by Sandra Owens
“So it’s Lucas now? How sweet.” He kept going, and I followed him out.
“You owe him an apology. He’s doing something good for our town. And while you’re at it, you can apologize to me, too.”
“Yeah?” He stopped, and I moved in front of him. “For what, Autumn?”
“I didn’t know you and Adam wanted this building. Is that why you’re angry?”
He let out a harsh laugh. “Among other things.”
“Like what?”
“Well, let’s see. You send me a Dear John letter in the form of flowers and a shitty note. We were supposed to go see Taren together, but you took off without me. I can only assume you didn’t want me tagging along because you hoped to spend time with the senator. You didn’t tell me you were working for him. How long has that been going on?”
“I had to sign a nondisclosure agreement, so I couldn’t tell you. You should understand that. And I resent your implication that there’s anything going on between me and Lucas.” We’d never had a fight before, and I hated that we were. But he was being unreasonable and ridiculous.
“What about the way you ended things between us?”
“We were supposed to be in it just for the fun. I didn’t think it would hurt you. And what about your stupid text?” In all the years I’d known him, he had never looked at me so coldly, and it felt like a ball was expanding in my chest, making it hard to breathe.
“You don’t have the power to hurt me, Autumn.”
I flinched, but I wasn’t surprised. He’d made it clear from the beginning where he stood. “Well, good. I’d hate to think that I broke your poor heart.” It was a miracle that I’d said that without my lips trembling.
“No worries there.” He glanced over my shoulder at the building. “Adam and I wanted the property to build model homes on. We were going to ask you to do the interior design. I guess you found a better offer.”
With that he opened his car door, tossed the crutches over the seat into the back, then got in and drove away.
I hadn’t known. They hadn’t given the slightest hint that they wanted the place. Standing in the parking lot of an abandoned building as Connor drove away, I realized I’d lost a friend. But so much worse was the realization that he’d taken my heart with him. That wasn’t supposed to happen. I put my fingers at the top of my nose and squeezed the tears away. I wanted my heart back.
42
~ Connor ~
We were in it just for the fun. Right. Got it.
Adam hadn’t been happy when I’d demanded my freedom this morning, but he’d taken me to my house, giving me all kinds of admonishments to rest. As soon as he’d left, I’d gotten in my car and gone to Autumn’s. She hadn’t been home.
I’d decided to take a drive through town, and I’d been surprised to see her car parked outside Humphrey’s building. The bigger surprise—and not a good one—had been finding her there with Senator Blanton. She hadn’t known we wanted that property, but finding out she was working with Blanton felt like a betrayal.
That burned, but it was her words that I couldn’t get out of my head. Was this how Adam had felt when Savannah left, like a piece of him was missing? If this was love, then I didn’t want any part of it.
You’re the one who sent her that dumb text. True, but it had been my knee-jerk reaction to getting brushed off with flowers and her stupid note. It burned that she couldn’t tell me to my face that she was done with me.
Still, I’d said things to her that I shouldn’t have. I knew there was nothing going on between her and Blanton, but my jealousy had gotten the better of me. It was an emotion I’d never experienced, and I hadn’t known how to deal with that other than to act like an ass. I’d told her an outright lie when I’d said she didn’t have the power to hurt me. I wish to hell it was the truth, though.
Without thinking about it I ended up at our jobsite, pulling to a stop next to Dylan’s Mustang. We’d built a log home for him and Jenn, and I wondered if there was a problem he’d stopped by to talk to Adam about. Adam took pride in his work, and we seldom had issues after the owners took possession of their homes. I noted the progress Adam had made since I’d been here last. This one was our grandest luxury log home yet. In three weeks we’d be turning the keys over to the new owners.
I eased out of the car, got my crutches under my arms, and carefully made my way over construction debris. Tomorrow I was supposed to go back to the doctor, and I hoped he’d tell me I could toss the crutches.
