“Hi, Joshua,” Brikelle called out to him.
He smiled at her, but it looked as forced as Colt’s had been all day. Colt had gone still at her side, clinging to her hand like she was the only thing keeping him from plunging off a cliff.
She glanced at him curiously. His gaze was fixated on Joshua’s companion. “Colt?” Brikelle whispered.
He either didn’t hear her, or didn’t care, as he kept staring at the blonde.
The lady gasped and stood quickly. “Colt!” She hurried around the table and threw herself against him. Colt stuttered a step, still clinging to Brikelle’s hand and not returning the embrace.
The woman pulled back and glanced at Brikelle. She gave her an uncertain smile then focused back on Colt.
“What are you doing here, Cally?” he asked as if in a daze.
Cally? It couldn’t be. Brikelle concentrated on the woman. She was beautiful with her long blonde hair, icy blue eyes, and model-perfect features, but she looked hardened. Like she’d been through a lot in her life and it hadn’t made her happy.
Joshua moved to her side. “She’s with me.”
“Joshua has hired me to be his designer full time. Do all of Emma’s work and whatever else he needs. I couldn’t get here before now or I would’ve decorated this house.”
Brikelle’s stomach dropped. She looked to Joshua. “Really?” They didn’t have a written contract, but he’d claimed Brikelle would get those contracts. He was throwing it away so he could date Colt’s much younger ex-girlfriend? What a slimeball.
Joshua gave her a miserable look. “There’s enough work to go around,” he muttered.
“Excuse me?” Cally pinned him with a surprised look. “I told you I would only relocate if I was your exclusive designer. You know what I have riding on this.”
Colt clung tighter to Brikelle’s hand and stood taller. “You might be Joshua’s designer, but Brikelle is Emma’s designer. She isn’t looking for anyone else.”
“Who is Brikelle?”
“Me.” Brikelle tilted her chin up and narrowed her eyes at the woman.
“I’m sorry. How did you get involved?” Cally looked honestly confused by this turn of events.
“Because she’s an amazing designer … and Colt’s wife,” Emma said snidely. Brikelle hadn’t even heard the older lady approaching, but she was suddenly by Brikelle’s side. She squeezed Brikelle’s arm.
“His wife?” Cally’s eyebrows drew together and she teetered.
Joshua steadied her with his hand.
The entire room was silent for a few seconds. Brikelle hadn’t even noticed anyone else at the table, but now she realized that quite a few of them were there and they were all watching.
“How could you?” Cally’s face paled. She turned to Colt, staring at him in horror as if he’d slashed her car tires. “How could you?” Her voice barely carried to Brikelle and she almost felt herself feeling bad for the woman, but thinking of how she’d hurt Colt doused any compassion quickly.
Colt didn’t react, just stared at her.
“I came back here for you. I gave up so many dreams for you.” Her voice gradually rose. “And you marry the first girl to come across your path?”
Brikelle wanted to yell at her that she’d ditched Colt five years ago and had no right to him at all.
“Cally,” Colt said sternly. “Stop.”
“I will not stop! You told me you loved me and would always wait for me.” Tears were streaming down her beautiful face.
Colt looked down at Brikelle. “Excuse me for a second, please.”
She nodded mutely. She and Colt had been steadily drawing apart all day, and now his ex-girlfriend was back and professing that she’d come for him. How was Brikelle supposed to react to all of this? Step aside and let him be with the woman he’d loved since he was a teenager, or fight for him?
Colt took Cally’s elbow and directed her out the patio door off the dining area. He swung it shut behind them. Brikelle didn’t move.
Emma grasped her hand, and she looked down at the older woman. “It’s going to be okay, sweetheart. He loves you, not her.”
“How do you know?”
“I just have intuition about these things. I’ve seen the way he looks at you.” She patted her hand, then stepped around her. “Joshua. How dare you bring another designer in and think I would want her here?”
The other guests’ heads were swiveling back and forth as they took in the drama. Several of them kept looking out back at Colt and Cally, where Brikelle’s eyes kept straying as well. They looked far too intimate.
