by Nina Crespo
In her office that afternoon, Rina sat at her desk, her mind filled with what Dennis had said and looking back over her own life.
Xavier... Noble Wind... Scott. As hard as it was to lose them, she couldn’t have imagined her life without them or the lessons they’d taught her. The importance of not losing herself in someone else’s definition of life. To not take what brought her joy for granted and hold it close. To believe in herself and what she wanted and to love.
The line of desserts she’d created would allow her to pay Tillbridge back for the loan that was paid on her behalf and not feel indebted to her family financially. To get her life of independence back. Brewed Haven, the place that brought her so much joy would be secure. And creating the line of desserts had taught her to believe in herself even more. Loving Scott and being with him, that hadn’t turned out the way she’d wanted. As much as it hurt, she’d have to learn to accept that, and do what Dennis suggested. Move on.
Rina slid the contract in front of her and picked up the pen.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Rina bypassed the front desk and veered down the hallway to Zurie’s office. The door was locked, but she heard papers shuffling and the tapping on a computer keyboard inside.
She knocked but only silenced answered. “Zurie it’s me. Can we talk?”
A long moment went by and Rina’s heart sank. They hadn’t spoken since Zurie had showed up with the two agreements and she’d blown up at her, but she really needed to talk to her. Sitting at her desk with the contract in front of her, she’d realized Dennis had almost said the same thing Zurie had about regrets. She’d assumed Zurie had said it in judgment, but Zurie had looked genuinely hurt when she’d snapped at her. Butt in, take control and give opinions, yes Zurie did all of those things, but she wasn’t cruel. She had a heart. She’d shown that to her when she’d stayed by her side at the hospital with Scott.
Zurie had also never been so adamant about her not doing something like she had with the Gwen’s Garden contract. Rina looked up at the security camera near the door. She needed to know why.
The lock on the door disengaged and Rina walked inside.
Zurie sat behind the oak desk staring at her with a neutral expression. “Have a seat.”
Rina took a seat in the chair in front of the desk. “I’d like to talk about what happened last week when you came to my apartment.”
“What is there to talk about? You made things clear. You want me to butt out. I’m out. End of discussion.”
“I’m not here to rehash an argument. Please, just listen to me.”
Becoming a wall of silence, Zurie crossed her arms over her chest and leaned back in the chair.
Rina took a deep breath. On the drive over, she’d tried to think of the right words to say. “First, I’m sorry for yelling at you, but put yourself in my position. How would you have reacted if I’d drawn up legal documents for your business without consulting you first?”
Zurie’s shuttered expression opened up a little. “I wouldn’t have liked it, but now you make the switch. What would you do if you saw me making what you thought was a bad decision? Would you just sit back and let it happen?”
“Honestly, I don’t know. From your point of view, you never make bad choices. Only I do.”
A stunned look came over Zurie’s face. “Is that what you think?” She stood, turned away from Rina and looked out the window at the pasture. “I didn’t mean to make you feel that way. All I’ve ever wanted to do was keep you from harm.”
“I’m not a child.”
“I know that, but I’ve been watching over you since you were a baby. I helped you learn how to walk. I taught you how to make your bed and tie your shoes. I helped you with your homework.”
All of that was true. Zurie had looked after her, right along with their parents. “I know you’ve always been there for me. I’m not disputing that.”
“Always?” Zurie huffed a laugh. “No, not always. The one time I should have paid attention I didn’t, and...”
Rina waited but she didn’t finish. “And what? Uncle Jacob bailed me out with money from Tillbridge when he shouldn’t have?”
“No. I couldn’t care less about that.” Zurie’s voice cracked. “I’m talking about when we almost lost you.”
“You mean the accident?”
“Yes.”
Rina rose from the chair. “But there’s nothing you could have done about that.”
“Yes, there was. I knew you were hurting after Mom died and not making the national team. I should have been there to help you get through it. If I had, maybe you wouldn’t have run off. The one time you really needed me, I failed you.”
“No you didn’t.” Rina went over to Zurie, surprised to see her blinking back tears. Not sure if Zurie would accept a hug, she wrapped an arm around her shoulders and gave her a fierce squeeze. “You didn’t fail. You kept this family and Tillbridge going when it felt like the world was burning down around us. You helped make sure I had a place to come back to.”
Zurie glanced over at her. “If I was doing such a great job. Why did you leave in the first place?”
“In hindsight, everything moved fast with Xavier. I didn’t have time to dwell on all I’d lost. I thought he made me feel more alive, even safe, but honestly being with him just gave me an excuse to feel numb.”
“I just wish I could have saved you from having to go through all the bad that happened to you.” Zurie slipped away to grab a tissue. She sniffed and dabbed the corner of her eyes. “That’s all I was trying to do when I came up with the solutions for you to pay the money back to Tillbridge. I’m sorry. I guess I should have respected what you wanted.”
The solutions to pay the money back—Zurie’s worst ideas ever. But it came from a good place. No. That didn’t make it right. Zurie had overstepped but only because she’d let her do it all these years. It was time for Zurie to start respecting her choices about Brewed Haven and her life.