Inside I found Adam leaning against the kitchen counter, talking to Dylan. “Chief,” I said, greeting him. “You slumming or here to cause trouble?”
Dylan chuckled. “Stopped by to invite you and Adam over for steaks and a beer tomorrow night.”
Adam frowned. “What are you doing out? You’re supposed to stay off that foot.”
I ignored his question. “You’ll never guess who bought Humphrey’s building.”
“Senator Blanton,” Dylan said.
“You knew?”
“Just heard it this morning.” He glanced from me to Adam. “That a problem?”
I shrugged. “We had an offer in on the property.”
“Yeah, we were going to build a couple of model homes and relocate our office there.” Adam glanced at me. “How’d you find out?”
“Ran into Autumn there. With Blanton, I might add.” Dylan must have heard something in my voice, because he raised a brow. “Apparently she’s working for him.”
“And I gather that’s also a problem,” he said.
“Yeah, it is. She refused to say what his plans for the property are. Said she had to sign a nondisclosure agreement.”
Adam studied me for a moment. “But that’s not why you’re upset.”
“She said . . .” I glanced at Dylan. What the hell. He was a friend and a smart guy, so maybe he’d have some words of wisdom. “She said that she was just in it for the fun.” Those words shouldn’t hurt since I’d claimed the same thing, but apparently I’d only been fooling myself.
Dylan grimaced. “Ouch.” His radio crackled to life, and he reached down, turning it off. “I’ll step outside to answer so you two can talk.”
I took his place, leaning back against the counter so I could rest my foot without the damn crutches. “How did you do it? Get over Savannah?”
My brother lowered his gaze and stared at his work boots. “I haven’t.” He raised his eyes to me. “So I can’t answer that.”
Although it was the last thing I wanted to hear, I’d long suspected that he was still in love with her. “This really sucks.” I met Adam’s gaze. “I really thought I was immune to falling in love thanks to you.”
“I don’t know what to say, other than—”
Dylan stepped back inside. “I have to head out. About tomorrow night. Jenny and Autumn are flying to New York in the morning to visit Savannah. Thought you two might want to come over. Beer and steaks are on me.”
Adam jerked his gaze to Dylan. “Savannah okay?”
“Far as I know. They just got it in their heads to go see her.”
Until a few days ago Autumn would have told me her plans. Everything was so mixed up inside me that I didn’t know what I was feeling. Angry? Hurt? Sad? All of those things?
“Gotta go,” Dylan said. “We on for tomorrow night?”
“Sure,” Adam and I said together.
After Dylan left, Adam touched my arm. “Stand by a sec. Let me get my crew started on the living room floors.”
The kitchen had a large window over the sink with an amazing view of the valley below, but I wasn’t seeing it. I’d heard it said that being in love turned colors brighter, made your heart feel like it was going to burst with happiness. It wasn’t true. Colors were duller, and it felt like something had its claws dug deep into my heart. It hurt.
I hadn’t even realized I was in love with her until she was gone. Why was that? Shouldn’t I have known something like that, and would it have made a difference if I
’d told her how I felt?
Adam returned, dragging a beat-up wooden stool behind him. “Sit. Get off that foot.”
“Thanks.” I gratefully sat, stretching my leg out in front of me, resting it on my heel. The medical boot I had to wear wasn’t so bad. It was the crutches I hated.
“You need a game plan,” Adam said.
“For what?”
“Autumn. I told you a few days ago that she was running scared.”
“I still don’t understand how you know that.”
He leaned back against the counter and crossed his arms. “If you’d think about it, you would, too. What’s she afraid of?”
“Being hurt again.”
“The minute she realized you could hurt her, she panicked.”
Hope tugged at my heart. “What makes you so sure that’s the problem?”
“Christ, Connor, stop being so dense. Because she figuratively did run. That’s not Autumn. If you were still just a fling to her, she’d still be around, or if she’d decided the fling was over, she would have told you to your face. If you don’t know that, then you don’t know her.”