“I, um,” Joshua stammered, obviously caught in a spot he didn’t want to be in. “She’s one of the top designers in the nation, Emma. She has dreams of starting a charity that you will love.”
“But she is not my choice. Brikelle is.”
Joshua guffawed at that. “Brikelle is barely out of college. Cally has made a name for herself and we know she can consistently produce.”
Emma shook her head resolutely. “I made a deal with Brikelle and Colt, and I will stand by it.”
“Wake up,” Joshua growled. “Colt is going to be back together with Cally by nightfall. Brikelle means nothing to him. He and Cally have loved each other for years.”
Brikelle fought the tears stinging at her eyelids. Colt wouldn’t really leave her, would he? As soon as she thought it, she knew it was a strong possibility. She’d known Colt for two weeks. Cally was his past and the love of his life. She should be more concerned about Joshua telling Emma everything, but she didn’t even care at the moment.
“You set this up?” Emma hissed at him.
“Yes. Cally’s my niece. I would do anything for her.”
Brikelle blinked, wondering if Colt knew about the connection. She asked quietly, “I was just a pawn for your and Cally’s scheme?”
He nodded briskly. “Cally knew nothing about you. I knew she couldn’t get here in time to decorate this house, and you did decent work to fill in until I could turn it over to her.”
“She did a lot better than decent work,” Emma defended. “And she’s still my choice for designer.”
“Thank you,” Brikelle whispered, grateful Emma would stand up for her, but the work was so minimal compared to the thought of losing Colt.
Joshua glanced sharply at Emma, as if he’d forgotten she was there. “I’m sorry, Emma. I was trying to get you one of the best designers in the nation. I thought you would want to partner with her on her charity.”
“I don’t like being manipulated, and how dare you try to break up a marriage?” Emma asked.
“They’re not married,” Joshua inserted.
At this the silent group of guests gasped as if on cue, then started whispering to each other. Brikelle closed her eyes and prayed Emma wouldn’t hate her. She’d just told Joshua she didn’t like to be manipulated. Brikelle had grown very fond of the lady and didn’t want to hurt her. She opened her eyes to Joshua sneering at her. She couldn’t believe he’d used her like this. Emma didn’t say anything.
“Again, I apologize, Emma,” he said. “Cally is unreal and I knew you’d want to work with her, but she had other commitments she had to fulfill. Brikelle did a great job, but she doesn’t have the experience Cally has. You have to give Cally a chance, Emma. She’s world-renowned and her charity ideas are fabulous. I can’t believe you aren’t familiar with her work. You will love it, Emma, I promise.”
The older lady shook her head resolutely and grasped on to Brikelle’s arm again. “No. What I will love is you getting out of my house.”
Joshua’s eyes widened.
“And don’t plan on working for me again.”
“We have contracts for the Snow Basin condos,” he sputtered. “You can’t fire me. I’ll sue you.”
“My lawyers will find a way to break those contracts. Goodbye, Joshua. Good luck with the lawsuit.” She turned from him and focused on Brikelle. “What do you say you and I go in my office and chat?”<
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Brikelle glanced out the window where Colt and Cally were still talking, Cally getting much too close for Brikelle’s comfort. “Sure,” Brikelle whispered.
Joshua was escorted toward the front door by Ezra. Emma and Brikelle followed them partway and then went into the office. “Shut the door, will you, sweetheart?” Emma asked.
“Sure.” Brikelle felt like everything was hazy. All she really wanted to do was go rip Colt away from Cally. Would he really go back to his old girlfriend? Her shoulders slumped. She hoped what they had meant as much to him as it did to her.
Brikelle shut the door, sat down on the couch next to Emma, and said quickly, “I’m so sorry. When you assumed that we were married and invited us to this party, Joshua talked us into pretending we were. I’m so sorry.”
Emma patted her hand. “It sounds like Joshua is the one to blame, dear.”
“No. I should’ve told you. You’ve been so good to me.”
“Dear …” Emma shook her head. “I knew.”
“You knew?” Brikelle’s head popped up. “How did you know?”
