by Jenni James
Both girls shook their heads.
“I think he’s showing off,” Georgia stage-whispered.
“I think he really needs to read one of my books—perhaps get some tips on flirting.”
Will threw his head back and laughed.
Georgia grinned and took a bite of cake. “Do you really think it’s good?”
“Yes. Holy, yes. It’s wonderful. You are really, really talented.” Eliza took another bite. “Did you make this from scratch?”
The girl blushed and looked down. “Yeah.”
“There’s no way I could come close to this. The best cake I make is with a box—anything from scratch turns out super heavy and dry. This is just perfect. Where’d you get all the stuff to make it?”
“Thank you. Will had the hotel bring up the ingredients for me.”
She should’ve known. “You should open up your own shop. Have you ever considered it?”
“I’ve thought about it, sure. But I’ve kind of given up on the idea. Do you think I should open one?
“And you’re completely self-taught? No schooling?”
The girl shook her head. “None.”
“Incredible. You were born to bake.” Eliza leaned forward. “Okay, look. I know you’re still young, so to make this work, your best bet is to get a business degree. That way, you understand the numbers side of all this. And then I’ll come and help you put together a killer marketing plan, and I’ll glance over the place and guarantee you keep your sales up high.”
Georgia’s eyes sparkled. “Do you really think I could get away with this?”
“Not only do I think you can do it, but I bet if your brother helped you out with some of his skills and contacts, you’ll be running your own cake-making business and selling them to restaurants and stores. All you need is one good-sized chain to pick you up, and bam! You’re not just a small corner shop—everyone in America gets to experience this masterpiece.”
“Oh, wow! You really think I’m that good?”
Eliza took another bite. “You’re awe-inspiring. Do you have a name picked out already? It’d have to be something killer. Something that’ll make people take notice and remember.”
“Actually, I do.” Georgia grinned and then glanced away. “Okay. So, no one knows this, but I have a whole notebook full of ideas and notes and recipes for a shop one day.”
“So you really have been thinking about it.”
“Yeah.” Georgia grinned. “I have some of my ideas on the iPad you brought. You wanna see them?” She stood up and headed toward her bedroom.
“Sure.” Eliza set her fork down. As she stood, she caught sight of Will across the table. He had leaned back and was watching her. She couldn’t quite read his expression. “Er, is it okay if I talk with Georgia about opening her own store?”
“You mean, give her hope? A dream? Something to live for? And someone to become?” He slowly stood up. “Eliza, I don’t know what I’ve done to you. I imagine—knowing me and my innate idiocy—it was something awful. But if you could ever find it in your heart to forgive me, I would love to—”
“Eliza, are you coming?” Georgia called from the bedroom. “Or should I bring the iPad out there?”
Her eyes never left Will’s. “I’m coming.” There was so much there she really wasn’t equipped to deal with right now. Rescuing Georgia was what this was all about. Wasn’t it?
“Whatever it is, I’m so sorry,” he said. “Please forgive me.”
That night, holding Jane while she sobbed, collided with the image of Will across the table. She shook her head. “We’ll talk later. Not now. Later.”
He nodded. “Okay.”
Eliza stepped away, her heart clenching as she made her way to the bouncing Georgia.
“Sorry, it’s charging, so it’s over here by the chair,” the girl said. She beckoned Eliza to the side of the room. “I really want to show you my designs and maybe get your opinion on the name. I know you like chocolate, but wait until you see this one.” She held up the iPad. On the screen was an incredible carrot cake, with toasted coconut on the sides.
“Wow. And this is from scratch too?”
She beamed. “Yep.” Pushing her finger across the screen, Georgia popped the next picture up. “Scroll through them all. I have something like fifteen different cakes and seven cheesecakes, as well as cookies, pies—everything.”
“This is amazing.” Georgia had already begun a portfolio.
She happily sighed and sat down on the bed. “Yeah, actually, my boyfriend told me he’d help me open my own shop, so I was getting stuff ready for it.”
