By slashing his, however, I’d shattered my own. It’d broken into so many pieces that there wasn’t any putting this Humpty Dumpty back together again. I knew I’d sounded cold and cruel when I’d broken up with him, but it’d been necessary for a clean break.
The guilt that’d eaten me up after that lie was what had shattered my own heart. There hadn’t been any getting over it when I’d known the truth, and I hadn’t told him any of it.
Sure, he’d known I felt guilty over the fact that I didn’t have so much time to spend with him, but I’d never told him that I felt like I was stealing my time away from my father whenever I was with him. Time I could never get back and didn’t know how much I had left with him.
I’d also never told him that I’d come to the decision, in no uncertain terms, to stay in Mackinac. He’d known I had no intention of leaving, but it’d always been some hypothetical future thing we agreed to talk about again later.
Since I’d known there was no way I’d be able to leave my father on the island while he was sick, that future talk had never happened. Nor had I told Will that it wouldn’t.
All of it had made me feel like I’d betrayed him, like I’d deceived him, and that hadn’t even been the worst of it. Because I’d also told an outright lie.
When he’d refused to let me go, begged me to reconsider after I’d broken up with him, I’d made a spur of the moment decision. I’d lifted my chin, looked into his eyes, and delivered the final blow.
The landline in the office rang, finally yanking me back to the present. I chatted to a tourist calling from the mainland ferry terminal, who wanted to know if there was accommodation available overnight.
It took me all of five minutes to get her and her family a booking for the evening, organize their transportation, and give her some other information. Five glorious minutes during which my mind was focused on doing my actual work.
As soon as she hung up and I got settled in behind the computer to respond to some emails, William crept back into my head. It really seemed like I just couldn’t shake him today.
Before I even realized it was happening, I zoned out and found myself on the front porch of the Kent family home on that fateful day twelve years ago. The last time I’d had an actual conversation with William before last night.
Tears burned my eyes, but I couldn’t let them fall. I couldn’t let him see how upset I was. “I’m not kidding, Will. We’re done.”
He blinked, and I saw the agony bleeding into the eyes I loved with all my heart when he realized I was serious. He swallowed heavily, a furrow that made him look older appearing between his brows.
“What are you talking about, Anna? Where is this coming from?” His voice was tight, strained. I didn’t think I’d ever seen him as close to tears as he was now.
I felt his pain radiating into my soul, wedging itself into every crack where I knew it would fester from now on. There wasn’t going to be any moving on for me. I would never forget him, and yet I had to let him go.
“I’m breaking up with you,” I said, dragging each of the words out and saying them slower so he’d think I was annoyed with him for having to repeat myself.
Nothing could be further from the truth, but I had to do this. Every day I put it off, it would only end up hurting both of us infinitely more.
“Why?” He was all choked up, but he also refused to let his tears run free. It seemed that, even at the most horrible moment we’d ever had and would ever have between us, we still had so much in common. “Don’t do this, please? Talk to me. Tell me what’s going on. How do I fix this?”
“There’s nothing you can do to fix it,” I said. “I wish there was, but there isn’t. It has to be this way.”
“Could we just stop and actually talk for a minute please?” he pleaded. “It feels like you’ve made up your mind about this and I really didn’t see it coming. Can we discuss it like adults?”
“We’re not adults, Will. I’m only eighteen and you’re turning twenty soon. We’re teenagers. This is for the best. By the time you’re an adult, you won’t even remember my name.”
“That’s not true,” he said fiercely, bringing his hands up to cup my neck and angling it back so I was looking right into his eyes. “I will never forget your name, and you’ll never forget mine. I love you, Anna Holland. I love you now and I will always love you, so just tell me what’s really going on.”
I knew he would never understand the truth, not all of it anyway. His heart was breaking right in front of me. He wasn’t thinking clearly. I didn’t want him making promises he’d regret keeping and resent me for later in life.
William Kent had been born for much bigger things than this quiet life on our island. He’d never been meant to stay here.
He had a beautiful, bright future ahead of him. I didn’t doubt for a moment that he would make a success out of anything and everything he attempted. He was amazing, and I wouldn’t be responsible for keeping him here when he was meant to be out there.
It tore me apart to watch his heart being sliced up through the expressiveness in his gorgeous eyes, but I had to push him away for good. There had to be something I could do that’d make him stop begging me to reconsider and let me go.
The thought ripped through me like lightning. It also hurt as much as I imagined being electrocuted by the bolt of the stuff from the sky would, but the plan would work.
I took a deep breath, reminding myself that I was doing this for him. So that he could make something of his life without feeling like he was betraying me or like he had to come back for me.
For the tiniest of moments, I doubted my plan. But then I saw the vehement determination in his eyes, felt it in his touch, and I knew I couldn’t back out now.
“Fine. I’ll tell you what’s really going on.”
It took everything I had to force the words from my lips, and I hated every last second of saying them. But Daddy always told me how strong and courageous I was. It was time to test my own mettle and get through this. It would all be over soon.
