Colt looked down at Brikelle. “Excuse me for a second.”
She nodded mutely. She and Colt had been steadily drawing apart all day, and now his ex-girlfriend was back and professing that she’d come for him. How was Brikelle supposed to react to all of this? Step aside and let him be with the woman he’d loved since he was five, or fight for him?
Colt took Cally’s elbow and directed her out the patio door off the dining area. He swung it shut behind them. Brikelle didn’t move.
Emma grasped her hand, and she looked down at the older woman. “It’s going to be okay, sweetheart. He loves you, not her.”
“How do you know?”
“I just have intuition about these things. I’ve seen the way he looks at you.” She patted her hand, then stepped around her. “Joshua. How dare you bring another designer in and think I would want her here?”
The other guests’ heads were swiveling back and forth as they took in the drama. Several of them kept looking out back at Colt and Cally, where Brikelle’s eyes kept straying as well. They looked far too intimate.
“I, um,” Joshua stammered, obviously caught in a spot he didn’t want to be in. “She’s one of the top designers in the nation, Emma.”
“But she is not my choice. Brikelle is.”
Joshua guffawed at that. “Brikelle is barely out of college. Cally has made a name for herself and we know she can consistently produce.”
Emma shook her head resolutely. “I made a deal with Brikelle and Colt, and I will stand by it.”
“Wake up,” Joshua growled. “Colt is going to be back together with Cally by nightfall. Brikelle means nothing to him. He and Cally have loved each other for years.”
Brikelle fought the tears stinging at her eyelids. Colt wouldn’t really leave her, would he? As soon as she thought it, she knew it was a strong possibility. She’d known Colt for two weeks. Cally was his past and the love of his life. She should be more concerned about Joshua telling Emma everything, but she didn’t even care at the moment.
“You set this up?” Emma hissed at him.
“Yes. Cally’s my niece. I would do anything for her.”
Brikelle blinked, wondering if Colt knew about the connection. She asked quietly, “I was just a pawn for your and Cally’s scheme?”
He nodded briskly. “She couldn’t get here in time to decorate this house, and you did decent work to fill in until I could turn it over to her.”
“She did a lot better than decent work,” Emma defended. “And she’s still my choice for designer.”
“Thank you,” Brikelle whispered, grateful Emma would stand up for her, but the work was so minimal compared to the thought of losing Colt.
Joshua glanced sharply at Emma, as if he’d forgotten she was there. “I’m sorry, Emma. I was trying to get you one of the best designers in the nation.”
“I don’t like being manipulated, and how dare you try to break up a marriage?” Emma asked.
“They’re not married,” Joshua inserted.
At this the silent group of guests gasped as if on cue, then started whispering to each other. Brikelle closed her eyes and prayed Emma wouldn’t hate her. She’d just told Joshua she didn’t like to be manipulated. Brikelle had grown very fond of the lady and didn’t want to hurt her. She opened her eyes to Joshua sneering at her. She couldn’t believe he’d used her like this. Emma didn’t say anything.
“Again, I apologize, Emma. Cally is unreal and I knew you’d want to work with her, but she had other commitments she had to fulfill. Brikelle did a great job, but she doesn’t have the experience Cally has. You have to give Cally a chance, Emma. She’s world-renowned. I can’t believe you aren’t familiar with her work. You will love it, Emma, I promise.”
The older lady shook her head resolutely and grasped on to Brikelle’s arm again. “No. What I will love is you getting out of my house.”
Joshua’s eyes widened.
“And don’t plan on working for me again.”
“We have contracts for the Snow Basin condos,” he sputtered. “You can’t fire me. I’ll sue you.”
“My lawyers will find a way to break those contracts. Goodbye, Joshua. Good luck with the lawsuit.” She turned from him and focused on Brikelle. “What do you say you and I go in my office and chat?”
Brikelle glanced out the window where Colt and Cally were still talking, Cally getting much too close for Brikelle’s comfort. “Sure,” Brikelle whispered.
