by Kira Archer
She had no lawyer, no money to pay for one, no way to fight what had just happened. And she didn’t have the right kind of background or bank account to fight for Eric. No way to make his parents approve of her. No desire to make them approve of her, if she were honest. If he didn’t love her enough to fight for her, stand up to his parents, they had no chance, anyway.
What hurt worse than anything was that even though her dreams of a better business, a better life, were crumbling around her, the thing that made her ache as though she’d been beaten, was the loss of Eric. He was what filled her thoughts. His betrayal was making her want to howl and scream and cry.
Gina sat beside her and pulled her into a hug. Nat sank into her. She wanted to be strong, but right at that moment, it was just too much to bear. She’d be strong later. But first, she was going to fall completely apart.
Chapter Twenty-One
Eric pulled out his phone as he stomped down the stairs from Nat’s apartment. He dialed his mother’s number three times. No answer. He didn’t bother trying his father. It was doubtful he’d answer at this time of day. He was surely in some meeting or other.
He drove to the bakery. Jared waited impatiently inside.
“Hey, where have you been? You were supposed to be here an hour ago.”
“Yeah, well, nothing’s going like it’s supposed to today.” He marched out to the garage, Jared trailing behind him. A large chain was padlocked around the door handles. And Nat’s truck was inside.
“Do you know anything about this?” Eric asked.
Jared shook his head. “Not a clue. Who would lock it up?”
“Damn blood-sucking lawyers.”
“What are you talking about?”
Eric went to the supply closet in the back of the bakery, filling Jared in while he rummaged through the old tools piled in the corner.
“So, your mom is giving you the money to buy the garage?”
Eric glared but didn’t answer.
“That’s good, right? I mean, that’s what you wanted isn’t it?”
Eric stopped. Was it what he wanted? Maybe at first. Yes, he’d wanted the garage, wanted full control of the entire building. But now? Images of a halo of hazelnut curls and flashing golden eyes danced through his mind. Screw the garage. Screw the bakery. He just wanted Nat.
“Dammit.” He’d hoped there’d be a pair of bolt cutters or something stashed away so he could get rid of the lock before Nat saw it. “I gotta go,” he said, heading back to where his car was parked.
“Wait! What do you mean, you’ve got to go? This place opens in days. Your brand new employees will be here for orientation and training in thirty minutes. You can’t leave!”
“Here.” Eric tossed him the manager’s hat. “You just got promoted.”
Jared stared dumbfounded at Eric. “Are you insane? I’m just the guy who designed your logo and painted your signs.”
“You’ll do great. I have total faith in you.”
“Well, good for you. But I don’t!”
“Sorry, man. I’ve got some stuff to take care of. I’ve got to go find some cutters to get that damn lock off the garage. If Natalie comes before I get back, you have my permission to break the doors down if you need to, whatever you have to do to get her truck out. Hopefully, I’ll make it back before she sees that,” he said, jerking his head at the padlocked doors. He jumped back in his car. “Then I’ve got to take a little trip out to the beach house and have a talk with my mother, since she’s refusing to answer her phone. I’ve got to get this mess cleared up.”
Jared stared at him a moment. Then a slow smile spread across his face. “Ah dude. You love her, don’t you?”
Eric stared back, then snorted and shook his head like he was trying to clear it. “Yeah. I do.”
Jared put the apron on and stepped away from the car. “Go get her, man. I’ll take care of things here.”
“Thanks, Jared. Really.”
Jared nodded. “Oh, and don’t worry about the padlock. I can pick that thing, piece of cake.”
Eric opened his mouth to ask how the hell Jared knew how to pick a padlock and then changed his mind. He really didn’t want to know. “Great. Just get it off the door.”
“On it!” Jared gave Eric a goofy salute and jogged back toward the garage.
Eric shook his head again and pulled away from the curb.
