by Codi Gary
And then Luke noticed Brent was holding her ring hand.
She seemed to realize what he was doing a moment too late as he slipped the large diamond engagement ring off and held it between two of his fingers.
Then he dropped it into his pocket and held his hand out to Kendall. “I’m hungry. Want to grab some dinner?”
Kendall’s smile was massive. “Yeah, I do.”
“What? You can’t do this!” Sonora wailed. “She’s my sister!”
The two of them walked down the aisle, ignoring Sonora as she cried, cursed and screamed. Luke came down the stairs past her to stand beside Marley.
“So, does this mean we can be seen in public together?”
Marley nodded enthusiastically, and without warning, he flipped her up and over his shoulder.
“What are you doing?” she asked, her voice shaking with laughter.
“Taking the conquering hero somewhere I can have her all to myself.”
Chapter 21
Hours later, Marley snuggled deeper into the warmth of Luke and the smell of his skin. On the drive back to her place, she’d explained everything: how she started at Something Borrowed to pay off all of the medical bills that had piled up during her sister’s care. That she wanted to date him, but the no-fraternizing clause made it impossible because she would have lost her commission. Luke had taken it all in stride, and she was actually relieved that he wasn’t furious with her over her ruse.
She was just drifting off to the steady thump of his heart when the sound of her phone ringing in the quiet of her bedroom startled her.
“God, why can’t we just have a moment’s peace?” she grumbled.
“Um, babe? We’ve had eight hours and forty minutes of sweaty”—he kissed her shoulder—“peaceful”—kissed along her neck—“bliss.”
“Still not long enough.” She picked up her phone and answered sharply, “Hello?”
“Marley? It’s Fire Chief Riggs.”
Marley jerked up, her heart skipping nervously. “Chief Riggs? Is everything okay?”
“No, Marley, it’s actually not. Someone set fire to the Sweetheart Café.”
The world tilted on its axis and Marley gripped her cell harder. “Oh God—”
Luke sat up, putting his hand on her naked back, smoothing his hand in small comforting circles.
“That’s not all. Your mom was inside when the fire started. She’d fallen asleep while baking the daily pastries. We got her out, but she’s been taken to Marshall Hospital for smoke inhalation.”
No. No this wasn’t happening again. Not again. She couldn’t lose her mom too. “Is she going to be okay?”
“I think so, but Marley, we couldn’t save the café. It’s gone.”
Tears spilled over, mostly relieved that her mom was going to recover but also heartbroken. Her mom had put everything she had into the café. Hell, Marley had put a lot into it too. All her money, time, blood, sweat, and tears? How was her mom going to feel when she found out her livelihood was gone?
“Do you know who did it?” Marley wanted them tarred and feathered. The hair from their bodies plucked slowly and painfully.
The chief hesitated, clearing his throat. “The police have a suspect in custody, but I don’t think that’s what you need to be worrying about now.”
“Who is it?” The knot of dread in her stomach already knew though.
“Marley, you don’t need to worry about it.”
“Who is it?”
The chief sighed through the phone. “Sonora Star. She was pulled over up the road for a DUI and they found gas cans in the back of her car.”
Marley’s chest tightened and breathing was becoming an issue as the truth sank in.
This is all my fault.
“Marley? Marley are you still there, sweetheart?”
Marley didn’t bother correcting the chief, who had known her since she was in diapers. She sucked in several breaths, trying to speak, until finally she managed to wheeze, “Thank you, Chief. I better go so I can be with my mom.”
“Of course. I am so sorry. I wish I had better news.”
“Thanks.”
Marley hung up the phone, guilt chewing at her chest, causing sharp pinches. She got up from the bed, and went to her drawer to grab some clothes, dazed.
“Marley, what happened?” Luke asked behind her.
“Sonora burned down the diner. My mom was inside.”
Luke jumped up from the bed. “Oh my God, is Rose okay?”
Marley shook her head. “I don’t know for sure. The fire chief thinks so, but I need to get to the hospital.” Was that her voice? Why did she sound as though she was a robot?
“I’ll drive you. You’re in shock and shouldn’t get behind the wheel.”
“That’s fine, just hurry.” She could see him pause out of the corner of her eye, but she didn’t feel bad for the sharpness in her tone. She was already too sick and caught up in her own emotions to worry about his.
The whole drive up to the hospital, Marley couldn’t speak, and thankfully, Luke didn’t try. She couldn’t believe that her mom had lost everything…because of her. Because of her mistake. She had been stupid and reckless, thinking only about herself. Sonora had warned her she’d go after her mother and she’d still taken her on. She had every chance to quit that wedding and instead, she kept going, challenged Sonora and acted as though she were bulletproof.
She thought that Sonora might try to sue her, but set her mother’s restaurant on fire with her mother inside? Even if she didn’t know that it wasn’t empty, it was someone’s livelihood. What kind of sociopath does that?
Luke dropped her at the front while he went to find a parking space, and she practically ran inside. A tall, pretty brunette sat behind the reception desk and looked up with a blank stare as she approached.
“Hi, can I help you?”