All at once, they were treading on very dangerous ground. “You have a boyfriend? Does he like cakes too?”
Her smile slipped, and she looked away. “That’s right, no—I don’t have a boyfriend now. That was before. Back when we were thinking about getting married.”
“Wow. Marriage. That’s exciting.” Eliza couldn’t imagine any man taking advantage of such a sweet girl, let alone leading her along like this, only to destroy her.
She shrugged, and a visible frown showed up. “I thought so too. Turns out, it’s really not that great after all.”
Eliza cautiously sat down next to her on the bed, one arm going around those fragile shoulders. “Hey, it’s okay, sweetie. I was engaged once.”
“You were?”
“Yep. Turns out he was a jerk. I know exactly how you feel.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE:
“What was his name? Georgia asked.
Eliza closed her eyes and pushed through the hurt that came with him. “Collin.”
“Do you mind talking about him? If you do, we can stop.” The girl looked so lost, so alone, so eager to connect with her.
Only Jane had heard the full story of Collin. After all these years she wasn’t sure she could open up so easily. But if it would help ease Georgia’s pain… “Of course. Ask whatever questions you’d like.”
“How old were you?”
How old was she? It happened so long ago, she’d almost forgotten. “Not much older than you. Maybe nineteen.”
“Were you in love?”
Eliza nodded, her heart growing cold. “I thought so. I thought I knew everything there was to know about love—I was wrong.”
“What’d he do?”
Taking a deep breath, Eliza leaned back and stretched her legs out in front of her. “What didn’t he do?” She attempted a half chuckle. “I don’t know. Collin was—Collin was so caught up in himself, he never saw me.”
Georgia nodded, but didn’t say anything.
“He wanted to be famous. And rich. And live in a huge house. Basically everything you guys are—he wanted it. And he literally brown-nosed his way through life to get there. Complimenting people he wanted to be like, lavishing praise on them. As for me, he was always worried about appearance, afraid of what others thought of him—of us. Constantly nagging, belittling, degrading.” She took another deep breath. “It was one of those emotionally abusive relationships that scar. Those scars run deep. I’m sort of afraid of anyone who has that mentality now. I know how badly they cut you. It’s hard when your partner doesn’t find you desirable. There comes a point when you try anything to be another person—you forget who you are just so they’re happy. Believing this is best for you, that they’re bringing out the real you.
“But it’s not the real you. It’s a façade of lies they created. And eventually, those lies begin to eat you whole. Collin never even looked back when I finally left. He was engaged just a couple of weeks later to another girl we both knew. I’ve always felt sorry for her, honestly.”
Eliza began to fiddle with the skirt of her dress. “He broke me a lot worse than I thought. I thought I was the strong one because I walked away. I thought I’d healed, and that was the worst hurdle.”
She touched her chest over her heart. “No. It had only just begun. My journey of finding me after that fiasco took years of growing. And trusting. And believi
ng I was worth it and good enough. It didn’t help that my mom loved Collin, and she was livid that I’d hurt him the way I did. For months afterward, she’d still mutter under her breath about how disappointed she was that I hadn’t married him. I was a failure in her eyes, and it put a serious strain on our relationship.”
“So did that girl marry him?”
“Charlotte? Yeah, they were married really fast. Within a couple of months or so. And as far as I know, they’re still married.”
“I wonder if my ex-boyfriend will get married soon.”
Eliza decided to push a bit. “What’s his name?”
“George, which was kinda cool because mine’s Georgia. But he went by Joe.”
Even though Eliza knew the answer, she had to ask. “How’d you meet? School?”
“No. He’s older than me, so he’d already graduated from college. We originally found each other on Facebook. He started liking my posts and told me I inspired him, and yadda, yadda, yadda. I believed everything he said. And then, when we met, it was romantic and he was totally hot, and I completely forgot about the age difference. He just looked so young, it didn’t matter. And I couldn’t believe he’d actually fallen for me. Out of all the girls he was friends with on Facebook and Instagram and Snapchat—and he had a lot—he chose me. It totally went to my head.
