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Anna shook her head. “No, I really don’t.”
Cynthia smiled, but with no real humor. “The whole town knows you two have been screwing around for weeks, while I was gone on that trip Max sent me on.”
Anna laughed. “Max sent you on a trip after you dumped him? I don’t believe that for a minute. Max is a lot of things. But he isn’t stupid, and he’d never pay for a vacation for you after you broke off the engagement.”
Something she couldn’t quite define moved over Cynthia’s face. Panic? Anna scoffed at the idea. Debutante-trained former cheerleaders never panicked. Not in situations like this.
But, before Anna could figure it out, Cynthia straightened her shoulders and lifted her chin. “Yes, I dumped Max, but we got back together the next day. Didn’t he tell you about my visit to the office?”
Anna shook her head, hoping that her shock didn’t show on her face. Shock morphed into pain, sharp and to the heart. But again, she hid her reaction. Letting a cheerleader like Cynthia think she had the upper hand could be deadly.
“He showed up late, but you know about that, don’t you?” Her smile turned positively evil. “I told him that for the benefit of the families and the business, the marriage should go on. And you know Max—the family business is more important to him than anything else.”
Anna swallowed. Her mind raced from one possibility to the next. Why hadn’t Max told her that Cynthia came by to talk to him, if he had nothing to hide? No, there was no way Max would use her like that.
“I went on the vacation he’d booked for the two of us, because Max said he couldn’t get away.” Her gaze traveled down Anna’s body and then back up, distaste darkening her blue eyes. “Now I see what was keeping him busy.”
A knot formed in Anna’s stomach as she tried to ignore the seed of doubt Cynthia had planted. To hide her reaction, she turned and walked to the counter to set the empty bottles down.
Cynthia, apparently sensing her faltering thoughts, went on the attack.
“You didn’t think he actually cared for you? Really, Anna.” She tsked as if pitying Anna for wearing white after Labor Day. “Max is a businessman. What use would he have for you? He needs someone who could be his partner at home and in public. Could you actually see yourself dressed for a cocktail party, rubbing elbows with some of the biggest names in Atlanta? You know he goes to those kinds of things often, and he needs a wife by his side.”
With each comment, she chipped away at Anna’s resolve. What had she been thinking? She’d told herself it was another fling, but deep down, she wanted Max to want her forever. But the other night, when he’d gotten arrested, she’d been sure that something else was going on. Max never did things out of character. His behavior after the brawl was enough to make her think that maybe…
The knot in her stomach tightened, and a wave of nausea swept through her. She swallowed her anger and pain and turned to face Cynthia.
“Do you have anything else you want to say to me, Cynthia? I have work to do.” She deliberately kept her voice smooth, hoping to throw her off the hunt.
The other woman’s eyes narrowed. “No. I just wanted you to know I talked to Max’s parents, and they agree with me. This wedding will happen. Nothing will stand in the way. Especially not some little slut like you.”
The pain she’d been hiding swiftly twisted into anger. Anna could take a lot of things and thought she could handle people saying things about her. Had done so in the past with no problem, but this time was different, especially from the woman Max had wanted to marry at one time.
“Let me tell you something, Cynthia. Whatever you think is going on with Max and me, you are dead wrong,” she lashed out. Satisfaction warmed Anna when Cynthia lost her smile and took a step back. Anna used it to her advantage. “And if youevershow your face in here again, you won’t leave here looking so pretty. I take offense at people calling me names on my own property.”
Without taking her eyes off Anna, Cynthia walked to the door. If Anna hadn’t been so angry, she would have laughed when Cynthia bumped into a chair and then the wall. She slipped through the door, leaving Anna alone with her thoughts.
She’d been fooling herself with Max. After all these years, Anna wanted forever. She wanted the white picket fence, but with a man she couldn’t have. She didn’t fit into Max’s lifestyle any more than he fit into hers.
Anger heated her blood. She was mad at Max for letting it go this far and even angrier with herself for falling in love with him. She drew in a deep breath, but it hurt. The anger twisted in her stomach, in her heart. The pain, the regret, the betrayal, sent a wave of icy chills through her body.
Why hadn’t he ever told her about Cynthia changing her mind? They usually talked about everything, but he’d never mentioned Cynthia showing up, or that he’d sent her on the trip he’d planned for the two of them. She remembered when he booked the trip as a “pre-engagement” party thing. Max thought it would be good for Cynthia and him to get away.
He’d lied. By omission maybe, but he’d still lied. Oh, Anna was sure Cynthia had dumped him, just like he’d said, but then come to regret her choice. Why hadn’t he told her then, before they’d slept together again, before she had a chance to fall in love with him?
She collapsed on one of the stools at the counter, tears now flowing freely. The truth was, she’d always been in love with him. Dammit, she’d walked into this thing with her eyes wide open, knowing that, just like the others, he would leave in the end. So why did her heart feel as if it had been torn to shreds?
Because somewhere deep inside her, she’d hoped Max would be different. He would be the one to stay. But he’d lied. Even as he’d seduced her, he’d lied. And she’d bought it, fool that she was. Anna stood and wiped away the tears. Well, she wouldn’t be made a fool of, even by the man she loved. She’d end it her way, the only way, and then somehow pick up the pieces of her life and go on.
* * *
As Max droveto Anna’s house later that night, he couldn’t fight the feeling that something was really wrong. Anna had said she would meet him at his house for dinner, but when he arrived, she hadn’t been around. He calledThe Last Drop, her house, her cell, and she hadn’t answered any of them. Worry knotted his stomach. This just wasn’t like Anna at all.
He pulled into her driveway and parked behind her car. Every light in her house blazed, and when he stepped out of his car, the sound of southern rock reached him. A foreboding sense of déjà vu swept through him.
Eager to dispel the worry, he strode up the steps and, without knocking, walked through her front door. She wasn’t in her kitchen. Max found her sitting on the couch. The same one they’d made love on the first time, and many times since.
Anna was staring out the back window at the fading sun. She’d tucked her feet up under her, her broomstick skirt spread out around her, a can of soda in her hand.