Emma’s blue eyes twinkled. “You really do think I’m a dotty old lady, don’t you?”
“No. Why would I think that?”
“Why would I assume you were married because I saw you in his arms? I heard your shouting match before that.”
“Then … why? Last night about killed us, and now Colt has drawn away from me.”
Emma smiled knowingly. “I’m sorry, but I know how honorable Colt is. I knew he would be respectful of you.”
Brikelle exhaled slowly. Last night had been excruciating, but maybe it was a sort of penance for lying to Emma. She would take the turmoil of trying to stop kissing over the turmoil of Colt being reunited with Cally any day. “Why didn’t you say something, though?”
“I told you I have a sense about these things. When I walked in and saw the two of you together, it just felt right. Even though neither of you had a clue that you were meant to be, I did. I knew it as strongly as I knew from the moment I met my Scott that we would be happy forever.”
Brikelle was stunned. She didn’t move or respond for a few seconds. “So you were playing matchmaker?”
“Yes.”
“You are an eccentric old lady!” All the stress of the past week and a half for nothing. She was a little ticked at Emma, yet at the same time grateful. She never would’ve gotten to know Colt as anything but a jerk if Emma hadn’t been part of the farce.
Emma laughed. “Yes, I am. I definitely am. But it worked. You two have sparks and love and something really special.”
Brikelle thought about Colt outside reuniting with the love of his life and the stiff way things had been between the two of them all morning. “I thought we had something special, but he’s loved Cally his entire life.”
“That skinny thing? No. She’s not the right fit for him.”
“She’s beautiful, talented, has worldwide experiences I can only imagine. I’m a twenty-two-year-old farm girl. I can’t compete with who she is or what they have together.”
“Now you stop that talk.” Emma squeezed her hand, hard. She had a lot of grip strength. “When I have a prophecy about a couple, it has never been wrong. I’m like your fairy godmother or something. Don’t you second-guess me.”
Brikelle barked out a laugh.
“I’m serious. You just trust me and all of this is going to work out. Now let’s go get us some lunch, and if you want we can bring it back in here or into the kitchen to make sure you don’t have to watch while Colt sorts things out with that … imposter. Shall we throw her out with Joshua?”
Brikelle did laugh at that. “Thank you, but Colt is an adult and needs to figure this out himself.”
Emma smiled sympathetically at her, patted her hand, and then walked briskly out the office door. Brikelle followed after her, her mind spinning. What if Colt chose Cally? How would she survive then? She didn’t know that she’d be able to eat two bites of lunch with the worry gnawing at her stomach.
Chapter Eleven
Colt pushed a hand through his hair and leaned away from his former girlfriend. He’d been thinking he wanted to reconnect with her but now that she was here, it was just ticking him off. How dare Cally leave him five years ago, basically tell him he wasn’t good enough when he tried to chase after her, not communicate with him the entire time, and then think she could show back up and he’d be here waiting? Did she really think he was that pathetic of a loser?
She was going on and on about him being married. Part of him wanted to admit that it was a sham, but he was too hurt and angry. Being married to Brikelle was the perfect reason to keep his distance from Cally. There was also a small part of him that yearned for Cally, or at least the Cally he used to know. This Cally, who was giving him the what for, was definitely not his Cally. She was still exquisitely beautiful but her blue eyes were chilly and her face was too hard. Her voice had lost all its happiness and lilt. What had she seen and experienced in Chicago? Where had her innocence and laughter gone?
“Why are you looking at me like you’re not even paying attention to what I’m saying?” She sighed heavily. Her thick eyelashes fluttered as she closed her eyes, like she couldn’t handle this conversation any longer.
“Sorry. I just figured when you were done telling me off we could actually talk.”
“You probably don’t even want to talk to me. You just want to get back inside to your little … wife.”
“Yeah, I would.”
Tears sprang to her eyes again, and Colt knew he could handle the ticked-off Cally a lot better than the crying Cally. He’d protected and loved her for so long. It was hard to walk away from that.
