The Hometown Hoax (The Hoax Series)

by Heather Thurmeier

  “That’s yours?” Zack asked. “Tessa’s the artist you’re talking about? No way.”

  “What’s Zack talking about? Why does he have my book?” she asked, squaring off with Logan. “What did you do?”

  Logan took a step forward, reaching for her. “I have great news.” Even as his said it, he began to doubt the greatness. “Zack mentioned needing something to do with the empty space in the store and so I thought of you and suggested you give some art classes.”

  “You didn’t,” she said, her jaw clenched so tight he barely heard her say the words.

  “I know you don’t like to show your work to a lot of people, but this is a job opportunity so I figured you’d be okay with it. You show all the galleries in the city your other work.”

  Why was she so upset? It was a job, featuring her artistic abilities, and it was in town where everyone already knew her, loved her, and supported her. This was a winning situation for everyone involved.

  “I had no idea you were such a great artist,” Zack said. “I’d be happy to frame a few of those for you and display them in my shop.”

  It was as if Tessa hadn’t even heard Zack speak. Her eyes were locked on Logan’s. “I can’t believe you showed him, of all people, my private work. How could you do that to me? How could you go behind my back like this and stick your nose in my work where it doesn’t belong? I thought I could trust you.”

  “I didn’t go behind your back. I had a conversation with someone I thought you might be able to work with. I don’t understand what the big deal is.”

  She laughed, but it didn’t sound joyful. It sounded bordering on psychotic. “You showed my work and made a business deal with my ex-boyfriend, without my consent or even the desire for such a deal mentioned in passing, and you don’t see why that’s a big deal. Is that what you’re telling me?”

  Oh no.

  “Zack is your ex? I didn’t…”

  “Of course you didn’t because you didn’t bother to ask me first before you started meddling.” She turned on Zack. “And you. You thought you’d play dumb with the new guy and pretend you didn’t know me? What’s your angle, huh? How are you planning on screwing me over this time? Are you going to say you love my work, then display it so you can show the rest of the town how terrible it is?”

  “Tessa, I honestly like your work.” Zack sounded genuine. “I wouldn’t do that.”

  “Yeah right. Like you honestly wouldn’t sleep around behind my back and then laugh about it with the whole town until I found out?”

  “I’m sorry about that. I wish I could make it up to you, take it back.”

  “You’re that ex?” Logan asked, realization hitting him like a sledgehammer to the chest. Now her reaction made sense. This was the guy who’d screwed her over. No wonder she didn’t want to work with him. Thinking about what Zack did to her in the past made Logan’s skin crawl. “Tessa, I didn’t know. It’s not like we exchanged personal histories.”

  “No. Instead you showed my private work, that I trusted you with, to basically a total stranger. You want to trap me here like everyone else does.”

  Logan shook his head. “It’s not like that. It came up in conversation and I went with the idea. It wasn’t like I planned it or anything.”

  Tessa’s finger shook as she pointed at him, her voice rising. “It wasn’t like you thought about how I’d feel about this either, did you? You had no right to do this and instead of admitting it, you’re defending yourself.”

  “Tessa, go easy on the poor guy. He didn’t know our history and I didn’t know who the artist was. I swear.” Zack moved toward he as if to comfort her. She backed away like a gazelle cornered by a lion. “I guess I should have recognized his name now that I think about it. Your family did a good job picking out a guy this time. His heart is definitely in the right place.”

  She held up her hands. “Wait a second. What did you say?”

  “He’s a good guy.”

  “Not that part.” She rubbed her forehead as if she was getting a migraine. “The part about my family picking a good one.”

  Zack shrugged. “Well, I know I just met the guy, but he already seems a lot better for you than I ever was.”

  Logan put his arm around Tessa in an attempt to quell her trembling. “You’re shaking.”

  “He knew too,” she whispered. “Who else knew about Logan?”

  “What?” Zack asked.

  “Who else knew about Logan and me being fixed up this week during the camping trip?” she asked louder.

