The thought of surfer boy and princess made my eyes prick. Then I remembered; I’d changed his name in my phone contacts. But when I picked up my phone and checked, it just said Mason.
“God, Soph, it was so real . . . we were so real. This is so weird. It was as if I was really there. All the details are way vivid. I’ve never stepped into someone else’s head before, but part of the time, it was like I was in Mason’s head, hearing his thoughts and seeing things through his eyes. He had a best friend there, Spencer, and when you came to visit, you guys hooked up.”
“Ooh, I really like this dream now. So far, Scott’s gone and we’re both getting some hottie action. Spencer was hot, right?”
“Focus, please. Yes, he was beyond good looking.”
The more I spoke, the more confused she looked and I felt. I went on to tell her everything up until the last part I remembered. The part where I left and Mason let me. The part where he was with two women to try to forget me. The part where he loved me. At any minute, I pictured guys in white outfits bursting in my apartment to put me in a straitjacket.
“He said he loved me.” There, I said it.
“I could have told you that. Anyone could have, even the strangers at Prism. A man doesn’t look at a woman like she’s his reason to breathe unless she really is his reason to breathe. That’s how he looked at you. I was super envious.” She ran her finger around the rim of her mug before setting it down. “Gretchen, you look at him the same way.” When my mouth opened, she said, “Don’t give me that look. You never, and I mean never have looked at Scott that way.”
Shit. Scott.
“One sec. He called and left a message.” I swiped at my screen to play the voice mail via speakerphone.
“Gretch, it’s me. Call me back.”
“Go on. Call him.” Sophie motioned to the phone. “See what he wants.”
Then I remembered Manda. Who was she? Mason had said he’d seen Scott at the airport with someone—but then again, no, he didn’t. Tears streamed down my cheeks as my head pounded.
Without knowing which end was up, and being pretty sure this was the worst possible thing to do right now, I returned Scott’s call.
“Hi, Gretchen.”
“Hi, Scott. I got your voice-mail message. Are you coming home soon?”
The call ended abruptly and FaceTime started ringing.
Eighty percent of me didn’t want to answer. As quickly as I could, I wiped my face with the washcloth that had been resting on my forehead, knowing good and well my cheeks were stained and my eyes were red and puffy. After expelling a long breath, I clicked the button to connect our call.
“Hi. Sorry, but I wanted to tell you this face to face.” His eyes narrowed. “What’s wrong? You look like you’ve been crying.”
Sophie bounced over to my side of the couch, making my stomach lurch. She popped her head in front of the phone’s camera. “That’s my fault. I just told her the funniest joke, and she became hysterical. Want to hear it?”
What the hell was she doing? She was lucky he said no.
“Sophie, can I have a minute with Gretchen, please?”
My hackles rose at that, and I decided I needed her here. “Just say what you called to say. She’ll end up hearing everything from me, anyway.”
His jaw ticked. “Fine. I’m not coming back to Virginia.”
I glanced at Sophie, and she clucked her tongue against the roof of her mouth.
“Are you not coming home because of Manda?”
Scott raked his hand through his hair before grasping the back of his neck. “No, not entirely. She’s a coworker and a good friend, that’s all.” His eyelids lowered a bit before he said, “My boss presented me with an excellent opportunity to open the London office, and I accepted.” His smile widened. “I’d ask you to come with me, but I’m starting to think this could be just what we need.”
Not entirely? What we need? Every part of my body felt strange and disconnected, as if I’d been abducted and replaced by a pod person.
“What do we need?” I said, my voice tight. “I’ve had a weird day, and I need it spelled out for me.” Wasn’t that the understatement of the year?
“We’re young,” he said, “and haven’t really been close lately. I think we owe it to ourselves to take this opportunity to explore what’s out there.”
“Or who else is out there?”
I could practically hear the screech in my head as soon as I said the words. Hi, Pandora, I have a box for you to open. If we weren’t on FaceTime, I would have smacked myself in the forehead.
