“That something you know from experience?” Dane asked, knowing he had to get out of the muck with this guy, but unable to resist.
Malcolm stared at him for a moment with a look in his eye that made Dane’s skin crawl. “The land isn’t what I really hoped it’d be. We’d have to modify our plans fairly severely. We may end up withdrawing our bid…focus on a bigger plot in a better location.”
Dane wondered what this guy was up to. He didn’t seem the type to drop a dare.
Malcolm glanced around the shop. “You know she hasn’t renewed this lease. I may just have to take her home with me and put her to work in our Savannah location. I’d hate to steal her from you, though.”
Dane glared at the guy, knowing he’d love nothing more. “I think she’s capable of making her own decisions.”
Malcolm narrowed his gaze at him. “I’m not sure how well you think you know her, but if you think Marigold’s a girl who would sit on your couch eating bon-bons and mooching off your money, you’ve got the wrong girl. She’s gonna make her own way come hell or high water. And if you think she can afford to live in this town at these inflated prices you’re nuts.”
Dane guessed he hadn’t really thought all of this through. He hadn’t gotten into her personal business—what she was paying for rent, how much money she needed to make to live, that kind of thing. That was her business, not his. But if she was getting ready to be out of a job, and if that meant she was considering a move back to Savannah, that was definitely his business.
The bell on the door dinged, and Marigold came in looking flushed. “I’m so sorry. That took a little longer than I thought it would. Did the two of you meet?” she asked, looking between them.
“Yeah,” Dane said.
Marigold eyed the both of them. “Great,” she said, and then held a cup up to Malcolm. “One cream no sugar still?”
He smiled at her. “You know me so well.” He met Dane’s glare. “Nice to meet you, man. Good luck on the bid.”
“Same to you,” Dane said through gritted teeth.
Malcolm held the door open for her, giving Dane a final triumphant smile as she passed through the doorway. Dane hated the idea that this guy was some kind of knight in shining armor for her. There was something squirrelly about him that Dane didn’t care for. He seemed way too possessive of Marigold. Put her to work in our Savannah location. He’d said it like he owned the place. For all Dane knew he did, partially at least. He’d traveled there with her family. He seemed to be an integral part of the organization. Dane pulled out his phone to see just how integral.
A Google search including the word “Malcolm” and “Appleton Hotels” provided more results than Dane was comfortable with. Apparently this guy was fairly high up on the food chain there and had recently been promoted to Senior VP of New Development. He was Dane’s direct competition.
Dane tried searching just his first and last name in quotations along with Savannah, Georgia, and then just Georgia. He seemed fairly clean. The door opened and Dane set the phone down like he’d been caught. He let out a hard breath at the sight of a stranger. “Hi, welcome. Can I help you find anything?” He hoped the answer was no, because he didn’t really know too much about her store other than what he’d observed in the past little while.
“Just looking,” the woman said, meandering.
He shook his head at himself and then sat on the stool at the counter, glancing around, wondering exactly what he thought he might find on Malcolm. But then he realized he was focused on the wrong thing. The real worry was whether Marigold wanted to go back to Savannah or not.
23
Marigold took another sip of her tea while Malcolm droned on about his new promotion and all the opportunities he was going after on behalf of Appleton. She checked her phone for the time, knowing they’d already been gone from the shop close to an hour. Yet they still hadn’t broached the subject of her shop.
“That’s really cool,” she said. “I think we better wrap things up over here so I don’t keep Dane at my shop all day. I’m sure he’s got better things to do with his day off.”
Malcolm stared at her. “So, that’s the guy, huh?”
“What guy?”
“Come on, Goldie. He’s your new beau, isn’t he?”
She despised it when he called her Goldie. She’d made it clear on many occasions, but Malcolm didn’t seem interested.
“I don’t know if I’d call him that…yet.”
He picked up his cup and then let it slide down between his fingers. “I just don’t see it, you and him.”
This was typical Malcolm. He was engaged to be married but still couldn’t handle her being with someone. “There’s nothing to see.”
“You don’t think about us, what could have been?”
She rubbed her forehead. “Malcolm.”
He squeezed her knee. “I think about that last time a lot. You ran off. I thought we were starting something.”
“That was my mistake,” she said, shaking his hand off her knee. “I was in a bad state. I’m sorry if I led you on.”
He sat back, considering her. “You were just scared. You’ll do the same thing to this guy.”
She met his gaze, her heartbeat picking up speed. “What are you talking about?”
“You haven’t been in a relationship in a long time.”
“How do you know?”
“I follow you on Facebook, for one thing. There’s not been anyone steady since before you and I were together last.”
“That was like five years ago, Malcolm.”
“Four and a half, actually.”
“All right, we’re getting off track. Let’s talk about the shop.”
“I’d really rather talk about us.”
“I’m serious, Malcolm. What about the shop? What about my plans?”
He let out a sigh. “We really want you back in Savannah.”
Her blood started to boil. “Who’s we?”
“Your family and me.”
“And your fiancée?”
“You say the word and she’s gone.”
She stood. “Malcolm, stop all this. This isn’t right.” She walked to the other side of the room just needing to get away from him for a second.
