Page 16

Genevieve

When my phone begins to ring on the desk next to me, I look down at the screen and press my lips together before I send the call to voicemail.

“Was that Anna?” Mom asks, and I look over at her.

“Yeah.”

“You’re not answering her calls?”

“Not right now.”

“Honey.”

“I know that we are going to have to talk eventually, but I need a little time to get over the fact that she kept her relationship with Kolter a secret for over a year.”

“She had her reasons. They both did.”

“She’s not just a friend, Mom; she’s been my best friend since we were five. And until now I thought we shared everything, so finding out that she felt like she couldn’t trust me hurts.”

“You were so sad, honey,” she tells me quietly, and my throat itches.

“I was sad. The man I thought I was going to spend the rest of my life with was sleeping with another woman, and the life I had planned for myself fell apart after I found out. I didn’t just lose him. I lost everything.”

“Genevieve.”

“But even with all that”—I cut her off—“if Anna had told me that she and Kolter were dating, regardless of how weird I think it is, I would have dug deep and found it in myself to be happy for her if she was happy.”

“She’s your best friend.”

“I know, which is why she should have told me.”

“And it’s also the reason she didn’t,” she says, and I sigh. “All right, honey, I’ll drop it for now.”

“Thank you.” I start to turn back to my laptop but stop when her cell starts to ring and she looks at it and smiles.

“It’s Wyatt,” she tells me happily, and I barely avoid rolling my eyes. “Hey, honey,” she answers, putting her phone to her ear. “I did see them.” Her nose scrunches, then her eyes light up. “Really, I’d love to help. I have obviously never done that kind of thing before, but I can’t imagine it being much different than advertising for a house.” I frown, wondering what the heck she’s talking about. “Sure, let’s talk about it.”

Talk about what?

“All right, honey, I’ll brainstorm and come up with some ideas.” She hangs up and smiles at me. “That was Wyatt. He asked me to help him with his campaign for sheriff.”

“What?”

“Hold on a second, honey,” she murmurs, dropping her eyes to her phone. “I’m going to call Shauna and see if she can do a rush order on yard signs for me.”

“Mom, what do you know about running a political campaign?”

“Nothing.” She holds up her hand when I start to open my mouth. “Hey, Shauna, I have a question.”

I draw in a breath and let it out slowly. Then I get up from my chair and pick up my bag from the floor. “I’ll be back,” I tell her, and she waves me off with a smile.

Leaving the office, I walk down the sidewalk toward the coffee shop looking at my phone and notice an email from Linda. I open it up and scan the document attached.

“Great,” I grumble under my breath when I see that the owners of Lavender Hill didn’t budge an inch and countered with their previous offer.

Wanting to get my call with Wyatt over with, I click on his name.

“Hello,” he answers, and I grit my teeth when my body responds with a tingle to his deep voice.