by L. P. Dover
Her gaze saddened. “I know. You both suffered for no reason.” After squeezing my shoulder again, she stood. “It looks like you both have a lot to talk about. He’ll want to hear the truth, but I think it should come from you.”
I nodded. “Don’t say anything to him. I’ll talk to him tomorrow night. Right now, I need to concentrate on planning the party.”
“Okay,” she murmured. “I trust you’ll make it amazing.”
She handed me a check, but I shook my head. “If you don’t mind, I want to do this myself.” I looked right into her eyes. “Please. I need to do this.” My heart broke for Zac, it broke for myself, and it broke for all the years we’d lost. However, something wasn’t right. Zac should’ve been able to get in touch with me whether it be email, phone, or social media. One way or another, I was going to find out the truth.
Night had come and the restaurant had already closed. The club was quiet except for the sound of my thoughts running rampant in my mind. I’d spent the past few hours in a daze. I really wanted to go to Zac’s house, but I couldn’t do it … not yet. What was holding me back? Fear of the truth? Fear that the past twelve years was nothing but a miscommunication?
Zac’s party was all set and ready for tomorrow night. The tables had been laid out and covered with tablecloths, and the menu was planned. I sat down at one of the tables to take a break and my phone rang. I looked down to see Dad displayed on the screen.
“Hey,” I answered, grabbing the club keys out of my purse.
“Your mother and I were worried about you. Everything okay?”
“Yeah,” I lied. “The ballroom is ready for Zac’s party tomorrow.”
“I’m sorry I threw that on you, sweetheart. I know it couldn’t have been easy. You don’t have to attend it. I can get Maggie to be there if anyone has any issues.”
Maggie Malone was the restaurant manager, but she was also the event coordinator. If Eva hadn’t requested me, it would’ve been Maggie putting Zac’s party together. When my dad decided to retire, I was going to have to give Maggie a significant raise because once I go back to San Francisco, she was going to be in charge of it all.
“Actually,” I said, “I want to be at the party to congratulate Zac.”
After Eva had left, I called my dad to tell him the reason for the party. Over the course of the day, I heard people talking about it as they came in and out of the club. Everyone was so proud of Zac’s accomplishments. The town loved him.
“I wish I could be there, too,” my dad murmured, “but I don’t want everyone to know what’s going on with me just yet. When you talk to Zac, please tell him congratulations for me.”
“Will do. Do you mind putting Mom on the phone for a sec? I need to ask her something.”
“Sure. Hold on.”
A few seconds later, my mother’s voice came over the line. “Clara?”
I clenched my teeth. “Guess what I found out today?”
My mother sighed. “What?”
“That the girl in that picture with Zac had stolen his phone and money. That’s why I couldn’t get in touch with him.” The line went silent. “Did you know?”
“Of course not,” she blurted. “He never said anything about that. When he came to see me, he wanted to find you, and that’s when I told him you were going to stay in France for a while. The same thing went for Eva when she stopped by.”
“Why didn’t you tell me she visited you, too?”
She huffed. “Because I didn’t want to cause you anymore pain. You’d already been through enough.”
I locked up the club and walked out to the car. “He didn’t cheat on me, Mom. All this time, I thought he did.”
“Are you going to talk to him?”
Once at the car, I got in, and it was as if everything hit me at once; I was exhausted. “I am,” I replied. “I don’t know what good it’ll do, but we owe it to ourselves to talk it out.”
She sighed. “Are you sure that’s a good idea? I don’t want you getting your heart broken all over again.”
Closing my eyes, I leaned my head against the steering wheel. “My heart’s been broken ever since. It never mended. I doubt there’s any more damage that can be done.”
It was the first time I admitted that to anyone, including myself. Maybe that was why I hadn’t fallen in love with anyone since. My heart wasn’t healed enough for it.
