The door to the shop flew open. It was after seven, and she was alone for a few minutes since she’d sent her employees to take a break when the shop got quiet. A couple of teenage girls walked in. They both smiled at her, but it was a snarky, conniving kind of smile.
“Hi, Meredith,” the blonde called out.
“Hi.” Meredith couldn’t place them from church or into a local family. Probably tourists. How’d they know her name?
“Cruz Chadwick is so hot, isn’t he?” the brunette said.
“Yeah, he is,” Meredith agreed, though her stomach squirmed. They knew she was dating Cruz? She didn’t think there had been media following them when they were together, but it was highly possible someone had taken a picture of them and posted it on social media. Was there some crazy article about Cruz that she hadn’t seen? She hated feeling blindsided.
“I would say you’re lucky to be dating him, but I think sharing him with twenty other women would be hard. How is it? Is it kind of like polygamy or something?”
Meredith’s brow wrinkled. “I’m not sharing him with anyone.”
“Wow, how slow are you?” The blonde laughed darkly. “Are you even on social media, or are you too old? Most of his other girlfriends look a lot younger than you.”
They both laughed and then turned to walk out. Stunned by their audacity, Meredith watched them go.. Why would they be so rude and make fun of her like that?
She shouldn’t have let them get to her. They were just childish, mean girls. She found herself ripping off her gloves and grabbing her phone with trembling hands. She typed in Cruz Chadwick, looking at his handsome smile with longing and then scanning through the top list on his Google search. The third one down was an article by some celebrity magazine, “How many women does Cruz Chadwick need on the line?”
She could hardly hold the phone as she clicked on it. There were pictures of twenty different women cuddled against Cruz, her included, and each told their story of how they met and fell in love with Cruz. She sank onto a hard chair and read through each one. The paragraph on her talked about how Meredith had loved him her entire life and was his “girlfriend back at home.” It mentioned how she only made homemade rolls for him, and they were even better than her fabulous brownies.
She couldn’t believe it. Nobody else would know about the rolls. Cruz wouldn’t keep a girlfriend in towns throughout the country claiming to love them all. Would he? Every single woman said how he’d promised she was the only girl he loved, and when his schedule settled down, he’d come see them.
It all felt so fake and surreal and sickeningly hurtful. She refused to believe it, but it still felt like she was being gouged apart.
The door dinged open, and Meredith stood quickly and dropped her phone into her apron pocket. She tried to smile but found she couldn’t. Fake it till you make it. That was Cruz’s mentality, and now it made her want to sob. Was he only faking that he loved her and all those other women? She hated herself for even questioning him. How could she possibly doubt his sincerity and his love?
An older couple walked slowly in, and the woman immediately gasped. “Oh, beautiful girl, are you okay?”
Meredith tried and tried to force that smile. “Um …”
“Your face is just tear-stained, and your eyes are red. Do you need a hug? Or some privacy?”
“I’m fine,” she mumbled, wiping at her face. She hadn’t realized she was crying. She forced out a lie. “I just read a really sad book while the shop was quiet.”
“Oh.” The lady put her hand to her heart. “Oh, I’m so glad you’re okay. You’re just a beauty, and you have this sweet light about you.”
“Oh, thank you.”
“It’s none of my business, but …”
Her husband rolled his eyes. “If it’s none of your business, don’t say it.”
She pushed at him. “Oh, you, shush.” She leaned forward. “Do you have someone special in your life? If not, I’ve got some really cute grandsons.”
Meredith blinked and blinked, but the tears just rushed down her face. Someone special. Cruz! She didn’t want to believe that article. She refused to believe that article. Yet how would they know about the rolls? She was being overly dramatic, but she only wanted Cruz. What if he wanted twenty other women? No!
She held up a hand and muttered, “I’m sorry. Excuse me.” Then she ran for the back room.
Chapter Fifteen
Cruz’s favorite part of his job was working with young people. The two weeks at Flathead Lake Wakeboard Academy should’ve been ideal. He did enjoy the interactions with the kids and teenagers, but he missed Meredith fiercely. It felt like he had the flu, without the body aches and chills. He was tired, had no energy, and would’ve stayed in bed all day if he hadn’t had such a demanding schedule.
He had only one day left here, and finally, he had a free evening. He was trying to decide if he could make it work to drive the four hours to go see Meredith. He’d have to turn around and leave early in the morning to be here for the big day of filming and mess-around with the kids tomorrow. Yet even if he only had a few minutes to be inspired and lifted by Meredith’s light, it would be worth eight hours in the car.
His phone rang, and he snatched it out of his pocket, anxious to talk to Meredith. He felt a sting of disappointment but was still happy to hear from his sister. “Cat.”
“Hey, my most handsome bro. What is up?”
He smiled as he paced his room in the spacious cabin on the lakeside that Taylee had rented for them. “Just missing Meredith. How are you doing?”
“Good, good. Just kissing on Stetson. Don’t be jealous.”
“I don’t want to kiss on Stetson.”
She laughed. “You have no clue what you’re missing out on. I meant you can’t kiss on Meredith.”
“Thanks for rubbing it in.”
“Sorry. Hey, I have something serious to talk to you about.”
“You … serious?”
“Ha ha. Can you sit down, please?”
Stetson clung to the phone. He didn’t like the sound of this. “Is Meredith okay? Dad? Stetson?”
“Oh … no. Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. They’re all fine. It’s not that. It’s … Mom called me today.”
“And?” He didn’t relax his grip on the phone and kept pacing, walking to the patio door and going out onto the spacious patio. The summer evening had cooled off beautifully, and the view of the lake and the trees should’ve soothed him, but it didn’t.
“She’s actually doing better than she has in our lifetime, even though she’s in prison. They’ve got her meeting with therapists and taking medication. Things she should’ve done years ago. Dad tried to get her help many times, but she always refused and treated him awful for even suggesting it.”
“Okay.” He wanted to be happy his mom was doing well, but the hurt was pretty deep. He selfishly only wanted to know he was healed from the abuse, so he could be with Meredith.
“She wants to see you.”
Cruz let out a harsh laugh. “Sure, she does.”