Joshua was escorted toward the front door by Ezra. Emma and Brikelle followed them partway and then went into the office. “Shut the door, will you, sweetheart?” Emma asked.
“Sure.” Brikelle felt like everything was hazy. All she really wanted to do was go rip Colt away from Cally. Would he really go back to his old girlfriend? Her shoulders slumped. She hoped what they had meant as much to him as it did to her.
Brikelle shut the door, sat down on the couch next to Emma, and said quickly, “I’m so sorry. When you assumed that we were married and invited us to this party, Joshua talked us into pretending we were. I’m so sorry.”
Emma patted her hand. “It sounds like Joshua is the one to blame, dear.”
“No. I should’ve told you. You’ve been so good to me.”
“Dear …” Emma shook her head. “I knew.”
“You knew?” Brikelle’s head popped up. “How did you know?”
Emma’s blue eyes twinkled. “You really do think I’m a dotty old lady, don’t you?”
“No. Why would I think that?”
“Why would I assume you were married because I saw you in his arms? I heard your shouting match before that.”
“Then … why? Last night about killed us.”
Emma smiled knowingly. “I’m sorry, but I know how honorable Colt is. I knew he would be respectful of you.”
Brikelle exhaled slowly. Last night had been excruciating, but maybe it was a sort of penance for lying to Emma. She would take the turmoil of trying to stop kissing over the turmoil of Colt being reunited with Cally any day. “Why didn’t you say something, though?”
“I told you I have a sense about these things. When I walked in and saw the two of you together, it just felt right. Even though neither of you had a clue that you were meant to be, I did. I knew it as strongly as I knew from the moment I met my Scott that we would be happy forever.”
Brikelle was stunned. She didn’t move or respond for a few seconds. “So you were playing matchmaker?”
“Yes.”
“You are an eccentric old lady!” All the stress of the past week and a half for nothing. She was a little ticked at Emma, yet at the same time grateful. She never would’ve gotten to know Colt as anything but a jerk if Emma hadn’t been part of the farce.
Emma laughed. “Yes, I am. I definitely am. But it worked. You two have sparks and love and something really special.”
Brikelle thought about Colt outside reuniting with the love of his life and the stiff way things had been between the two of them all morning. “We definitely had something special, but he’s loved Cally his entire life.”
“That snotty thing? No. She doesn’t hold a candle to you.”
“She’s beautiful, talented, has worldwide experiences I can only imagine. I’m a twenty-two-year-old farm girl. I can’t compete with who she is or what they have together.”
“Now you stop that talk.” Emma squeezed her hand, hard. She had a lot of grip strength. “When I have a prophecy about a couple, it has never been wrong. I’m like your fairy godmother or something. Don’t you second-guess me.”
Brikelle barked out a laugh.
“I’m serious. You just trust me and all of this is going to work out. Now let’s go get us some lunch, and if you want we can bring it back in here or into the kitchen to make sure you don’t have to watch while Colt sorts things out with that … imposter. Shall we throw her out with Joshua?”
Brikelle did laugh at that. “Thank you, but Colt is an adult and needs to figure this out
himself.”
Emma smiled sympathetically at her, patted her hand, and then walked briskly out the office door. Brikelle followed after her, her mind spinning. What if Colt chose Cally? How would she survive then? She didn’t know that she’d be able to eat two bites of lunch with the worry gnawing at her stomach.
Chapter Eleven
Colt pushed a hand through his hair and leaned away from his former girlfriend. How dare Cally leave him five years ago, basically tell him he wasn’t good enough when he tried to chase after her, not communicate with him the entire time, and then think she could show back up and he’d be here waiting? Did she really think he was that pathetic of a loser?