He stood. “It’s how I feel. Your family loves you. They all miss you. They want you home. I want you home. Did you know your sister has been trying for a baby?”
She jerked her head around. “What?”
He smiled. “Yeah. You’re gonna have a niece or nephew soon. Come home to Savannah. You can have your pick of jobs at the hotel.”
“I don’t want a job at the hotel. I want this shop here.”
He looked down at his hands and lifted an eyebrow. Meeting her gaze, he said, “Well, that’s not going to happen, even if we get the bid.”
Her heart sank to the ground, an avalanche of disappointment threatening to buckle her.
She nodded, holding back the tears. She wouldn’t let him see her cry. “Is that why you’re here? To let me down in person?”
“I’m here because we all want you home, Marigold. We want you back in the family business. Look, come home and train with me. That way when we get the new hotel built, you can come back here and work it.”
She rubbed her palm against her forehead. “Just…come on. Let’s leave. I’ve got to figure some stuff out.”
He walked over to her and took her by the shoulders. “Please, Marigold. Think about it. Okay? Will you think about coming home?”
She met his gaze, her stomach like a vat of acid. “Go back to Savannah, Malcolm.”
Staring her down, he finally turned and walked out the door. She pulled herself together and then made her way back to the shop where Dane was standing behind the counter flipping through his phone. He looked up at her. “You okay?”
She forced a smile. “Oh, yeah. I’m fine. Just…it’s nothing. Thanks so much for watching the store. Did we have any sales?”
“No, I’m sorry. We had
a customer earlier but she left without buying anything.”
“That’s certainly nothing new. You can head out now. Thanks so much for helping.”
“I can stay.” He took her by the hips and shook her a little. “We can play around between customers.”
She kissed him on the lips. “I would love to, but I have some work to do here.”
“Can I see you tonight?”
“Mmm hmm. Oh, wait.” She looked at her phone. “Fiona texted me a while ago. She asked if we could have dinner together just the two of us at the house. I’m guessing there’s trouble in la-la land with Bobbie. Can we hang tomorrow? Are you doing anything?”
“Tomorrow’s perfect.” He slid his hands behind her back. “If I can wait that long. I’m seriously not sure I can. Come over later tonight if you can. I’ll come down and get you.”
She gave him another peck and then pulled away, feeling the connection between them waning alongside her dream of staying in the place she loved. “I’ll see how it goes. It may need to be a girl night thing.”
He nodded. “Completely cool. I’ll just plan on seeing you in the morning.”
She squeezed his hand. “Have a good day.”
“You, too.” He kissed her, and then headed out the door, taking a piece of her heart with him.
24
The sun had set over WaterColor when Marigold arrived home from the shop. She’d made signs that she’d posted all over the store. Store Closing. All Sales Final. She’d created flyers that she’d hang all around town tomorrow morning.
She opened the door with her key to find Fiona cooking solo in the kitchen. “Where’s Bobbie?” Marigold asked.
“She’s at home. I made us dinner, that sweet and sour chicken you like.”
Marigold stilled, Fiona being too kind for there not to be something wrong. “Everything okay with you and Bobbie?”
Fiona smiled a half-smile. “Everything’s really good.”
Marigold dropped her purse. “She’s moving in, isn’t she?”
Fiona held up a hand with a serving spoon in it. “We’re not kicking you out. You can take as long as you need to find a place. If you want to stay till the end of December like we originally planned, that is no problem whatsoever. But her roommate’s this horrible, misogynistic guy who she can’t stand to be around, and I don’t want her to have to live like that anymore.”
“Of course not,” Marigold said. “It’s totally fine, Fiona. Don’t feel bad. Tell her to come on tonight if she needs to.”
Fiona smiled. “Thank you. But I told her I needed one last night just the two of us.”
Marigold wrapped her arms around her friend. “Thank you, for everything. You’ve saved my life these past couple of months.”
“You’re the perfect roommate. We’re never home at the same time.”
Marigold chuckled. “That’s the only kind of roommate who would call me a good one.”
“Not true,” Fiona said, squeezing her arm.
“I’ll get out of your hair. Just let me figure something out, okay?”
“There’s no rush. Please hear me when I say that.”
Marigold smiled at her. “Okay.” But Marigold knew when romance was involved, three was a crowd. Boy, this day had shaken up to be a doozy. It was almost too stressful to even be upset about.
“Are you hungry?” Fiona asked.
Marigold decided the biggest need she had at the moment was to eat her sorrows away. “I’m about to bite into this countertop I’m so hungry.”
“Grab the wine glasses and the bottle on the bottom shelf in the door.”
Marigold did as told, looking at the bottle. She whistled. “You sure? This is a good one. And it’s unopened.”
“I know,” she said with a smile.
The last supper, Marigold thought, and then got out the corkscrew. She turned on Flora Cash, one of Fiona’s favorites, watching her light up. Being kicked out of this apartment was like a neon sign flashing at her. Nowhere to live, no shop, no prospects of a job, despite the now fifty-eight resumes she’d submitted. The stars were aligning, and they were directing her home. Marigold just had to decide if she had any fight left in her or if she was ready to throw in the towel.
