by Olivia Miles
“I thought you did, too.” Bree’s gaze had turned stony, and it took everything in Charlotte not to become defensive. After all, from the way everyone saw it, she had willingly betrayed her sister, stolen something precious from her. She could have set them straight at the beginning. But she was in denial then. Still hoping that things might work out with Jake after all. That the man her sister had loved would stand by her, and his child.
She shook her head. What a mess.
“It’s complicated,” she said, but her words fell flat. “I want more than anything to have things back to the way they were.” She paused. Was this true? Did she really want to go back to being the girl who spent Monday through Friday planning her weekend outfits, and every Thursday through Saturday night partying in town? Some role model for Audrey that would make her. And the energy! Just the thought of going out past eight o’clock felt like a new form of torture.
“A lot of damage has been done.” Bree eyed her sternly. “Don’t go upsetting Kate. Promise me that.”
Is that what Bree thought she intended? She nodded softly and walked to the door, her heart pounding as her eyes scanned the road that led back to her car, in case her sister was coming around the corner. But she paused as she reached the door.
“Can I ask one more favor?” She was hardly in the position to be asking for anything, given what she’d taken, but this was one request she needed to fulfill. “Don’t tell Kate that Jake and I aren’t together. There’s a lot she doesn’t know, and it would be better if I told her myself. If she’ll let me.”
Bree frowned, but finally nodded. “I won’t tell her.”
“Thank you,” Charlotte said, giving a watery smile.
“And, Charlotte?” Bree called, startling Charlotte as she stepped onto the sidewalk.
She turned back, wondering what lecture she was going to hear, if Bree had been boiling with anger for what Charlotte had done to Kate the way half the town probably would, if she had a message to deliver to Charlotte, if she was going to have her peace once and for all.
But Bree just said gently, “Take care of yourself, Charlotte. And for what it’s worth, all I want is for things to go back to the way they were, too.”
Charlotte felt the tears spring to her eyes as she swallowed back the emotions that were building inside her. She turned away and hurried down the street, happy that she’d worn sunglasses so no one could see that she was crying.
It wasn’t much, but it was enough. She had hope again. Hope that people could forgive. And that maybe her sister was one of them.
Chapter Twenty-One
The first stop after lunch was Rose in Bloom. Kate knew Bree was a stickler for spotting even the slightest hint of a wilted petal, but she couldn’t cross the item off her list without checking, and besides, she looked forward to a visit with her cousin.
The flower shop was only a few blocks from her office, but Kate still felt on edge as she walked down the sidewalk. If Charlotte was back, what did that mean? And if Jake was here, then wouldn’t Charlotte be, too?
A phone call to her parents would confirm her suspicion. Had they seen their youngest daughter? What had they said? Deep down Kate knew that they obviously loved Charlotte. But how could they love her and forgive what Charlotte had done?
She was frowning by the time she arrived at the shop, but she had arrived, without altercation or an unfortunate run-in. That was a small victory.
In a town as small as Misty Point, she wouldn’t always be so lucky.
She’d have to prepare herself for the inevitable. But first, she needed to get through this wedding. The door to the shop was open, as Bree tended to keep it, even on stormy days, claiming she liked the smell of rain and that she had no business being a florist if she didn’t embrace nature to its fullest.
Kate breathed in the fragrant air, nearly tasting its sweetness, and wandered up to the big workbench at the back of the room, where Bree was assembling a colorful arrangement. She paused to smell a bunch of peonies and then kept walking, trying her best not to get caught up in the beauty of her surroundings. She wasn’t here to ooh and aah, as easy as it would be. She had a job to do, and the sooner she approved the flowers for Elizabeth’s bouquets, the sooner she could move on to the next item on her list, which was to pick up the dresses from the bridal boutique.
“These are gorgeous,” she murmured, resisting the urge to touch one of the cherry red dahlias that sprung from a galvanized pot.
