by Diane Darcy
It wasn’t the ocean, but the whole situation reminded Honey of her sister and the day she’d drowned.
After the evening she’d had, it was too much to handle. Honey’s head jerked away from the scene as emotions she couldn’t control bubbled up inside her, and tears spilled down her cheeks. She hurried out the entrance and back toward the parking lot.
She’d made two promises that day. She’d promised her sister they’d go in the water, then promised her mother they wouldn’t.
Honey swiped at the tears running down her face. She had kept the promise to her sister and she’d died. How many times had Honey wished she could go back and make the right choice?
At an early age she’d learned the incredibly hard lesson that sometimes you just did the right thing regardless of anything else.
And...that’s what she was dealing with at the moment, with Trevor, his family, and Nick.
It was why she was so upset.
Yes, she feared Trevor’s reaction to her part in the land deal. She feared he wouldn’t believe she wasn’t in on it.
She could lose him right when she felt like she’d found something precious and worth exploring. She couldn’t believe she was even willing to risk their new relationship.
And she had no doubt Nick would follow through on his threats.
But she had to do the right thing. She didn’t have a choice. She had to let Trevor and his family know they were being cheated, even if it meant losing the career she’d worked so hard to build.
She reached her car, unlocked it and tugged it open.
Even if it meant losing Trevor.
Honey drove to the restaurant, but Trevor’s truck wasn’t there. Without her phone, she no longer had Trevor’s cell number and she considered tracking it down and calling from a pay phone.
But didn’t want to talk to his parents, so she decided to head to his cabin instead. Maybe the drive over would steady her nerves.
Fifteen minutes later, she pulled onto his property only to find he wasn’t there, either. She sat, the car still running, her fingers clenching and unclenching on the steering wheel.
The time it was taking her to find Trevor was causing her to lose her nerve. She wasn’t sure she could face him. She remembered everything he’d told her about his wife being so deceptive, how it had crushed him, and Honey knew Trevor might not be able to take a chance on her. She wasn’t sure she could handle seeing his expression when she broke the news to him.
Anyway, at the very least, he might need a little time to sort out his emotions.
She sat back and stared at his cabin and debated what to do. She realized she could just wait, and talk it out with Trevor when he got there, but she wasn’t sure she could handle his disgust with her right now. She could go see Trevor’s parents and explain to them, but they’d hate her, too.
She finally dug out a piece of paper and started writing, effectively ending her career, one word at a time. She explained the entire situation, how Nick had sent her, how she hadn’t known he had inside information, how Trevor needed to cancel the deal. She folded the note in half and headed for the front door.
It was all too much for her; the test she’d taken, her break up with her fiancé, Michelle’s revelation and Nick’s threats, the memories of her sister and now having to admit everything to Trevor, and destroying her own career.
Tears filled her eyes and fine tremors wracked her body as she attached the note to the clip in the middle of the front door.
She headed back to her car. She’d just go back to the hotel and wait. If Trevor showed up, she’d know he could forgive her part in the fiasco. If he didn’t, then she’d have her answer and would head home in the morning.
***
“Come on, you guys, hurry,” Dylan called over his shoulder. He peddled a little faster, then relaxed back onto his bicycle seat and let the momentum carry him the rest of the way down the road and toward Trevor’s gravel driveway.
He couldn’t wait to prove to Isaac and Seth that he was being paid to feed the game warden’s dog. They’d be so jealous when Charlie came to him and let him pet him and open the gate and everything.
He rounded a huge pine just as a car was backing out, and Dylan had to swerve at the last second to avoid being hit. He toppled into the grass beside the driveway, slightly winded, and his friends braked to a stop by the mailbox.
A woman jumped out of the front seat and Dylan recognized her. It was Trevor’s girlfriend, and she was crying.
“Are you all right?” She brushed away tears.
“Sure.” Jeeze, she didn’t need to cry about it. He’d had worse falls riding down the stairs at the park.
“I’m so sorry, I was just leaving and didn’t see you.”
