by Meg Jolie
I realized she was looking specifically at me, not Claire. I glanced at Claire. She looked as confused as I felt. She gave me a small shrug. Maybe Morgan was confused. Perhaps she’d forgotten I was new in town and I hadn’t met very many people yet.
My gaze scoured over the woman in front of me. She was petite, several inches shorter than me with long, wavy red hair, a flawless complexion and amazing green eyes. While I never considered myself homely, this woman was truly a knock-out. While I was frazzled and overheated, she looked cool and put together.
“I’m sorry,” I said, trying to keep my voice polite. “Am I supposed to know you?”
Kara smiled demurely while she let Morgan speak.
“I’m sure Alex has mentioned the love of his life to you,” Morgan said.
Ah. The ex-fiancé. It was clear that Morgan wanted to get a reaction out of me. I was not going to give her the one I assumed she was expecting.
“Right,” I said with a nod. I turned my attention to Kara and gave her smile. “I have heard about you.”
Morgan looked smug. “I was hoping he’d mentioned his fiancé to you.” She waved a dismissive hand my way. “Sorry, ex-fiancé. They were together for so long. Sometimes I still have a hard time remembering that they aren’t together anymore.”
“Well, it has been more than a year since they broke up,” I pointed out, though I knew she was well-aware of that consequential fact.
Morgan nodded. “I’m sure they’ll be together again in no time. Those two just can’t stay away from each other for very long.”
“Are we seriously having this conversation?” Claire asked as she dug her fists into her hips.
“Morgan,” Kara said, her voice chiding but I was sure completely insincere. “This really isn’t necessary.”
Morgan turned to her friend. “I just thought it was important to let her know what she’s in for. You and Alex belong together. You always have. You created a life together. That kind of bond doesn’t go away.”
A life…?
Did she mean a baby?
I felt my heart topple in my chest. Claire’s hand slid around my elbow.
Kara frowned at Morgan. “I don’t think Alex would appreciate you talking about our baby,” she muttered, clarifying my tangled thoughts.
A baby.
“He probably didn’t tell you about the baby, did he?” Morgan asked.
I was too shocked to say a word. My expression answered for me.
Morgan smiled cruelly at me before spinning on her heel.
The two of them scampered away like little rats.
“I had no idea that girl was such a bitch,” Claire muttered, her expression was as stunned as I felt. It melted away into a look of concern. “Did you know about this?” she asked me quietly.
I numbly shook my head. I knew he’d been engaged but that was the extent of it. I’d shared that little bit of information with Claire last weekend. I knew they’d been apart for over a year. But the rest of it…? I’d had no idea. I hadn’t even known his ex-fiancés name.
I realized that I had known that there had to be more to the explanation than what he’d told me. A whole lot more. I began mentally chastising myself for not demanding more details. I should have, the day at the state park. I’d known there was more but I’d just let the subject drop.
I had to wonder if he would’ve been willing to share if I’d pressed. Or would’ve he found a way to skirt around the issue?
“He has a kid?” she asked. Her expression was incredulous.
I still couldn’t speak so she tugged at me until I took a step and then towed me toward the parking lot. I tumbled into her passenger seat. Dark spots swam before my eyes, making it hard to even think.
I had never felt so blindsided in my life.
“He didn’t tell you?” she asked.
I shook my head. “Not a word. I mean…I knew he was engaged. He did tell me that much.” I thought back to that night. The night he’d mentioned Kara was the night I’d told him about Jason. It would’ve been the perfect, logical time for him to talk to me. “I guess he didn’t want me to know about the baby.”
“Maybe he just didn’t want to scare you off,” she suggested.
“I’m more scared off by the fact that he kept something so huge from me than I am by the fact that he has a kid.”
My mind went back to that night. He’d told me they had a major difference of opinion. Had he not wanted the baby? Had he left her because of the baby?
My stomach flipped over unpleasantly. What kind of guy would do that?
A nagging little voice told me the same kind of guy that wouldn’t mention his child to his new girlfriend.
I shook my head. “You know what? The night that Morgan invited us to The Bear’s Den, Alex seemed willing to go. Until I mentioned Morgan.” I thought back to that conversation. “I think it was as soon as I mentioned her name that he decided he didn’t want to go. He came up with some excuse, it sounded reasonable at the time, so that we wouldn’t go.”
“He was avoiding her,” Claire surmised. “You know, the few times Sean and I have gone out with them, she’s been really pushy, wondering where you and Alex are. Stupid me, I thought maybe she and Alex were good friends from way back. I thought that was why she wanted to see him. I had no idea that—” She glanced at me as she cut herself off. “Wow, Zoey, I don’t even know what to say.”
I shook my head and blinked hard, trying to press the tears away. “You don’t have to say anything. I’m pretty speechless myself.”
She pulled away from the street and we rode the rest of the way home in silence.
*******
“You know,” Claire said as she gazed worriedly at me, “maybe we should give him the benefit of the doubt. Maybe he’s a really good dad. He probably wanted to tell you but didn’t want to scare you away. I mean, a kid is a pretty big thing.”
