by Susan Meier
She’d thought the same thing herself, but hearing him say it so coolly, it rang hollow in her ears. Especially after seeing Ellie and Finn’s baby, seeing the gleam in LuAnn’s eyes when she married Bob, watching Cade and Piper so happily sharing their lives. She might not have ever said the words aloud, but that was what she wanted—all of it. Babies. Marriage. A shared life. Her version of happily ever after. Not an affair with a man who wouldn’t ever have real feelings for her.
“I don’t think so.” She walked to the door and opened it for him. “Go.”
He sucked in a breath, for a second looking like he might argue. Like he might say something more. Like he didn’t want to lose her. Old Isabelle might have taken that expression as hopeful. He didn’t want to give her up. New Isabelle would never be that simple again.
“Go. Now.”
He strode out of her dinky apartment and down the rickety stairs.
She closed the door behind him, then slid to the floor and let herself cry.
Not because she’d been humiliated, embarrassed, or even hurt, but because, like his mom, she’d thought she was good for Devon. Helping him to be happy. Maybe even helping him to become whole.
But she hadn’t. He was still the same lonely man he’d been when she came into his life.
Except now he didn’t see it.
Maybe she was sadder for him than she was for herself.
Chapter Seventeen
Devon walked down the steps to Isabelle’s apartment and strode to his car. His chest ached from the knowledge that he’d hurt her, but he’d tried to fix things and she’d refused. His attempt at explaining why he didn’t want to get close, to fall in love, to even have a real relationship had gone all wrong. So he’d stopped himself before he’d made an even worse mess of things than he’d already made.
And now they had to work together. The very worst reason for getting involved with a co-worker was the aftermath of the breakup. His perfect, happy, sunny world was crumbling.
He woke Sunday morning to his too-quiet house and forced himself back to the office. With his mom and Bob on their way to Hawaii, he knew for certain he and Isabelle would have the whole place to themselves for two weeks, and he wasn’t sure how that was going to work. He’d spent his entire life pretending he didn’t feel things that cut him to the core. So he could probably ignore their personal troubles. But he wasn’t so sure about Isabelle, and part of him understood. He had been clear with her right at the start, but the lines had blurred the more they got to know each other. He shouldn’t have taken her.
His chest ached so much for the pain he’d inflicted that he promised himself he would fix this. If nothing else, he would make sure she had the best job in the world.
Around noon, Cade walked into the house, yelling his name. “Devon? Devon?”
He called, “In the office,” and was surprised when Cade appeared at his door holding little Richie.
“The girls are having some sort of pow wow at my house.”
“The girls?”
“Piper, Ellie, and Barbara Beth.”
“Barbara Beth?”
“Yeah. Like I said. It’s a pow wow.”
He pointed at the chair in front of his desk. “Have a seat.”
“You’re working on Sunday?”
He shrugged. “Why not?”
“Because there are other, fun things to do?” Cade said. “I’ve told you it’s time to slow down. I thought Isabelle was taking enough of your work that you could relax a bit.”
He almost choked, worried that Cade had noticed something, but decided to just keep the conversation rolling as if his brother thought of Isabelle as his protégée. “She is. She’s taking real work from me. I expect to be able to slow down eventually. Just not now. She still needs some training.”
Cade’s brow wrinkled. “What are you talking about?”
“Isabelle. You remember…the little redhead who works for us?”
“Not anymore. She’s moving to Myrtle Beach. That’s what the pow wow is about.”
Devon’s heart stopped. “What?”
“She called Piper this morning. They had a long conversation. All I heard was something about her not having a seat at the wedding even though she’d been the wedding planner. Her parents found a flower shop they wanted to buy. And maybe the job of working for us was too much.” Cade frowned at him. “She didn’t tell you?”