“I said it’s okay, lady.” Dylan’s eyes narrowed as he took in her tear-stained face. “Did you say you’re leaving? Like, you’re leaving the game warden? For good or something?”
Tears filled the lady’s eyes again and he figured he had his answer. He looked around for Trevor’s truck, but it wasn’t there. Dylan could see what looked like a note on the front door. “I don’t think you should go.” Dylan had been thinking about the way Trevor’s wife had left him and how much that sucked.
Trevor wasn’t such a bad guy. He had a good dog and knew how to catch fish and stuff. He didn’t deserve the same thing to happen to him again. It totally blew when people left. You had to wonder if they’d ever come back, and sometimes they didn’t.
The woman backed up a step. “Well, if you’re okay, I’m going to go now.”
“You shouldn’t leave him alone again!” yelled Dylan.
The lady stared at him for a moment and her face crumpled again. She got in her car and slowly backed out of the driveway.
“Come on,” Dylan gestured to his friends. He jumped on his bike, made a stop by the porch to yank off the note, and took off, determined to find Trevor. Trevor would know what to do. The game warden was good at catching people.
***
Trevor’s heart pounded and his hands, slick with sweat, gripped the steering wheel as he searched for the white Lexus. He automatically searched each white car just in case Honey’s coworker had gotten the model wrong.
Would Honey’s fiancé talk her into going back to him? The guy had the right to do exactly that. As much as Trevor didn’t want it to be true, he was the interloper.
He pulled into his parent’s driveway, braked hard, grabbed his keys and ran inside. “Anyone home?”
“In here, Trevor.”
He followed his mother’s voice to the kitchen where his parents sat at the table finishing dinner, his dad reading the paper. “Honey’s gone,” said Trevor. “She’s talking with her fiancé, she’s not answering her phone and probably went back home with him. I don’t even know where she lives.” Trevor threaded fingers through his thick hair.
His mother, wide-eyed, went to the phone, looked up a number, and dialed. After a moment she shook her head at his dad.
His dad shrugged. “Calm down. I saw the way she was looking at you last weekend. It’ll all work out. Did you give her the contract?”
Trevor sucked in a breath, his dad’s confident attitude grating on him. “I gave it to Honey’s co-worker, but Honey’s name is on it so she’ll get the commission.”
His dad laughed and picked up the newspaper again. “Perfect. Serves them right. Now go back to your place and wait for Honey. Trust me. She’ll show up.”
Trevor swallowed, nodded, and headed back to his truck. He hoped his dad was right. As he headed down the road, three boys on bikes waved furiously from the side of the road, and Trevor pulled over and cut the engine.
Breathing hard, Dylan bent and tried to catch his breath. “Your girlfriend left. She was crying. She left this note and said she’s leaving.” Dylan held out a folded sheet of paper.
Trevor’s gut tightened to the point of pain and he reached out, took the note, and slowly unfolded it.
She was sorry abou
t the land deal.
There wasn’t a word about the fiancé, or about anything else, which seemed very telling to Trevor.
He nodded to Dylan and his friends. “Thanks, boys.”
They nodded back, their faces worried.
Trevor restarted the ignition, put his seatbelt on, checked traffic, and slowly pulled back onto the road.
His jaw ached. He should have known this would happen. Apparently he wasn’t the type of guy who inspired long-lasting commitment in women.
It was nothing more than he deserved, anyway, for trying to sucker punch the other guy.
Honey knew how Trevor felt, and she knew where to find him if she changed her mind and chose him instead.
Chapter Fourteen
“Are you just going to wallow in pity all day again today?”
Honey dabbed her eyes with a tissue, but didn’t even try to sit up from her reclining position against the big couch cushions. “I’m watching a movie, Mom.” Honey pulled the patchwork quilt tight against her chin. “Can’t I watch a movie without you accusing me of wallowing?”