Rina grasped Zurie by the shoulders and turned her so they were facing each other. “Yes, you should have, and I forgive you. I don’t need you to save or protect me. I need a friend, a confidante, a sounding board, a built-in cheerleader.”
“Don’t you already have those things in Philippa?”
Rina almost missed the uncertainty that flashed in Zurie’s eyes. The night of Scott’s accident when Zurie had dropped her off at the apartment, Zurie had said that Philippa was who she needed. Had Zurie thought she didn’t want her around?
Taking advantage of Zurie’s emotional guards being down, Rina hugged her. “Philippa is my best friend, but she can’t replace you. You’re my sister. You’re the only person I can share my albums and scrapbooks with who understands what every single moment and photo means.”
“Okay.” Zurie squirmed and awkwardly patted Rina on the back. “I understand. But just so you know, we never have to do the look-over-every-photo-and-scrapbook thing.”
Smiling, Rina let her go. “That’s what everyone says until I pour up a few cocktails to go with the memories.” They were headed to a better place now as sisters, but one final thing still piqued Rina’s curiosity. “Why were you so adamant about me not signing with Gwen’s Garden?”
More composed, Zurie leaned against the edge of her desk. “Are you sure you want to know?”
“I do.”
“It goes back to you and Xavier. What bothered me the most about you being in that relationship is that you seemed to see yourself as less important than him. You were willing to give up so much for so little in return. In my opinion, you’re doing it again with Gwen’s Garden.” She reached out and grasped Rina’s hand. “Those desserts you created for their line, I didn’t even have to taste all them to know that they’re your best work. You should be capitalizing on them, not anyone else.”
“I actually have been thinking about how I can d
o that for myself.”
“You have? What are you thinking?”
“It’s not a fully formed idea yet. I’m still trying to put the pieces together.”
“Would it help to talk about it? That is, if you want to tell me. I promise to do more listening than opinionating.” An earnest interest brightened Zurie’s face.
It might actually be a nice change to brainstorm with someone. And Zurie was great at developing projects. “If you have time, sure.”
“I’m free now.”
Rina followed Zurie to the couch and sat next to her. They’d never done anything like this before. “Where should I start?”
“Do you mind if I ask one unrelated question first?”
“Go ahead.”
“Why did you and Scott break up?”
That was a question Rina hadn’t expected. She pulled up a smile. “Why are you asking?”
Zurie held up her hand. “You’re right. I’m sorry. That’s not what we sat down to talk about.”
“I didn’t say that.”
“You don’t have to. Whenever you don’t want to talk about something with me, you smile and change the subject or try to point my attention elsewhere.”
“Wait. All this time, you knew that’s what I was doing?”
Zurie laughed. “Of course I did. It was so obvious.”
Rina turned more toward Zurie. If they were truly going to make a fresh start, she couldn’t use the smile, ignore, deflect game anymore to avoid conversations. “Actually, Scott broke up with me. He needed to focus on healing up after his injuries so he could get back to work. He felt that he could do that better at home.”
“Really? That’s what he told you?” Zurie’s brow furrowed with a skeptical look. “I don’t know if that’s entirely true. Or maybe I’m overthinking it.”
Apparently as sisters they shared that habit, but maybe in this case, Zurie wasn’t. “What do mean? Tell me.”
“Well, at the hospital when you needed a minute before you went to see Scott? His friend walked by where we were in the hallway.”
Needed a minute? That was a polite way of describing her meltdown-ugly cry. “You mean, Owen?”
Zurie shrugged. “If he was the one who was in Scott’s room that day, yes. Anyway, when I went to Scott’s room ahead of you, I’m pretty sure I overheard Owen mention Xavier’s name before I walked in. They stopped talking when they saw me, but Scott looked concerned about whatever Owen had said to him.”
“But Scott knew about Xavier and the accident. He wouldn’t have gotten upset over hearing we were talking about him.”
“No, but he might have been concerned if Owen told him you were upset and had overheard you say you’d almost lost him like Xavier. You were really emotional. Some guys don’t know how to interpret that correctly.”
But Scott had always been understanding, and he’d never encouraged her to hold back. But she’d also never had a meltdown in front of him. Had hearing she had turned him off and that’s why he’d decided to end it? If she hadn’t gone in the wrong room in the first place, and gone straight to him, would they still be together now? Sadness plummeted inside of Rina.
Later on at home, Zurie’s theory stayed on Rina’s mind taking her attention from the rom-com she’d turned on as a distraction. Scott had willingly given up his place in his family’s company so he wouldn’t be in Wendy’s way. Had he made a similar sacrifice, leaving because he believed he was doing what was best for her? The Scott she knew, if he believed he was hurting her, would have done anything not to cause her pain.
A seed of hope sprouted and she picked up her phone lying on the couch next to the remote. Or was she making assumptions based on the Scott she thought she knew. She’d completely fallen for him, but the only thing Scott had ever said to her was that he wanted a temporary relationship. He’d also mentioned before his dad’s wedding that his father needed to stop believing in forever when it came to love. She’d just thought he was concerned about his father not finding happiness the fifth time around, but maybe Scott had said that because that’s exactly how he felt... Maybe Scott didn’t believe in love and forever.
