by Kay Correll
“But it’s complicated even to talk to him right now with the reporters hanging around.”
“So what? Let him come here. Or go meet him somewhere. Let them take their pictures. You need to talk to him.”
“I don’t think I can take seeing more photos of me in the media.”
“You’re going to have to make a decision about what’s important to you. A guy you obviously really like, likes you. He makes you happy. You can use all these excuses about his life in Hollywood or photos in the media, or you can choose to give this relationship a try. And I’m telling you right now, I vote for you giving it a try.” Merry set down her coffee and got up. “Trust me. You’ll regret it if you don’t give it a chance.”
She watched her friend walk away, pretty sure Merry was right, but afraid to do what she knew she needed to do.
Chapter 17
“Rick, hi.” She finally answered his call. Guilt was a powerful motivator.
“Whitney, I’ve been texting you all morning.”
“I know, I’m sorry, I was… busy.” She cringed, glad he couldn’t see her just then.”No, that’s not the truth. I was avoiding you.” She got up and stretched, moving away from her workbench at the shop.
“Why? Is it because of Christina? I know she was in rare form last night. I’m sorry about that.”
“No… it’s… listen, can we talk? I mean in person?”
“Of course. Name it, when and where?”
“You could come to my house this evening?”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, I’m sure. We really need to talk, and I can’t see that we can set up a switcheroo like we did last night every time we’re going to see each other. So I’ll just deal with any media attention we get.”
“If you’re sure, I’ll be there. What time?”
“How about six? I’ll make you dinner.” She knew that meant Mitch was going to follow her around in the grocery store, but she was tired of the media dictating her life. She was ready to face them head-on. Or face-on. Or photo-on, however it happened.
“I’ll see you then.”
She set the phone on the counter and grabbed a pad of paper. What should she make for dinner? It wasn’t like she was a fancy cook or anything. She needed something simple, but a recipe that wouldn’t fail her. She chewed on the end of the pen and scowled. What should she make?
Rick set down his phone and smiled, ridiculously happy that he was going to see Whitney again this evening. He sat down with his to-do list and made phone calls and checked things off. Almost everything was confirmed and ready.
He played a few rounds of croquet with the twins and generally just tried to stay busy, counting the hours until six. He was dressed and ready early, and paced around the rental, waiting for it to be time to leave.
He turned as the door opened and light flooded into the entryway.
“Mother, Dad, hi. I thought you were coming tomorrow.”
“A committee meeting I was supposed to go to got canceled. We caught an earlier flight.” His mother crossed over and set down the small bag she was carrying. “I wasn’t sure which house we were staying in.”
“It doesn’t matter. Your choice.” Though, he kind of hoped they’d pick Pink Lady Two…
“Where are the twins staying?”
“They’re staying next door.”
“Ah, then, we’ll stay here.” His father made the decision. “It will be a bit less hectic, then.”
Rick wasn’t even going down the thought-road of grandparents who didn’t want to be around their own grandchildren. “I’ll show you to your room.”
He led them upstairs to a room with a view of the bay.
“This is adequate.” His mother crossed over and looked out the window. “I know Mother does love this town, though who knows why. It is quite difficult to get to.”
Christina had obviously come by her attitude genetically.
“We could have had this in Philadelphia. There are quite nice places there to have gatherings, you know. Much easier to get to.”
“But Grandmere loves this place.”
“Yes, I know.” His mother sighed. “And I guess we’ll just have to humor her this weekend. Do you have everything set for the gala?”
“Pretty much.”
“What does that mean?” His father stopped unpacking and looked over at him.
“I mean… yes, it’s all set.”
“That’s good. You can tell us all about it at dinner tonight. I called Mother and told her we were coming early. She had Cook make a nice meal for all of us.”
“Oh, I have plans tonight. I won’t be here.”
“Well, that is unfortunate. I thought we’d have a nice family dinner.” His mother frowned. “Can you change your plans?”
“I… uh…”
His mother pinned him with her familiar disapproving look. “As we just said, this weekend is all about humoring Mother. I’m sure she’ll want a family dinner.”
“Okay, I’ll change my plans.” He didn’t want to cancel on Whitney but couldn’t see that he had any choice. Besides, his mother was right. The weekend was all about Grandmere.
“That’s settled, then.” She turned her back on him and started to unpack her suitcase. He guessed that was his dismissal.
Whitney stood at the window by the deck, looking out at the ocean. She didn’t care if some creepy photographer took a photo of her. She was done with this nonsense, and she missed her views of the sea.
Besides, what did it matter? Rick wasn’t coming. Oh, he’d apologized profusely for canceling at such a late moment, but he said he had to stay at The Pink Lady for a family dinner.
She could smell the aroma of a rosemary chicken baking in the oven, mixed in with the faint scent of the apple pie cooling on the counter. All that work to impress him. Even putting up with the stares of the townspeople as she hurried through the grocery store with Mitch at her side.
But Rick had more important things to do than come over to eat the meal she’d already prepared for him.