16
Zac
The news had traveled fast, thanks to my parents. Drew and his wife, Lena, came over last night to celebrate. We’d grilled steaks and drank by the pool. Clara didn’t show up yesterday to work, but that was fine. My mom said she saw her working at the country club when she went by to grab lunch. With her dad out of commission, I completely understood. She needed to be helping him more than me. The country club was going to be hers someday. It just so happened it was where I was headed tonight. Drew wanted to grab some drinks at the Bear Valley restaurant to celebrate again.
My phone beeped.
Drew: On my way.
He insisted on driving so that I could drink as much as I wanted. Which was good considering I’d already indulged in a couple of beers. Starting Monday, my ass had to get in gear, but until then, I wanted to enjoy every second of my partnership. With taking the promotion, there was a lot of work I had to do. I welcomed it, and I sure as hell was ready.
I tossed my empty beer bottle into the trash and looked out the window to see Drew’s truck headed up my driveway. It was going to be great having my family and best friend close by. I had acquaintances in North Carolina, but I worked twenty-four-seven. My job took up most of my time.
Drew pulled up to the front of the house, so I grabbed my wallet and stuck it in my back pocket before walking out the door. I hopped in his truck, and he held out his fist. “Ready to party?” he asked, grinning wide.
I fist bumped him. “Hell yeah.”
He sped out of my driveway and we were on our way to the club. A part of me wondered if Clara was going to be there. As much as I wanted to deny it, I really needed to see her.
“So,” Drew began, “what are you doing to do about your lake house in Charlotte? I don’t think you mentioned anything about it last night.”
I looked over at him. “I’m keeping it. That lake house was one of my first projects. I can’t sell it.”
Drew’s face lit up. “Does that mean Lena and I can vacation out there whenever we want?”
I chuckled. “Of course. I probably won’t go back there for the rest of the summer. I have so much to do here.” I had to hire a whole team of people to work for me, but that wouldn’t be a problem. Galen had thousands of resumes from people who were dying to work for M&M Architectural Design. I got the green light to purchase a building in Jackson so it could be our headquarters. That way, whoever I hired wouldn’t have to work from my house.
“Just think,” Drew said with a chuckle, “you can get back to wearing your jeans and boots to work. No more stuffy suits. Hell, you could work butt ass naked if you wanted to.”
Shaking my head, I laughed and peered out the car window. “That I could. Although I have to say, the women loved the suits.” When I wasn’t working with clients, I was at the M&M building in downtown Charlotte. It was definitely a different way of life than Snowy Creek. I loved it, but I preferred smaller cities.
“I bet you got women all the time, didn’t you?” Drew asked.
I shrugged and turned to him. “Not as many as you’d think. I had a few here and there, but nothing serious.”
Grinning, Drew looked over at me. “Maybe you’ll be able to settle down now that you’re at home. I’m telling you, life with Lena has been amazing. We’re ready to start a family.”
By the expression on his face, there was something he wasn’t telling me. “Is she pregnant?”
He nodded and looked so happy that I couldn’t help but feel a little pang of jealousy. I was ecstatic for him though. “That is amazing, Drew,” I said, placing a hand on his shou
lder. “Congratulations.”
He gasped. “Oh, no one knows yet so don’t say anything. We’re going to tell our families tomorrow at dinner.”
I held up a hand. “Won’t say a word.” We pulled into the country club parking lot, which was packed. Then again, it was a Saturday and Bear Valley was one of the best places in town to eat. “We might not get a place at the bar,” I joked.
We got out of the car, and he snorted. “Please. You’re royalty around here now. There will be a place for us.”
Rolling my eyes, I started for the entrance. “Yeah, okay.” I opened the door and walked toward the restaurant, but then something out of the corner of my eye caught my attention.
“Surprise!”
The ballroom was to the left, and standing in there looked like everyone from the whole town. There were so many people. Drew slapped his hands on my shoulder. “Congratulations, buddy. It’s a celebration party for you.”
