Mesmerized

by Ward, Alice

  But I showed up at Auras as she requested none-too-nicely, and I did it within her five-minute timeframe.

  The mousy employee I was pretty sure Gretchen said was Abby was outside the shop. She was dressed like the scarecrow from The Wizard of Oz and had a plastic bag hooked over her arm, and she was shoving bits of paper, twigs, and cigarette butts into it with her head bowed. I sidestepped her and the array of jack-o’-lanterns to reach the door, which seemed to surprise her. She jumped back, her head whipping up.

  I gave her a small smile. “Excuse me, miss.”

  Although I’d been in Fawn for three weeks now, we’d never exchanged a word before, but she gave me a look of deep familiarity and jerked her chin toward the door. “I wouldn’t go in there if I were you.”

  I paused, my fingers inches from the knob. “Why not?”

  “She’s in a bad mood.” Abby shrugged. “Something must’ve happened.”

  “Thanks for the heads-up.” I chuckled and dared to enter despite Abby’s warning.

  The second I stepped into the normally peaceful store, I knew I should have heeded Abby a little more than I had. The tension was palpable, and the soundtrack of ripples and waves had been turned off. While the usual cluttered organization of the shop was still in place, I noticed a few items were shifted a bit, as if they’d been thrown from their displays and replaced again.

  Gretchen was behind the counter with her back to the door, an enormous pink dress shrouding her willowy figure. The handset for the Auras landline phone was balanced between her ear and shoulder, and her hands were gesticulating so wildly the crown on her head had gone sideways as she spewed rapid-fire protests into the mouthpiece.

  I got it immediately. Glinda the Good Witch.

  “But I didn’t! Nothing has changed! There’s no way they can do this! It can’t be legal!”

  The words came out low and raw, and I had a moment to think that Glinda must be impersonating the Wicked Witch of the West.

  An uncomfortable silence filled the busy space as she listened to the person on the other end of the line, and then she spun around while responding. “Yes, I understand that, but—” Her eyes landed on me, and their usual mossy hue darkened to icy black. “I’ll have to call back later. Thank you.” She jammed the phone back onto the base unit without removing her glowering stare from me.

  “You told me to come.” I stretched my arms out to either side. “Here I am.”

  “What did you do?” The hiss that spilled from her luscious lips was foreign to me. If looks could kill, I would’ve been dead on the floor in a pool of blood.

  I quirked a brow. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Bullshit!” Her screech rivaled that of a pissed-off alley cat, and it penetrated the walls so effortlessly that I saw Abby’s figure through the window jump in alarm. “You screwed me!”

  I forced myself to stay calm, hoping that she would calm too. “Well, I mean, yeah, but you were there when it happened, darlin’…”

  “Shut up!” The copper in her hair had taken over all the blonde strands, and the crown now vibrated with her fury. She looked like her head was encased in flames, like she’d risen from the deepest pits of Hell and intended to drag me back with her. “What did you do? Everyone knows you did something. They’re all talking about it! I had to find out from the woman across the street because you didn’t even have the balls to tell me to my face!”

  Part of me, the less civilized part, wanted to lean across the counter and lick the aggression from her lips. No matter what was happening, the woman had a way about her that made her utterly irresistible when her blood started boiling. But I had a quick temper, and seeing her losing her shit at me for some unknown reason she was failing to disclose was starting to wear away the strands of control that held me together.

  Through tight lips, I calmly pressed her. “I need you to explain what you’re talking about, because I honestly don’t know.”

  “You’re so full of it.” She waved a furious hand at me, hair flying.

  The insulted daze I’d been in since fishing with Greg joined with the displeasure of finding myself face-to-face with a shrieking, inconsolable Gretchen, and something inside me snapped. I stepped around counter, shortening the space between us, as pepper seasoned my words.

  “No, see, I’m not the one sending mixed signals and going berserk for no apparent reason.” A muscle throbbed in my temple. “You called me over here without a clue as to why, I show up, and you scream at me without actually saying a damn thing. I’m pretty sure that makes you the one who’s full of it since you can’t even explain yourself.”

