about so much more. It’s about not being under Oliver’s thumb. This partnership won’t work out in the long run if Oliver makes all our decisions, runs rough shod over anything I want to do and throws his financial backing in my face as a means of control.
The project is doomed if we continue on like we have been.
In the end, it’s about being happy. Yes, I want Scarlett in my life and I will do anything to get her back, if she’ll still have me.
But I’ll kill this deal regardless. Either way, she wins.
I might learn how to be happy, eventually, without Scarlett in my life. My days would go on without her. But I want her in it, and if there is any way to make it happen, I’m going for it.
Emma ambles in from the living room and reaches for me, giving me a hug with her jerky gait that’s half-violent in its intensity.
She shows me her iPad again, while hanging on to my arm. It’s a selfie of her and Scarlett they must have taken when she was here for dinner. Emma’s expression is very serious, and she’s focused on something to the side. Scarlett is smiling into the camera, her happy face sending sparks of longing through me. The craving to see her, touch her, make her smile, pounds through me like a physical ache.
“I know,” I tell Emma. “I’ll get her back.”
It takes a while for me to find Granny’s address in Blue Falls, Texas.
It’s going to take even longer to actually get there. But Oliver, surprisingly, helps.
“Okay, look,” he says when he shows up at my apartment, unannounced, the day after Christmas. The day after I ignored all his calls. “I know I’m an asshole. You win. Your fuckable cupcake lady can keep her little section, but that’s it, you don’t get anything else from me.”
“Oliver,” I cut him off with a sharp tone and then point at the girls on the couch.
Emma waves two hands at him, and Ava’s eyes are wide, brows up.
“Sorry for the language, ladies.” He lifts his hands in apology.
I rub my chin. “I’ll forgive you if you let me borrow your private jet.”
His hands come up again, this time in defense. “Woah, woah, woah, there, settle down Casanova. Why do you need my plane?”
“He’s going to get Scarlett back!” Ava yells. “It’s so romantic.”
Oliver grimaces.
“And you can stay here and watch the girls,” I tell him.
His eyes widen in panic. “No way. I’ll take Emma, but that’s it.”
“What?” Ava protests. “What about me?”
“Sorry. It’s just, you talk too much.”
“I was kidding.” I shake my head. “Clara is coming over in the morning to stay with them.”
He sighs. “Good. We can take my plane.” Then he grins at me.
I groan. “Fine. I guess I’ll let you come with me on your plane.”
I can’t believe he agreed at all, to be honest.
I’ve never flown on a private jet before and I’m not sure I could ever go back to first class. It’s efficient and quiet and comfortable and spacious. Sleek gray leather seats, no crowds, and actual decent food.
“Here.” Oliver taps on his cell and leans over the wide space between us to show me. “You can download an app to adjust the window tint and temperature and whatever you want to watch.” He gestures to the flat screen on the wall.
I shake my head. “You see Oliver, this is why you’re a dick.”
He shoves a bite of beluga caviar in his mouth and washes it down with champagne. “What do you mean?” His expression is the picture of innocence.
We land at the private airstrip and still have to drive almost an hour to get to the house. Oliver makes me drive. He probably doesn’t even know how.
The last leg of the trip is never-ending. When we’re finally cruising down a long gravel driveway, my heart is thumping, my palms are sweaty, and I start to wonder if I’m making a huge mistake and she’s going to tell me to go to hell.
“You look like you’re gonna spew,” Oliver says.
“Thanks for the vote of confidence.”
He shrugs.
The car comes to a stop and we exit the vehicle, stretching our limbs.
It’s a sprawling ranch-style home with orange shutters, red trim, blue shingles, and a vivid yellow rocking chair on the porch.
We jog up the front steps to the door. There’s a shotgun leaning up against the wall. Is that even legal?
I lift a hand to knock and before my knuckles can