AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“So, you’re rich?” someone shouted out.
“You’re the Java Giant heiress,” Zachariah cried out. “That means you’ll inherit the company someday.”
Sophie could barely keep her head up. So many pairs of eyes were focused on her like laser beams. “Yes,” she said in a shaky voice. “My father is a very wealthy man. But I’ve always been of the mind that it isn’t my money. Not really.”
“You knew this town was in bad financial shape, Sophie,” Dwight said in a hurt tone. “As town treasurer, I’d like to know if you ever thought of helping us out.”
The question hung in the air like a live grenade. Sophie didn’t have a single clue as to how to answer it. Part of leaving her life in New York City had meant leaving her big trust fund and bank account behind. And even if she still had access to it, she wasn’t sure giving the town a large cash donation would have been the right answer to the long-standing problems. In her opinion, money rarely solved difficulties.
“It wasn’t her job to save this town!” Noah shouted from the crowd. The townsfolk parted and he came forward, stopping a few feet away from Sophie. He looked angry and protective, as if he might take on the world on her behalf. Something unfurled in her heart at the sight of him in battle mode. An hour ago it would have made her deliriously happy, but now all it did was make her furious.
“I don’t need you to defend me!” she said in a raised voice. She glared at Noah. It hurt to look at him, but she wasn’t about to avoid his gaze. His lies hadn’t broken her. Even though she loved him and her heart was shattered, she would still hold her head high. He was no better than John, with his secret agendas and lies.
Noah moved even closer. “Sophie, please hear me out. I’d like some time alone with you so I can explain everything,” he said, his voice full of tenderness.
It frightened her how badly she wanted to listen to him. How vulnerable she was to his vast array of charms. One word from him and she might just crack and forgive him. But she couldn’t. Shouldn’t. So many times in the past Sophie had been used as a commodity—by friends, teachers, family members, boyfriends—but she had never imagined Noah would treat her as such. At the moment she felt all used up. She had nothing left to give.
She held her chin up, refusing to budge an inch. She might love Noah, but she was nobody’s fool. “There’s nothing to talk about. You came here with an agenda, Noah. To spy on me. To profit from doing so. Isn’t that right?” Her lips twisted. “You must have laughed yourself silly by how easy it was to fool me into falling for you...sharing my feelings, opening myself up to you, believing in you.”
“Everything was real between us, Sophie. You can’t fake something like that.” Noah had a pleading tone to his voice. “I love you.”
The words almost made her knees buckle. A few hours ago those three little words would have sent her soaring into orbit. But now she simply felt numb.
“What are you saying, Sophie? Noah isn’t really a cook?” Hazel shouted.
Sophie turned toward her friend. She saw the look of hurt on Hazel’s face, and wondered how much of that was due to her. It was embarrassing to air her dirty laundry out here in the open, in front of everyone, but the crowd didn’t seem inclined to leave. Matter of fact, some of them seemed to be enjoying it.
“No, he’s not, Hazel. Noah is a private investigator hired to keep tabs on me by my ex-fiancé.” Her lips quivered. “I was just a means to an end. A big fat paycheck.”
The buzzing of the crowd kicked up a notch. Several residents were openly glaring at Noah, while others were shaking their heads in her direction. Sophie could only imagine their thoughts. People had a tendency to make judgments about a person when they discovered that individual was wealthy. Shyness suddenly turned into snobbery. If you were proud of something it became vanity. Sophie had never wanted to be re
garded as anything other than a newcomer to town who worked at the Moose Café.
Ever since her arrival here Sophie had been skirting around the truth, living a lie. She’d told herself that telling a white lie wasn’t too bad, but she’d been kidding herself. All to avoid the truth of her real identity and her connection to the Java Giant empire. At first she’d been simply running away from her life and trying to cut ties with her past. Then, slowly but surely, she’d grown to love all the townsfolk, and she had been fearful that they would view her differently if they learned who she really was. As Sophie Miller, she’d been accepted with open arms and as a regular person. Sophie Mattson had always been treated as a commodity, a rich man’s daughter.
“Daddy. Please get me out of here,” she begged. Sophie buried her face against her father’s chest and sobbed her eyes out. He sheltered her in the crook of his arm and led her toward the Java Giant helicopter.
“I’ve got you, Sophie,” he said in a reassuring voice as he settled down beside her in the roomy interior. “We’ll be at the Anchorage airport in no time. Then we’ll take our private plane back to New York.”
All Sophie could do was nod. She was in shock. Pain. Despair. Her heart was broken into little pieces. And she felt so sorry about having misled the people of Love. It was all way too much for her to have to face.
As the helicopter took off, Sophie resisted looking out the window. She knew she must be going crazy, because she thought she heard Noah calling her name above the roar of the blades. She felt her father smoothing back her hair, all the while saying her name in the most tender tone imaginable. It reminded her so much of when she was small and he would comfort her after a skinned knee or a broken toy. She pressed her eyes closed, wishing things could be as simple as when she was a little girl, yet knowing it was impossible.
* * *
Noah looked up at the sky, following the progress of the helicopter as it drifted farther and farther away. He placed his hand against his chest as a sharp pain seized him. He knew it wasn’t anything physical, although it felt as if he might break in two. He’d lost Sophie, and he had the strangest feeling he might never see her again. Watching her leave with her father was akin to seeing all his hopes and dreams for the future go up in smoke.
Everything he had meant to tell her had been lost in the madness swirling around them. John’s appearance. Sophie’s devastation. The townsfolk gathered around them. The helicopter coming from out of nowhere.
“Why couldn’t you just stick to the assignment?” Noah turned to see Sussex standing behind him. “Now you’ll never get your last portion of the money. And you won’t get the girl, either.” The man made a tutting sound. “Too bad you didn’t realize your place, Catalano. People like you don’t end up with heiresses like Sophie Mattson.”
Noah clenched his fists at his sides. He’d earned the paycheck from Sussex, but at this point, he didn’t care about the rest of the money. What mattered most was Sophie. While his mind rejected John’s statement, a part of Noah wondered whether Sophie was too good for him.
“I’ve about had it with you,” he seethed.
“Why?” John sneered. “Because you don’t want to hear the truth?”
Noah took a step toward him, so there was no longer any distance between them. “For being an absolute fool and hurting the woman I love.”