  “I don’t know. I heard it mentioned a few times, but it wasn’t like the talk of the town or anything.”

  “I don’t believe this,” she said.

  “I thought we’d worked through this already. You’re acting like this is news, but we knew about the matchmaking plan yesterday.”

  “Yes we knew yesterday, but the whole town knew before that. That’s what I’m talking about, Logan. That’s why I need out of this place. I can’t trust anyone here.”

  “Tessa, calm down. Let’s go have some lunch and we’ll figure this out.” Logan tried to steer her toward the door of the diner.

  “No. I’m not going anywhere with you. You don’t think this is a big deal because you like that they stuck their noses in our business. You did it too, going behind my back with Zack about the art classes. You’re a meddler like the rest of my family, like the rest of this town! No wonder they love you so much already. You fit in perfectly.”

  “Tessa, that’s not fair—”

  “The unfair thing is that I’m the only one who ever sees there’s a problem with how this town works. I thought you were different, Logan, but you’re the same as the rest of them. I’m done with everything related to Cutter’s Creek, and now that includes you.”

  She slipped out of his arms and disappeared into her rental car while he stood there stunned and unmoving. Her words sank in like bricks. As she peeled out of the parking lot, she didn’t even give him one last glance. He’d lost her, like everyone else in his life.

  They’d known each other a total of six days, but it felt as if he’d been waiting for her his whole life. Now that she was gone, something inside him was missing, but he didn’t go after her. He couldn’t.

  She’d judged him based on the actions of others and accused him of purposefully betraying and hurting her, something he’d never willingly do. If she could be so wrong about him, maybe he’d been wrong about falling for her.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Tessa took a slurp from her bottle of water, draining it, then tossed it to the floor of the passenger side. It didn’t make a sound as it landed on the pile of crumpled, used tissues. She’d grabbed a fresh box from the cabin when she’d hastily packed her things, and now the box was empty.

  So was her chest.

  Once upon a time ago, she’d had a heart in that spot, but it had been replaced with a void so big she could park her rental car in it. Her family had done nothing but hurt her with this trip, tricking her into falling for Logan so she’d inevitably move home. Worse still, Logan was like the rest of them, meddling with her life so he could benefit from it. Well, it was her turn to start benefitting from her life.

  Driving across the George Washington Bridge, the traffic was bumper to bumper, surrounding her on all sides. On the route back, the roads had been relatively empty except near the cities. She had to admit, she preferred the wide-open roads to the congested ones. The busier they got, the more nervous she became. By the time she hit the bridge to cross into Manhattan, her nerves were on edge and her hands were sore from gripping the steering wheel.

  She was awestruck by the immensity of the city. Somehow, it seemed even bigger than the first time she’d seen it. The buildings loomed above her, making her feel small and insignificant in their vast shadows. As she pulled into the rental car place, fatigue over the marathon drive and exhaustion from crying finally took its toll. Her legs shook as she got out of the car, retrieved her belongings, and
returned the keys. The night clerk barely offered her a grunted acknowledgement as she signed her name on the credit card slip.

  If she’d been in Cutter’s Creek, the clerk would have thanked her by name, called a friend to pick her up, and offered her a cup of coffee while she waited. Then again, if she were back home, she wouldn’t need a rental. If she needed a ride and didn’t have her own vehicle, someone from town would drive her wherever she needed to go. Hell, if she’d asked, someone would’ve driven here, picked her up to bring her camping, and returned her without so much as batting an eye at the inconvenience, because it wasn’t an inconvenience—it was something you did for a neighbor.

  As she walked the last few blocks to her apartment building, lugging her bags with her, the heat of late summer smothered her, draining the last of her energy. The stench of decomposing garbage washed over her in waves as she passed by the piles of black bags on the curb waiting for collection. Had it always smelled this bad in the city or was it a particularly stinky night? Regardless, the smell was overwhelming and by the time she made it into her apartment, she needed a shower. Creeping to the bathroom as quietly as she could so not to wake her three roommates, she rinsed off, put on her coziest pajamas she had, and climbed into bed.