She was going on and on about him being married. Part of him wanted to admit that it was a sham, but he was too hurt and angry. Being married to Brikelle was the perfect reason to keep his distance from Cally. There was also a small part of him that yearned for Cally, or at least the Cally he used to know. This Cally, who was giving him the what for, was definitely not his Cally. Her face was too taut and too hard. Her voice had lost all its happiness and lilt. What had she seen and experienced in Chicago? Where had her innocence and laughter gone?
“Why are you looking at me like you’re not even paying attention to what I’m saying?” She sighed heavily. Her thick eyelashes fluttered as she closed her eyes, like she couldn’t handle this conversation any longer.
“Sorry. I just figured when you were done telling me off we could actually talk.”
“You probably don’t even want to talk to me. You just want to get back inside to your little … wife.”
“Yeah, I would.”
Tears sprang to her eyes again, and Colt knew he could handle the ticked-off Cally a lot better than the crying Cally. “I can’t believe you got married. Why didn’t you tell me? Why didn’t Tate or Uncle Joshua tell me?”
“Tate?”
“I’ve kept in touch with Tate to keep tabs on you. He’s not exactly friendly, but he usually tells me what I need to know.”
Good to know his brother at least wasn’t friendly with his ex, but he was going to beat him up for talking to her. “Uncle Joshua?”
“He’s my mom’s brother. We didn’t see him much growing up, but the past few years he’s been an invaluable help to me.”
That explained why Joshua would bring her here, but why had he wanted to perpetuate the lie with him and Brikelle? Just to appease Emma? He hated himself for asking, but he couldn’t help it. “Why didn’t you keep in touch with me to keep tabs on me?”
She cocked her head to the side and brushed away her tears. “I don’t know.” Her shoulders sagged. “I was a brat to you when you came to Chicago.”
“Agreed.”
“I wanted to do something on my own, be successful on my own. All through high school, I was only Colt’s girl. Everybody loved you and every girl wanted you and I never had my own identity. I pushed hard at the U so I could go away and make something of myself, prove I was more than just your girl.”
His brow furrowed. “Cally, I’m proud of you for making something of yourself. I never thought of you as just some pretty appendage on my side.” He shook his head. “We could’ve been great together, but you threw me away just to prove something. What about the love and friendship we’d shared for years? You didn’t trust me enough to just explain that you needed to stand on your own before we could stand together?”
She drew in a shaky breath. “I didn’t say I went about it the right way. I’m just trying to explain.”
“Explain, then.”
She folded her thin arms across her chest. “When you followed me to Chicago, I hadn’t had the time I needed to find myself. I was selfish, telling you to go away like I did, and I know I can’t ever make that right. I didn’t really mean what I said about you not being enough. I wasn’t enough. Does that make any sense?”
He nodded, a strange sense of relief washing over him. Brikelle had told him he was enough and he’d believed her. It was nice to hear this from Cally, but he didn’t need it from her.
“So I lied and pushed you away. Then I worked my butt off and I have become ultra-successful. I am enough now, and I know what I want. I want you.” She shook her head sadly. “And you’re married.”
Colt didn’t want to hurt Cally. He was definitely over her, but they’d been friends for so many years and he still cared about her. “I’m not married,” he admitted.
“What?” Her eyes snapped up to meet his.
“It was a misunderstanding, and then Joshua asked us to play along to get to this party and secure Emma and her friends’ work.”
“Colt! That’s so unlike you to lie.”
He winced. “Yeah. It got a little out of hand.”
Her real smile appeared, and he felt a little pang as he remembered how much he used to love her. “But this means … you’re not married, so … Oh, Colt!” She threw her arms around his neck.
Colt half-heartedly patted her back.
“Why didn’t Joshua tell me? He probably knew I wouldn’t come. Oh, but who cares? You’re still mine.” She pressed her lips to his.
Colt was stunned and didn’t react as she kept pressing and pressing. It was so odd. He felt nothing like the sparks and desire Brikelle stirred in him. He could’ve been kissing one of his sisters and probably felt more emotion, because then he would’ve been disgusted that he was kissing them. He laughed at the thought.