He nodded. “Things with us have been off, that’s all. I could tell the other night when we were on the phone. As much as I hate to admit it, we’re growing apart. I just need to focus on my career; it has to come first. I’m really sorry, and I wish you the best with everything. I’ll always be here if you need a friend.”
A friend.
“Thank you, and I wish you the same.”
A tear slid down my cheek as I realized this was it. My entire life had changed overnight—literally.
“I should go,” he said. “I do care for you, Gretchen. Be happy and chase your dreams.”
“You too, Scott.” I kissed my hand and touched the screen right before he disconnected our call.
There I sat, unexpectedly single again, confused, in love with a man from my dream . . .
Wait. I’m in love with the man from my dream?
Frustrated, I stood, happy that my stomach didn’t oppose the motion. My apartment suddenly felt foreign to me.
Sophie came out of my bedroom, and I hadn’t even noticed she’d walked away. “How are you doing?”
I lifted one shoulder in a halfhearted shrug. “Good, I guess. I’m single now, and I know it’s awful, but I can’t even think about that right now. It’s the dream; it was just so real.”
She tilted her head as she studied me. “Have you ever thought that it could be? You were just talking about fulfilling your bucket list. Maybe it was a wake-up call.”
“Or maybe it was just a dream. A silly dream. I’m going to go shower.”
* * *
When I woke the next morning, everything was as it was the night before. Relief washed over me when the date on my phone said January 2nd, and I wasn’t in some abyss or starring in the next Groundhog Day movie.
My phone dinged with an e-mail from Jonas. We were meeting today about his website. He happened to be in town, so we were meeting at the local coffee shop. This was the worst time possible to prove to a stranger that I could handle this job. Shit, I couldn’t even handle sleep. But I needed to do this. Normalcy begged to be back into my life.
To say I was nervous would be an understatement. I felt like we’d already been over everything, but that was in my dream. If I hadn’t researched him, maybe he would have been old and stubby, but I spotted him sitting at a table as soon as I walked through the door.
“Ms. Prescott.” He extended his arm and we shook hands. “Thank you for meeting me. I don’t have much time, but would you like a coffee?”
“It’s nice to meet you, Mr. West, but please call me Gretchen. I’ll pass on the coffee, but thank you.”
“No problem, and please, it’s Jonas. I try to be casual with those who work for me.” He must have seen a look on my face that made him amend his prior statement. “Who may possibly work for me.”
His demeanor was kind, nothing like the overbearing, arrogant man in my dream. This Jonas was laid-back. He was wearing dark jeans and a white button-down shirt, untucked, and had a black leather jacket draped over the back of his chair. Naturally, that reminded me of the one Mason had given me, and the one he’d worn.
“So, what can I do for you?”
Jonas went on to explain the functionality he wanted to add to his website. It wasn’t anything difficult, but the pay was good. In all honesty, I felt as if I’d already done it, but clearly, I hadn’t.
“What do you think? Can I hire you?” He slid a
piece of paper across the table. “That’s what I’ll pay you.”
The number had a couple less zeroes than the one in my dream, but it was a generous offer.
“I’d be happy to accept your offer, but just know I work for myself, not you. Also, I won’t be able to travel with you.”
His brow furrowed. “With all due respect, you don’t need to travel to complete this job. It’s just a website. I’ll provide you with all the photos and information.” He chuckled, and my cheeks flamed.
“Of course. I just wanted to let you know.”
“Are you sure you don’t want coffee?” He signaled for the waiter.
“Now that you mention it, I could use a cup.”
CHAPTER 28
~ Gretchen ~
Driving up to my parents’ home wasn’t anything new, but lately I was scared at every turn, thinking I was crazy. I was almost ready to go to church and ask the priest to perform an exorcism, because I was sure something awful had invaded my brain and I needed to get it out.
I found my mom sitting in their home office, looking over a contract.
“Hi, Mom.”
“Sweetheart.” She walked around her desk to greet me with a hug. “Is everything okay?”
