“Since when have you worried what it looks like?” Jason said.
Andrea jumped in. “Shelby’s right. This can’t look like sour grapes. We’ll lose credibility on the expansion and everything else Ryan has up his sleeve. A personal attack is trickier to defend against—well played Mr. McIntyre. But we can’t ignore it or we’ll look like we’re running scared.”
Trevor flipped open his notebook. “There must be some way we can tell the truth about this development project of McIntyre’s and still keep our dignity intact.”
Shelby rested her eyes on her junior reporter. An idea was forming. “Thanks for your input, guys. I know what I’ve got to do now.”
“I’m sure you understand our concerns,” Jason began.
“His concerns,” Andrea cut in. “I think an entertainment complex sounds great.”
“There’s more to life than brainless escapism, Andrea. One day I’ll introduce you to the Library of Congress.” Jason turned to Shelby. “I can’t tell you what to write but the Gazette has always given the public the unvarnished truth.”
“I hope you’re not suggesting I’d write anything else.”
“No, but your rep did take a hit last night. You were caught in a lie. A lie I personally don’t give a shit about because it didn’t involve the Gazette, but a lot of people believe if you can’t be honest in your personal life, you can’t be honest.”
“I know. I’m aware I have some explaining to do. Now, get out so I can do it.”
She knew what to do but that didn’t make doing it any easier on her stomach. Butterflies. Nerves. What was she scared of? Her credibility was weak, the position she was taking was a risky one and there was the possibility of backlash.
So what else is new? Welcome to journalism.
It wasn’t that. It was the look on his face. Don’t tell me this is good-bye.
Her stomach flipped. Sawyer loved her but he’d been blown off once before by a woman he loved. He wouldn’t be back. So what was the alternative? What if she gave her whole self to him and believed in him and then he left her? She wasn’t a kid anymore; she wouldn’t have Dolly to put her back together again. Who would she have if Sawyer walked out on her?
You have yourself.
Shelby met her reflection in her computer screen. “Shelby Porter, it is high time you learned what you are made of.”
HOURS LATER, with the paper off to the printers, Shelby opened the front door of her aunt’s sprawling yellow house grateful to be home at last. The week ahead would be rough when the paper came out with her editorial but at least it was over. Her life laid bare for Mandrake Falls. Ryan McIntyre didn’t get off scot-free but at least she left the door open for negotiation with his proposal. Catching flies with honey wasn’t her usual style but there was a first time for everything.
All she wanted now was a hot bath, a cold glass of wine and a long chat with Dolly. She had called from the office but Dolly didn’t pick up. Shelby worried Dolly was blaming herself for what happened last night because she kept Shelby’s past a secret. Maybe people thought it was because her adopted aunt was ashamed. Shelby knew better. Being Dolly’s niece, even her pretend one, gave Shelby seventeen years of an identity that she didn’t have to explain. That made a difference, not so much to Mandrake Falls as it turned out, but it did to her. Shelby had needed an identity back then to put down roots and belong. Dolly intuitively understood this and provided it. Shelby had never loved or appreciated Dolly’s unorthodox moral code more.
The house was silent. Shelby tensed. Her eyes lifted to the room above the hall. “Dolly?”
More silence. Longer and heavier. Terrifying her.
Shelby took the stairs two at a time and dashed to her aunt’s bedroom. Dolly was unconscious on the floor between the en-suite bathroom and her bed. A broken glass was beside her. Shelby pressed shaking fingers to Dolly’s neck feeling for a pulse.
“Dolly, Dolly, please, oh, please, oh please don’t leave me!”
There was a pulse but it was fast. Very fast. A rapid pulse meant what? Shelby ran through the symptom list for heart attack, as she stumbled down the stairs to the phone in the hall.
She was punching in the number for the ambulance when Sawyer McIntyre pulled open the screen door. She looked up and met his eyes. “She’s upstairs. She’s—”
Sawyer swallowed what he was about to say and bolted, racing up the stairs.
Shelby gave the information to the operator slowly and clearly, slamming the phone down as soon as she was finished to follow Sawyer. She skidded to a stop at the bedroom door. Sawyer was performing CPR but Dolly was unresponsive. Shelby jammed a fist in her mouth, stifling hysteria. “Come on, Aunt Dolly, come on, honey,” Sawyer encouraged, steadily like a mantra.
