“Yeah.” I shoved more food in my mouth, stalling. I chewed slowly, swallowed, then went on. “For my sixteenth birthday, my parents gave me this stunning, heart-shaped emerald ring with diamonds in a white gold band. I loved that ring. I wanted my parents’ love so badly back then, and the heart shape…” I shook my head, feeling foolish. “I liked to pretend it was a token of their love. When I showed people and told them it was from my parents, the easy conclusion was that they loved me, and that’s what I wanted everyone to believe.”
Dotty reached over and patted my hand. She and I had discussed my parents many times over, so she knew I was more of a hassle and a pawn for them.
I swallowed and went on. “That summer, I noticed the ring was missing. I looked everywhere for it. I mean everywhere. One day, my father walked into the living room when I was searching for it in the cracks of the furniture. I admitted I couldn’t find the ring. Long story short, he accused Luke’s mom of stealing it. He fired her even though she denied it.”
“Oh, hell,” Dotty said, as if that explained everything.
It did—almost.
“He wouldn’t listen when I pointed out we couldn’t prove that and that I didn’t believe Mrs. Durham took it. The next thing I knew, he’d blacklisted her by calling the other four families she worked for and telling them she’d stolen from us. I don’t know what power he held over them, but he has ways of making people do what he wants. Within two days, Mrs. Durham was let go from all her cleaning jobs.”
“And Luke blamed you.”
I shrugged. He obviously did. “I tried to talk to him several times, but he ignored my texts and calls. When school started that fall”—I shook my head, remembering—“he was so cold to me.”
“Did the ring ever turn up?”
I shook my head. “Maybe she did take it. Who knows? I didn’t know her well at all. She was very quiet and kept her distance. Professional boundaries and all that, and honestly I didn’t try to get too close because I didn’t want her to find out about Luke and me. It was our secret.”
“Have you ever been able to discuss with him what happened?”
“No. He was a brick wall. I was hurt for a long time, but then I got mad.”
Even today, when I thought about it, about how unfair it was of him to never even talk about what happened, my blood boiled. Because obviously everything I thought we’d shared had been nothing in reality. Lesson number two hundred forty-seven that guys were not to be trusted.
“And now you’re being thrown together on a project that your livelihood depends on. And his too, presumably.”
I couldn’t care less about Luke’s livelihood, but she was spot on about mine.
“Right. And possibly not just this one. If he builds the venue he claims he’s going to, the likelihood of other clients being interested is high.”
Assuming I would sign other clients. Some days I had so much doubt I could taste it.
We fell into silence while I caught up on eating my dinner. The chili mac wasn’t half bad, if I did say so myself.
Dotty set aside her fork and turned her attention to her wine, picking up the glass, taking a sip, then studying the deep burgundy liquid.
“Tell me something, Maggie May. When you think about your life in five years, your ideal life, what do you imagine?”
I’d spent so much time thinking about this; I didn’t hesitate to answer. “My business is killing it. I’ll have a personal assistant, at least one, plus a handful of other planners. We’ll have enough business to keep us all busy year-round. We’ll be the premier, in-demand planners for anything anyone plans in the area. I don’t need to make millions. I don’t want to make millions. I want to be able to live comfortably and make sure anyone who works for me does too.”
“And what about your personal life?”
“In theory, I’d love to have a family. In reality, I don’t know if that’s possible.”
“Why wouldn’t it be possible?” she asked.
I laughed to lighten the subject, then pointed at my head. “I’ve got a lot of baggage in here.”
“We all do, I imagine, but you might have more than most,” Dotty said. “At any rate, I love your business vision, my dear. I believe in you. The next question is, are you going to let a pesky little thing like Luke Durham stand in your way?”
Just the thought of that had my jaw tight. “No, ma’am, I am not.”
“Then you need to figure out how to work with him. On Presley’s wedding as well as others. So you can either blow everything off and bury the past, or you can confront him and air it all out.”
I nodded slowly, imagining both options. They both sucked llama balls.
There was a part of me that wanted to march out to his stupid farm and have it out. Give him a piece of my mind. Rant at him about how immature and unfair he was to go silent all those years ago, and how petty and small-minded he was to hold on to his grudge for eighteen years. Half of our lives, for God’s sake. Maybe it would bring me closure to force him to hear my side of the story.