“He took me on long walks in the park, to the zoo, hiking in the mountains—anywhere you can imagine that’s romantic and perfect and unique and fun, he took me there. Then a few weeks ago, he proposed.” She exhaled and stood up, but didn’t stop talking. “He got down on one knee and told me there had never been a girl so beautiful and inspiring and right for him. He told me how happy I made him, and how he couldn’t wait to show me the world and be my husband.”
Tears started to form in her eyes, and Eliza’s heart dropped. She knew that happiness—that joy. And then to have it destroyed so savagely. It wasn’t fair.
Georgia wiped at her eyes. “Like a fool, I believed every word. I loved him so, so much. I knew—I just knew my world would be perfect, and he’d always take care of me.” She walked to the door and laid her head against it.
“I couldn’t wait to introduce him to Will. I was positive my brother would love him as much as I did.” She sighed. “I was so stupid. I should’ve known then, when he said he didn’t want to meet my family yet. I should’ve seen the signs. I should’ve known what he was and that he was hiding, that he was scared of Will and was hoping to—was hoping to…” She trailed off. Slowly, she turned around and slid down the door to land in a puddled heap on the floor.
Eliza walked toward her, and Georgia instantly tucked her knees up to her face and buried her head in them. Eliza sat next to her on the carpet and wrapped one arm around her shoulders.
“Shh… It’s okay. You’re safe now. I promise he won’t hurt you again.”
“Why?” Georgia sobbed. “Why? What did I ever do except love him? Why would he hurt me so much?”
“Come here.” Tears sprang to Eliza’s eyes as she gently tugged on the girl’s shoulder. Georgia tucked herself into Eliza’s lap and cried.
“I was so scared. I was so alone. And he was s—so mean. Just evil. He took everything from me. Everything.” Her poor, frail shoulders shook beneath Eliza’s hand. “I was too afraid to call Will and tell him what happened. And I was so ashamed of myself for being so stupid.”
“You weren’t stupid. It wasn’t your fault.”
She wiped her eyes and nodded her head. “Oh, yes, it was. This was my fault. Yes, I know George Wickham is a malicious, vile man—I know what he is! And I don’t blame myself for the monster that he is and will be forever. No, may he die in prison for what he’s done to me. And he will. My brother will make sure he does. But no. My stupidity is because I trusted him. My blind, awful trust. I tossed aside any bad feelings I had, all that I’d been taught, and like an idiot, I followed him blindly.
“Eliza, I thought I would die that night. I thought he would actually kill me. Then he threatened to k—kill anyone I told. He took everything—my wallet, my phone, my suitcases, my jewelry—even the engagement ring. And then left me in the horrid hotel room—he laughed at me as he left. Calling me the worst names. And then I didn’t see him again.”
“I’m so sorry.” Eliza held Georgia close again as she gently tried to comfort her. “What did you do?”
“I was so scared and ashamed and mortified. I stayed in the room for two days and cried. By the time I realized how hungry I was, I’d begun to wake up to the reality of what really happened. He’d left me in the room with nothing, but thankfully, he’d used my credit card to sign us in. We’d originally planned to be there a week, so I knew the reservation was for that long. When they didn’t kick me out, I realized that Joe had forgotten about canceling the reservation. So I stayed in the room and ordered food service while I tried to decide what to do.” She took a deep breath and sniffed.
“By then, I was beyond mad and I was ready to fight Joe with all I had. I’d come out of the haze enough to see what was really going on. But by the time I went to call Will and finally figured out what I would say to him, he walked in with the hotel security guards and saved me.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO:
Eliza and Georgia talked and wept and talked for another two hours before Eliza convinced her it was time for bed. Once she’d tucked her in, Eliza yawned and walked out. It had been one long day, and she was simply exhausted. There on the couch, still dressed in his clothes from the date and Ghostbusters socks, was Will. He was sound asleep and snuggled into an accent pillow. For a moment, she stared at his sweet, unguarded face and marveled at the man in front of her. He was Georgia’s hero. For the last couple of hours, it was all Eliza had heard—how wonderful he was.