“What are you laughing at?” Cally asked breathlessly.
“You. That kiss.” That joke of a kiss, but what he had to say next would be hurtful enough without him explaining how little he felt for her now.
“You’re so happy you’re laughing.” She laughed too, and then she was kissing him again.
Colt managed to free his lips and then pry her arms off of his neck. He shook his head. “Cally. I listened to you; now it’s time you listened to me.”
“Okay.” The fire had gone out of her. Her eyes dimmed and she bit at her lip.
“Why don’t we sit down?” Now that they were both more relaxed, hopefully they could talk like adults and then he could go and find Brikelle, tell Emma the truth, and date his beautiful wife properly. He smiled to himself and glanced back through the dining room windows, but didn’t see Brikelle or Emma. Ezra’s wife waved to him and he waved back.
He and Cally sat in the soft patio chairs and he angled toward her. “I was shattered when you left, and especially when I followed you to Chicago and you didn’t want me.”
“I know. I’m sorry.”
He held up a hand. “It’s okay, Cally. I am proud of you for succeeding, but it was a hard time. I didn’t date much for years, honestly. Then Momma cussed me up one side and down the other that I was getting old and needed to move on and make her grandbabies.”
“Sounds like your mother.”
Colt realized right then and there that his choice of women was dead on. Brikelle had been great with his mom, and his dad had basically given the two of them his blessing. Though both of them had loved Cally, having watched her grow up, they’d also both cautiously expressed concern that Cally wasn’t the woman they saw him ending up with.
“So I tried,” he said. “I forced myself to go on a date every weekend. I let people set me up. I even tried some online sites.”
“Yikes.”
“Yeah, it was miserable. But you know what it did?”
“Made you miss me?” She winked.
“After those first few months, you were pretty much dead to me, Cally.”
“Ouch.” She swallowed and looked out at the lake.
“Sorry, but after Chicago I had to find a way to shut you out of my heart.” He didn’t want to hurt her, but she deserved the truth. “My dog helped.” He grinned, thinking about Ike and how proud he was when Brikelle had patted his head. “Then I dated … a lot. Getting to know a lot of different women made me appreciate when I did find the right one.”
Her eyes narrowed. “That girl?”
Cally grabbed his arm, and her claw-like nails dug into him. “You can’t do this to me.”
Colt laughed at that. “I can’t do this to you? You ruined us five years ago by not sharing your dreams with me and working through it together. I didn’t do this; you did.” He stood. “And it’s past time that I get back to my wife.”
He ignored her sputters and strode to the dining room patio door. Emma stood by it, glowering at him. “Emma, where’s Brikelle?”
“She left.”
“What? Why?”
“When she saw you kissing that … blonde, she asked me if someone could drive her home. Ezra took her home ten minutes ago.”
“No.” Ice ran down his spine. Brikelle was gone?
Cally appeared at the door. Her eyes were cold and sad at the same time. Colt nodded to her, then focused on Emma.
“You’d better figure out what it is you want,” Emma said.
“I know what I want,” Colt told her.
“Then go after her!”
Colt took off for the stairs.
“Don’t worry about your clothes. I’ll get them to you,” Emma called.
“I’m not worrying about my clothes, but I do need my truck keys!”
“Run faster!” she urged.
Colt pounded up the stairs two at a time, grabbed his keys off the dresser, and ran back down the stairs and out the front door.
“No,” he groaned as he reached his truck. He was pinned in by an Escalade, a Porsche, and a flowerbed. Aw, crap. Would Brikelle just go home? What if she left and went straight back to Idaho or something? He’d find her, but he didn’t want any more distance between them. He had to find her quick.
He pivoted back toward the house. Emma and Cally were on the porch. “Go!” Emma yelled.
Cally didn’t say anything, just watched him.
How to Love a Dog's Best Friend : Must Love Dogs Page 11