  More than anything she wanted to fall asleep after the excruciatingly long day, but sleep eluded her. Instead, her mind replayed every moment of her trip home—almost running into Logan on the way to the campground, spending time with her family, the hike, the times she’d spent in Logan’s arms. By the time she’d gotten to the events of that day, her breath hitched in her chest as her body shook with tears.

  Everything was a mess.

  After her fight with Logan and Zack, she’d gone back to the camp and packed her things and left without even saying goodbye to her family. They’d called a couple of hours later to check on her and she’d assured them she was okay. She was anything but okay.

  She’d never been less okay in her life.

  Logan rolled over and stretched. He couldn’t remember ever having such miserable sleep. The night had been spent tossing one direction then flipping over to the other. Every time he faced toward Tessa’s empty bed, the pit in his stomach grew.

  He’d taken his time getting back to the cabin after his fight with her. For a while, he’d stood around outside of Randy’s Diner not knowing what the hell had happened. Finally, he’d gotten back in his car and headed for the campground, deciding that no matter where he stood with Tessa they needed to talk it out. She had to know he hadn’t meant to overstep any bounds and if he had by talking to Zack, then he was sorry.

  By the time he’d gotten back, she was gone, along with all of her things.

  Her empty bed mocked him, reminding him of how badly he’d screwed up. Instead of going after her to fix things right away, he’d been stupid and had let her get away. Hoping she’d answer her phone any of the times he’d called had been an exercise in futility. He’d left voicemails knowing she was unlikely to listen to them. He’d texted her too. At least those he was sure she would see, whether or not she’d actually read any of them.

  He dragged himself from the cocoon of his sheets and into a hot shower. Water couldn’t wash away the ache settled deep into his bones like a chill on a frigid night. He hadn’t even known her at this time the week before, but now he couldn’t imagine this time next week without her in his life. His life had suddenly become some kind of torturous purgatory between having Tessa and losing Tessa and he had no idea where he’d eventually land.

  Once out of the shower, he carelessly shoved his belongings into his bag. Little things didn’t matter anymore, not when the big things in his world continued to fall apart. First he closed the doors to his dream gym, then he’d gained and lost Tessa in less than a week, and now he was stuck in a town with a bunch of people who would probably hate him for making her leave again.

  He tossed his bag into his car and went into the main cabin to say goodbye. Wanting to slink away with his tail between his legs was one thing, but he wouldn’t be rude enough to do it.

  “You look like hell,” Travis said as Logan walked into the living room.

  “Thanks, man. I can always count on you to tell me the truth.” Logan attempted to joke, but he lacked the needed enthusiasm or sarcasm. “I’m heading out. Are Martha and Joe around? I wanted to say thank you for having me here this week, even if it didn’t end up as planned.”

  “They’re out on the lake. I’ll make sure to tell them,” Sally said from her spot on the couch beside Travis. “I’m sorry things didn’t work out with Tessa. We thought you two would hit it off.”

  “We did.” Logan flopped down into a chair. “We got along great. I think that’s part of the problem.”

  “That doesn’t make any sense,” Mary said, as she walked out of the kitchen with two cups of coffee in her hands. “Drink this. You need it.”

  He accepted the proffered coffee with gratitude.

  “How can people get along too well? Either you want to bang each other or you don’t. There isn’t such a thing as wanting to bang too much.” Travis stuffed a chunk of bagel into his mouth.

  “Banging? That’s so classy,” Sally said, rolling her eyes.

  “Hey, you’re the one who married him,” Mary said, laughing.

  “What was I thinking?”

  Logan sipped his coffee. “Tessa hated that you guys set us up and that we were a good match. She’s tired of everyone trying to influence her decisions or making them for her.”

  “So it’s our fault she left yesterday? I feel terrible.” Mary twisted her hands in her lap.

  “No, that honor lays solely with me,” Logan said, looking down at his half empty mug.

  “What did you do?” Sally asked.