“I’m looking for Rose Stevenson? She was brought in by ambulance about an hour ago for smoke inhalation.”
“Rose Stevenson.” The receptionist tapped along her keyboard, her eyes on the screen. “Are you family?”
“I’m her daughter. Marley Stevenson.” Marley showed the brunette her driver’s license just as the doors opened behind her. She glanced over her shoulder and nodded at Luke before facing the receptionist once more.
“Hold tight, I’ll find her for you.” She typed away at the computer, and finally looked up with a smile. “Good news, she’s in recovery. I’ll have an orderly take you to her. Is this your husband?”
“Just a friend.”
The receptionist addressed Luke. “I’m sorry, family only at this time. You can have a seat, and wait if you want.”
Luke rubbed Marley’s back. “If you need me—”
“I’ll be fine,” she said.
Luke hesitated briefly, as if he didn’t really believe her, but ultimately walked away. When the orderly called her name, she breathed out, as if relieved to get away from Luke.
That’s not fair. The fire isn’t Luke’s fault.
No, but he was another mistake. She had started to think that once she finished Sonora’s wedding and quit Something Borrowed, they could be together. That she could have everything; the career, the guy, and the life she’d always dreamed of away from Sweetheart.
She’d been willing to risk her reputation, her relationship with Kelly and her professionalism for him, and because she’d been so distracted, she’d almost lost her mother.
She was twenty-eight years old, and after everything she’d lost, she should have known that life wasn’t about your dreams coming true and having it all.
Believing that utter bullshit had almost cost her the most important person in her life.
Marley walked through the door of the hospital room, her mother was lying with the bed elevated and oxygen tube
s in her nose. When she saw Marley, she held her arms out, her eyes filled with tears, and Marley broke. The zombie state she’d been in cracked, and she cried out as she threw herself into her mother’s arms like she was seven years old.
“Oh, baby, I’m okay. I just woke up and it was so smoky I couldn’t see very well, but I made it to the front door. I’m alive.”
Her mother’s words made her sob harder. “I am so sorry. So very sorry.”
“Hey now, what are you sorry for? This wasn’t your fault.” She felt her mom’s lips brush her forehead and pulled back, needing to get the truth off her chest.
“Yes it was. The fire was deliberate, and I caused it.”
“How could you have caused it?” her mom asked.
“Because I humiliated Sonora Star last night, and she burned down the Sweetheart Café for revenge.”
Her mom cupped her cheeks and pulled her up to look at her. “All I heard is that Sonora Star is more than just a spoiled little princess, but crazy to boot. I don’t care what you did, her actions have nothing to do with you and everything to do with her being a deranged individual.” Her mother squeezed her in a fierce hug. “I’m just glad it was the café, and not anything that couldn’t be rebuilt.”
Marley wasn’t going to try to argue. She was just relieved to feel her mother’s warmth and know she was going to live.
Nothing else mattered.
* * * *
It was almost dawn. Luke sat in the waiting room, texting Brent and Kendall to update them on Marley’s mom. Slowly, the whole waiting room filled with Sweetheart residents, waiting on an update about Rose Stevenson. Turner and Delores were the only ones Luke knew by name, but he’d seen most of them around. Perks of living in a small town it seemed; everyone knew everyone.
Luke hoped Rose was okay, but he was also concerned about Marley. He tried not to take her cold behavior personally, knowing she’d been dealt the shock of her life and especially after everything he knew she’d gone through.
But she’d hardly looked at him, and he could have sworn she’d flinched away when he’d touched her.
When Kendall and Brent came through the door, Luke was pretty glad to see them.
“Is Marley’s mom okay? Is Marley?” Kendall asked.
Luke shook his head. “I don’t know, she went back a while ago and hasn’t come out to update us.”
“I can’t believe this,” Brent murmured.
Luke bristled at his comment. Brent had always been blind to Sonora’s faults.
“What? That your crazy ass ex-fiancée e almost killed Marley’s mom?” Luke asked.
Brent stiffened, but before things escalated, Kendall stepped in.
“Hey, okay, tensions are high, but let’s keep things in perspective. She’s my sister and I can’t imagine her doing this. So let’s not start throwing blame around.”
Luke ran his hands over his head with an exhausted sigh. “I’m sorry man, I’m just on edge.”
Brent nodded. “I get it. You don’t have to apologize.”
They went and sat in the corner, hardly speaking. When Marley’s friend, Rylie, came running through the door with Dustin the Douche behind her, Luke frowned, wondering why the guy was even here.
The receptionist stood up and hollered, “Okay, now, I get that you’re all worried about someone close to you, but you can’t all be here. It’s family only, and you are gumming up my emergency room. So either take it home and wait for a call or take it outside.”
“We aren’t going anywhere until we know Rose is okay!” Turner called out, and the other town members agreed.
The receptionist made a call and a few minutes later, Marley came through the door, her eyes red and swollen. Luke stood up and made a move toward her, but Kendall put a hand on his arm. He paused, frowning down at her, but all she did was shake her head.
“Thank you all for being here,” Marley said, her hands clasped in front of her. “They’re going to keep Mom for a few more hours, and then we’ll be heading home. I promise to let you know the moment we get in.”