It was unbelievably kind of him to let them talk and bond while he obviously still waited for her to come back out. He was patient. That simple act showed wisdom and love beyond what she imagined.
She sat down on the couch opposite his and began to put her shoes back on. Then she walked over and gave him a gentle kiss on the cheek. “Goodnight.”
His hand snaked out and grabbed hers before she could leave. “Wait,” he said groggily. “Let me wake up so we can talk a minute.” He groaned and sat up, rubbing his eyes.
“Will, it’s okay. We can talk in the morning. You’re asleep and I’m exhausted. But I didn’t want to leave without saying a quick good-bye.”
He yawned again, still rubbing his eyes. Ignoring her request, he asked, “How is she?”
She paused a moment and then gave in. “Good. She’s going to sleep now.”
He nodded. “What time is it?”
“I don’t know.” Eliza couldn’t resist and yawned too. “Last I looked, it was close to midnight, but that was a while ago.”
“Did she tell you anything?”
“Yeah, everything.” She kneeled down on the floor next to him. “We had a really nice bonding moment. And hopefully, I’ve set her on the right path to heal.”
“Thank you.” He looked so out of it.
“No problem. She’s an awesome girl. Really bright and fun and…”
Will blinked and actually looked at her for the first time. Then his hands captured her face and slowly and gently, he kissed her, his soft lips connecting with hers in a powerful gift of thanks. “You have no idea what this means to me.” He kissed her again. “I knew if I gave her some time with you, you’d fix it.”
Eliza’s heart was hammering, and all at once, she was very much awake. “I don’t know if I fixed anything…”
He touched her forehead with his and whispered, “Shh… You are miraculous.”
This intimate nearness, the caring voice whispering deeply—it was a trap to tug at her heartstrings and keep her next to him forever. “Will?”
“Hmm?” Slowly, his hands moved from her jaw down her neck to rub her weary shoulders.
Oh, my goodness. Nothing had ever felt so good. She leaned forward
and allowed his hands to work their magic.
“Turn around, and I’ll get these kinks out for you.”
She didn’t need to be asked again. She turned around and Will began to knead and coax the stress away. “You are a magician.”
He chuckled. “Oh, you deserve so much more than this.”
She held her breath for a second before grinning and relaxing into his hypnotic trance. “Please don’t stop. I may just fall asleep right here, but whatever you do, don’t stop.”
“Gladly. I’ll keep you here forever just massaging your back.” His strong, lean fingers began to run up the sides of her neck, along her spine, very cautiously working out the kinks under her hair.
“Oh…” Eliza was in heaven.
“So, how did you get my extremely private and proud sister to open up to you?”
The tightness slowly began to melt. There was only a very small part of her that was coherent. It took a minute for his question to make sense in the putty in her brain. “Georgia? Oh, I just told her about my failed engagement, and then we connected.”
His hands stilled.
“Oh, please don’t stop.” She probably sounded like a baby, but it’d been years since anyone had rubbed her neck, and it felt so wonderful.
“What engagement?” he asked, his voice a bit huskier than before as he began to massage again.
She lolled her head forward. “It was just this guy I thought I was in love with. Collin. Found out we weren’t in love, so I ended the engagement.”
“How’d you find out? Did he cheat on you?”
Giggling a bit deliriously, she answered, “No.” She sighed. “That feels so great.”
“What did he do?”
“He was an emotionally abusive wreck, and he took it out on me and made me believe his way of thinking was the only one.” She shrugged. “I really don’t want to talk about it.”
“I’m sure you don’t.” His thumbs began to make small circles at the base of her skull.
She honestly thought she’d succumb to bliss. “Ahhh…”
“What did he say to you?”