  “The permits, Cash, the permits!” She knitted her fingers into her hair at the scalp, and I had a moment of insanity in which I was sure she was going to start ripping it all out to ease her frustration. The crown must have been pinned on with a thousand bobby pins to have survived the rampage. “Auras! Why is everyone under the impression I sold my store to you? Why has Pennington’s submitted their paperwork to apply for their building permits? As far as I know, I haven’t signed a single thing, so an explanation on your end would be fantastic, if you would be so kind!”

  Due to the earsplitting pitch of her screech, I was sure I’d misheard her. “Did you say building permits?”

  She looked at me, jamming a hand on her hip and flicking her eyes between mine like she was trying to read me. “What is this, some kind of sick game? Yes. Building permits.”

  “I don’t know anything about building permits.” I held up a hand in trial-like fashion. “Honest.”

  “You know what?” She rolled her head, cracking her neck. “I don’t believe you.”

  I scoffed as my patience dwindled. “Not much I can do about that. Not much I’m going to do about it while you’re in this state, that is.”

  “I can’t believe I fell for your crap,” she muttered. I was thankful she’d finally lowered her voice to an intelligible decibel, but I bristled at her words.

  “Care to explain that one?”

  She shot me a glare. “The only thing you ever wanted from me was my property, and I let myself get manipulated. You came here for one thing, and you were willing to make me like you and to act like you liked me too if it meant you got what you wanted.”

  “You’re accusing me of sleeping with you to get you to take my offer?” The insult I’d felt in learning Gretchen was keeping me a secret didn’t hold a candle to the offense I took now.

  “That’s what you did.”

  I pointed an angry finger at her. “If that’s what you think, you’re deeper in a fantasyland than I thought you were.”

  “I’m not in a fantasyland!” She practically spat the sentence out, the crown bobbing to and fro.

  “Believe me, it’s better that you are!” The reins holding my temper back slipped from my hands, and all bets were off. I couldn’t fathom a more hurtful accusation for her to throw at me, and I didn’t handle hurt well. “Because, if you’re not in a fantasyland, it means you’re just straight-up incompetent.”

  “Yeah? Why’s that?”

  I snorted with dry laughter. “Are you kidding? Only a truly incompetent businessperson would refuse the kinds of offers I’ve made you. You’ve got your head so stuck in the clouds of nostalgia and demented pride that you don’t even recognize an extraordinary chance when it’s dangled right in front of your face!”

  “You’re still trying to manipulate me.” She was shivering, but it had to be from adrenaline rather than chill because the store felt volcanic. “You’re trying to justify whatever underhanded thing you did to get the process started on those permits.”

  Again with the fucking permits. I yanked my cell from my pocket and showed it to her. “Why don’t I just give headquarters a call and prove to you once and for all I don’t know a damn thing about these permits?”

  She didn’t respond, just flicked her fingers toward me in absent agreement. I scowled at the phone as I pulled up Harlan’s number
and called. After our elevated argument, the sudden silence was deafening, and the ringing on the line gave me a splitting headache.

  I was relieved when Harlan answered. “I thought we were scheduled for an update tonight.”

  “Something came up.” I pinned my eyes on Gretchen as I spoke. “Actually, Harlan, I’m standing here at Auras with Gretchen Laughlin. She’s just informed me that she’s gotten word about Pennington’s filing for building permits despite no agreement being made between our two parties. I was hoping you could shed some light on that.”

  “I intended to discuss that with you when we spoke this evening.” Harlan’s gruff voice had the sternness in it he used when I was about to get a talking-to, and my heart dropped. “Ms. Laughlin is correct. We’ve started the process to acquire our permits.”

  Her eyes were blazing against the side of my face, and I was tempted to turn away just to avoid the burning. I didn’t, though. I was rooted to the spot. “How can you do that? She’s rejected all our offers.”

  “The board has made some decisions that, unfortunately, seem to have been leaked. I’d appreciate it if you’d apologize to Ms. Laughlin about that for me.”