Marley disappeared into a sea of heads and hugs as the people of Sweetheart swarmed around her. When only Rylie, Dustin, Brent, Kendall, Luke, and Marley remained, Luke ignored Kendall’s warning look and made a beeline for her side, only to be blocked by Rylie giving her a hug.
“I am so very sorry,” Rylie said.
“Thanks.”
When it was Kendall’s turn, she sobbed uncontrollably and Marley looked pained.
“I can’t…I am sorry.”
“It’s not your fault. Don’t blame yourself,” Marley said.
Finally, Luke stepped up to hold her and she held up her hand. “Can we talk for a moment?”
He nodded, a lump of dread balling in his stomach. Everyone seemed to be looking anywhere but at them, and he had a feeling they all knew what was coming next.
They stepped outside and he watched Marley wrap her arms around herself, as if she was mentally putting up a wall between them.
“You should catch a ride back with Brent and Kendall. I’m going to stay with my mom and I’ll be fine to drive us back.”
He wanted to reach for her so badly, but he knew she was distancing herself from him. He just had no idea why. “I don’t mind being here for you.”
“I get that, but I do mind.” Her voice was harsh and raspy. “I want to be alone with my mother. I want you to leave.”
Even though he’d known the words were coming, hearing them aloud didn’t hurt any less. “So, that’s it? You’re back to pushing me away?”
“I’m not pushing you, I’m telling you that I don’t need or want you here right now. I want to be with my mother, and I don’t want some guy I’ve fucked a couple times on weekends hanging around.”
Luke’s cheeks burned and his stomach churned with humiliation and anger. “I understand that your mom had a close call tonight, but taking it out on me—”
“You don’t understand anything or you would know that this”—she waved her hand emphatically—“right here, is not about you. It’s not about how you feel or what you want. It’s about me. It is about me spending all summer trying to avoid getting involved with you so that I wouldn’t lose my job and the biggest account I’ve ever had. Money that would guarantee me a new life, and I blew all that. But it isn’t just that. My actions tonight—telling off Sonora, stopping the wedding when I outed her, taking you back to my place—all had consequences. Nearly fatal consequences. Whatever we had has been tainted and I can’t…” Her voice broke and he wanted to hold her, to take her in his arms and forget about everything she’d just said.
And then she finished her sentence, crushing him into a pile of dust. “I can’t even look at you right now.”
After several excruciating moments, Luke cleared his throat, trying to hide the cuts of pain every vicious slice of her words had caused. Digging into his pocket, he pulled out her keys and held them out to her. “Here.” When she tried to take them, he circled her wrist with his other arm, holding her there. She tugged, trying to get away, but he was too strong.
“Let go of me, Luke.”
“Not until I have my say.” He was trying to hold it together so she wouldn’t hear the hurt, but he wasn’t that good of an actor. “I get that you have lost people you loved, and that tonight you almost lost Rose. I understand that I might just have been some guy you fucked a few times, but that isn’t all I was. And you can’t admit it now because you’re blaming yourself and you’re looking for a way to punish you and me and everyone, but you weren’t just a bit of fun for me. You were more than that. When all this shit blows over and you realize that you didn’t have to give me up, and throw away whatever we could have had, I want you to remember that I wasn’t the one who hurt you.”
He let her go and walked off into the parking lot, pulling his phone from his
pocket to text Brent. He took a deep, shaky breath, fighting back the tears. He hadn’t cried since his mama’s funeral, not since Henry had told him that real men don’t show weakness.
I need a ride. In the parking lot waiting.
He stopped under a parking lot light and the emotions rushed to the surface, making him tremble. Fury, disappointment, rage, bitterness all rose like bile in the back of his throat.
Before he thought it through, he hauled off and smashed his fist into the metal pole. Pain radiated from his knuckle up his arm and as he cradled his injured hand against his chest, a single tear escaped, the wet drop trailing over his cheek.
That’s it. All she gets of me.
Chapter 22
Marley sat in Kelly’s office the following Wednesday afternoon, waiting for her to say something about the events over the weekend. She’d taken several days to be with her mom, but Kelly had called her last night, telling her they needed to talk. She knew she was fired; even if Kelly could forgive her for lashing out at a client and outing her for cheating, she couldn’t ignore what Marley had told her about Luke. That they had carried on an affair despite Marley’s assurance that she would pull the plug.
Marley had tried to push Luke from her mind the last two days, especially that last look in his eyes. Anguish. He didn’t even have to tell her, although he had. In a long, articulate speech that had chipped away at all the blame she had toward him. She’d been the asshole.
She didn’t deserve him.
Kelly sat behind the desk, steepling her hands and watching Marley with a combined mix of disappointment and pensiveness. The company’s lawyer, Christian Ryan, stood next to her in a gray suit and light blue tie, perfectly matching the icy blue of his eyes. His hair was blond and spikey, and every time she was around him, she wanted to call him Ken because he reminded her so much of Barbie’s boyfriend.
Marley knew he was more than a pretty face though. Christian was ruthless when it came to business, and Marley knew it was bad if Kelly had needed to call Christian.