I nodded. She was right. Having a kid was a huge thing.
“What really bothers me,” I said as I leaned my head back against the couch cushion, “was his attitude. He told me he left her because they wanted totally different things. But they were engaged! He had to have left her when he found out she was pregnant if you think about the timing of it. What kind of bastard would do that?”
Claire cringed. “I don’t know. But I would guess, considering that very planned, over the top confrontation that Morgan and Kara staged, that Kara would be more than happy to take him back.”
I nodded because I’d surmised the same thing. I couldn’t blame Kara. What kind of mother wouldn’t want her family to be together? Especially if the father was someone she’d loved, probably still loved, and had spent that many years with.
I glanced at my cell phone. It was clenched so tightly in my fist that my knuckles had turned white. I’d tried calling Alex even though I knew it was futile. He’d warned me that the cabin was in such a remote setting that reception was sketchy at best. I knew that because of that, he didn’t bother to even leave his phone on. That didn’t stop me from calling, or from leaving a message asking him to call me as soon as he possibly could.
I decided waiting for him to call was futile. I tossed the phone to the other side of the couch. I was probably going to have to wait until tomorrow to hear from him. I knew he wouldn’t be home until late. Maybe I ought to park myself on his front step so I could demand an answer.
On the other hand, I was so pissed off that the longer I fumed over it, the more I thought that maybe I didn’t want to talk to him at all.
Claire rose from the chair on the other side of the room.
Our planned evening of Chinese food and cheesy movies was long forgotten.
“Let me give Sean a call. He might know something. He’s never mentioned anything but then again, it seems like guys don’t give a second thought to this kind of thing.”
She left the room but I could still hear the muffled sound of her voice.
When she finally returned, she wore a frown.
“Sean didn’t know much. All he could remember was that their wedding was cancelled at the last minute. He thought maybe even that day. Alex didn’t stand her up at the altar but it sounds like it was damn close to that.”
My shoulders slumped. Everything that I thought I knew about Alex, I was suddenly questioning. I’d thought he was so responsible. I’d thought he was so honest, caring, just a decent kind of guy.
“Did he walk because of the baby?” I asked.
“Sean didn’t know anything about a baby,” she said apologetically. “Kara left town right after. He said he really didn’t hear much about why. He just assumed it was to get away from the whole situation. There was a lot of talk about how humiliated she was, being a jilted bride and all. Alex got a lot of crap for handling things the way he did. I mean, I’m sure there’s more to the story but to cancel the wedding that late in the game?” She shook her head.
I nodded slowly, suddenly feeling bad for Alex’s ex-fiancé. I could completely understand her wanting to get away.
“Maybe,” Claire said softly, “maybe this isn’t how it looks at all.”
I let out a frustrated huff as I turned to her. “I want to give him the benefit of the doubt. But I just can’t imagine how he could explain this away.
“You two just started dating,” Claire said in his defense. “And you have to admit, you two got off to a rocky start. Maybe he just wasn’t ready.”
“And now? I know it’s only been a few months. But at the same time…we’ve been together for months!” I started to think that over. I knew where he was most of the time. We spent a lot of evenings together. He also worked a lot. No, I didn’t know where he was every second of every day, but between the time he spent with me, and the time he put in for his company, he had very little time left.
Yet, he could make time for a fishing weekend.
Go figure.
Was he a complete absentee father? It sure seemed that way. My stomach rolled over once again. The more I thought about it, the more stressed out and sick to my stomach I became.
I sighed. “I really thought that we had a connection. I told him about Jason. I told him everything! I thought we were building an open, honest relationship. How could’ve I been so stupid?” I shook my head and let out a bitter laugh. Stupid when it came to men seemed to be my forte. “Never mind. I can’t believe I even asked that. I am the worst judge of male character!”
“No, you’re not,” Claire said firmly. “I told you that he was a nice guy. I thought he was a great guy. If he fooled you, he fooled me too.”
Her words only made me feel minimally better. Being wrong about Jason had been bad enough. But being wrong about Alex hurt. It hurt way more than it should have.
“Ugh!” she growled. “I can’t believe the nerve of Morgan! I’ll bet she had that little spiel planned all along! It just worked out perfectly for her that she happened to be with Kara at the time.”
I was no longer listening to her as she continued to fume on my behalf. My mind was tangled up in a conversation with Alex. He’d said that it was crazy how you could know someone for such a long time, only to find out that you really didn’t know them at all.
How ironic.
And yet, maybe telling.
Because when it came down to it, I’d only known him for a few months.
I realized that I’d probably been fooling myself to think that I knew anything about him. Because clearly, after today, I realized that I didn’t know Alex Carmichael at all.
Chapter 18
“Would you like potato salad?” Dottie asked.
I shook my head. “No, thank you.”
“I’m good,” Claire said.
“More for me,” Dottie said with a wink. She scooped herself another small serving.
I forced a smile onto my face. We were in the backroom of The Petal Pusher, working on a rare Sunday. Well, kind of working. Mostly, we were just brainstorming ideas that had been gathered from the craft fair yesterday. The store itself was closed. We’d cleared a space on the work table to make room for the three of us.