Loneliness crept over her, a feeling she wasn’t used to. She’d been alone here in Indigo Bay for years. She had friends. She loved the town. She loved her life. She didn’t need a man to feel whole.
Only now, one quick phone call from Rick had caused this unfamiliar feeling to descend upon her. She’d wanted to talk to him, discuss their relationship, talk to him about what Christina had said… without mentioning it was Christina who had brought up the problem.
But maybe this was some kind of sign. A sign they shouldn’t talk it out. That she should just let the rest of the week play out, and then he’d been gone. She could put all this behind her and get back to normal life.
She squared her shoulders and spun around from the window. With determined strides, she walked to the front door and threw it open. “Mitch, how about you come in and have some dinner?”
Chapter 18
Rick hadn’t been able to get away last night and go over to Whitney’s after dinner. His family dinner had run late. His parents always thought eight at night—or later—was the proper time to eat dinner. By the time it was over and they’d questioned him on every single aspect of the party, it was too late to even call Whitney, much less go over. She couldn’t keep staying up all hours of the night with him and still get up and run her business.
He set down a small suitcase as his sister, parents, and Grandmere walked in from the deck after having their morning coffee outside, though he’d heard Christina complain about how humid it was already.
“Grandmere, I have to pop out of town. I’ll be back tomorrow afternoon.”
“You’re leaving now? Right before the party?” Christina’s eyes widened, then she scowled. “It’s just like you to leave after assuring us you’d deal with everything for the gala.”
“I have. And I’ll be back tomorrow. The party isn’t until the next day. I have everything under control. I swear.”
“Where are you going, dear?�
�� Grandmere walked over and rested a hand on his arm.
“I have to fly back to New York. I have a meeting with my agent, Shawna and her agent, and the director of that new movie I was telling you about.”
“Well, that’s different. Of course, you should go.” Christina nodded her approval. “It’s important for your career. Plus, it will be good to be seen with Shawna.”
“I’m not going to see Shawna. I’m going for the meeting. The director has been in London shooting a film, but now is shooting some scenes in New York and wants to meet with us while he’s there.” He turned to his grandmother. “But I promise I’ll be back tomorrow.”
“Well, it’s certainly unfortunate you have to go and leave us with the preparations.” His mother gave him a disapproving look. “You should learn to schedule your time better.”
“Go on, Richard. We’ll be fine.” His grandmother touched his arm, her hand a featherweight on his wrist. “You take your meeting and we’ll see you tomorrow. I’m sure you have everything under control for the party. Besides, you all shouldn’t be making such a fuss over me.”
He kissed his grandmother’s cheek. “I love making a fuss over you.”
The last thing he wanted to do right now, was to leave Indigo Bay, but he couldn’t miss this opportunity to meet with the director and producer. He was pretty certain he and Shawna were going to get the leading roles, his agent had said negotiations were in the works, so he needed to go. “I’ll see you all tomorrow.”
He picked up his suitcase, walked out the door, and slipped into the shiny red sports car. He rolled down the windows and headed to Charleston to catch his flight. The salty air did little to erase his annoyance at this interruption to his stay in Indigo Bay. Not to mention it kept him away from Whitney for another day.
The next morning, Merry walked into the shop right as one of Whitney’s customers was leaving. “Hey, I thought I’d stop by and see if you want to go to Sweet Caroline’s for lunch later today.”
“I don’t know.” Whitney reached up and rubbed her shoulders. “I still have to put the finishing touches on the jewelry set for Viola. Plus, you know, reporters.”
“I thought you weren’t going to let the reporters run your life? Did you get everything all talked out with Rick?”
“No, he canceled on me the other night.” She shrugged. “After I’d made the meal. Like with twenty minutes’ notice.”
Merry’s forehead creased. “He did? I’m kind of surprised.”
“He said he had a dinner thing come up. His parents came into town early. He is here doing family stuff, so it’s not like I could really complain. I understood. I was just disappointed.”
“So, did you see him yesterday?”
“No, he’s out of town. He called and said he was going to New York for a meeting with his agent.”
“So close to the party?”
“He said he’ll be back today. I plan to try to talk to him after he gets back.”
Merry grabbed her phone. “Hm, let me just check… I’m going to search for the hashtag #RickNichols.”
“Really? Isn’t that a bit creepy?” She wasn’t sure if stalking by hashtag was appropriate.
“I’m checking to see if there are any media mentions of him—oh, shoot…” Merry raised her eyes, looking over her phone and directly at Whitney. “I… I guess you should see this.”
Merry reluctantly held out the phone to her. Whitney slowly looked at the phone, afraid of what she might see. A photo of Rick stared back at her, mocking her. A photo of Rick and Shawna at some fancy sidewalk cafe. The photo displayed a laughing Shawna with her hand resting on Rick’s.
“Scroll, there’s more.”
Whitney slowly scrolled through the photos. Rick walking down some street in New York with Shawna clinging to his arm. Then, the last one, the one that did her in… Rick, holding Shawna in his arms. Not one photo of his agent. Or her agent. Just… Rick and Shawna.
