d had to tell Tamryn about the diary. He should have trusted her with the information.
But he’d chosen to lie instead. Even though he knew how much it would hurt her. Even though he knew how much that diary had meant to her. He’d deliberately kept it from her. He felt like the world’s worst bastard.
The deception reminded him too much of his father. So much that Matt could feel the nausea building in his belly.
The thought of being no better than Leroy Gauthier was enough to suffocate him. He would give anything not to turn out like the man who’d fathered him.
Even if it meant giving up his shot at the state senate.
A sharp ache pierced his chest, but Matt did his best to ignore it.
If that was the price he had to pay for the sins he’d committed against this town, against the woman he’d grown to love, then he would pay it. It was only fair after what he’d done.
* * *
Tamryn stopped just before the thick wooden doors that led to the History Department’s suite of offices in McNamara Hall on the small, elegant campus of Brimley College. She pulled in a deep breath, trying to get her chaotic emotions under control.
She wasn’t even sure what she should be feeling right now: anger, fear, disappointment? They were all swirling around in her gut.
When Victoria called to tell her about rumors she’d heard circulating around campus, it had put Tamryn on edge. But ever since reading the email Reid had sent late last night, letting her know that her position at Brimley was being vacated, Tamryn’s emotions had run the gamut. The fact that the bastard hadn’t had the courtesy to call her to tell her she was being let go had spurred her strongest feeling. Rage.
There was a special meeting today between several members of the Board of Regents, the dean and the History Department chair. She had not been invited, but Tamryn refused to go down without a fight, especially now that she had the proof she needed to complete the book about Adeline West. But before she met with Brimley’s powers that be, she and Reid had business they needed to settle.
After another deep, calming, mind-clearing breath, Tamryn walked through the History Department’s double doors. She was greeted by the receptionist, Lydia, who waved to her while she spoke directions to McNamara Hall into the phone. For a moment, Tamryn wondered if she was giving directions to whomever had been hired to replace her.
Tamryn bypassed her office—which she vowed would remain her office—and headed down the hallway to the room at the very end of the suite. It was the office that every professor aspired to one day occupy. The fact that Reid Hayes now occupied it made Tamryn’s lip curl in distaste.
She applauded herself for knocking like a civilized human being when she got to the door, when what she really wanted to do was tear into the office and run her fingernails down his face. Reid’s laconic voice called for her to enter. When she did, he looked up and a sarcastic smile surfaced on his lips.
“A simple reply to my email would have sufficed, Tamryn. You didn’t have to fly all the way here just to say goodbye.”
“If you think I’m giving up my job without a fight, you must be out of your mind. I know why you’re doing this,” she said.
“Hmm...” He leaned back in his chair and tapped his ink pen against his lips. “Could it be because your classes barely hit the minimum number of students required to maintain eligibility, or is it because you’ve spent years doing research that’s led to nowhere?”
“You mean after the year I spent conducting your research without getting any credit for it?”
“We never discussed you being coauthor,” he said. “You’re the one who made assumptions you shouldn’t have made.”
“You are such a bastard.”
He stretched his hands out. “And look what being a bastard got me. Not bad.”
Tamryn stared at the man she’d spent nearly two years of her life with. The thought of sleeping with him made her stomach turn. The thought of working with him in any capacity whatsoever sickened her even more. Why was she fighting for a job that would put her in close proximity to this asshole?
Tamryn thought about Ezekiel Marsh and how enthusiastic he was about her research. She knew she had a job waiting for her in Louisiana if she wanted one. And if Zeke wasn’t ready to hire her just yet, she could take the time off to finally finish her grandmother’s book.
She didn’t need Brimley, and she sure as hell didn’t need to grovel at Reid’s feet. The diary tucked away in the drawer of the chest back at Belle Maison had opened up a whole new world for her.
“You know what, Reid? I flew to Boston to fight for my job, but you just reminded me of why I would be crazy to come back here. I don’t need this. Now that I have proof that Adeline West started the first school for slave children—”
“Proof?” Reid cut her off, sitting up straight in his chair.
“Yes,” Tamryn said, unable to stop the smug smile that drew across her face. “Remember that diary that you told me was just an old family legend? I have it. I’ve touched it. And I’ve read everything that Nicolette Fortier Gauthier wrote regarding the school that she and Adeline West started.
“I don’t need you, Reid. And despite what you think, I never did. I am an amazing teacher who comes from a long line of amazing teachers. However, to show that there are no hard feelings, when my book is published and I’m on the speaker circuit, I’ll give Brimley a nice discount when you bring me in to give a lecture on my book.”
Tamryn gave him a saccharine smile and walked out of the office.
She stopped at Lydia’s desk on her way out of the suite of offices. The receptionist looked at her with pity in her eyes.
“Hello, Dr. West. I’m sorry,” she said.
“I’m not,” Tamryn said. The realization that she wasn’t sorry, that she was, in fact, ecstatic, caused a huge smile to break out across her face. “I don’t have much in my office. Can you see that my things are boxed up and delivered to my condo? I need to get back down to Louisiana and just don’t have time to waste clearing things out at Brimley.”
“I will,” Lydia said with a hint of awe in her voice. “You look amazing, Dr. West. Happy.”
“I am,” Tamryn said. “I can’t remember when I’ve been happier.” She smiled again. “I’ll make sure I stop back in a couple of weeks when I return to pack up my condo.”
“You’re leaving Boston altogether?”
Tamryn nodded.
“But I thought they just made the decision to let you go yesterday,” Lydia said.
“Yeah, but I think I made the decision to let them go a while ago. I just hadn’t realized it.”