His heart beat slow and heavy. She couldn’t have quit. They hadn’t really talked this out. Her coming to the office on Monday might have been awkward, but he’d wanted the chance to discuss this. “No. She didn’t say anything.” Even as he answered Cade, he realized Isabelle had never signed her employment agreement. She could quit.
“That’s weird. Piper didn’t seem in the slightest confused when Isabelle called. Though she did call Ellie and Barbara Beth right after.” He displayed little Richie. “And now we’re here instead of there, where they’re talking so fast little Richie will never be able to sleep through the noise.”
She had quit. “Oh.”
Cade stared at him. “How could you not know?”
He sucked in a breath, told himself to get a grip. He’d known she was angry the night before. He also knew he’d hurt her. But if she hadn’t been one of the people his mom had frantically scribbled place cards for on Friday night, maybe this didn’t have as much to do with their relationship as it did with how hard it was to work for a family of people who had taken advantage of her. He might not be able to fix their romance, but he could fix this.
“I didn’t know. But I should have known.” He rose from his seat. “Mom popped into the office for help from Isabelle any time of the day she wanted.” He winced. “Not that she shouldn’t have, but I should have seen what was going on. Isabelle was working for me and the flower shop while planning Mom’s wedding. She probably burned out. I should have monitored her workload better.” He headed for the door. “You and little Richie amuse yourselves. I’m going to go talk to Isabelle, make things right over the name card slight, promise her set hours, no more flower shop duties, and no more requests from the family.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
He jumped into his sports car and put the top down, enjoying the wind whipping around him, glad Cade had come over with the story about the name card if only to take a little bit of the pressure off himself for hurting her. This he could correct. And if he could talk her into staying, he would be smarter about her job, her time, about everything.
He parked his car in front of Buzz Hanwell’s garage and ran up the rickety stairs. When he saw the door was open a bit, probably for ventilation on this hot, hot day, he pushed on it. It gave easily and he walked inside.
“Isabelle.”
His voice echoed hollowly around him. Sheesh. Would he ever get away from that sound?
He strode into the empty galley kitchen, which was sparkling clean and smelled like bleach. Her apartment keys sat on the counter with a check.
His chest muscles bunched into a million knots. Her last month’s rent?
“Isabelle?”
Heading for the bedroom, he passed a bathroom that wasn’t just clean; it was empty. No toothbrush in the toothbrush holder. No shower curtain.
He picked up the pace. “Isabelle!”
But the bedroom was empty, too. The bed had been stripped. Closet doors were open, revealing rods. No clothes. No shoes.
He stumbled to a stop.
She was gone.
Really gone.
This wasn’t a result of his mother forgetting to write a name card. She’d protected him by not telling Piper she was leaving because he’d hurt her. But he knew the truth.
Their conversation the night before had crushed her. She wanted one thing. He wanted another. And she was done with him.
He backed out of her empty bedroom.
She really was gone. He couldn’t give her what she wanted, so she’d left.
And maybe he didn’t blame her. If she needed more and he coul
dn’t give it to her, why would she stick around?
He took another step back.
It might be too late to do the right thing, but he was going to do it anyway. He was going to let her go.
Chapter Eighteen
After a fourteen-hour drive and supper with her parents at a crab shack, Isabelle crawled into the bed of the guestroom of their condo. She didn’t know how much the Donovans had paid her parents for Buds and Blossoms, but it must have been a fortune for them to afford a penthouse condo decorated so beautifully that Isabelle’s breath had caught when she walked inside. All three of the bedrooms had private baths. The living room had a view of the ocean. The bar was stocked with whiskeys from around the world.
Isabelle stared at the ceiling.
And here she was. Right back where she’d been the day before her parents left for Myrtle Beach, a single girl managing a flower shop with no hope for a romance.
She stopped short of pronouncing that her life sucked and pressed her lips together as she thought of how fun her life with Devon had been. Temporary. And part fabrication. But still fun. She wanted it back so much that her chest shivered. But her self-respect rose to save her.
