found plenty to talk about.
“Let’s keep it professional at work,” he’d said as their relationship progressed beyond casual. It had seemed like a wise idea. But now she realized she may have played right into his plans.
Holly squeezed her hand. “I’m so sorry, Maddy. You don’t deserve this.”
“I’m not gonna lie, losing the promotion is bad, and losing my job is even worse. But having Nick betray me like this . . . You know how hard it was for me to take a leap of faith like that.”
“Aw, honey.” She drew Maddy into an embrace. “I just hate this. It won’t always be this way, Mads. Someday you’ll find the right man to love, and it’ll all be worth it. I promise.”
“Was this his plan all along? To keep me out of the way while he sucked up to Evangeline? Did he ever care for me? I thought he did, but what do I know?” Maddy’s throat constricted around her words.
Holly rubbed her back. “Would it help if I told you he’s not worth the lint on this old, smelly T-shirt you’re wearing?”
“I feel like such an idiot. I keep remembering little things he said and did. I must’ve had blinders on.”
“Hey.” Holly pulled back and gave Maddy one of her stern looks. “Don’t you be putting this on yourself. You trusted him. You gave him the benefit of the doubt. Nick’s the idiot. Anyone who tosses you over like that needs his head examined.”
Maddy absorbed the warmth from Holly’s eyes. “I don’t know what I should do now.”
“You should tell Evangeline, that’s what you should do. Tell her you and Nick have been dating for six months and he was cheating on the both of you.”
“I’d love nothing more, believe you me.” She gave Holly a guilty look. “But I told Nick about my résumé.”
The air escaped Holly, deflating her posture. “Oh, Maddy.”
Four years ago when Maddy applied for the assistant manager job, she’d falsified her experience. It was only one job. She’d been at a low point and overly ambitious—not that that was an excuse. She wasn’t proud of it. She’d never done anything like that before or since, and she’d nearly come clean to Evangeline a dozen times over the years. She wished now that she had.
“Even if I go to Evangeline I won’t get my job back. And that’s on me. I knew what I was doing was wrong, and I did it anyway. That is my fault.”
Holly studied her thoughtfully. “What are you going to do, honey?”
“Eat an entire package of Oreos.”
Holly gave her a look. “After that.”
“Look for another job, I guess. At least I’ve got money in the bank. I’m not flat broke or anything. I just feel so . . . ruined.”
“You are not ruined.”
Maddy’s phone buzzed against her palm, and Holly uncurled her fingers and took it. “It’s Noelle. She’s worried about you. I’ll let her know I’m here and you’re okay.”
“Nice of her to check up on me,” Maddy mumbled, feeling numb after letting out her feelings.
She thought of all the people she was leaving behind at Pirouette. They weren’t friends exactly. She was their boss—used to be their boss. She thought of everything she’d put into her job. All the overtime, all the energy. She’d lived and breathed that place. It was the reason she’d gotten to the ripe old age of thirty-one without a ring on her finger. Well, part of the reason.
She’d loved everything about her job, from the staff to the patrons to the amazing aerial view of Charlotte. It was like throwing a party every day. She’d made the restaurant the most important thing in her life, had made Nick runner-up, and now they were both gone.
“Honey, you’ve got, like, twenty unopened texts on here. And a bunch of missed calls.”
Maddy shook away the cobwebs. “What time is it anyway? And why aren’t you at work?”
“It’s after three, honey. I just got off. Have you been in bed all day?”
“Maybe.”
She was going to have to put out her résumé again—undoctored this time. She could do this. Maybe she’d wind up at an even better restaurant. But they didn’t come much better than Pirouette. Was she willing to move away from Charlotte? She didn’t even want to think about that.
Holly held up the phone. “Who’s this from a 910 area code?”
“Telemarketer probably.”
“They’ve called five times. Look.”
“I don’t recognize the number.”
“They left a bunch of voicemails.”
Maddy took the phone, put it on speaker, and tapped the