Bree looked up in greeting and said through a sigh, “Give me just thirty seconds to tuck in the last of these stems and I’m yours. You know how it is; you have to fulfill the vision when it is still clear! Or else it slips and is gone forever.”
Bree tucked the last stem into the vase and stepped back to study it with fine scrutiny. “Perfect!” She flashed a big smile and turned the arrangement toward Kate. “What do you think?”
It was exquisite work. The colors were vivid and unexpected, the arrangement tight and modern. Bree’s grandmother had come up with lovely designs, but Bree was born to do this. “Gorgeous.” Kate smiled. “How are the arrangements for tonight?”
For the rehearsal dinner, they’d decided to stick with a green and white theme, opting for creamy white roses. Simple and clean and just elegant enough to underscore such a special occasion.
“They’re in the back room and all ready to go. I’ll bring them over an hour early as we discussed. And look what I picked up first thing this morning. Straight from the flower market.” Bree lifted a finger to signal Kate to wait and quickly returned from the back room with a big bucket of vibrant pink dahlias.
“Oh my goodness,” Kate gasped, stunned at how fresh and full the blooms were, even though Bree only selected the best. “Elizabeth is going to be thrilled.”
“The wedding bouquets will be beautiful. As well as the centerpieces.” Bree winked. “I’ll be getting an early start on them tomorrow. Don’t worry, I’ve asked one of my summer part-time girls to help out with the table arrangements in the afternoon so I can attend to my bridesmaid duties.” Before Kate had a chance to say anything, she added, “Don’t fret. She’s perfectly capable of making sure the centerpieces are exactly centered and all accounted for.”
Kate winced. “Is it that obvious I was worried?”
“Let’s just say I’m not sure who is more nervous about this wedding, you or the bride.” Bree reached over and patted Kate’s hand. “Relax, Kate. Don’t let that awful Meredith get to you so much.”
“I wish it were that easy,” Kate sighed. She looked around the shop longingly, imagining a different path. “It must be nice to control your own fate. To not have to worry about losing your job.”
“Oh, I worry,” Bree chuckled. “Gran may not be with me in the physical sense anymore, but I hate the thought of letting her down.”
“Have you given more thought to the house?” Kate asked casually.
“No. Simon said something about taking me on a trip to Nantucket one weekend before the end of summer.” Bree’s eyes danced.
Kate stifled a groan. If that trip ever materialized, she would toss a hundred bucks into her Future jar, in lieu of lunches out for a month.
“Besides, I’m too tired to think about that house most days. Working in the shop with Gran was different than running it on my own. I feel like I could fall asleep on my feet most days. I may not have a boss, but I have clients. And they are not always easy to please. But it is nice to do things my way without someone breathing down my neck or threatening to fire me, not that Gran ever did that. Why, are you thinking of going out on your own?”
“More like dreaming.” Kate sighed.
“I’d love to see nothing more than for you to stick it to that woman. She’s bitter, that’s what she is. Planning weddings. Never having one of her own.” Bree’s eyes grew wide in alarm at her misstep.
Kate held up a hand before the apology came. “She is bitter. That’s it exactly.” And it was a scary reminder of where her ow
n path could lead, if she let it. “Well, no sense in thinking of quitting when I should be thinking about this wedding tomorrow.” Kate lifted her bag onto her shoulder. A long day was ahead and as much as she might like to hang out with her cousin, that would have to wait.
“I’ll see you tonight, then. For the rehearsal dinner.” She paused when she noticed a small card next to a bouquet of apricot roses, her stomach flipping when she saw her name. Her mind ran through the possibilities.
Alec. He didn’t seem like the type to make sweeping romantic gestures. No, only one person she knew was the type to go overboard with things like that, in the end overlooking what really mattered. Jake.
He was back in town. Was he seeking her out? Had he come back to apologize?
God, I hope not.
She stared at the roses, licking her lips, wondering if she should just pretend she hadn’t seen them, wait for Bree to say something instead. But curiosity was growing about as quickly as the hope that they were from Alec.