For the entire long drive to his parents’ beach house, scenes with Nat ran through his head. The way she’d looked when she had tripped and shoved his gelato up his nose the day they’d met, or later, covered in chocolate sprinkles with a swollen cheek. Her flashing eyes when they’d argued. Her laugh, the little snort at the end when she really got going, so full of life and happiness that he couldn’t help but join in. Even pale and sick, her beauty had taken his breath away. He loved her. Every inch of her. Every little quirk. Even her obsessive need to alphabetize everything within reach. Or her refusal to buy an odd number of anything. Or her disturbing habit of tripping over her own feet. He loved her. And he was going to fix this. No matter what it cost him.
He’d already lost the most important thing in the world to him. Nothing else mattered.
By the time he pulled into his parents’ house, the sun was beginning to set. Jared had texted that all had gone well with the employees, and that he’d gotten the lock off the garage. But Nat hadn’t shown up.
He parked his car, ignoring the throngs of his parents’ friends filtering into the house and the strange looks he got at his extremely informal attire. Another one of his mother’s interminable dinner parties, no doubt. Well, they’d just have to put the party on hold for a few minutes.
He marched inside, going from room to room, looking for his mother. Unfortunately, the first person he ran into was Courtney.
“Eric, darling,” she said, reaching for him.
He stepped out of her reach and looked past her. “Have you seen my mother?”
“Well, hello to you, too,” she said, her face set in a pissy pout.
“What did you tell my mother about Natalie?”
“Who?”
“You know very well who she is. My mother said you filled her in on all the details. What exactly did you tell her?”
“I just told her what was going on. How that little tramp was trying to take advantage of you like she’d done with your aunt.”
Eric fumed, but tried to keep a rein on his anger. Shouting at Courtney in the middle of a party was not the way to get on his mother’s good side.
“What is going on between me and Nat is no one’s business but ours. Not my mother’s and certainly not yours.”
Courtney’s mouth curled up in disgust. “She’s obviously got you thinking with something other than the head on your shoulders or you would have taken care of this little situation a long time ago. I was just trying to help you out.”
“No, you weren’t.” Eric seethed and took a deep breath to calm down. Courtney was nothing more than a vindictive little harpy, but he wasn’t going to stoop to her level to inform her of that. “You were pissed that I didn’t want you and did your best to ruin who I did want.”
Courtney sputtered, her face flushing in anger. But before she could make an even bigger scene than they were already making, Eric turned his back on her and went to find his mother. He was done wasting time on Courtney and her nonsense.
His mother’s laugh from the deck drew him outside. She stood surrounded by her friends, holding court like a queen. She caught sight of him and her eyes widened in surprise. She handed her champagne to a passing waiter and came toward him.
“Hello, dear,” she said, grasping his shoulders in a quick hug. She stepped back, her gaze raking him from head to toe, taking in his rumpled sweatpants and T-shirt and tousled hair. Eric hadn’t realized until just then how bad he must look. He should have taken the time to at least throw on some jeans or something, but when he’d woken and watched Nat run from him, he hadn’t given a thought to anything els
e. And the rest of the revelations of the day had dropped a change of clothes to the bottom of his list of priorities.
“That’s an interesting outfit,” she said, her lips grazing his cheek. “You look like you just rolled out of bed.” Before he could speak, she brushed past him. “My office.”
They entered her office from the French doors on the patio, not speaking until she had the doors closed firmly behind them. “Now. To what do I owe the pleasure of you crashing my soiree?”
“Natalie Moran.”
His mother’s eyebrow raised slightly. “What about her? I thought we took care of that. Does she want more money?”
Eric raked his hand through his hair. “No, Mother. She doesn’t want money. Neither do I. Why would you send me money to buy her out? I never asked you to do that.”
“Of course not. You’re as stubborn as your father. So when Courtney told me about your little situation and how clingy the girl was getting, I decided to save you the trouble of asking and just help you out. It’s much more than the garage is worth. It’s a good deal for her.”