Olivia Stevens started feather-dusting the shelves by the television. Her blonde hair was tucked into a smooth French twist, and her big blue eyes intermittently peeked back at Honey. Since she never dusted if she could get away with it, and since the weekly maid service had cleaned around Honey the day before, the tactic wasn’t very subtle.
“It’s a romantic comedy,” Olivia commented. “You’re supposed to laugh, not cry. Anyway, you’ve been here six days. It’s a Thursday, and it’s ten in the morning, in case you’re interested. Most people are at work at this time, not lounging around in their pajamas crying into their...what is that you’re eating? Powdered donuts?”
Honey glared at her mom. “It’s a legitimate breakfast food.”
Olivia snorted. “Not a very healthy one. Are you going to shower today?”
“Maybe.”
Her mom sighed and Honey didn’t blame her. Honey was tired of the moping and tears, too. “What are you going to do about that boy you like so much?”
“His name is Trevor, Mom. And I already did it. I bought a brand spanking new cell phone just in case he wanted to call. Which he doesn’t.”
“That doesn’t necessarily mean anything.”
Tears filled Honey’s eyes again. “Yes, it does. The fact that Trevor hasn’t called says it all. I blew it and now he hates me!”
Her mother rolled her eyes. “Why don’t you give him a call? Girls do that now, you know.”
Honey didn’t respond, but she was glad her mom wasn’t urging her to call Christian anymore. It had taken her a while to accept that Honey wasn’t as devastated over his loss as Olivia herself was.
Olivia sighed and gave the television a few swipes with the duster. “No one is perfect. You aren’t. He isn’t. You need to realize that. He’ll forgive you once he understands you were being used.”
“No, he won’t.”
“Fine. If you won’t call this Trevor person, you can at least call and talk to your boss. You need to find out what happened and see what the fallout is going to be for quitting without notice, and for giving the client confidential information.”
When Honey didn’t respond, Olivia lifted the duster into the air in obvious exasperation. “You don’t know anything. Are you going to be sued? Will you lose your license? Find out so you can get on with your life and get back to living.”
After her mother left, Honey picked up her cell phone from where it sat beside the couch and dialed. Relief hit her when it was Robert who answered. “Hi, it’s Honey.”
“Hi, how’s the vacation going?”
Vacation? What exactly had Nick told everyone?
“You’ve missed out on all the drama.”
Drama as in Nick putting together a lawsuit to sue her?
Cautiously she asked. “What do you mean? What’s been going on?”
“Okay, are you ready for the dirt? You know that property you purchased for Nick in Redding?”
Here it came. “Yes?”
“It turns out Nick was trying to pull a fast one on those clients. The Barons. Remember them?”
Honey swallowed. “Yes, I remember them.”
“Well, after the deal went through--”
Honey sat up fast. “What? The deal went through?” Trevor hadn’t canceled the contract? Shock coursed through her, making her dizzy. Hadn’t Trevor found her note? Had the wind blown it away?
Her grip tightened on the phone. She shouldn’t have left it outside. She should have talked to him face to face. He’d never even believe she’d left a note now! “I have to go, Robert.” She had to call Trevor.
“Wait! Hold on,” said Robert. “There’s more. And don’t worry, Honey, you still get your commission, which, of course, makes Michelle furious since she thought she’d get it. But yours was the name on the contract. Anyway, the story gets even better.”
As if she cared about the commission. Honey clenched the phone receiver. “Well?”
Robert cleared his throat importantly. “Apparently, Nick borrowed heavily to buy that piece of property.” Honey could hear the smile in Robert’s voice. “Now he can’t sell to the big hardware chain because it turns out they want a different piece altogether. Something on the west side of town.”
Honey remembered the second property Trevor had shown her. “I think I know the piece,” she whispered. She’d felt Trevor was trying to tell her something at the time.
She was confused. Had Trevor known all along about the hardware store purchase? Had the Barons set Nick up? She rejected the notion as wishful thinking on her part. If that were the case, Trevor would have called. He wouldn’t be angry with her.
