“I’m sorry if I left you in the lurch the past few days. I planned to come back on Tuesday. If you still need me,” she added, giving him an out.
And maybe giving herself one too. She wouldn’t leave until she could train her replacement. But then she was gone. There was nothing for her here in Rome.
“I hadn’t even thought that far.” Gray squeezed the back of his neck. “I came to check on how you were and to give you this.”
Gray pulled an envelope out of his pocket and handed it to her. She immediately recognized the writing. It was from Clark. It was also open. She looked up at Gray, and he shrugged.
“Rosalie intercepted it before I could. A lawyer came by the office this morning to drop the letter off. Rosalie said there’s a note and a check inside.” He held up a hand. “I didn’t look.”
Annie didn’t want to look either. She wanted to cry over the irony. Clark had finally come through, right after Emmitt had left her behind. It was as if the universe were struggling to find balance.
He held out the envelope, and Annie jerked back as if he were handing over a petri dish of Ebola. “Yeah, I’ll pass. I think I’ve read my fill of notes lately. I don’t even want to touch it.” With a scrunched nose, she waved it off. “Would you just tell me what it says?”
Gray’s face softened as he took out the letter. “Annie, I’m sorry for the delay,” he read, “but enclosed you’ll find a cashier’s check for the full amount of the deposit, plus interest. I’m sorry to hear you won’t be attending the wedding, but know you’ll always have a little piece of my heart, and my world is brighter for loving you.”
“Um, can you sum it up? This is too weird.”
“Thank God,” Gray said, wiping a hand across his brow. He scanned the note, then folded it and put it back in the envelope. Placing it on the coffee table, he said, “It seems your mom convinced the caterer, the florist, and someone named Molly-Leigh to withhold all future services until Clark, and this is in quotes, ‘makes things right with you.’”
The idea that her mother had riled everyone up on Annie’s behalf—including Molly-Leigh—was beyond touching. “I guess girl code works both ways.” She glanced at the check. “Looks like I won’t have a problem finding a new place.”
“You shouldn’t have to,” Gray said. “If I’d had any idea Emmitt was coming back, I never would have offered you his place. And when he did come home, I should have found you different housing.” He looked up at her. “I haven’t been as attentive to details lately, and that’s going to change.”
“I’m a grown woman, Gray. If I needed a new place, I would have found one on my own or come to you. Honestly, I didn’t want to move. I think, subconsciously, I knew that first night that I wanted to stay there. With him.”
“He cares for you, Annie. I’ve never seen him care so much for anyone except Paisley.”
“I’ve been on the receiving end of some pretty shitty variations of caring, but a complete disappearing act kind of takes the cake.” She didn’t get into the details. If Emmitt wanted to share that with his friends, it was his prerogative.
His gaze darted briefly away. “He’s going to kill me for telling you this, but he knows about Les’s cancer.”
Annie felt herself nod, as if her head were no longer connected to her body. “That’s good, for both of them. I’m glad Les came clean.”
“Oh, he didn’t come clean. Emmitt happened to stumble across him at the hospital and learned about it in a pretty sucky way. Les told me he also let it slip that you knew. That you’d known for a while.”
It’s been REAL.
“Oh my God.” Annie’s hands flew to her mouth to stop the guttural sound building up, but it slipped through her fingers. She’d done this. She’d set the ball in motion, and it had built so much momentum by the time it hit Emmitt, there was no going back.
“No wonder he left without a word. And no wonder he hates me so much that...” That he’d end things the way he had. “I’d hate me too.”
“He doesn’t hate you. In fact I’m pretty sure it’s the opposite. And before you go defending him, understand that you found yourself between two stubborn men who have been