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“Next time,” Olivia said in a cheerful voice. “We know how much your mother missed you while you were away in New York City.”
“That’s an understatement,” Fancy said with a laugh. “She burned up my cell phone with all of her calls. And until I find a place of my own, I’m going to be spending a lot of time with the folks.” Fancy dramatically rolled her eyes.
All of the girls chimed in on the laughter. Olivia threw her head back and let out a heartfelt chuckle.
What Fancy wouldn’t give at this moment to be upbeat and happy like Olivia. She radiated joy like a beacon. Even Hope—who had shown up in Savannah with a newborn baby and no father in sight—was a ray of sunshine compared to her. Perhaps being back in the fold of her best friends would inspire her to seek her own happiness. Moving forward meant accepting that her life with Case was over. That was difficult, but far from impossible.
After saying her goodbyes, Fancy made a fast track to her car. As she revved the engine, Case continued to dominate her thoughts. His disgust with her had been written all over his face. Still—after all this time—he couldn’t forgive her. And she would never be able to forgive herself for her thoughtless actions. She had been her own worst enemy in destroying her life.
Unfaithful. She had become involved with another man. It hadn’t been physical in any way, shape or form, but she’d become attached to him when Case had been out of town on business and dealing with the Duvall accounts. And even though she hadn’t done anything physical with Marc Cabron, she had leaned on him and spent a lot of time with him in an intimate setting. She had confided in Marc about her feelings of loneliness due to all the time Case was spending away from Savannah. Marc had fallen in love with her. Somehow—and she still didn’t know how—Case had discovered her friendship with Marc and confronted her. She’d admitted to spending time with Marc while Case was out of town on business. Everything had exploded with that one admission. Case had been livid and incredulous. The Savannah gossip rags had gone into overdrive and printed salacious rumors about her relationship with Marc. Even though they had tried to work through it, Case had decided that he didn’t want to marry someone who had been emotionally involved with another man.
It had taken her a long time to wrap her head around the fact that she had been unfaithful to Case. By very definition, he was right. She had been meeting up with Marc for dinners and get-togethers, and telling him personal things about her relationship with Case. But at no point had she ever crossed a line by kissing Marc or telling him that she cared for him romantically. The entire time she had been in love with Case. Not that it had mattered in the harsh light of day. Case had decided that she wasn’t wife material.
That knowledge shamed her. She considered herself a virtuous woman, but in his eyes, and perhaps in the eyes of God, she wasn’t. Fancy had honestly never known that spending time with another man would jeopardize her relationship with her fiancé. At some point she’d had an inkling that spending time with Marc was a betrayal of Case, but she hadn’t allowed herself to listen to that little voice inside her until it was too late.
Why hadn’t she listened?
As she pulled up outside of her family home, she hesitated for a moment to get out. She knew without a shadow of a doubt that Mama would quiz her today about seeing Case. She’d made the mistake of telling her mother that he was helping them out with legal matters. And if Fancy told her that he’d been cold and indifferent today her mother would barrage her with insults about her inability to keep her fiancé. She’d almost gotten used to her mother’s insults about her behavior with Marc and her failed engagement.
Did a person ever get used to verbal abuse? Or had she just learned to tolerate it?
Although living in the high octane world of New York fashion had been lonely and isolating, it had given her some distance from her mother. It had allowed her to breathe and stand on her own two feet. And it had given her a chance to date and to focus on something other than Case. Although her heart wasn’t as bruised as it had been, she hadn’t met anyone who had managed to eclipse Case. As far as her heart was concerned, he was the one. The sad part was that she couldn’t imagine any other man ever being able to win her heart after Case had already claimed it.
**
Case tried to focus on work, but his thoughts veered toward Fancy for the rest of the afternoon. Images of her floated through his mind. Did she have to be so incredibly beautiful? Her ice blue eyes had cut through him like lasers. She’d always possessed the keen ability to see straight through him. Had she realized that his gruff demeanor was just a front? A way of keeping his heart from being broken all over again?
Why hadn’t he been a little bit nicer to her? He regretted being so taciturn and abrupt. The truth was, circumstances didn’t afford him any other choice. Putting up a wall between them was the smartest thing he could do to maintain a safe distance.
At five o’clock he decided to hang it up for the day. His cousin, Luke Duvall, had invited him to a billiards club to hang out with a few of their friends. Although he’d initially begged off due to his work load, he’d had a sudden change of heart. He sorely needed a distraction. Getting out and socializing was something he needed to do in order to get over this whole Fancy situation. He was still stuck. After all this time Fancy shouldn’t have this magnetic hold over him. And he shouldn’t be sitting in his office all day desperately trying to stop thinking about her. His heart shouldn’t roar like thunder every time she was in his orbit.
But it did. Each and every time.
By the time he showed up at “The Rack” in downtown Savannah, everyone else was already gathered in the private room. Luke was the first one to see him as he walked into the room.
“Hey, cuz. I thought you couldn’t make it,” Luke said, enveloping him in a tight hug. With a pool cue in his hand, Luke looked like the quintessential player. He’d changed out of his office attire and was now wearing a pair of jeans and a long-sleeved dark shirt.
“I decided that all work and no play makes Case a very dull boy,” Case quipped, turning toward the sound of laughter. “And we can’t have that, can we?”
Hunter Rawlings, his childhood friend turned multi-millionaire businessman, reached out to clap him on the back. Newly married to Olivia, Hunter had now relocated to Savannah, where he helped run Renault Industries, as well as his own vast corporations.
“Good to see you, Case. I was hoping you’d make it out tonight,” Hunter drawled. “Haven’t seen you in a bit.”
“Me too,” Jax Holden chimed in. “Where have you been hiding yourself?”
Jax grinned at him, reminding Case of the way he had been in their childhood—impish and full of mayhem. More times than not, he’d been hatching a plot along with Hunter and Case. Luke, as always, had been the one who’d always followed the rules and stayed on the straight and narrow. Some things never changed, Case thought. Luke was still following the rules and serving the interests of the Duvall family, even though Case suspected it was killing him to deny the dictates of his heart. Music was his true passion.
“I’ve been busy,” Case said. “Duvall keeps me hopping these days with all of the new overseas clients. It’s exciting that we now have a foothold in France and Germany, but it means more work for me.”
“Tell me about it,” Luke grumbled. “I’m up to my elbows in work.” Luke also worked for Duvall Corporation. Their fathers were brothers who ran the company jointly. Luke and Case were the heirs apparent to the family dynasty, although Case knew that Luke’s heart wasn’t in it. As a singer and songwriter, Luke’s dream had always been to have a career in the arts. For a Duvall, that was out of the question.
“How’s Meryl? I heard the two of you have been spending a lot of time together?” Luke asked, giving his cousin a pointed look.
“Charlotte has a big mouth,” Case said with a nod of his head. “It’s nothing serious. We’re just hanging out. Dinner. Dancing. Movies.”
Jax let out a low whistle. “Meryl! Who would have ever thought that the two of you would end up together? She was quite…interesting when we were kids.”
Hunter raised his eyebrows. “I’ll say. She was hardcore. And I seem to remember her being Fancy’s nemesis.”