Chapter Thirty-Four
“Don’t go,” Rina said to Scott as she cupped his cheek.
The of dream of lying in the grass near bales of hay with Rina in his arms was the best one he’d had since he’d left her and flown home to California.
But before he could kiss her, the ringing doorbell yanked him from sleep.
Scott opened his eyes. He lay on the brown couch in his living room with a blanket bunched under him, and instead of Rina, he held a navy throw pillow. A sense of emptiness, almost as agonizing as pain from his injuries grew in his chest...along with his frustration.
Who was bothering him? What time was it? He tossed the pillow, and it knocked over the bottle of pain reliever on the coffee table and an empty pizza box to the floor. As he sat up, his phone that was stuck between the couch cushions poked his hip. He dug it out and checked the time. It was 12:30 p.m. After a restless night, he’d just managed to fall asleep a little over three hours ago.
As he moved to get up, his bruised ribs and hurt knee protested with stabs of agony. Expletives exploded in his mind.
The doorbell chimed again.
He slowly got up. Ignoring the crutches on the floor, he hobbled across the living room. Someone was about to have a really bad day for waking him up.
He opened the front door ready to unleash hell.
“Hi,” Wendy stood in the doorway, hair in a ponytail, and dressed in tennis shoes, gray leggings and a light gray sweatshirt top with a pink heart on it.
Her cheery smile pulled a growl of discontent out of him that came out throaty and parched from just waking up. “What are you doing here?”
“That’s a dumb question.” She stopped to kiss him on the cheek before breezing past wheeling a small suitcase behind her. “We came to take care of you.”
“We who?”
“Take a look.”
He peeked outside.
His dad and Theresa, twin-like in tennis shoes, jeans and cream-and-blue button-down shirts wheeled suitcases from a black sedan in the driveway down the stone path to the door.
Weren’t they supposed to still be on their extended honeymoon?
Scott glanced back at Wendy. “Whose idea was this? Yours or theirs?”
She raised her brows and shrugged. “At this point, does it really matter?”
Before Scott could reply, his father and Theresa were at the threshold. As Theresa walked in, she smiled and patted his arm.
His dad paused in front of him. “How are you?”
“I’ve been better.”
His dad gripped his shoulder. “Well, you don’t have to worry about anything now. Your family’s here.”
Family? Scott shut the door. They got together on holidays. They didn’t just show up for random visits. Right now, he wanted to be left alone. Scott turned around, planning to say just that, but behind the smiles, he saw true concern in their eyes.
His father and Theresa had interrupted their honeymoon to come see him, and Wendy probably had a ton of things to do at her job. He couldn’t hurt their feelings because he felt like he’d been run over, one-two punched, and kicked all at once.
Suddenly, a mix of gratitude and relief came over him. He swallowed hard and cleared his throat. “Um...if I would have known you were coming, I would have cleaned up and bought some food.”
“Don’t you worry about it. That’s why we’re here,” his father said, taking Theresa’s bag. “I’ll put our luggage in the guest room and then we can get started on a list of things we need.”
“I guess I’m bunking here,” Wendy chimed in. She glanced at the rumpled blanket on the couch and the stuff scattered on the coffee table and floor. “Yay me.”
�
�I can stay here.” Scott hobbled toward the couch. “You can sleep in my room.”
“No.” Wendy and Theresa said at the same time. They ushered him to his bedroom.
He agreed to stay there, in bed, under mild protest. He’d lie there and watch TV for an hour or two then get up. But he fell asleep. At some point, Theresa came in, turned off the television and brought him a glass of juice and one of his prescribed pain pills. Too tired to protest, he took it and conked right out again.
Later on, loud conversation, the sounds of opening and closing cabinets, and a ’90s Garth Brooks song came from the kitchen.
Scott limped groggily down the hallway to see what the ruckus was all about. He paused and leaned against the wall, taking advantage of a moment to watch before they spotted him.
His dad had apparently commandeered the kitchen to make lasagna. While he laid noodles in a pan, Theresa washed lettuce in the sink. Wendy stood on the living room side of the counter, drinking a glass of wine, egging their father on as he sang off-key.
When the love song ended, his dad fed Theresa some of the sauce for the lasagna with a spoon. As she smiled her approval, his father kissed her.
The memory of kissing Rina in the barn flooded into Scott’s mind. For a moment his heart swelled like it had then from the rightness of her in his arms and the feel of her soft lips under his. The recollection shifted to a new daydream of Rina sitting next to Wendy, fitting right in as he prepped dinner with his father and Theresa. Sadness and longing stirred inside of him.
“Hey! Look who’s finally awake,” his father called out.
Scott swept away the image in his mind and went to join Wendy. “How long was I asleep?”
“About seven hours,” Wendy replied. “You needed it.”
He did feel more refreshed than after the nights he’d spent sleeping on the couch.
She pulled the stool out beside her a little farther from the counter for him. “Now maybe you’re awake enough to trim that scruff off of your face. You look like an angry troll.”
“No I don’t.” He swiped her glass and took a sip.