Chapter Seventeen
Chrissy had no intention of going to work on Monday morning. She’d called the coffee shop the afternoon before and told them she was taking a sick day. After turning her alarm off, she’d climbed into bed early Sunday night. She would’ve been just fine sleeping the day away until Emma woke her up by sitting on the edge of the bed.
A glance at the clock told Chrissy it was much earlier than she would’ve liked. “What’s up, Emma?”
“Mom and I didn’t want to leave before one of us checked on you. Are you going to be okay?”
“Oh, sure.” Her voice was thick with sleep and laced with sarcasm. She sat up partway in bed. “Are you headed to the country club?” She tried to sound as normal as she could. Emma needed the job, and Chrissy wasn’t about to discourage it. The thought of Wyatt being there, though, made her chest hurt.
Emma frowned. “I think it’d be too weird. I have another lead or two, and I thought I would check on those first today.” The sisters leaned against the wall together. “I’m worried about you.”
The irony wasn’t lost on Chrissy. How many hours, days, and nights had she spent worrying about Emma and her health? How many times had she wished she could take away even a fraction of the pain her little sister felt? Now Emma was sitting silently, trying to offer what reassurance she could, when Chrissy wasn’t sure anything was going to help.
She took a shaky breath. “I just needed some time before I have to go back to work and wonder whether he’s going to walk into the coffee shop.”
“I wish you’d tell us what happened.”
Chrissy gave her a sad smile as a tear slipped down her cheek. “My carriage turned back into a pumpkin.”
Emma leaned her head against Chrissy’s with a sigh. “I’m sorry, Chris.”
“Yeah, me too.”
They sat in silence until Emma finally gave her another hug and crept out of the room. A moment later, before leaving for work, Mom came in long enough to give her a hug and tell her that there were donuts on the kitchen counter.
Chrissy tried to go back to sleep and finally gave up. She dragged herself out of bed, took a shower, and changed into a fresh pair of pajamas. She’d just thrown her dirty clothes in the hamper when her gaze caught on the bag of seashells Wyatt had helped her gather. She’d tossed the bag on top of her dresser last night. What was she going to do with them? She swept the bag into the top drawer and closed it before heading for the kitchen.
She’d brought her cell phone but hadn’t yet turned it on. Now that Mom and Emma were out of the house, though, she didn’t feel comfortable with not having a way for them to contact her.
Chrissy turned her phone back on before chucking it onto the couch. She got herself two chocolate donuts and a glass of milk, set them on the coffee table, then glared at her phone. Which would be worse: Reading or ignoring text messages Wyatt might have sent? Or to find out that he hadn’t tried to contact her at all?
They never had donuts in the house. Obviously Mom had picked them up specifically to try and cheer Chrissy up. She wasn’t sure it was working yet, but boy, they tasted good. She managed to ignore her phone until she’d consumed one of them. That’s when she finally decided that she may as well rip off the bandage already.
There was one text. Chrissy squinted at the screen as though that would lessen the hit of seeing who it was from. Wyatt’s name caused her heart to constrict.
“I’m sorry I dragged you into this mess, Chrissy. I hope you can forgive me one day.”
What did he mean by that? Sorry that she was upset? Sorry that Ashley showed up and Violet spilled the beans about his previous engagement? Or sorry that he’d asked her to go as his pretend girlfriend in the first place? Tears once again clouded her eyes.
She wanted to punch the wall. Not only had she opened her heart when she’d been determined to do just the opposite, but somehow Wyatt had managed to take up residence there. She was pretty sure it was never going to be the same.
~*~
Talk about an excruciatingly long week, and it was only Wednesday. Every day since the reunion, Wyatt wrestled with himself over whether he should stop by Clearwater Coffee or not. He never did hear back from Chrissy after sending her the text. Then again, after everything that happened, he couldn’t blame her. Although he still didn’t know what had been said. Bonnie and Lucy knew nothing about it, and Violet was dodging his calls. That alone told him she had a guilty conscience.
Whatever Violet might have told Chrissy, it was probably only full of half-truths. He wished Chrissy would give him the opportunity to set the record straight. But first, he needed to know exactly what he was working against.
Wyatt recalled Violet bragging about her Zumba class every Wednesday evening and how it was doing wonders for her thighs. It wasn’t exactly news he would’ve paid much attention to, but maybe Lucy or Bonnie knew where she went.
Two texts and twenty minutes later, he had the name and address of the gym Violet frequented. This gym had childcare, which meant she certainly wouldn’t miss the class.
Wyatt finished his work day and headed for the gym. He didn’t want the kids to have to listen to what could only be an unpleasant conversation, so he watched for Violet to arrive and waited for her to check the kids into childcare before approaching her.
His sister came around the corner and jumped a foot when she spotted Wyatt. She frowned, creases deepening between her eyes. “What are you doing here, Wyatt? I have a class in ten minutes.”
“You and I need to have a discussion.”
“Later.” She tried to push past him.