She didn’t know what her life was going to be, but she was glad she had moved. It was sad to give up the town she’d grown up in, but she needed to be with her family, her family, not Devon’s. But also she couldn’t stay in Harmony Hills. She wouldn’t survive seeing Devon, even in passing. She’d remember kisses. She’d remember talking about everything. But most of all she’d remember that night he’d really made love to her, and she’d miss him.
But that was just wrong. Though he’d been himself, she’d seen everything he did through the filter of her fantasy version of him. The version she’d made up in her head… Probably so she wouldn’t feel so bad about being with a guy who only wanted her for sex. And now she totally understood why Devon couldn’t love, why he couldn’t make a commitment. He’d just been released from being the savior of his family. He wanted some alone time.
And whatever he’d felt for her, it hadn’t been enough to fill the void, change his mind, make him happy.
She drew a breath, forced those thoughts out of her mind, and tried to go to sleep, but she couldn’t.
She missed that dream guy who had been a figment of her imagination. Really missed him. Couldn’t believe she’d never see Devon Donovan again.
The next day, she woke a little after nine and strolled from her bedroom to the open-floor-plan, granite-and-stainless-steel kitchen. Her parents were already gone. Probably golfing. But this afternoon they’d be going to the flower shop with the greenhouse to make an offer.
The elevator bell rang and, surprised, Isabelle swung to face it. The door opened and Ellie stepped inside.
“Ellie?”
She walked to the counter where Isabelle was making coffee in her mom’s Keurig. She hugged Isabelle, then slid onto a stool. “I met your parents in the lobby. They gave me a key to the elevator.”
Isabelle chuckled. “My mother always liked you.”
Ellie smiled softly. “I like her, too.” She took a quick breath. “It’s not a coincidence that Finn and I decided to take a little break at this particular beach while LuAnn’s on her honeymoon.”
“You’re here to golf?”
“I’m here because Piper, Barbara Beth, and I figured everything out.”
Isabelle walked to the breakfast bar and sat beside Ellie. “Figured what out?”
“You were Devon’s mystery woman.”
Isabelle sighed. “Just don’t tell him you know. He was pretty proud of himself for being able to keep it a secret.”
“Well, you leaked it. That whole story about the place card didn’t hold water. LuAnn might have forgotten to write a name card for you, but you’d never get so hurt by something that was so obviously an oversight.”
“I wouldn’t. But I hadn’t really focused on the name card when I talked with Piper. I just used it as an example of me being overworked. You guys read too much into it.”
“What can I say? Piper and I are good.” She looked Isabelle in the eye. “Were you overworked?”
“No.” She took a sip of her coffee. “Not really.”
Ellie sat up, a sure sign she was getting angry. “So what you’re saying is Devon did something. What did he do?”
“Nothing. He’d always said he’d never take our relationship public, but I got everything confused. I was so sure we were good for each other that I thought he was falling in love and I was positive he’d make a move at the wedding.”
“He did. When you pinned on his flower.” She groaned. “And Piper and I yelled at him for it. We told him to leave you alone.”
“It wasn’t you. He simply didn’t feel for me what I felt for him.”
She took Isabelle’s hand. “I swear, Isabelle, if I’d known, I’d have let everything happen naturally.”
Isabelle shrugged. “I told you. It wasn’t you.” The pain in her heart had nothing to do with him admitting or not admitting they were seeing each other. It was about her stupidity in seeing him differently than what he really was. About him needing something she couldn’t give him. Freedom. “The bottom line is he doesn’t love me.”
Ellie tugged on her hand to force Isabelle to look at her. “And in six weeks you love him?”
“He’s a pretty hard to resist guy.”
Ellie laughed. “Finn was impossible to resist, too, and Piper tells a similar story about Cade. So what are you going to do?”
“I’m going to rebuild a struggling flower shop with my parents.” She shrugged. “Make a life here in Myrtle Beach.”