“Anyway, it gets better still. Nick is now leasing to a bunch of lawyers! Ha! You know how he feels about lawyers! And they’ve recently had the land listed as designated Historical Property! Ho, ho! So now Nick owns the property, and can’t do anything but keep leasing to lawyers, or sell it, and no one is buying. Why would they if the building can’t be plowed?”
Honey should say something, but her brain didn’t seem to be functioning properly.
“Anyway, you’re lucky you’re on vacation. As you can imagine, it’s been very tense around here.” Robert laughed. “I’m thinking about opening my own real estate office, but I’ll need a broker. Would you be interested?”
The offer stunned Honey. “Maybe. Maybe I would.” After she hung up, she stared at the wall for a moment, then picked up the phone to call information to get Trevor’s home number. She quickly changed her mind and hung up again.
If she understood this correctly, she was going to be okay. She still had a job. She wasn’t being sued. The Barons hadn’t lost out on the deal. But none of that changed the fact that Trevor hadn’t called her.
She stood and headed toward the bathroom to take a shower. It was time to go home to Napa, pay her bills and water her plants. She’d take the night to work up her courage, then go on to Redding in the morning.
When she spoke to Trevor, it was a conversation she wanted to have face to face.
***
It was lunchtime when Trevor saw his sister’s car pull up. He got out of his truck and headed to the front door of the fast food restaurant to wait.
He didn’t want to be there and he didn’t want the interrogation that was sure to follow. He wasn’t even hungry. But Elizabeth had assured him that if he didn’t show, she’d hunt him down like a bear after berries.
They met at the entrance. “Hi,” he said.
“Hi yourself,” Elizabeth replied and searched his face, her dark brown eyes worried.
Trevor looked away and held the door and they headed inside to order. Trevor paid, they waited for their food, filled their drinks, and carried the tray to a booth.
Elizabeth fussily laid her napkin on her lap, looked him over, and shook her head. “Trevor, have you looked in the mirror lately? Your beard is growing back in, you look like you’ve lo
st weight, and from what Mom says, you’re working all the time. I think you’re depressed.”
Trevor decided eating was the best response he could think of, so, hungry or not, he shrugged and took a bite of his burger.
“Have you talked to Honey? Has she called?”
Trevor swallowed food he didn’t taste and shrugged again. “Nope. Just like my ex, Honey has decided on the other guy. She’s obviously back with her fiancé.” He shoved a couple of fries into his mouth and didn’t look at his sister.
“But...are you sure?”
Trevor chewed, swallowed hard and stared down at his food. “There must be something wrong with me,” he finally admitted.
“No there is not!” She said the words fiercely, and her blonde hair wavered around her face as she shook her head.
He gave up trying to eat, and didn’t respond. He appreciated the support, but things were the way they were. What more was there to say? So he was hurting. What else was new?
Except, he admitted to himself, he was hurting far worse than when Veronica had left. Then, there had also been a sense of relief. Now all he felt was loss. Intense, bone deep, mind-numbing, loss.
“If you would just lift the ban on Mom and me calling Honey, we could find out what happened.”
His eyes narrowed and he finally looked at her. “Absolutely not.” He’d already laid his heart on the line. Honey knew how he felt about her. No way was he humiliating himself further by standing behind the girls in his family like a whiney loser.
“Well, then you should call her yourself! Or better yet, follow her home. Good, bad, or ugly, you’ve got to know what is going on for sure, okay? Based on my own relationship problems, I can honestly say it’s better to know. It’s always better to know.”
“I don’t know where she lives.”
Elizabeth rolled her eyes, dug in her purse for a moment, then slid a piece of paper across the table to him. It was an address. “So now you do. So go. Or at the very least, call her.”
Adrenaline shot through him as he read the address he’d refused to look up himself. Maybe Elizabeth was right. No more lame excuses. He needed to snap out of the funk he was in and get some answers. Maybe if he heard it straight from Honey, he could start sleeping again instead of lying awake all night wondering what he’d done wrong. Wondering what he could have done differently.
