I’m doing what I love. I’m happy taking care of the business side of it so he can stay out front where he wants to be. I like knowing he’s right down the hall.” She sighed and pressed her fingers to her temples, bracing her elbows on the desk. “Am I completely psycho or something? Maybe he wants to get me out of here. Maybe I’m suffocating him.”
“I saw you and Brian last night. He didn’t look like a guy who was being suffocated, at least not in a way he doesn’t enjoy.”
“Yeah, I know that’s not it. He’s just thinking of what’s best for me.”
“I do see his point, and if you keep working here, your parents will all but die. He might be thinking about that too.”
Candace waved her hand almost angrily. “They’ll get over it. I’m not even worried about them.”
“Yes you are. And he knows it. And he doesn’t want them to hate him because he loves you, and he knows it’s important to you that they don’t.”
She knew she’d struck a nerve when a fresh stream of tears trickled from Candace’s eyes. Dammit, why wouldn’t those people just leave them alone and let their only daughter be happy?
Macy sighed. “But there I go again, telling you what’s what.”
“No, you’re fine. And I see his point too. But I’m also thinking of what’s good for him, and he needs the help. Business is picking up, and he’s got clients from all the surrounding areas coming in. He wants to open another studio. Why should he have to hire someone else when I can do it and I want to do it?”
“You’ll get it worked out.”
“I think he’s smoking again.”
“What?”
“He’d just quit smoking when we got together. Since all this has started and Ghost left and Connor moved away, I swear I smell cigarette smoke on him sometimes.”
“Did you ask him?”
Candace nodded. “He said it must be from contact. I want to believe him, but I know how he is when he gets stressed out. It’s not even that big a deal if he needs one every now and then—but he should trust me enough to not lie to me about it, right?”
“If that’s really going on, then he’s probably too embarrassed to admit he slipped up.”
“I’m sure he is. I want him to know I won’t judge him, but to tell him that, I’d be straight up accusing him of doing it and lying to me about it. So…damn, it sounds so petty, doesn’t it? We could have worse problems.”
Macy shrugged. “That guy is crazy about you. Whatever is going on between you, you’ll get through it.”
Candace’s eyes rounded. “Oh, I know that. There’s no question. But seeing him upset, or even thinking he’s upset, tears me up.” She looked down and doodled absently on the desk pad. “When he hurts, I hurt.”
The words seemed to lodge in Macy’s head and reverberate. When he hurts, I hurt. What wouldn’t she give to find a love like that? An image of Seth’s troubled face as they talked about his grandmother last night floated through her mind. For the second day in a row, an unaccustomed sting pricked behind her eyes. She quickly shoved it back. “Brian’s lucky to have you. You’re both lucky to have each other. I think you guys need to take some time to sit down together, try to relax, and have a heart-to-heart. Get everything out there.”
Candace smiled at her. “I need to talk him into a getaway for a couple days during spring break. I know he’ll protest, but we’re both here so much it’s been a while since it felt like just the two of us.”
“You definitely should. Get him to take you to his parents’ condo in Destin.”
“Ooh, I didn’t think of that. That’s a great idea.”
“And let me borrow it this summer as thanks for making the suggestion.”
Through her friend’s laughter, Macy heard her cell phone chime with a new text message. A jolt of adrenaline shot through her, ratcheting up her heart rate and sending her stomach into a somersaulting free fall. Candace watched with a little too much interest as Macy clumsily drew her phone out of her purse. The display was still lit with the message.
Tonight?
A ridiculous-sounding giggle escaped her. Did he even have to ask?
Well…maybe he thought he did. She should have contacted him first—all along he’d been afraid her actions last night had been because she was drunk. Poor guy, she might’ve made him