“I can’t believe you got married,” she said. “Why didn’t you tell me? Why didn’t Tate or Uncle Joshua tell me?”
“Tate?”
“I’ve kept in touch with Tate to keep tabs on you. He’s not exactly friendly, but he usually tells me what I need to know.”
Good to know his brother at least wasn’t friendly with his ex, but he was going to beat him up for talking to her. Tate had always idealized Cally. “Uncle Joshua?”
“He’s my mom’s brother. I didn’t see him much growing up, but the past few years he’s been an invaluable help to me.”
That explained why Joshua would bring her here, but why had he wanted to perpetuate the lie with him and Brikelle? Just to appease Emma? He hated himself for asking, but he couldn’t help it. “Why didn’t you keep in touch with me to keep tabs on me?”
She cocked her head to the side and brushed away her tears. “I don’t know.” Her shoulders sagged. “I was a brat to you when you came to Chicago.”
“Agreed.”
“I wanted to do something on my own, be successful on my own. You know how things were for me growing up, how I was never good enough for my mom.”
Colt nodded. He’d known all about the emotional abuse her mom dished out. She’d spent a lot of time at Colt’s house and Momma had loved her like she was her own.
“All through high school,” she continued. “I was only Colt’s girl. Everybody loved you and every girl wanted you and I never had my own identity. I pushed hard at the U through my undergrad and my master’s program so I could go away and make something of myself, prove I was more than just your girl.”
His brow furrowed. “Cally, I’m proud of you for making something of yourself. I never thought of you as just some pretty appendage on my side.” He shook his head. “We could’ve been great together, but you threw me away. What about the love and friendship we’d shared for years? You didn’t trust me enough to just explain that you needed to stand on your own before we could stand together?”
She drew in a shaky breath. “I know I went about it the wrong way. I’m just trying to explain.”
“Explain, then.”
She folded her thin arms across her chest. “When you followed me to Chicago, I hadn’t had the time I needed to find myself. Find
who I was without my mom and you around to define me. I was selfish, telling you to go away like I did, and I know I can’t ever make that right. I didn’t really mean what I said about you not being enough. I wasn’t enough. Does that make any sense?”
He nodded, a strange sense of relief washing over him. Brikelle had told him he was enough and he’d believed her. It was nice to hear this from Cally, and he felt horrible about the way her mom treated her, but it hit him hard. He didn’t need Cally’s approval any longer.
“So I lied and pushed you away. Then I worked my butt off and I have become ultra-successful. I am enough now, despite my mom telling me I never would be.” She smiled but then it fell away. “I also know what I want: the happiness, friendship, and love we used to have. Time slid by and then it became too awkward to simply call you so I started figuring out how I could get back here and be with you. I want you, Colt.” She shook her head sadly. “And you’re married.”
Colt didn’t want to hurt Cally, but he thought he was over her, and it was a great feeling. At the same time they’d been friends for so many years and he still cared about her as a friend. He refused to lie to her. “I’m not married,” he admitted.
“What?” Her eyes snapped up to meet his.
“It was a misunderstanding, and then Joshua asked us to play along to get to this party and secure Emma and her friends’ work.”
“Colt! That’s so unlike you to lie.”
He winced. “Yeah. It got a little out of hand.”
Her real smile appeared, and he felt a little pang as he remembered how much he used to love her. “But this means … you’re not married, so … Oh, Colt!” She threw her arms around his neck.
Colt half-heartedly patted her back. The excitement and contentment he used to feel holding Cally wasn’t there any longer.
“Why didn’t Joshua tell me about all of this craziness? He probably knew I wouldn’t come. Oh, but who cares? You’re still mine.” She pressed her lips to his.
Colt was stunned and didn’t react as she kept pressing and pressing. It was so odd. He felt nothing like the sparks and desire Brikelle stirred in him. He could’ve been kissing one of his sisters and probably felt more emotion, because then he would’ve been disgusted that he was kissing them. He laughed at the thought and more relief came. He was definitely over Cally and he knew that Brikelle was the woman he wanted to be with.
How to Design Love Page 11