“I’m in love with someone else,” I said, lifting my chin and looking squarely into his eyes. “I’m sorry, Will. I really am. Nothing has happened between us. I haven’t cheated on you, I swear, but I don’t love you the way I love him.”
I couldn’t stand to see the myriad of emotions playing out behind those eyes. Jerking my gaze away from his, I wrenched out of his grip and walked away, leaving him staring after me on the front porch.
As I walked away, I felt the weight of his eyes on my back. I saw the excruciating pain that’d crept into his eyes the minute he’d heard my lie every time I blinked. Breaking into a run, I managed to keep the tears in check until I turned the corner.
But as soon as I was out of his eyesight, I burst into tears. The sobs were so powerful that they were painful. I felt that same excruciating pain I’d seen in him in every fiber of my being, and it was tearing me apart from the inside out.
And then, once I finally managed to stem the flow, I’d gone home to my sick father.
Chapter 11
WILLIAM
Strangers walked the halls of the B&B, flashing polite smiles as we passed each other, but this place still felt like home. Jessie had done a great job in preserving the feel of it, and I almost expected to find my mother in the kitchen or my father in his study.
A sense of nostalgia crept up on me. I’d had some good times in this house, even if I didn’t come back here often.
My sister had turned our dad’s old study into her office, and that was where I found her. She looked up when I knocked on the open door, rolling her eyes as she motioned me in.
“You know you don’t have to knock. It’s just as much yours as it is mine.”
I leaned with my shoulder against the frame and my arms folded loosely over my chest, lowering my chin to peer at her from beneath my lashes. “We’ve talked about this, Jess. My name might be on the papers, but it’s all yours.”
“Whatever.” Sh
e glanced down at the planner in front of her, sighing before smiling up at me. “Come on in. I’m just working on the staff schedules, but I’ll be done in a minute.”
I walked in and sat down in the chair opposite hers at our father’s antique partner’s desk. “Juggling all these employees must take some time. You have a lot more people working here than I realized. You sure you don’t want me to come back later?”
“No, stay.” Her eyes were glued to the planner again. “The workforce has grown as we’ve needed people. We now have gardeners, kitchen workers, servers, housekeepers, and so on, as opposed to me trying to do everything with just one or two others.”
“I’m glad you’ve taken on some help.” My gaze flickered to the television screen mounted on the wall. It was on, but Jessie was only half-watching and listening while she worked.
My head jerked when I realized she was on an entertainment news channel. As if sensing my thoughts, she spoke without looking up.
“It looks like the media is starting to paint you as the villain, not Angelina.”
I gritted my teeth, annoyance flaring up at the lies reaching my ears regardless of how low the volume was set to. “Of course they are.”
“I haven’t been paying much attention, but from what I’ve heard, they’re saying you couldn’t commit. Apparently, you don’t have a heart, can’t look away from your phone or be away from work for long enough to pay her any attention, and couldn’t let your playboy ways go.”
I groaned, lifting my hands to my cheeks to scrape my palms over them. “This is the last thing I need right now.”
“Do you think it could jeopardize your career?” Her eyes were filled with worry when she looked up at me.
I shrugged but it wasn’t quite as easy as I’d have wanted it to be. “It could. Depending on what they’re saying and where they go with it, it could seem like I’m too much of a partying player to work with. Actresses might also refuse to work with me in the future if they think that I led Angelina on or that I seduced her only to have fun with her.”
“Do you really think that could happen?” She frowned. “Everyone saw that footage of her.”
“Yeah, but the media can be fickle, and ultimately, they craft the narrative. Unfortunately, I’m the one with the reputation. Angelina only made it big after she started on my show, so most of what they’ve seen of her is being out and about with me.”
“Any chance she’ll refute these claims?” Jessie asked, but it didn’t sound like she was holding out much hope.
“I doubt it.” My jaw clenched and I worked my fingers into my shoulder muscles, trying to massage out some of the tension knotting there. “There’s always been at least two things she loves more than me. Herself and her money. She won’t take any hits that aren’t coming directly for her.”
My sister’s teeth sank into her lips, and she gave me a long look with her eyes darting from one of mine to the other. “What’s happening with your engagement?”
“It’s over. I told Angelina we were done, but she refused to accept it. She thinks I’m just pissed and that I’ll come crawling back to her.”
“Is that what this is?”
I shook my head. “It doesn’t feel that way. In the long run, who knows? Maybe once I’ve cooled down, we can talk about it. Getting back together with her isn’t something I’m ready to even think about right now.”
“But if you don’t, you think the press will get worse,” she finished for me with a grim set of her jaw. “That sucks.”
A humorless chuckle came out of me, and I squeezed the back of my neck. “I’m pretty sure that’s what’s going to happen. All thanks to a reputation I built before I even met her. It hardly seems to matter now that I was single at the time, or that I never made anyone any promises.”
“Until Angelina?”
I nodded. “It’s not going to take much for people to believe I’m the asshole.”