“No, it isn’t.” Suddenly, I felt like a little girl who needed her mother.
We sat on the couch and I told her the entire ridiculous story. Granted, I left out some of the sexier details, but she got the gist. Technically, I hadn’t done any of it, but I’d thought about it.
She nodded with each detail. Occasionally, I’d get an “I see.” Or an “Oh my.”
“I’m crazy, right? Should I call Dad and have him give me something? Commit me?”
“Sweetheart.” She stroked my hair as she had when I was a child. “I don’t think either of those will be necessary. I’m not the doctor in the family, but sometimes our dreams are just that. Maybe it was your subconscious talking, but you said you saw Mason, and you weren’t even there? Perhaps you saw what you wanted to see.”
“I don’t think I’d want to see him having sex with someone.” My eyes squeezed shut and blood rose in my cheeks. “Sorry, Mom.”
“Maybe you did. Perhaps you needed to see that to realize how you’d feel about it.”
I flopped back on the cushioned sofa and stared at the beams in the ceiling. “It was so real.” I’d kept telling myself and everyone else that very thing, because it was.
“Have you spoken to Mason?”
“No, not yet.” God, what would I say to him?
“The way I see it, you have a couple things to think about. First, you need to decide if what you dreamed is really what you want, and second, if so, what you’re going to do about it. You know we all love Mason, he’s a wonderful man, but your happiness is first and foremost.”
She lifted my chin with her hand. “If you don’t put yourself first, you will never know if it’s what you truly want. Your heart is big, Gretchen; just make sure you leave room for yourself.”
* * *
Behind a large mahogany desk sat my favorite businessman—his white shirtsleeves cuffed to the middle of his forearms, the top button of his dress shirt undone, and his tie slightly loosened. His secretary alerted him to my arrival, but he was pounding away on his keyboard when I walked in. I just stared at him for a bit, wondering if he was going to think I was nuts. Maybe it was wrong for me to come here.
“Are you just going to stand there, or are you going to come in and give your favorite brother a hug?”
Finally, some normalcy. “Is Drake here?”
Jack chuckled as he rose from behind the desk. “Still funny, I see.” He drew me into a hug, and I took a minute to enjoy the comfort of his arms.
“Hey.” Jack leaned back, breaking our hold. “What’s wrong? You don’t look right.”
“Can we talk. Do you have time?” I nervously twirled the ends of my hair.
“Of course I have time.” He motioned for me to sit on the leather sofa, but before he sat, told his assistant to hold all his calls.
“You didn’t need to do that.”
“Yes, I did. Now, tell me what has you looking like you just broke curfew?”
God, how do I explain this? I must have opened and closed my mouth five times before Jack got up to get me some water.
“Thank you.” I took a sip and traced a finger along the condensation that quickly rose on the glass. “Scott and I broke up.”
“Hallelujah.” Jack’s all-American-boy smile broke out, but when he noticed the expression on my face, it faltered. “I’m sorry, Gretch.”
“No, you’re not. But that’s not even my problem.”
“Yes, I am sorry. We might not have liked him, but you did. Did he hurt you? Is that the problem? Because if it is—”
I put my hand up to stop him before he wound himself up. “No, that’s not it. The problem is, I need to go to California.” When Jack sat silently, apparently needing further explanation, I said, “I want to go talk to Mason.”
A wry smile grew on his face. “Didn’t he just leave?”
“Yes, but I need to talk to him.” A flush crept up my face.
“Fucking finally.” When I glared at him, he said, “Don’t give me that look. I don’t know what happened to cause this epiphany, but we’ve all been waiting for it.” Then he chuckled. “Lucy is going to be so mad that she isn’t here to see this.”
Dammit. They were on their honeymoon. “That’s right; they aren’t back yet.”
“No, and Drake made sure they were somewhere with practically zero cell service.”
Sadness washed over me as I exhaled.
It must have dawned on Jack that I didn’t have Mason’s address, because he said helpfully, “But he did give me the name of the resort they were staying at in case of an emergency.”
