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Brandon walked away,feeling as if he had been crushed under a boot heel. He’d been used. No matter how prettily or passionately. It was still being used. Laurel tricked him into believing she was better than that. He’d been as misled by her as he had his ex-fiancée.
It had never crossed his mind that Laurel might be one of those type of people. He’d known she’d was desperate to get her job back but never dreamed she’d sleep with him to get what she wanted.
He stomped back to the cabin but that didn’t ease his pain. The place was empty and lonely without Laurel. He looked at the piece he had been working on with such intense anticipation. It was pure Laurel down to the finest line. He jerked the curtain closed.
He sank into his chair. His life had been desolate before Laurel and was more so now. She’d made it clear what she wanted and went after it. He shouldn’t have been surprised.
The hours slowly rolled by. Brandon sat in front of the dying embers of the fire, the cold seeping in. This time he wasn’t going to recover. How could he without Laurel?
It had turned dark outside and inside as well. His phone rang. The caller ID screen showed his parents. It was Christmas Eve. Of course, they were calling. “Hello.”
“Merry Christmas,” they recited in unison.
He didn’t feel cheerful. “Thank you.”
“Are you sure you don’t want to come home tonight or between now and New Year’s?”
His mother never gave up. This time the temptation to agree pulled at him, yet he held back. “Not this time.”
“Brandon, we miss you.”
His parents had worried about him for too long. It was time he faced them and the world. They needed to know their son had starting to see his way back to life. “Mom and Dad, I’ve started working again.”
“You have.” The relief in his mother’s voice heaped guilt on him.
He’d done them wrong. “I started this morning.” Pride filled his voice, something that had been missing for a long time.
“Whatever made you do it, hang on to it. Don’t let it go.”
Laurel. Their lovemaking had been intense, raw, and fulfilling. Everything he could have wanted and more. Laurel couldn’t be that great of an actor. Had there been true emotion behind her touches and muttered words of desire?
He spent the next few minutes telling his parents about Laurel, leaving out some of the more personal parts.
“Son,” his father said, “if this girl really means something to you, go get her. Tell her how you feel.”
Not only had he let Laurel go but he’d shoved her away. Could she forgive him? He’d made her a promise to call Ross Biggs and he intended to keep it whether they were together or not. But could he do more to win her back? A grand gesture that would win Laurel’s heart?
“I think I’d have a better chance showing her.”
“You need to show her. Then bring her to meet us,” his mother stated.
Brandon grinned for the first time since Laurel had left. “I’ll do that, Mom.”
He threw some logs on the fire then went to work. He opened the curtains once more and looked at the piece he had begun. He would finish those, then do the one of Laurel by the fire. But he had another in mind that would be the center piece of his showing. It might be his greatest piece ever.
* * *
Laurel’s holidays were nothing more than a dark cloud of sadness with a fake smile plastered over them. She’d walked around in a daze of disbelief over Brandon turning and leaving her standing on the sidewalk. How had things between them become twisted so quickly?
When she’d poured her heart out to her cousin, her cousin agreed to let Laurel crash at her place for a couple of weeks while Laurel figured out her next move. Time and her cousin’s generosity would soon slip through the hourglass while desperation crept into Laurel.
She had hung all her hopes on Ross Biggs contacting her. If Brandon wouldn’t be her answer, the next best artist would be Biggs. Yet as two long weeks went by, her hopes of getting a phone call from Biggs had dwindled. Unable to wait any longer, she tried to get in touch with him but failed on every front.
Laurel had put her faith in Brandon to come through for her. Apparently, she had angered him enough he hadn’t done as he said he would. Maybe she shouldn’t be surprised. Isn’t that what people did? Break their promises. Why would Brandon be any different?
Checking her email for the hundredth time that day, her heart did a flip-flop when a new email appeared. It was from the Cherry Inn. They must be looking for the book. She quickly opened the message. The email was a flyer stating B. Wheeler and Ross Biggs would be doing a two man show to benefit the Cherry Creek Academy Library on January 15th. Her heart skidded to a stop for a moment before it found its rhythm once more. The artists would be hosting a showing of new works and displaying a few special pieces. Apparently, the school had persuaded the inn to share their mailing list. Everyone was invited to attend.
She’d certainly be there. It would be her chance to clear the air with Brandon. She didn’t like him believing something about her that wasn’t true. Would he listen to her?