Eric took a breath. He knew his mother’s intentions had been in the right place. And he’d been raised to be respectful. But damn if he didn’t want to rip his hair out by the roots.
“I appreciate the thought, but I really don’t need you to bail me out. Natalie and I have an agreement that is working out fine. I have no desire to take the garage from her.”
The other eyebrow went up. “Why on earth not? The whole situation is ridiculous. I don’t know what your aunt was thinking.”
Eric had an inkling, and highly suspected it had more to do with matchmaking than with baking, but he wasn’t going to get into that with his mother. “It doesn’t matter, Mom. What matters is that the bakery is my business and I am running it the way I decided was best. Like I said, I appreciate you sending the money, but I don’t need it. I’m not going to buy Nat out. And I want you to call your lawyers and get the appeal dropped. Tonight.”
Eric’s mother leaned against her desk, her gaze boring into him. He resisted the urge to squirm. When she stared at him like that it had always seemed like his mother could look into his very soul and read the thoughts in his head.
“You love her,” she said.
Eric started, for a split second thinking that maybe she had read his mind. And for another second, he considered denying it. But the slight smile on his mother’s lips let him know there’d be no point in that.
“Yes.”
“Nonsense,” his father said, coming in from the hallway.
“Dad.”
His dad held up his hand. “Enough. The situation has already been taken care of, there’s no reason to rehash it.”
“What do you mean, no reason? You can’t just…”
Eric stopped, suddenly acutely aware that he was about to defy his parents for the first time in his life. Oh he’d pushed them on small stuff, sure. He’d made choices they wouldn’t approve of, frequently. But he’d never outright defied them. Never said no. Never gone against their opinion, on anything. He wasn’t going to lie that the thought of doing it now was making him a bit queasy. But he’d go through a lot worse for Natalie.
“I can and I have. The discussion is over. Now, John will be in touch once the buyout is complete and—”
“No.”
Eric’s father stopped, one eyebrow raised in cool surprise. “Excuse me?”
“I said no,” Eric repeated, standing as straight and tall as he could. It was probably the most difficult thing he’d ever done, but he looked his father right in the eye and said it again. “No. There will be no buyout. No sale. No break up. I’m keeping the bakery. I’ll be quitting my job and running it full time. With Natalie at my side. In whatever capacity she likes. As my wife, if she’ll have me. As my business partner, no matter what.”
“Eric,” his mother said, her eyes wide with shock and surprise.
“Are you finished?” his father asked.
“Yes, sir.” Eric met his father’s gaze. And waited.
“Good. Now, let me tell you what’s really going to happen. You will let John go ahead with the sale of the bakery and you will go back to your job so that you can utilize the education that I paid for. Next summer, you will join me at my firm, as planned. As for this…girl…you will end it. Immediately. You know what we’ve found out about her. I will not invest so much money in something that is already a huge risk when someone with her reputation is involved. I would prefer you come to your senses and get out of this whole bakery business entirely. But at the very least, you need to cut off your association with this woman. I have invested too much in your future to let you throw it away.”
“I’m not some investment, Dad. I’m your son.”
“Yes. You are. So start acting like it. What’s it going to be?”
Eric paused, drawing deep breaths in through his tight throat, anger and pain flooding through him. He didn’t believe it had come to this. This wasn’t what he wanted. But he couldn’t go through with what his father asked.
“I love you and Mom. I appreciate everything you’ve ever done for me, more than I’ll ever be able to say. But this is my life. I hoped you would understand. Support me. But if you are asking me to choose between your money and the woman I love…”
“I shouldn’t think it would be much of a choice.”
Eric looked down, braced himself for what he was about to say. “You’re right. It’s not.”
He went to his mother, kissed her cheek. “I love you, Mom.”
Then he went to the door. “I love you, too, Dad. And I’m sorry I’m ruining all the plans you’d made. I truly am. But I need to do what I feel is best for me. I’ll get my business going. On my own. I believe what Natalie’s told me about what happened in her past. I trust her. She’s my life.”