Before I could stop him, he was on the phone.
“Hey, sorry to wake you, but this is for your favorite sister.” He glanced up at me and winked, making me grin. “I need McDermott’s address in California.” Jack jotted down whatever Drake said on the other end. “Tell Lucy I said thank you. I hope you’re having a great time. Love you, brother.” I began waving, and he added, “Gretchen says hi and loves you too.” Jack laughed. “Yes, I’ll tell her.”
When he hung up, he said, “Drake and Lucy said it’s about damn time.” He handed me a piece of paper. “There you go.”
I snatched it up, a little surprised that the address was different from the one in my dream.
“When are you leaving?”
I shrugged. “I need to check flights.”
“Let me rephrase. When do you want to leave?”
“As soon as I can, but I just accepted a job today from Jonas West. I need to get the contract back to him when I get home, and then I have to pack.”
“Jonas West, the sports agent? Congrats, he’s a big deal in his business. So, what time should I tell my pilot you’ll be ready?”
My eyes just about popped out of my head. “Excuse me?”
“Gretch, you don’t need to fly commercial. Take my plane and stay at my place in Malibu. I’ll have a driver meet you at the airport.”
Déjà vu started to settle in my head. Once I shook it clear, I hugged him. “Thank you, Jack. How about three p.m.? Is that too soon?”
He glanced at the large watch on his wrist. “Not if you hurry.”
I hugged him as tightly as I could. “Thank you. I’ll call Mom from the plane.”
“You do that. I’ll tell the rest of the family. I love you, little sister. Be careful, and call me when you land.”
Renewed energy surged through me. “I’m sure you’ll be tracking the plane, but I’ll call. Love you.” With my handbag in my hand, I turned to him. “Jack, am I making a mistake?”
“Gretch, let me tell you something about loving someone.” He scrubbed his jaw with his hand. “Sometimes when you think you know what you’re doing, you don’t. One wrong move can destroy anything, even lov
e. Don’t be like me and have a life of what-ifs. Trust me, it isn’t fun.”
He swept his hand around his office. “Yes, I have a successful business and all the money I could ever need, but I don’t have the one person that I’d want to share it with. When you find the one, hold on tight, because in a flash, they could be gone. If that’s how you feel about Mason, even if you think you may have conjured it up in your head, you owe it to both of you to find out if you’re meant to be together.”
Holy shit. That was the first time I’d ever heard Jack talk about love. “Is that about April?”
His eyes darkened at her name, and his lips turned slightly down at the corners. “Just take it for what it’s worth. Love doesn’t come along every day. Sometimes it disguises itself like a chameleon, and you think you may have it, but then it changes. You and Scott grew together, conforming to what you thought the other needed, only to end up not needing each other.”
I wrapped my arms around him. “Thank you, Jack. I’ll keep all of that in mind.”
With his kiss on my cheek and a “Get out of my office and go get your man,” I left.
* * *
California greeted me with smog and warm air. Flying private was so much better than commercial. A car met me at the terminal, and I asked the driver to take me to Jack’s house. Once I dropped off my luggage, cleaned up, and snagged the keys to one of Jack’s sporty convertibles, I set the GPS for my destination.
Mason.
Traffic was brutal at this hour. It wasn’t as noticeable when I was in the sedan to Jack’s house, but now that I was staring at taillights, it was awful. I’d been at such a standstill, the annoying lady in the GPS hadn’t said a word for an hour.
When there was finally a break and I started moving again, the annoying voice told me to exit the highway. Ten minutes and I’d be at Mason’s.
I’d thought about rehearsing what I would say, but everything I came up with sounded ridiculous, so I figured I’d just wing it. As it was, this entire spur-of-the-moment trip was out of character for me, but in an odd way, when I saw the palm trees and tasted the salt in the ocean air as I left Malibu, even the smog felt as if it was saying, “Welcome home.”
Charmed: A Prescott Novel (The Prescott Series Book 3) Page 21
