Maybe Helena was wrong. He and I weren’t so different. We came from different lives, yes… but Chris and I? We were more alike than not. I took a deep breath and exited the bathroom as Mr. Wallace, one of our older board members, walked up to the door. I smiled and stepped aside.
His white hair held a tinge of yellow from the reflection of the overhead lights. He gave me a curt nod as he shuffled into the doorway I held open for him. “Aren’t you supposed to be using the upstairs restroom?”
I blinked, not understanding what he was saying. Did he know I’d been upstairs in this house? That I had spent the night with Chris just last night?
“Excuse me?”
“The caterers… aren’t you supposed to use the bathroom upstairs?”
I glanced down at my red skirt and white shirt as tears pricked the back of my eyes. He thought I was one of the caterers. I’d been to at least three board meetings over the years and several company Christmas parties. I’d met and talked to Mr. Wallace many times, including at this party tonight… not to mention I’d just given a presentation minutes ago on a project that he himself had voted to approve.
Was I so unmemorable? Because I wasn’t wearing Hermes and I didn’t come from some sort of American royalty bloodline, the board couldn’t even bother to remember who I was?
I clenched my fists painfully at my sides. “Mr. Wallace… I’m an employee of StoryBook—”
“Of course, dear. All our independent contractors are.”
He didn’t allow me to finish speaking before he shut the bathroom door in my face.
This. This was the kind of bullshit I had to face. The kind of thing Chris would never have to deal with. Mallery would never experience. And no one in their right mind would ever mistakenly think Helena was a caterer.
Which meant… Helena was right when she said I would never fit in here. She was also callous and mean and two-faced, but she was right.
I needed air. Again. Only I had learned my lesson from last time… don’t go outside without a coat. Not even for a quick reset.
I walked toward the side room where Chris had put everyone’s coats. I was only a few feet down the hall, when Mallery’s voice stopped me, coming from inside the coat room. “But did you see what she’s wearing? Chris, she looks like—”
“I know what she looks like. Believe me, I know,” Chris said.
The flush that had only been in my cheeks when Mr. Wallace mistook me for a caterer spread down my neck and cheeks until my whole body was heated. It was one thing for a senile board member to say anything about my outfit… it was a whole other ballgame when it was Mallery. And Chris.
I thought Mallery was my friend at this company. I thought she respected me. Sure, we didn’t talk much. But we sent Christmas cards every year. And we always caught up at the Fourth of July party Jack and Cecilia hosted yearly… as well as at the Christmas party.
I swallowed against the thick lump forming in my throat. And Chris? He’d said I looked nice tonight. No… beautiful. He’d said I looked beautiful. Was that just a lie? Maybe I didn’t really know him at all.
“And she thinks that somehow this belongs to her?” Mallery continued. “That our family’s legacy should just be handed to her—”
I couldn’t listen anymore. I couldn’t stand here and listen to Mallery and Chris break apart everything I stood for, everything I’d worked for my whole adult life.
I pushed the door open and entered the room. They both jumped, startled to see me before Chris relaxed and smiled. “It’s you. I was wondering where you went.”
I searched his face for any sign of remorse for what they’d just been saying. Hell, I would have accepted guilt even. But there was nothing. The curtain was up, proving that Chris was a gifted businessman. And in this world, to be cunning in business, you also had to be cutthroat.
“I was just getting my coat.” I leaned between them and saw a look pass between Chris and his sister. That’s right, I wanted to say. I heard you. I heard every word.
“You’re leaving?” Chris asked. “But we didn’t even get to tell you—”
Luckily, my peacoat was near the top of the pile, draped carefully on top of the pile. I grabbed it, shoving my arms into it as I gave Mallery a curt nod. “It was nice to see you, Mallery… as always.” She was, after all, still my boss. For the time being. I was going to start looking for a new job immediately. As soon as I got home.
“You… too.” She seemed confused and looked to Chris for answers. But I didn’t wait for either of them to say more. I rushed for the front door and ran out of the house.
The tears I’d been holding in almost the entire night flowed freely. In the whipping cold of the night, they dried on my cheek and crystalized almost as quickly as they hit the air.
Boots crunched in the snow behind me, but I ignored him as he called my name over and over. As I reached my car, his hand clamped to my arm and spun me around to face him. “Avery! What’s wrong? What happened?”
My nose was stuffed and I tried to inhale without any luck. Some women were dainty and cute when they cried, but not me. I was a snotty, red-faced mess. Add to that, the freezing temperatures, and I was a chapped, snotty, red-faced mess. “I don’t belong here, Chris.”
I unlocked my driver’s side door and yanked it open. “Look at me!”
His green eyes were dark in the shadow, but they traveled my face, studying me acutely. “I’m looking, Avery. I see someone who’s just as meant to be at that meeting as myself.”
I rolled my eyes. “Don’t say that. Not when you don’t mean it.”
“Who says I don’t mean it?”
I squeezed my eyes shut. “You’re good at your job. I’m good at my job. Let’s leave it at that, can’t we? We’re both in the positions we belong.”
“What are you talking about? People who are good at their jobs get promotions. They move up the ladder. You left before I could tell you, that’s what’s happening. I talked to my dad—”
I snorted and shook my head. “Because we slept together, you got me a raise?”
“No! I talked to my dad because you’re a damn good employee and it was about time someone recognized that this company would benefit greatly from you being elevated to a more significant role.”
My spiked eyelashes were freezing together, thanks to my tears. Was he paying me off? Somehow this was even worse than I expected. I could only imagine how the conversation went with his father… did he tell him about us? About the HR nightmare that he slept with the manager of a store?
I took a deep breath. “Us sleeping together was a mistake, Chris. But you staying in Maple Grove to launch the new store? It’s an even bigger mistake. Go back to Boston where you belong. And I’ll stay here. We both have our places in this world… and it took me until tonight to know where mine is.”
Chapter 22
Chris
My body went rigid. “My place?”
She was already turning to get into her car, ready to shut the door on me… on us. I put my hand on it, stopping her and grateful as hell that she didn’t slam my finger in the door by accident. “My place is here… with you.”