He was right, and I really was being dense.
“Give me your phone.” Puzzled, I handed it to him. He typed something, then handed it back to me. “Send it.”
I read the text to Autumn.
Lost: Heart belonging to Connor Hunter. Last seen in the vicinity of Autumn Archer. If found, please treat with care.
“I don’t know if that’s a good idea.” Yet, I wanted her to know that she’d hurt me.
He sighed. “Listen. Can you honestly say that Autumn’s it for you? I’m talking about a lifetime here.”
I thought about it for all of three seconds. “Yeah, I can totally see a lifetime with her.” I looked at my brother in amazement. “I never thought I’d say that about any woman.”
“Then send the text. Give her something to think about.”
“Maybe I’ll send it later.” I needed to think about it first. A text like that might have the opposite effect than I wanted, like sending her running away even faster if Adam was wrong and she wasn’t in love with me.
43
~ Autumn ~
“Stop staring at your phone and call him, Autumn.”
Poor Jenn. I was spending the night at her house since we had to leave for the Asheville airport early in the morning to catch our flight to New York. We’d closed ourselves up in her guest room, leaving Dylan to fend for himself, even though she was leaving for two days. He’d been cool about it, though.
“I will after we see Savannah.” Connor had been so cold and angry with me this morning. I couldn’t blame him. Between the flowers and note and what I’d said before he drove off, I’d as much as told him to get lost. I’d messed up with him so badly, and I didn’t know how to fix it.
We sat cross-legged on the bed, a pizza between us, and we each had a glass of wine. Jenn picked up a second slice, taking a bite off the cheesy end. I was more interested in my wine.
“Not all men are like Brian or your father.”
“I know Dylan’s not. Can I have him?”
“No, you cannot have my husband.” She pointed at the box. “Eat. You’re going to be on a plane in the morning, and you don’t want to be hungover.”
I picked up a slice, nibbling on the crust. “When did you know you were in love with Dylan?”
“I kind of knew it before I left for Greece, but I refused to admit it. It really sank in when I stood on the beach in a country on the other side of the world from him and missed him so hard that it hurt to breathe.” She looked at me with understanding in her eyes. “It hurts to breathe, doesn’t it?”
Tears stung my eyes. “So much.”
“Oh, hon, call him.”
I shook my head. “Not now, okay?” And then the tears I couldn’t hold back streamed down my face. “I . . . I just can’t.”
She pushed the pizza box aside, took my empty glass of wine from me, setting both our glasses on the end table, and then wrapped her arms around me while I cried my heart out.
“He’s not a forever man,” I said minutes later when I could speak again. “We agreed from the beginning that we were in it for the fun. I thought I meant that at the time.”
“Things change, Autumn. He might have changed right along with you.”
I snorted. “Where women are concerned, Connor has the attention span of a goldfish. Can you even count how many women you’ve seen him with?”
“And who has he stayed with the longest?” When I didn’t answer, she said, “He’s rarely seen the same woman more than two or three times, but he’s different around you.” She put her hand on my arm. “You and Connor have always had a special connection. Remember in fifth grade when he gave Billy Adams a bloody nose for trying to kiss you?”
I grinned. “And I was mad at Conner because I wanted to be the one to bloody Billy’s nose.”
“And what did Connor do?”
Tears filled my eyes again. “He apologized for not letting me throw the punch, then said I could bloody his nose if it would make me feel better.”
“A boy doesn’t offer something like that unless the girl is special to him. Savannah once said that she half expected you and Connor to end up together, and honestly, the more I think about it, the more I can see it. You two have been in love with each other since you were in pigtails. You’ve both just been too blind to see it.”
“I never wore pigtails,” I grumbled. Was she right, though? I mean, I loved Adam right along with Jenn, Natalie, and Savannah. But Connor had always been a little more special. I’d just never put it into words before, forcing me to admit it.