He winked at me and walked off through the crowd to join Lena and her parents. Agnes Witherspoon made her way to me first and hugged me. “We’re all so proud of you. I made some of those mini quiches you like. They’re wrapped up and put away for you to take home later.”
“Thanks, Agnes,” I said, hugging her back. “I will definitely enjoy those later.”
She used to make them for me when I visited for Christmas, so I would always have them to take back to Charlotte. When she let me go, there was a line of people to congratulate me. I said thank you to everyone as I worked my way through the crowd until I got to the end where my parents were, including Haven and Drew.
“Well, I’ll be damned,” I shouted, scooping Haven up into my arms. It’d been a while since I saw her and Drew. She was still short as ever with the signature Broussard dark hair and hazel eyes. I wasn’t a Broussard, but my mother was. When I lived in New Orleans and worked at River Enterprises, I fit right in. “I can’t believe you came all this way out here for me.”
Haven giggled. “This is huge, Zac. Drew and I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
I let her go, and Drew pulled me in for a bear hug. He was tall just like me and muscular, but that was because he owned his own gym. I’d spent many hours in that place training for MMA fights.
“Congratulations, man,” Drew said, slapping a hand on my back as he let me go. “You’re moving up in the world.”
I shrugged. “Hey, I’m trying, at least.” I looked around for their daughter. “Where’s Penelope?”
Drew draped his arm around Haven’s shoulders. “We left her with the family. Thought we’d get a little free time this weekend.”
He winked at Haven, and she rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know what’s on your mind.” She looked at me and smiled. “We’re leaving tomorrow afternoon. I know you have a lot going on, so if we don’t get to see you before we leave, just know that we’re proud of you.”
“Thanks, Ven. It means a lot that you came all this way to see me.”
She nodded toward my parents. “Happy to. Now go mingle with your people. This is your night.”
I turned around, and my father was right there with open arms. His hair was now fully gray and his face had wrinkles from working out in the sun his whole life. He’d aged drastically over the years, but as soon as I started making a ton of money, I was happy to take a lot of that stress away. They’d given me so much, and it was my time to pay it back. They didn’t have to worry about anything ever again.
“Was this yours and Mom’s idea?” I asked, hugging him hard.
He chuckled. “We’re proud of you, son. You deserve the recognition.”
Stepping back, I stared at both him and my mother. Even though they had nothing growing up, you would never know it by the smiles on their faces. I had everything I could ever want, more importantly, their faith in me. They’d never let me down.
“Thanks, Pop,” I said. I moved over to my mother and hugged her. “You didn’t have to do this.”
She cleared her throat and averted her gaze to the other side of the room. I followed her line of sight and it went straight to Clara. She had on a strapless, skin-tight, black dress with her long, dark hair in waves down her back. The woman was so fucking gorgeous it was hard to believe she was mine once upon a time ago. Our eyes met, and her lips pulled up in a small smile before she looked away.
“I didn’t do this, son. She did,” my mother confessed.
Brows furrowed, I turned back to her. “Clara did? Why would she do that?”
My mother shrugged, but there was a sad smile on her face. “Why don’t you ask her? I think there’s a lot you two need to talk about.”
“What do you know that I don’t?” I asked.
She shook her head. “It’s not my place. Now go talk to her.”
Unfortunately, when I turned to find her, she was gone.
17
Clara
The party went amazing. I forgot how fun it was to be around my old friends and neighbors. It was much better than the Hollywood type parties I was used to for the past twelve years. In Snowy Creek, there weren’t people strutting around and flaunting their money. It was just wholesome people who genuinely cared about each other.
It didn’t go unnoticed that Zac had been trying to find me, but I didn’t want to take him away from his party. Everyone was so excited to talk to him. I knew that if we started to talk, it would be a long conversation.
“Clara, what are you doing out here?”