“Are these…for me?” She gave Bree a quizzical glance, at once feeling embarrassed for asking at all. Kate was a common name, after all.
Bree sighed as a guilty flush crept up her neck. She glanced down, and at once Kate was filled with dread. So her hunch was right. “Who are they from?” she asked, almost not wanting to know. From the look on Bree’s face, they weren’t from someone Bree thought she’d want to see.
“Don’t tell me they’re from Jake,” she said flatly.
Bree looked at her with surprise. “No. Why? Are you…Have you spoken with him?”
Kate relaxed. “No. And I don’t intend to. But if I must…well, I have nothing to say.” She chewed her lip, eyeing the flowers. “Are they from Alec?”
“Alec?” Bree showed more surprise by that scenario than she had when Kate’s ex-fiancé was mentioned. “You mean the best man?”
Kate nodded, hoping the disappointment she felt didn’t show on her face. Of course they weren’t from Alec. Why would he have sent her flowers? They’d had a nice few days together, and a kiss. Well, several kisses, technically.
And by Sunday morning he’d be back in Boston. Back to his busy life that had no room for anything personal in it.
It was a little fact that she had managed to not think about too much these past few days. And from the way her heart sank, she should have.
“Why would you think they were from him?” Bree asked, leaning forward with sudden interest.
She and Alec had kissed last night, for real this time, and there was no way she could tell Elizabeth. But Bree…Bree could keep things to herself. She had to, in her line of work. She was probably the only person in all of Misty Point who knew the identity of everyone’s secret admirers. But her lips were always sealed.
Kate brushed a hand through the air, feeling ridiculous. “I thought he might have sent them as a thank-you gift,” she lied. “For helping him out so much this week.”
Bree seemed to take this an answer, but her eyes glimmered a little when she looked back at Kate. “Here I was thinking that something might have happened between you two. I saw the way he was looking at you last night. Seemed like he really liked talking to you. And he’s really cute.”
That he was. “He’s also really not Elizabeth’s biggest fan,” Kate pointed out, feeling that familiar stir of guilt every time she thought of her friend. “It’s hard to overlook that.”
Bree didn’t seem concerned. “Oh, that will settle itself out in time, I think. But I guess it’s best not to stir anything up before tomorrow.”
No. It wasn’t. And Kate didn’t intend to, either. Besides, come Sunday, there might be nothing to tell.
“So, who are they from? Elizabeth?” She didn’t know why the thought hadn’t occurred to her sooner. It was just the type of gesture her friend would make to thank her for planning the wedding.
“Elizabeth already scheduled her delivery for you for Monday morning,” Bree confided. Her mouth thinned and she held Kate’s eyes a second longer than usual. “They’re from Charlotte.”
“Charlotte?” Kate repeated, knowing she had visibly blanched. So she was back.
“She was in here this morning. It was very important to her that you read the card. I…I didn’t know what to say.” Bree shook her head.
Kate’s eyes darted to the window, and she suddenly had a desire to run back to her office and hide there for the rest of the day. Or maybe the rest of her life.
It was bad enough that her sister and Jake had run off to Boston together. But having them back in Misty Point…that was a hundred times worse.
“Charlotte didn’t seem herself,” Bree continued, watching Kate carefully. “She seemed a bit tired. She wasn’t wearing any makeup or anything, and her hair…Well, you know how Charlotte is.”
Yes, Kate knew. Charlotte was vain, always had been. And Charlotte never left the house without makeup…on her face or in her bag.
The pungent aroma of the flowers was becoming stifling, and she felt dizzy from the smell—or maybe from the newest information. She stepped back from the counter.
“Well, I should really go. You know how it is, the day before the wedding and all.”
Bree smiled and gave a quick nod. “Do you want to take the card?”
Kate hesitated. Upon closer examination, she could make out Charlotte’s loopy scroll, the very same since she’d learned cursive back in third grade. “No,” she said decisively.