Maybe it wasn’t just their agents pushing them toward a relationship. Or maybe they’d decided to become a real couple. Sure looked like a real couple to her.
She handed the phone back to Merry. “I’ve seen enough. He lied to me, didn’t he? That doesn’t look like a meeting with his agent to me. He went to New York to meet up with her. He’s still seeing Shawna.”
“I guess maybe he is. I mean, he is with her, and he’s holding her in that one photo.”
“I’ve been such a fool. Worried I’m going to hold him back, that I’m going to hurt his career. I thought he… well, I thought he felt something for me. He said he did. I know he’s an actor, but I didn’t think he was acting with me.” A dull ache flowed through her.
“I’m sorry. I guess I misread his intentions toward you, too, and I’m normally a really good judge of character. I’m sorry I ever set up that meeting with you and him at my cottage, and I’m sorry I helped you sneak over to The Pink Lady.” Merry walked over and gave her a hug. “His eyes light up when he looks at you, and you seemed happy when you were with him. I guess I was just way, way off base. I didn’t know he’d hurt you like this.”
She pulled out of the hug and walked over to the window, staring up at the sky. “Well, at least I found out before I got in any deeper. I’m glad he didn’t come over and talk the other night. It’s just as well. I would look even more the fool.” She whirled around to face Merry. “You know what? I’m over him. I’m over the media. I’m over having a constant security detail. I’m over all of this.”
“Somehow I think it’s going to take more than brave words for you to put Rick Nichols behind you.”
Whitney closed the door behind Merry and crossed to the backroom to finish up the necklace for Viola. The sooner she finished, the sooner she could send it over to Rick and be done with him.
Her phone rang, and she glanced over at it, half-expecting it to be Rick. She grabbed it off the counter. “Willie, hi.”
“Hey, sis. Just checking in.”
All of a sudden, she needed her overprotective, always-on-her-side big brother. “It is so good to hear your voice.”
“What’s wrong? I can hear it. Something’s wrong.”
“No, I’m okay.”
“And yet, you’re lying to me. Spill it.”
“I’m really okay. I just… well, I kind of did go out with Rick Nichols for a bit, but it’s over now.”
“The guy you kissed but insisted you weren’t seeing? Ashley showed me some photos of him and Shawna Jacobson in New York. I guess he’s gone from Indigo Bay, huh? Good. I didn’t trust the guy.”
“He’s coming back to town for his grandmother’s birthday party. At least I think he is.” Maybe he was too tied up with Shawna in New York to come back? Would he actually miss Viola’s party?
“Hope he stays away.”
“Well, it doesn’t matter if he comes here or stays there. I’m not seeing him again.”
“I’m sorry, sis.”
“Don’t be. Your little sis made a fool of herself, but I’m fine. Really. I am. I’m ready to just get back to my normal life.”
“I’m sorry he hurt you.”
“I’d have to care about him for him to hurt me. Right now I’m just furious with him and furious with myself. But don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine.” She said the words with as much bravado as she could muster, then hung up the phone and stared at the necklace. She would be fine. She’d finish the present and send it over to The Pink Lady with Mitch. There really was no reason to have Mitch hanging around anymore. She wasn’t going to see Rick again. She was over him.
Totally over him.
Chapter 19
Rick drove straight to Whitney’s cottage from the airport. He couldn’t wait to see her and didn’t want to risk going to The Pink Lady first and being guilted into staying there instead of seeing Whitney. It had been three days without seeing her, and he was so over that. A few random texts back and forth. They needed to talk. This forced exile to New York had been lousy timing. He and W
hitney need to talk. And not by text and not over the phone.
He pulled his car onto the crushed shell drive. He frowned when he didn’t see Mitch by the door. Maybe she was still at the shop? But he hadn’t seen Mitch outside Coastal Creations when he’d driven past, which made him think she was already at home.
Mitch hadn’t called him like he usually did if they were headed back to her house…
Wait.
He snatched his phone from his pocket. He still had his phone in airplane mode. He flipped it on and saw several texts from Mitch.
Miss Layton insists she doesn’t need me anymore.
She insists I leave. And I have your grandmother’s present. She gave it to me to give to you.
Miss Layton says there is no need for my services. What do you want me to do?
I can’t follow her if she doesn’t want me to, but I’ll hang around until I hear from you.
Why had Whitney decided she no longer needed Mitch? Rick slid out of the car and crossed the distance to the door of the cottage in a few rapid strides. It didn’t escape him that a reporter lounged across the street and snapped a photo of him.
“Whitney? You home?” He called through the door when she didn’t answer. He grabbed his phone and dialed her number. It rang and went to voicemail. “Whitney, I’m back in town. Where are you? What’s up with you sending Mitch away?”
He scowled, ended the message to Whitney, and dialed Mitch. “Mitch, what’s going on? Where’s Whitney?”
“She sent me packing, boss. I can’t force her to use my services.”
“I know that, but why did she send you away?”
“She didn’t say. She just said there was no reason for me to be her security person any longer.”
“I don’t know what happened to make her change her mind.” He looked over at the reporter and turned his back on him. “You have any idea what happened?”