Her spine straightened, her head cocked, and a gleam I knew meant something was brewing in her head came into her eyes. “There’s still plenty we can do to turn things around for you. You’re the one who presented this bad boy image to the world. You’re the one who became this guy, but that doesn’t mean that is who you really are.”
A deep frown settled between my brows as I tried to figure out where she was going with this. “What are you talking about?”
She grinned. “I think I have a plan that might make people see you’re not the rebellious producer your fans think you are. Some of them are turning against you in this era of cancel culture, but you’re not quite canceled yet.”
“I could be soon.” My eyes closed and I squeezed them shut before opening them slowly. “It’s so easy for fans to boycott someone now. It’s happened to people far more entrenched and well known than I am.”
“I know, but what if we can throw a wrench in the works? Show them a different side of you. A side that gives them someone to root for and not against.”
“That would be great, but how do we do it?” I released a heavy breath. “It’s not like we can just put it out there that I’m not actually the bad guy everyone’s starting to believe I am.”
“I have a plan.” She sat back and rubbed her palms together like some kind of cartoon mastermind. “It won’t only help you, but also someone else who desperately needs some cash and won’t accept any help if it’s just handed to her.”
My curiosity was piqued. I had to give her that. Although it sounded like this plan of hers might be too good to be true, anything would be worth a shot at this point.
“I’m listening.”
As she pitched what was on that devious mind of hers, I couldn’t deny that she’d have made a brilliant mastermind if she’d been a cartoon character. “Here’s what I’m thinking. We convince the media and your fans that you’re really America’s sweetheart.”
I arched a brow, about to tell her that it was impossible before she laid out the rest. She lifted a finger in the universal sign to give her a minute. “Just hear me out, would you? There’s nothing people love more than a real-life fairy tale playing out in front of them. A true love story for the ages.”
“Okay?” My voice went up at the end of the word, turning it into a question when I still didn’t understand how any of this related to me. My love story had withered and made out with someone else.
“So we give them one,” she said as if it was the simplest, most obvious conclusion in the world. “Imagine this. A heartbroken producer goes back to his hometown after being cheated on by his beautiful, famous fiancée. While he’s there, he falls in love, or pretends to at least, with his high school sweetheart. Maybe he even puts a ring on her finger.”
“You’re talking about Anna?” My jaw nearly dropped. “She’ll never go for this. Why would she?”
“Like I said, it’ll be mutually beneficial. We’ll pay her. She still has mountains of debt from her father’s cancer treatments. This would be a job that will allow her to make some extra money while keeping her actual job, and it’d turn you from a player to the romantic hero who believes in second chances.”
My mind snagged on the debt thing. “I didn’t know they were still paying off those treatments.”
“Why would you?” she asked, but her tone wasn’t harsh. It was understanding. “No offense, but it’s not like you two have talked much since the big breakup. You never ask about her, so I never tell you anything.”
“She’s not with anybody else?” I burned to ask her what had happened to the other guy, but I held back. It wasn’t Jessie’s place to tell me.
My sister looked at me like I’d turned into a flying rhinoceros before shaking her head. “I’d never suggest something like this if she was in a relationship.”
“I know. I just…” I couldn’t think of a way to finish my sentence without letting her in on what I really wanted to know, so I changed tack instead. “How are they still in so much debt?”
“The treatments and medication were hellishly ex
pensive. Mr. Holland couldn’t work for a long time, and even when he started again, he had to take things slow. I’ve tried to help numerous times, but Anna won’t accept any money from me.”
“Well, that sounds familiar.” Back when her father had first been diagnosed, I’d tried to help by getting my dad to give them some money, but they’d refused.
It made sense that Anna would refuse money from Jessie’s inheritance just as she had when our family had offered money before. It really hadn’t gone over so well then and I imagined that it still wouldn’t.
“The Hollands are a stubborn and prideful breed. I respect that about them, though. Even if it does make things difficult when all you really want to do is help.”
Jessie raised both her shoulders and let them drop while her lips pursed. “Would you really have done anything different if the situation were reversed? We’re not talking about buying her an ice cream or dinner. It’s a lot of money. I can’t say I blame her for not wanting anyone else to pay it off.”
“We have a lot of money, though. I understand not wanting anyone else to pay it off in its entirety, but accepting a little help never hurt anyone.”
Not that my father had only offered a little help. Thinking back, I knew I could’ve handled the whole thing differently and so could he, but it was water under the bridge now.
There had been many years where I’d alternated between being angry, resentful, and sad about everything that had happened. I still couldn’t say that it wouldn’t be nice to get some closure, but twelve years was a long time to hang onto any hostility or negativity.
We’d all been kids, and Anna breaking up with me had allowed me the freedom to live my life. It’d taken some time before I managed to see it that way, but I never would’ve left here without her if we’d still been together.
As for the money thing, maybe there was a better way to help her with it now than telling my father to go down there with his checkbook.
The Billionaire’s Second Chance: A Small Town Romance Page 7