And then, miraculously Dolly’s eyes fluttered open and she coughed. “Oh look, Shelby, its Sawyer. He’s come back for you.”
Shelby fell to her knees to help Sawyer lift Dolly to the bed. “Quiet, Dolly. I don’t want you to talk. The ambulance is on the way.”
“She’s very bossy.” Dolly grunted and caught Shelby’s eye with her bright robin’s stare. “Don’t take it from her, Sawyer. She’s not as clever as she thinks she is.”
Shelby moaned and squeezed her eyes shut. Tears choked her voice when she tried to speak so she shook her head instead.
“I think I’ll be able to hold my own against her, Aunt Dolly.” Sawyer was holding her wrist timing her pulse against his watch.
“I know you will. I’ve known you were the man for my Shelby for some time now. You were running for sheriff and Shelby was interviewing you for the paper.”
“That was ten years ago.” He turned to Shelby, puzzled amazement on his face.
“It was how you looked at her. I knew then. It was clear as day how you two felt about each other. I knew you’d marry one day. True love will out.”
Shelby lost control, sobbing hard. “No ... Dolly...” Shaking, she gazed at Sawyer. “I don’t want the last thing she hears from us to be a lie.”
Pain etched the lines around his mouth. He turned to Dolly and tried to grin. “Shelby doesn’t want to get married, Aunt.”
“Well, she’ll have to if she’s going to have a family. Although, I suppose nowadays, young people have children without the benefit of matrimony. They tweet their vows or some such....”
“Stop, please, Dolly. We talked about this, remember? Sawyer and I aren’t really engaged. He was just being a friend. A very good friend. The best.”
“Is this true Sawyer?” Dolly sounded sad and weak.
Shelby bit the inside of her mouth to keep from wailing. Where was the damned ambulance?
Sawyer pulled the engagement ring from his pocket and held it up in front of Dolly. “Yes and no. I am Shelby’s friend, but I did give her this ring on Friday night and as far as I’m concerned, it’s still hers.”
“Oh Shelby, what did I tell you? I said it would all work out. Have you accepted him? Are you going to say yes?” Dolly reached out a hand to her, the nails painted sugar maple red to match her hair. What this crazy woman with a heart condition doing painting her nails and fussing about engagement rings for a kid who wasn’t even hers?
Living, that’s what she was doing.
Dolly was taking it in, facing it down, and loving every minute of it. Dolly Porter had faith.
Shelby’s eyes filled with tears. “Yes,” she choked. “I’m going to marry Sawyer.”
“I knew it ... ten years ago ... true love lasts....” Dolly began to have trouble breathing. She closed her eyes and gripped Shelby’s hand painfully tight as another spasm shot through her. “Shelby ... I think plum with pink sashes for bridesmaids....”
Dolly stilled, struggled very briefly and then life seemed to fade from her face leaving only a mask of the person who used to be. Shelby watched her go to the very end, helpless to call her back. It was so damn final, death. And lonely.
Shelby stood and walked to the window. She gripped the lace c
urtain to steady herself.
“Are you okay?” Sawyer’s voice was behind her, low and even.
She nodded. “You made her happy, Sawyer, pulling out that ring. She was really pleased with us at the end, I think.”
He put his hands on her shoulders and wordlessly turned her to face him. Shelby lost control then, crumpling into his arms, sobs wracking her chest. “She never lied to me, not once, and the last thing I said to her is a lie.”
“You weren’t given much choice. She was determined I’m the man you were going to marry.”
Shelby wiped her face with the back of her hand. “She was stubborn—pigheaded—right to the end. As if I’d ever have plum with pink. She said that just to annoy me. Thank God you were here.” She shook her head and gazed up at him, confused. “Why are you here, Sawyer?”
“I needed to see you. I needed to give you something.” Sawyer slipped the sapphire ring on Shelby’s left hand.
She stared at the blue stone. “You don’t have to do this. She’s gone.” Her voice caught and she held herself very still, containing the loss.