Bree nodded. “I understand.” She slid the card into a drawer, out of sight, and then looked Kate square in the eye, huffing out a breath. “Look, I promised your sister I wouldn’t say anything, but when I mentioned that Jake was back she said…she said they weren’t together anymore.”
Kate could only raise her eyebrows. Technically such news should have brought her pleasure, or at least satisfaction. But instead all she felt was disappointment. Charlotte flitted from one man to the next, and this was just her pattern repeating itself. Something that had meant nothing had ruined a lifetime of relationships, broken their family.
She shook her head. All for nothing.
“Something tells me there’s more going on than we know,” Bree went on.
“More like Jake broke up with her, and she came running after him,” Kate said, turning to go. Just thinking about Charlotte and Jake made her heart race, and not in a good way. “I have to go pick up those dresses.”
“I’m sorry I said anything.” Bree looked miserable.
“Don’t worry about telling me,” Kate reassured her. “I’m glad you did.” And if it hadn’t been Bree, it would be her mother, who she’d be seeing tomorrow at the wedding anyway.
“I’ll see you tonight?” Bree asked hopefully.
“See you tonight,” Kate said, managing a smile. She gave a vague wave and dodged her way through the pots of flowers until she was out on the sidewalk, exposed. She didn’t look around, but bent her head, put one foot in front of the other, and hurried all the way back to Bride by Design, for once finding relief in pulling open the blue door and slipping inside.
* * *
Alec paced the length of his hotel suite, playing out every scenario a second time. By the time he reached the far wall, he stopped and drew his attention to the window, hoping the view of the ocean would ease his anxiety.
A tapping at the door caused him to inhale sharply, and without further hesitation he crossed the room and opened the door, giving his father a tight smile by way of greeting.
“What time did you arrive?” Alec asked as his father walked over to the bar cart and began mixing a gin and tonic. George held up an empty glass by way of invitation, but Alec shook his head. He’d need a clear head to get through the conversation he was about to have.
“Just got in about ten minutes ago. What time’s this meeting with Mason Lambert?”
“Three.” Alec stared levelly at his father, but George was too busy mixing his drink to notice. “We need to talk, Dad.”
His father took a
sip of his drink. Alec could hear the ice clinking in the glass.
“We need to push back on another meeting tomorrow afternoon.”
George’s brow pinched. “We’re hardly in a position to be making demands, Alec.”
It was true, but Alec had already thought this through. “We don’t want to look desperate, either. Mason is a smart man. Maybe he’s testing us. He knows William is getting married tomorrow.”
“So we have the meeting and then we go to the ceremony.” George shrugged and took another swig from his glass.
“I just don’t see it being that easy,” Alec said. Today’s schedule was tight enough. Tomorrow was impossible.
His father’s jaw was tight. “We don’t even know if we’ll get to that meeting tomorrow. Let’s see how today goes and take it from there.”
“And if it goes well today and he wants to extend it to dinner?” He wouldn’t put anything past Mason Lambert, from what he’d seen and read.
George walked over to the bar cart and made himself another drink. “William walked away from the company,” he eventually said.
“So what? He turned his back on the family, and now we can turn our back on him?” Alec cursed under his breath. “I’m not so sure it’s really like that.”
“Then explain it to me,” his father said.
“William is happy here, Dad. He’s…different. In a good way. I think you’ll see that for yourself tonight.”
His father narrowed his eyes. “Are you telling me you no longer care if he stays in Misty Point?”
“Of course I care.” Just maybe not in the way his father could ever understand. He shook his head. It was no use trying to reason with the old man. They were two different people.
“Then you should care about how this meeting with Mason goes,” his father said. “Let’s review our notes.”
Alec walked over to the dining table and rummaged through his papers for the file. He handed it to his father and took a seat on an armchair. He’d meet with Mason today, but only until five. As for tomorrow…He’d have a choice to make. A choice that went much deeper than the fate of the business.