“Izzy, I know you loved living in Harmony Hills. Are you sure this is what you want?”
With effort, she worked up a smile. “Positive.” She shook her head. “You and I are only children. We’re the kind of kids who get spoiled from day one. But you lost your mom and Fate’s making up for that with Finn and Sabrina. I never had a day of trouble until my parents moved. I’m not going to be the girl who gets the guy. I’m going to go back to working with my parents and creating beautiful bouquets for other people’s happy events.”
Ellie’s expression saddened. “Wow. Is that how you see your life?”
“Actually, Ellie, what I see is that I made a mistake. Devon was totally honest, but I had stars in my eyes. He’s very happy feeling the weight of family responsibility has lifted, and I didn’t see that he was just having fun. Maybe I do need some experience so I never make that mistake again.”
“Maybe.” Ellie rose. “Okay, I told Finn I’d only be five minutes. I have to go so we can find a hotel for the week. But we can have lunch?”
Isabelle quickly shook her head. “My parents and I are putting a bid in on the flower shop this afternoon. I won’t be free.”
“Well, if you need anything—anything—ever—you call me or Piper.”
She said she would, kissed Ellie’s cheek by the elevator, and watched the doors slide together before she let her eyes fill with tears. She’d never call Ellie or Piper again. They were better off without her. And she simply wasn’t sure she could handle it if Devon one day changed his mind and did fall in love…with someone else.
She couldn’t go back to Harmony Hills and see him with another woman. She was now a business owner—or would be once they came to an agreement with the owner of the florist her parents wanted to buy.
The next day, Devon didn’t shave. He turned on every television in the house and pushed their volumes to high, so he wouldn’t hear the empty, hollow, echoing noise. When he ate, which wasn’t often, he left his dishes in the sink. So the following Monday, when his brothers came for the weekly meeting, Finn and Cade entered his office shaking their heads. They had to step over piles of paperwork and take prospectuses off their seats to sit at the conference table.
Cade said, “Have you showered lately?”
Devon came to the table with a tall stack of files. “I shower every
day. I’m just not shaving.”
“Or planning on keeping your hearing,” Finn said. “Do you have every television in the house set on max?”
“The house echoes.”
“And you’re drowning it out with the sounds of Good Morning America?”
“Yes.”
He lugged a stack of files from his desk and dropped them on the table. Standing at the head, as CEO of their corporation, he said, “These are Isabelle’s files, which I’m taking over.”
Cade grabbed his hand. “You’re not hiring someone else to help you?”
“I think Isabelle proved I don’t work well with others. Best for me to just do this on my own.”
Finn shook his head. “Really? That’s how you’re going to play this? Pretend Isabelle was just your protégée and go back to what you were doing before her?”
Devon fussed with her files. He swore that sometimes if he shuffled them just the right way the scent of her perfume would waft to him.
“All right. That might be how you want to handle this,” Cade said. “But I’m done with the pretending. Admit you were sleeping with Isabelle, go tell her you love her, and bring her back.”
“I don’t love her.”
Finn had the audacity to laugh. “Oh, come on. We saw how you deferred to her in our weekly meetings. She’d talk and your attention would snap to her as if she held the secrets to the universe.”
“She’s very intelligent.”
Cade chuckled. “Please. Do we look like we just fell off a turnip truck? You couldn’t take your eyes off her. You let her make decisions. She got you to swim in the afternoons and at least four times when I called you, I could tell you were at Louie’s in Pittsburgh. She got you out of the house. Out of Harmony Hills. She turned you into a nice guy.”
He steepled his fingers together and tapped them against his chin, refusing to answer, knowing that the truth about getting back his freedom might insult them, and he’d insulted enough people already.
Cade sighed. “So cut the crap. You love her.”
Finn nodded solemnly. “You do, dude.”
Really? They were going to push him on a day he’d already felt like he’d reached his limit? Well, all right then. He would tell them the truth.