“I am asking you to marry me,” Sawyer said intently. “Dolly knew all along. She was right about us from the beginning. I love you. I think I’ve loved you for my whole life. That’s what it feels like. Without you, I’m convinced I’ll become a lovelorn old coot who bores people at parties. Because from the moment I dragged you out of that pond nothing else has mattered to me but seeing you again. Not Ryan, not the Gazette, not the whole goddamned town—” He broke off, sweating, his eyes red. “I don’t care about the crappy timing of this proposal. I don’t care about Dolly being gone—not yet. Later, we’ll cry and talk about where to scatter her ashes, but right now—” He took deep gulping breaths, like he’d been running for miles. “I can’t leave it like we did at the pond—like you did—I didn’t leave it like that. You wanted to know if this was real. Thinking about you is all I’ve done for three days. You are my reality. Marry me, Shelby Porter. For God’s sake, marry me.”
Emotion garbled her words in her throat. “Yes. I think I will.”
Sawyer threw his head back and whooped, a war cry, a battle won, and then he laughed. Shelby jumped in his arms, her heart almost bursting with the sound of his laughter. “I love you Sawyer McIntyre. I love you so much.”
The ambulance arrived with a scream of sirens. At the sound, Shelby’s legs buckled under her and Sawyer tightened his grip, helping her out of the room and lowering her to the top step of the staircase. The lump in her throat melted. Shelby felt as though she’d been encased in a thick layer of frost for years and it was finally burning away. She touched the tears running down her cheeks, tangible evidence of the thaw. It was over. It was all over.
Sawyer knelt beside her. She met his worried face. “It’s stupid, but I always had this secret fear … I don’t think even Dolly knew about it … I was afraid the reason my parents abandoned me was because they didn’t like me and if anyone got to know me, they’d think so too. No one would ever love me for real because no one could ever know me for real.” Shelby lifted her face to Sawyer’s. “Until you.”
He wiped away her tears. His large hand was rough and gentle at the same time. “Shelby, my perfect, beautiful, soon-to-be wife. The first meal I am going to cook for you at the farm is a roast chicken.”
“But I’m a vegetarian.”
“Not for long.”
Sawyer pressed his mouth to hers and Shelby hung on, kissing him deeply. In that moment she knew everything about him, knew him like she knew her own skin. They would be fine. Better than fine, a voice told her. They would be happy.
This was reality.
The paramedics stepped around the young couple kissing on the stairs to reach the woman who had recently passed out of this life. But not before giving the gift of faith, hope and love to those she was leaving behind.
The End
About the Author
Catherine Lloyd loves reading, watching and writing screwball romantic comedies. Her favorite films are When Harry Met Sally, The Green Card and While You Were Sleeping. Love stories that are funny, warm and soul-satisfying are her drug of choice. Whips and ropes need not apply.
The author has two grown children, two stepdaughters, a cat named Harry who thinks he’s a dog, and three grandsons. She lives with her long-suffering spouse in the country where she enjoys having no hobbies and writes full time. She is currently at work on a new series set in Victorian England starring some very bad men. Follow her on Amazon to be notified of new releases!
Contact Catherine Lloyd at [email protected]
Or visit: Writewood Creations
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Mandrake Falls Four Seasons Romance
Four brides. Four seasons. One rocky road to romance.
THE JILTING ~ Summer
Best friends forever. Until one of them falls in love. The groom is AWOL. It’s Scout Rutherford’s wedding day and in the next 24 hours, she is shot at, lied to, forced to reveal a secret, abducted at gunpoint and thrown down a ravine. But a night spent in hiding with her best friend Ryder Dean puts her in the worst danger of all.
LIE FOR ME ~ Autumn
Sworn enemies, until they pretend to be lovers. Is the lie really the truth? Shelby Porter doesn’t like Sheriff Sawyer McIntyre and everyone in town knows it except Dolly Porter, Shelby and Sawyer’s much-loved, daffy aunt. Dolly’s health hasn’t been good of late. She worries too much over Shelby’s single status. To ease her mind, Shelby tells a little white lie that morphs into a whopper, until she is standing in Sheriff McIntyre’s bedroom at three o’clock in the morning with a teeny request: “Lie for me.” And that’s when things really get scary.