The lunch had been my idea, set up before the unfortunate run in with Morgan and Kara. I needed to talk to Claire. It was a conversation I thought Dottie, who was a longstanding employee, should be a part of.
They had both been pleased, thinking I’d suggested it just for the heck of it. When, in truth, I had something disheartening to tell them.
Dottie had offered to run to the deli to pick lunch up for us. It was a sweet gesture but today, between the news about Kara, and the news I had to share, I had no appetite. I’d pulled my croissant to pieces, trying to eat but failing.
I could feel Claire sneaking glances my way. I imagined she assumed my mood was entirely due to being unable to reach Alex. I wished that were all. The last few days, my life seemed to be swirling in a downward spiral.
“Why so glum?” Dottie demanded.
I slide my plate away and licked my lips nervously. “I have something to tell the two of you.”
Claire’s spine stiffened and she instantly looked concerned. “What is it?”
I thought it was best to just say it.
“I won’t be working here much longer,” I said quietly. I tried for my smile again but was pretty sure I didn’t succeed.
My friend let out a little huff. “Is this because of Alex? Are you planning on leaving town?”
“No,” I said. “Well, yes. Maybe.” She looked at me, her head cocked to the side in confusion. I couldn’t blame her. “I mean, no, this has nothing to do with Alex. Yes, I might be leaving town. Or maybe not.”
“What’s this about?” Claire asked before I had a chance to finish.
I tapped my fingers on the table, not wanting to say it but not really having a choice. “I finally got around to taking a look at the books for the past year. I think that even with added revenue from a website, which in itself is iffy, the shop doesn’t make enough in the wintertime to pay three full-time employees.”
Claire’s expression crumpled.
“It’s fine,” I assured her. “We knew this was probably a temporary thing. It’s not a big deal. When I first came to town, it was my intention to look for a job. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate you giving me a chance here. I feel like I’ve gained some experience. You’ve really helped me in a pinch. You just really helped me to get back on my feet. But now, in a month or so, when business typically starts slowing down again, I’ll just look for something else,” I said, hoping my tone sounded more optimistic than I felt.
“Are you going to look for something in Grafton?” Claire demanded. “I just got you back in my life. I really hate the thought of you disappearing from it again.”
“I will definitely look for something in the area,” I assured her. “And if I can’t find anything, I promise we’ll never lose touch again. I learned my lesson. And I’m not in that place in my life anymore.”
She didn’t say anything, simply pushed her plate away and let out a little frustrated sigh.
“Oh, you two,” Dottie scolded. She wore a frown. “Things are never as bad as they seem. Life has a funny little way of making sure that everything works out in the end. Claire, you’ll have no trouble keeping Zoey on. And Zoey, you don’t need to worry about a thing.”
I sat forward in my chair, ready to protest. Perhaps she needed the financial aspect clarified. When the slower season hit, even with the projected online sales, my income would be doable. But only the income I was currently making. I wasn’t opposed to my paltry paycheck for the time being, because I truly did want to help Claire out, but now her books were current. The website was ready to launch and the busy summer season was coming to an end.
I felt as if I’d done my part.
And now, sadly, it was time to move on.
I didn’t have a chance to explain any of this because Dottie cut me off with a wave of her hand.
“You’ll be able to stay,” she said firmly, “because
I’m resigning.”
“You’re what?” Claire and I cried in unison.
“You both heard me just fine,” she retorted. “I’m resigning.”
I shook my head. “No. I can’t let you do that.”
Claire’s gaze flickered to me, then back to Dottie. She looked conflicted when her guilty gaze landed on me again. “Zoey’s right, Dottie. We would never ask you to do that. You’ve been with me from the start. We would never ask you to go. I don’t want to hear you talk that way.”
She chuckled. “Oh, sweetheart, I only work here because it’s something to keep me busy. Most of my friends retired years ago. Maybe I should have too. As much as I love this job, it’s more of a hobby to me than anything.”
“It’s more than a hobby,” Claire argued. “You’ve been invaluable to me.”
Dottie nodded her agreement. “In the beginning, I suppose I was. I wanted to make sure you got off to a good start. I had a rapport with the returning customers. I wanted to make sure they treated you right,” she said with a wink. “But things are coming along nicely. You don’t need me anymore. And as for me, I can keep myself busy just about anywhere. Our church has started up a quilting group. I think I’d like to join. And you,” she said as she pointed a finger my way, “you’re good for this one here. I’ve never seen her office so neat and tidy. And I know that’s just the start of it. You two work well together. You both bring different talents to the business.” She crossed her hands in front of her chest. “So I think it’s time I resign. Freeing up my income will ensure that you have enough to see that Zoey gets a decent paycheck,” she said to Claire.
“Do you even want me fulltime?” I asked hesitantly. “I don’t want you to feel like I’m bulldozing my way in. I mean the agreement was that I’d get your books under control and get the website set up.”
“And you have,” she said with a nod. “I’d much rather have someone doing my books that I trust than have a stranger come in here. If you’re interested, I’d be thrilled to have you stay.”