  “No, Harlan, how is this possible?” The air around me was growing thick and heavy.

  “We’ll fill you in when you return.” I raised my eyes to Gretchen again as Harlan’s words sank into my brain. “You have a flight back to Oklahoma tomorrow at one.”

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Gretchen

  My blood was racing. My skin was hot. There was a lump in my throat that threatened to suffocate me to death, and the backs of my eyes were prickling. A wheel churned in my stomach, yet I felt hollow. I’d stopped being able to identify my emotions several minutes ago, somewhere around accusations and fantasylands.

  Forget lovers’ quarrels. This was Armageddon.

  Every denial of involvement Cash gave me brought a fresh surge of anger. Seeing him pull out his phone was no more than a charade, I was sure, and I could’ve ripped him limb from limb. What I loathed more than anything was knowing my rage was coming from a place of hurt more than anything else.

  Undeniably, I would’ve been furious even if Cash and I had never met and this rumor popped up, but it was bloated to the point of exploding by the nature of our relationship. As I stood there in front of him, listening to him talk to this Harlan guy, I found myself wishing he’d never come to Fawn at all because hating a company was so much less painful than trying to hate him.

  I listened to the one-ended conversation in silence, straining my ears to hear whatever snippets from the other line as best as I could. The most I could make out was a gruff voice, no discernible words, and I had to believe Cash’s responses weren’t feigned for the sake of proving his innocence in the rumor.

  His expression changed as the seconds ticked by, starting with a tight jaw and rigid teeth before blending into confusion and finally settling on stunned numbness. If he was faking, he was an exceptional actor, but I couldn’t yet shake the certainty that the entire situation started and ended with him.

  “What are you talking about?” He sounded strained, and he twisted his body slightly away from me. I wasn’t about to let him hide his reaction, so I rounded to his front and watched his face unabashedly. “Harlan, this decision can’t be made without me.”

  The gruff voice said something, and Cash’s eyes darkened. “Fine.” Without further response, he ended the call.

  I stared at him, uncertain if I wanted to ask, and uncertain if he wanted to tell me what he had found out. He didn’t say anything right away, and he looked like he would have preferred to not say anything at all. For some reason, the upset on his face was enough to convince me that he might not have had anything to do with the rumor, but at least there were parts of it that had been unknown to him. The feeling of betrayal was smoothed slightly, but I needed to know.

  “Well?” My voice sounded strange after having been yelling, like it was worn out. I definitely felt worn out.

  He shook his head. “I told you it wasn’t me.”

  “If it wasn’t you, then I want to know who it was.”

  “The board.”

  “The board is in Oklahoma. How could they start a rumor around town from across the country?”

  Cash set his phone down on the counter, and he turned to look at me directly. Something in his eyes was distant, as if he was pulling away from me. The irony of that didn’t escape me. If anyone should have been pulling away, it should’ve been me. “They didn’t start the rumor, but they did file the permits. I guess that was enough fodder for the locals.”

  “I don’t understand how they can file for the permits. I haven’t signed a damn thing.”

  “Your guess is as good as mine.” He shrugged, but the nonchalance seemed forced. “Harlan wouldn’t give me details.”

  I snorted and scratched at my scalp where the stupid Glinda the Good Witch crown was anchored into my hair with bobby pins. “I don’t believe that. You’re the CEO.”

  “For all intents and purposes, the board is my boss. They make decisions I have no authority over. Apparently, this was one of them.”

  “So, you expect me to believe that he didn’t tell you a thing about what’s going on?” I flung a tress of hair over my shoulder indignantly.

  “Yes.”

  Maybe I was being paranoid, or maybe I was just determined to lay the blame on somebody, but it seemed extremely farfetched to me that, even if he hadn’t had prior knowledge, Cash as the CEO still wouldn’t have been filled in on the situation when he asked. It was almost as if I wanted him to be lying to me because I was desperate for answers.

  “Fine. Let’s say I believe you. What did he say?” I narrowed my eyes at him. “I want to know everything he said.”