I turned around to see the restaurant manager, Maggie, standing halfway out the door. She was forty-three and petite with short, strawberry-blonde hair and cheeks spattered with freckles. I always admired her freckles and thought they were unique.
“Hey, Maggie. I’m just getting some fresh air.” At the back of the club, there was a gazebo that overlooked hole nine of the golf course. There were twinkling lights around the top of the gazebo and you could see the lights reflection in the pond.
“No worries,” Maggie explained. “The party’s wrapping up, so I thought you’d like to know. My team and I will get all the tables put away.”
I smiled back at her. “Thanks, Maggie. I really appreciate it.”
She shut the door, and I went back to focusing on the pond and listening to the crickets chirp. The door opened again, and I figured it was Maggie. “Oh, and just so you know, I plan on paying you double time tonight for helping me get everything together so quickly.”
“Happy to hear you treat your staff so well,” a voice called out.
I froze and closed my eyes. “How did you find me?”
The sound of Zac’s chuckle made me shiver even though it was warm outside. “When I couldn’t find you anywhere else, I figured it’d be here. I should’ve known. This was your favorite place.”
Rising, I turned around to face him. He looked nice in his striped button down and jeans with his brown hair lightly gelled and five o’clock shadow on his face. Who was I kidding? He was sexy as hell.
Zac walked down to the gazebo and stopped in front of me. The way he looked at me was different than before. His eyes didn’t have the anger behind him like they did earlier in the week.
“Did your mother talk to you?”
He nodded. “She said you paid for the party. Why would you do that?”
I shrugged. “You deserved it. Everyone’s proud of you.”
His gaze narrowed curiously. “Why do I not believe that? She also said we needed to talk. There’s obviously something I don’t know.”
Blowing out a heavy sigh, I could feel the burn behind my eyes. “There’s a lot we both didn’t know.” I nodded toward the bench. “Want to sit with me?”
I sat down, and he did the same, his thigh touching mine. It was just the gentlest of touches, but I could feel the electricity course through my body. My pulse raced and I didn’t want to cry, but there were so many emotions going crazy inside of my chest.
Swallowing hard, I closed my eyes and took in a deep breath. I didn’t know where to
begin. “Your mother told me some things yesterday. Things I didn’t know.”
“Like what?” Zac asked, his voice low.
I opened my eyes and looked up at him. The lights above twinkled in his hazel eyes, and my heart ached. “She told me about the girl who stole your wallet and your phone when you were working at your uncle’s shop.”
His brows furrowed. “That was a long time ago.”
I nodded. “You’re right. It was the week everything went to hell for me.” I picked up my phone off the bench and scrolled to the picture I had saved for over a decade.
When I showed it to him, his eyes darkened. “What the hell? How did you get this?”
“Is that the girl who stole your stuff?”
He huffed. “I couldn’t get her off me. She was with some friends and said they were passing through. By the time I realized what had happened, it was too late. Nothing could be done.” He stared at the picture for a couple more seconds and his jaw clenched. “Who sent you that picture, Clara?”
I set my phone down. “Chelsea did. She was at the library when she saw you. She took the picture and sent it to me.”
Zac stood and kept his back to me as he walked over to the other side of the gazebo. “Did you think I was cheating on you?” he asked, his voice low and sounding hurt. “I would never have done that to you.”
My lips trembled. “I didn’t want to think it, Zac. That’s why I called you over and over that whole week. When you didn’t call me back, it broke my heart. I figured you’d found out that I knew and you were too afraid to face me.”
Head low, he leaned his hands on the wooden railing. “I never got your messages, Clara. With my cell gone, I couldn’t afford to buy another one. I worked my ass off that week to get the money. When I finally did, the calls wouldn’t go through.”
I closed my eyes and the tears fell. “That’s my fault,” I cried as I got to my feet. “I was so mad at you. That’s why I had my mother disconnect my number and get me a new one. Why didn’t you tell her about your phone getting stolen when you went to ask about me?”