She gave Lydia a little goodbye wave and walked out of the History Department, feeling freer than she had in her entire life.
* * *
Matt stood against the wall of the back room of Morning Star Baptist Church’s fellowship hall in Maplesville, his eyes closed, his heart beating like a drum against the walls of his chest. He was resolved in what he had to do, but it still made him ill. He would give anything not to give up his run for state senate, but he was done with the deceit. Not just his own, but of the entire Gauthier family.
It was time for people to learn the truth.
He only wished that Tamryn was here to witness him coming clean. He hadn’t spoken to her since she’d left him standing in the library at the Gauthier mansion two nights ago. His calls had gone unanswered; so had his dozen text messages.
“Hey, man, you ready for this?” Matt opened his eyes and found Mason Coleman, his friend and fellow attorney from Maplesville, walking toward him.
“I’m ready,” Matt answered.
He followed Mason, stopping at the edge of the door that led from the back room. The front area of the hall was set up with two stools on either side of a desk. This town hall–style debate was the final event between him and Patrick Carter before the special election in two weeks.
It ate at Matt’s gut that he’d come so close. This area deserved better than Patrick Carter as their state senator. It deserved better than him, too.
The pastor of Morning Star Baptist Church, who was sponsoring this final debate, called for a moment of prayer before the start of the event. After that was done, Matt and Patrick Carter were called to the floor, entering from different sides. Both took their seats, but after one final mental check that he was ready to do this, Matt stood and walked over to Pastor Ryland.
“If I could, I would like to have a couple of minutes to address the audience,” Matt said. Carter started to bluster, but Matt stopped him with a hand. “You’ll want to hear this.”
He turned to the crowd, which was at least 80 percent Gauthier residents, despite the fact that the debate was being held in Maplesville. Matt let out a deep breath and began.
“The people of Gauthier have always been extremely good to my family, but it pains me to admit that it hasn’t always been reciprocated. Since the fire of 1882 that nearly burned down the town, the Gauthiers have been wreaking havoc on this area.” Matt took in the confused faces in the crowd. “For years stories have been told about Micah Gauthier helping to rescue the Callis family from the fire and saving other lives, but the part that never gets told is that it was Micah’s son who started the fire.”
Low murmurs started to spread through the room.
“This is just one instance in a long line of transgressions of the Gauthier family. The water-treatment plant that was built didn’t go to the best company for the job—it went to the company that was willing to line my grandfather’s pockets while he was mayor of Gauthier.
“And the outlet mall here in Maplesville...” Matt paused. He had to swallow twice before he could speak again. “I’m the reason it’s here.”
A collective gasp echoed over the crowd.
“Matthew Gauthier, what are you talking about?” It was Eloise Dubois, who’d stood up from her seat.
“I’m the one who brought the Lakeline Group to this area,” Matt admitted. “At the time, I thought the outlet mall would be a boost to Gauthier’s economy. I had no idea the company would choose to build in Maplesville instead. I had no idea any of this would happen, but it did.”
Matt closed his eyes for a moment before continuing, “I am ending my candidacy for state senate.”
This time, the gasp that tore through the crowd was so loud that he felt it on his skin. “I’m not the man you all thought I was,” he continued. “I’m not the right man to represent District Twelve.”
“Are you the same man who gave five thousand dollars in scholarship money to the local high school?”
Matt’s head popped up. He looked toward the back of the room and saw Tamryn walking up the center aisle.
“That outlet mall has cost me a lot of business,” Nathan Robottom chimed in.
Tamryn turned to him. “Didn’t you tell me just last week that Matt helped your hardware store get on the list of approved suppliers for the new concrete plant that’s about to start construction on Highway 190?” she asked.
“I guess you’re right,” Nathan muttered.
Tamryn continued her journey up the aisle. “Are you the same man who organized the all-night read-in event to kick off a mentorship program?” she asked Matt.
“And the 5K,” Mya Dubois-Anderson added from the second row.
“And the Thanksgiving food drive,” Mariska Thomas, of all people, stood up and said.
When Tamryn arrived at the front of the hall, she turned to face the crowd and pointed to Matt. “In the few weeks that I’ve spent here, I haven’t seen anyone do more for the people of District Twelve than this man.”
Murmurs of agreement reverberated around the room. In that moment, Matt realized just how much Gauthier had embraced her as one of their own. He stood there in disbelief, stunned and incredibly humbled as she spoke on his behalf.
He’d spent the past twenty-four hours preparing to end his candidacy and begin what he knew would be a long journey of gaining the forgiveness of fellow Gauthier residents. And an even longer journey of gaining Tamryn’s forgiveness.
But here she was, like an apparition conjured by his imagination. Speaking on his behalf, standing up for him.
What in the world had he ever done to deserve someone like her in his life?
“We’re not letting you quit,” Eloise Dubois said. A majority of the crowd began to applaud.
“Now, wait a minute,” Patrick Carter started.
Matt turned, a smile on his face. “I was mistaken,” he said. “Looks like we have a debate to start.”
He looked at Tamryn, who had a soft smile on her lips. Good luck, she mouthed.
He didn’t need luck. Now that she was there, he had everything he needed.
* * *
Tamryn stood off to the side of the church hall, unable to wipe the grin from her face as she watched Matt completely annihilate Patrick Carter in their final town-hall debate. She still couldn’t get over the fact that he had been about to drop out of the race. Was he crazy? Matt was so much more worthy than his opponent. Anyone who listened with even half an ear would know within minutes of hearing the two expound on what they would provide as members of the state senate that Matt was the better man.
Yours Forever Page 17