  Cash let out a long, slow breath. “We were supposed to have a conversation tonight via phone. He said that he had intended to discuss the board’s latest move with me then. He did confirm that they filed for the permits, but the only explanation he gave me was that the board had made some decisions, and apparently those decisions had gotten out.” He paused, dropped his gaze to his shoes, then looked back up at me. “He asked me to apologize to you.”

  “For what? Going behind my back?”

  “For finding out the way you did.”

  “Close enough.” I couldn’t decipher one emotion from another anymore. I knew I was mad, but I didn’t feel mad. I felt… overwhelmed. “Anything else? Maybe the thing that has you looking like a deer in headlights?”

  He held his gaze steadily with mine, and he didn’t blink as he answered. “Yes.” I waited for him to go on, but he didn’t. He just looked at me. Growing impatient, I raised my eyebrows and leaned toward him to urge him on. His mouth tightened into a thin line as he finished, “I’m set to fly back to Oklahoma tomorrow at one.”

  I blinked, inhaled, and shook my head. There was no doubt in my mind I had heard him correctly, but there was every doubt in my mind that it was true. “What?”

  He shrugged and finally looked away.

  My comfortable, beloved shop suddenly felt ominous. Sorrowful. All of the good energy and positive vibes I kept throughout it seemed to evaporate like the remnants of the rain after the storm. My anger wasn’t gone, and that sense of betrayal still lingered, but I was struck with an intense flash of misery.

  My heart sank into my stomach, and a bulb of thorns started forming around it. It was a pit, a hard pit ready to sprout vicious tendrils. The idea of Cash leaving, of this possibly being the last time I ever saw him, was more heart-wrenching than I ever could have imagined.

  Yes, I was angry with him. Yes, I felt like he was lying about his involvement. But I still cared. He meant something to me. We meant something to me. This man had come to matter, to be something wonderful in my life I never saw coming, and I didn’t want to lose it despite all the frustrations that accompanied it.

  “They can’t just do that, can they?” It was the calmest I’d so
unded since he’d arrived in my store. “You can say no.”

  “Why would I say no?” His jaw was tense, and he peered at me out of the corner of his eye.

  I curled my fingers together. “Well, you came to Fawn to convince me to sell, right?” He nodded. “Okay. Well, I haven’t agreed to sell. Your job isn’t done.”

  For the first time since he’d hung up the phone, I saw a hint of humor on his face. “It sounds like you enjoy my attempts.”

  “Take it however you want, but I’m still not selling. It doesn’t make sense for you to go back to Oklahoma if nothing has changed.”

  He tilted his head and looked at me like he was studying each individual feature in front of him. “Oh, darlin’.” I watched his mouth form the words, taking in the shape they made as he said the pet name I’d learned to relish. “Everything has changed.”

  My heart returned to my chest, but a lump rose in my throat. I felt the same tingling behind my eyes that I had earlier, and I willed myself not to cry. I wasn’t even sure what I wanted to cry about.

  Him? Pennington’s? Auras? Us?

  It didn’t matter, really, in the grand scheme of things. We were nothing more than pinwheels spinning in the wind like the ones Marshall Dodd kept in his pockets. The only thing I was sure I had control over anymore was my tears, and maybe not even that.

  No, I had more control than I wanted to admit. I could control this moment. If this was going to be the last time I saw him, if this was our goodbye, I would make sure it was a good one. Anger, resentment, and betrayal be damned.

  When he stepped closer to me, I threw myself at him. It was just like our first kiss, passionate, needy. My arm spun around his neck before I knew what I was doing, and I felt his hands land flush on my waist. Our mouths met, hot and desperate. The familiar taste of him filled my mouth, and I drank it in.

  For the last time.

  His chest was hard against me, his muscles tensed and ready. I was weightless in an instant, and he picked me up by my thighs, wrapping my legs around his middle as tightly as my arms were around his neck. He deposited me onto the counter, but I barely noticed the hard surface beneath my rear as the warmth of his hands skimmed up my sides. I was on fire. Every nerve in my body crackled with electricity.