He left then, unbearable sadness filling him at the hurt in his father’s eyes. He’d just crushed the dream his father had had for him since the day he was born. The company he’d spent his whole life building so he could share it with his son would fall to other hands someday. Causing the man who’d given him so much any sort of disappointment was the hardest thing he’d ever done. Hopefully, someday his father would understand. Because giving up Natalie would have destroyed Eric. He was going to get her back, no matter what he had to do. Because living without her was not an option.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Eric was woken up at the crack of dawn by the Iron Man theme song blaring from his phone. Jared. Eric grabbed the phone and growled into it. “Seriously? The sun isn’t even up yet. What are you even doing awake? And more importantly, why the hell are you calling and waking me up?”
“I came down to the bakery to paint the rest of your signage.”
Eric grunted. Jared actually on time for a job? Amazing. “What do you need?”
There was a slight pause. “I think you should come down here.”
“I’m still down the shore.”
“What are you doing down there?”
“Things didn’t go well with my parents last night. So I got drunk and then I got a hotel. What do you need? It’s only four thirty in the morning. I’ll be back later this morning. Can it wait?”
Another pause.
“Jared, what’s going on?”
“Natalie’s been down here, I think.”
Eric sat up, fully awake. “What do you mean?”
“Her truck is gone. I got the chain off the doors like you said, but the truck was still there when I left last night. It’s not here now.”
“Well, that’s not unusual. She or Gina probably just took it out for the daily run.”
“It’s too early for that.”
“Is her other stuff gone? Do you think it was stolen?”
“No. But…everything of hers that was down here is gone. Her apron, that big whisk she liked. Even those stupid oven mitts. And…she left something here for you. An envelope. It was taped to the garage doors.”
&nbs
p; Eric was already up and throwing on his shoes. “I’m leaving now. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
He hung up the phone and grabbed his car keys. Then he hopped in his car and hauled ass.
What could she have left him? If she’d wanted to talk to him, she could have called or texted or, hell, even emailed him. He seriously doubted it was some old-fashioned love letter. Whatever it was, he probably wasn’t going to like it. And he had a really bad feeling he already knew what it was.
Two hours later, Eric stood staring at the glaringly empty garage. Jared had left the envelope where Nat had taped it to the inside of one of the doors. A large manila envelope with his name scrawled on it in Nat’s distinctive handwriting. He didn’t want to touch it. It felt disturbingly like he had come home to find an empty apartment and divorce papers waiting for him.
Once he finally ripped the thing down and opened it, he found he hadn’t been entirely wrong. Nat had signed ownership of the garage over to him. All the legal documents were here, neatly signed, with a formal letter relinquishing all rights to the property and waiving any future claims to the bakery or garage. There was also a receipt and work order papers from the auto shop that had fixed his car, with a warranty in case they’d missed something. And a brand new shirt, presumably to replace the one she’d ruined the day they’d met, was hanging from a hook on the wall. All links to him carefully tied up. And severed.
But there was no note from her. Nothing that explained why she was giving up the garage. Nothing about where she was or what she was going to do. Or if she’d ever be back. Though the removal of all her personal items seemed to answer that question.
Eric’s heart sank and he cleared his throat, trying to ease the sudden tightness.
Jared’s hand clapped on his shoulder. “I’m sorry, man. But…at least you got what you wanted. Right?”
Eric frowned. “Did I?”
“Sure. I mean, you wanted the garage, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Well.” Jared shrugged.
Eric’s shoulders slumped and he turned to go back into the bakery. He looked around. It was amazing. Gleaming cases ready for trays of sweetness. Tables and chairs waiting for customers. Polished ovens and equipment restored to their former beauty with enough modern touches to make everything as efficient as possible. Everything was pristine and perfect. And it was all her. None of it would have been possible without her.