THE WAY HOME ~ Winter
The one thing they agree on is to never fall in love. Mandrake Falls is cocooned in a thick blanket of snow when Michael Shannon, the star of Tomorrow Never Comes is dropped like a bomb into Hudson Grace’s bachelor life. For the next seventy-two hours, due to a bureaucratic mix-up, the forester is stuck with the daytime diva. A fire on the hearth. A raging blizzard. And a three-year-old holy terror. Who will crack first?
LOVE RISING ~ Spring
Nobody expected them to fall in love. Nerdy stage manager, Jeremy Marks sees right through Jocelyn Tate’s stunning beauty to the vulnerable girl she is underneath. It’s no secret he’s in love with her. Jocelyn thinks Jeremy is sweet but poor and she’s determined to marry a rich man--preferably a billionaire. Jeremy doesn’t have a hope until a mysterious notice appears in the Gazette announcing their engagement. Thrown together, the young couple form a bond to find out who has it in for them.
MANDRAKE FALLS ROMANCE ~ Boxed Set Edition ~ Four Brides. Four Seasons. One low price.
Mandrake Falls Romance is available in print and through Kindle Unlimited
Dark Redeemer Historical Romance
Love. In a dangerous time.
WANTON
The year is 1228. King John is dead and an uneasy peace has settled over England. Callie of Wideopens is the beautiful 18-year-old ward of Jane and Ethan. Jane is dying and the crone who supplies her herbs has had a vision of a terrible act. In a misguided attempt to alter the fate of her husband, Jane makes a desperate request of Callie. In doing so, she unwittingly sets in motion the crone’s prophecy. Arrested on charges of witchcraft and sentenced to hang, Callie recounts her story from a tower cell just as the crone predicted, and Ethan is haunted by a girl he believes dead and a love that sprang out of sin.
WASTREL
King John is on the throne and Lord Sebastian Redford’s drinking, card-playing and womanizing is legendary at court. However, it is his brazen affair with the wife of the most powerful man in England that has put his life in danger. In an attempt to ward off disaster, Lord Redford’s man hastily arranges a marriage of convenience to a mouse of a girl named Beatrice Fall. Sebastian’s bride proves to be anything but convenient when forgetting his vow, he consummates their marriage.
Beatrice Fall is not who Sebastian believes her to be and quite suddenly, their marriage of convenience becomes a dangerous wedding of illicit love.
TRAITOR
King John’s crown has been usurped by Louis the Dauphin during the Baron’s War. The Earl of Dorset has betrothed his only child, pampered 18-year-old Lady Elspeth to the French lord, Tyndale to secure his favour with the new French king. The trip to Canterbury is a great adventure accompanied by her father’s Captain of the Guard, Griffith of Nottingham. The captain is a skilled bowman, loyal to the Earl and admired by Lady Elspeth—he is also a double agent working to restore King John to the throne. Forced to choose between Ellie and the men of his company who want to do her harm, Griffith crosses the line and becomes a traitor to all.
SOLDIER ~ A Medieval Christmas Novella
Two linked stories of two amoral men transformed by love. In Mercenary, Broderick has been made a new father but his infant son is failing to thrive. Then Tess is brought before him, the daughter of the lord whose lands Broderick has usurped. The new master of Castlemuir confines the young woman to his inner sanctum to nurse his son, but his desire for the silent girl drives him to take dangerous risks. In Jester, Dumas is a hideously deformed clown who travels the countryside in a caravan with his young assistant, Fallon, a young woman disguised as a boy. In return for keeping her identity a secret, Fallon must perform for the misshapen man each night. But Dumas has a secret of his own as Fallon soon learns after a performance at Castlemuir Hall.
DARK REDEEMER BOXED SET EDITION ~ Get a Wanton, a Wastrel and a Traitor for one low price. Three steamy Adventure Romance novels set in Medieval England. Love. In a dangerous time.
Dark Redeemer Historical Romance is available in print and on Kindle Unlimited
Lie For Me: Autumn (Mandrake Falls Series Romance Book 2) Page 19