“You’re the one hiding. If you’d stuck around, Connor might have surprised you.” She glanced at the clock. “We need to get some sleep.” She pushed off the bed. “I’ll wake you up in the morning.” At the door she paused. “You really should talk to him before you accept that it’s over between you.”
Alone, I opened the screen on my phone, bringing up his name. After staring at it for a long time, I put it away. I wasn’t ready to have it confirmed that Connor and I were honest-to-God over.
The taxi pulled up in front of Savannah’s apartment, and Jenn paid the driver. We’d checked into our hotel, dropped off our bags, and now we were about to surprise Savannah.
“We probably should’ve told her we were coming,” Jenn said as we took the elevator up to Savannah’s apartment.
“Why, so she could tell us not to?”
“Yeah, there is that.”
“What if she’s not home?” I was starting to feel a little uncomfortable about ambushing Savannah.
“We camp out at her front door.”
“That’ll work. Well, unless Jackson calls the cops. He’s not going to be happy to see us.”
Jenn made a noise that sounded a lot like a snarl. “Ask me if I care. We were her friends long before he ever came into the picture.”
We arrived at Savannah’s door, looked at each other a moment, then I fisted my hand and rapped my knuckles on the wood. I couldn’t hear anything from inside the apartment, no TV or radio.
“She’s probably out on a shoot,” Jenn said.
“So, we’re going to stand out here in the hall like stalkers and wait for her to come home? What if she’s on location somewhere? We should have told her we were coming.”
The door opened, and there stood Savannah, looking at us with wide eyes. “Autumn, Jenn? What are you doing here?”
“We came to see our friend who never calls us anymore,” I said.
Jenn threw up her hands. “Surprise!”
“I . . .” Savannah leaned past us and peered down the hall toward the elevator, then pulled us inside and closed the door. “I don’t know what to say.” She held out her arms as tears pooled in her eyes.
We fell into a group hug, the three of us sniffling and laughing, so happy to see each other. I pulled my head back and scrutinized Savannah. She was still too
thin, but her face was devoid of makeup and she had her hair in a ponytail. She looked like a young Savannah, the way she had in high school. Her eyes, though, were sad.
I darted a glance around her apartment, my decorator’s eye cringing at the ultramodern decor. This place was a man’s idea of a hot bachelor pad. A black leather sofa and two black Euro chairs perched on a bloodred rug thrown over a glossy white marble floor. Chrome and glass end tables and a matching coffee table, along with abstract paintings in red, black, and white made me want to weep in despair that Savannah had to live here.
There was no warmth in this apartment, and I didn’t have to ask to know that Savannah had not been allowed any input into this cold place. Her favorite decor had always been a mix of shabby chic and vintage. She loved things that were warm and special to her, and I didn’t see one single item in this room that could be considered even close to being special to her.
“It’s so good to see you both, but you can’t stay here,” she said, her words trembling with emotion. “Jackson will be home soon.”
Jenn scowled. “And you’re not allowed to visit with your friends?”
Her gaze lowered to the floor. “You don’t understand.”
I put my fingers under her chin, forcing her to look at me. “Then explain it so we do. We flew seven hundred miles to see you, and we mean to spend time with you.”
She glanced over to my left, and I followed her gaze to see a clock on the wall. “You have to go. I’ll tell Jackson the photographer called from today’s shoot and said I need to come back in the morning. Where are you staying? I’ll be there by nine.”
“It’s not right that you have to lie to see your friends, hon,” Jenn softly said.
I wasn’t feeling so generous. “Swear to God, Savannah, if you don’t show up in the morning, we’ll come camp out on your doorstep. Screw Jackson and his sick idea that you can’t spend time with us.” I said that not at all softly. I was pissed.
Savannah Graham had been controlled all her life, first by her mother and now obviously by her manager or boyfriend or whatever the hell he was. I wanted to shake some sense into her, tell her to learn how to stand on her own two feet.