25
When Dane heard the elevator ding, he jumped up and met Marigold at the door. She’d insisted on meeting him at his place, which was fine with him because he was hoping they’d never leave it all day long.
He opened the door to find her standing there looking somehow more beautiful and desirable to him than when he’d left her yesterday, which seemed damn near impossible. “Hey,” he said, sweeping her into his arms.
She smiled, but it didn’t go all the way to her eyes. “Hey there, handsome.”
He pulled away. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” she said, brushing him off and walking into his place sort of aimlessly.
“How’s Fiona? Are she and Bobbie through?”
“Oh, far from it. She’s actually moving in.”
“Oh,” Dane said, swallowing what that must mean for Marigold.
“Fiona’s not rushing me out, but I’m not sure what kind of shelf-life my charm will have with Bobbie. She has no problem adoring Fiona right there in front of me. Looking back, I think she may have been marking her territory a few times she made no effort to quell some major PDA in front of me. She probably wants my bedroom for all her stuff.”
“Do you need a place to stay?” he asked, treading lightly.
She waved him off. “I’ll be fine. I can hop around from place to place until I figure things out.”
Dane’s phone buzzed, and he picked it up and winced. Erin. She’d called several times now, and he’d chosen not to answer. As much as he would love to see the boys, things were going well with Marigold. This wasn’t the time.
“Do you need to get that?” Marigold asked.
“No.” He motioned for her to sit down on the couch with him. “So how did it go with Malcolm yesterday?”
She made an irritated noise. “You know, I really don’t want to talk about it.”
“Okay,” he said, trying to be cool, but really starting to worry. He shifted in his seat. “Anything particular you want to do today?”
She scooted over next to him and laid her head on his shoulder. “Can we just sit here a while.”
He pulled her in closer letting her snuggle up into him. He sniffed her hair, drinking her in, wishing he could put an end to all of the shit she was going through.
His phone buzzed again and he silenced it without even looking at the caller ID.
She pulled away from him. “Get that.”
“No, I really don’t need to.”
“She’s called twice already since I’ve been here. How many times did she call yesterday? I know about the once yesterday morning.”
“I…I don’t know.”
She let out a huge sigh and then stood. “You know, this just isn’t working today. I’ve got a bunch of stuff to do at the shop. Can we do a raincheck?”
He stood and took her by the shoulders. “Please don’t go. I’m sorry she’s calling. It’s like she’s got goddamned radar or something. She knows I’m dying to be with you and she’s ruining it.”
“That or she really needs you to take the kids.”
“They aren’t my responsibility.”
She scratched her cheek. “No, they’re not. But I’m still gonna go. This just isn’t working. Not today…maybe not…I’ve just got to go.”
“Marigold,” he said, following her to the door, but there wasn’t much else he could say. If she wanted to go, he had to let her go.
She stopped at the door and turned to face him, taking his shirt into her hands by the collar. “I had an amazing time last night. Like freaking off the charts. I loved it. And I think you’re probably the best guy on the planet.”
He blinked, not sure what to say to that. It was so at odds with what she’d just said a minute ago.
She p
lanted a long kiss on his lips, and then walked away without looking at him again, pushing through the door to the stairwell and disappearing behind it.
His phone rang again, and this time he stormed over to the coffee table and snatched it up, ready to hurl it against the wall, but he stopped as he saw the caller ID. Panama City Beach United Methodist Church. While his first instinct was to ignore it, he had a gut feeling this was a call he should take.
“Hello?”
“Oh, thank goodness. I was hoping calling from the church phone would help. Hi, this is Brittany McLaughlin. I’ve got two boys here ready for pickup. Did you get held up?” When he hesitated, processing what was happening, she said, “That was me calling a second ago from my cell phone, but I figured you weren’t picking up since you didn’t know who I was. But we have you down as today’s pickup. Erin left us your number. Class was over a half hour ago and the sermon has already started. Did you get the time mixed up?”
He sat on the couch, unable to speak for the moment.
“Dane?” the woman asked?
“Yeah. Just a minute.” This was it. It was time to make his choice. He could tell this woman that he never agreed to pick up those boys and that he and Erin hadn’t been together in over a year. He could say that while he loved and cared for them more than he ever could have thought possible, he had to cut this codependent cord and quit caving. He’d explain that the more he caved, the more she would keep throwing a bomb into his life whenever she wanted.
He would say he was sorry, but he couldn’t be involved, and for her to do whatever she needed to do. Call the police. Call the Department of Human Services. Call Erin. But he was sure Erin would not pick up, assuming Dane would handle this for her.
Dane let his hand drop to his leg, staring at the phone, knowing whatever he did now would set the tone for years to come. He thought of Jaden and Noah, pawns in a game Erin controlled, two little boys who never asked for this mother or for no consistent father or father figure. He thought about all the times he or Ethan were desperate for a father or any male role model—how they both were always so starved for that missing piece in their life, not having any sort of grandfather or uncle to help them through. Jaden and Noah were in that same boat. They had no one except whoever Erin brought temporarily into their life.
WATERCOLOR WISHES: Love Along Hwy 30A, Book Four Page 19