  “I thought I was being helpful but apparently I got her a job with her ex-boyfriend.”

  “Oh. Dude. That’s…bad,” Travis said.

  “Yeah. Lesson learned.”

  “You’ve got a plan to get her back, right?” Mary asked.

  He shook his head. “I wish.”

  “You better make it something amazing,” Sally added.

  “Thanks for the added pressure.” Logan stood. “If you hear from her, tell her…”

  “That you miss her?”

  “That you’re sorry?”

  “That you want to bang her again?”

  Logan sighed. “Tell her to answer my calls so I can say all that stuff to her myself.”

  Logan filled a grocery basket with essentials—chips, dip, beer, a vegetable tray, steak, and potatoes in an attempt to have a proper meal. He hadn’t really eaten much since Tessa left and regardless of his lack of appetite, he had to get back on track before starting his new job.

  Every day, multiple times a day, he’d called Tessa. And every day, multiple times a day, she’d ignored him. Knowing he screwed things up with her was one thing, but not being given the opportunity to make things right was intolerable. Even if she never forgave him, he still wanted to say the words he’d been repeating in his head but refused to say to her voicemail—I love you.

  He’d been surprised when the pit in his stomach wouldn’t subside. Slowly the discomfort migrated through his body until it rooted in his chest and blossomed into all out heartache. The constricting pain, similar to being in a vice grip, hadn’t dissipated yet. Even when he slept, he had dreams of being squeezed in the tight coils of a boa constrictor or sandwiched between two tectonic plates.

  He added a bottle of ibuprofen to this basket, the kind that had the PM behind the name because it included a mild sedative. Hopefully it would let him relax enough to knock him out for a night of good sleep before he started work in a few days.

  “Mrs. Matherson, how are you today?” he asked, purposefully using her name. It was a technique he used at school too. He always tried to use people’s names to commit them to memory faster and so the person felt a connection with him.

  “I’m okay, Logan. How are you settling in
?” she asked, taking each item out of his basket and scanning it.

  As they came down the short conveyor belt, he bagged them. “Mostly settled in now. Starting at the school on Monday.”

  “Have you had any luck with Tessa yet?”

  He knew it would annoy Tessa to know he was talking about her personal life, but he needed to talk to someone and his options were limited. “No. I keep calling and texting, but she’s ignoring me.”

  “Have you tried sending flowers? Her favorites are irises. It was her grandmother’s name. Maybe you should try sending her some of those?”

  “Thanks for the suggestion. Maybe I will.”

  Would it help win her back to send her a bouquet of flowers? How would he explain knowing which ones were her favorites? Surely the thrill of receiving them would be short-lived once she realized he’d learned that tidbit of information about her from someone in town. As much as he wanted whatever edge the insider tip would bring him, he wasn’t willing to risk inadvertently crossing that line again between her private life and the rest of the town. Any gesture he made would have to come from his doing only.

  Chapter Nineteen

  It had been twenty-four hours since Tessa’s last big snot-filled cry. She took it as a personal accomplishment and a sign she was finally getting over everything that had happened with Logan. Sure, it had taken a week, but progress was progress. Maybe today she’d be able to get on with her life and with her plans.

  All week she’d been trying to convince herself she did, in fact, have plans, despite what reality felt like. She had hundreds, maybe even thousands of galleries to query, and she’d only contacted a fraction of those so far. Now was the perfect time to get back on track.

  After a quick shower, she dressed and even put on a coat of mascara. If she looked ready to take on the world, maybe she’d start to actually feel that way too. Maybe she’d apply the same principal of thought to her portfolio. If she wanted a fresh start with the galleries, maybe she should give her portfolio a fresh makeover. Pulling the large black case out from behind her closet door, she flipped it open and examined the first piece—a watercolor of the Empire State Building. Simple, elegant, and lit by the rays of the sun reflecting off the metal façade so it practically glowed. It was beautiful, but it was also somewhat ordinary and not that different than what she’d seen someone selling on the corner of Fifth Avenue and Forty-second Street for fifteen dollars.