extremely smart.
“We’re tight-knit,” she’d said in the interview. “I’m the majority owner, but each of my employees has a stake in the business, depending on seniority. We all rise or fail together.”
The fact she’d held on to the company despite her relationship with that prick, Vance, and that the company had gone from strength-to-strength in a relatively short period of time, was a testament to Sarah’s drive and will. A man like Vance would not want “his” woman to have any independent passions, things he couldn’t control.
“She’s changed, hasn’t she?” David looked up from where he sat in the armchair next to Fox’s, his hand stilling on the music sheet.
“Yeah, Sarah never struck me as entrepreneurial.” Noah’s voice was thoughtful rather than judgmental. “But man, she was really young when you two first hooked up.” A nod at Abe. “Twenty-one right? I guess she’s just growing up and into herself.”
Abe nodded, unable to speak past the sudden knot in his stomach.
He couldn’t understand the reason for that knot until Molly dropped by an hour later. She was on her way home after running an errand in the city, but she’d picked up a box of fresh-baked muffins for them. “Wouldn’t want my favorite men to starve,” she said with that warm, wide smile that marked her as far too nice for Hollywood.
As Fox demanded a kiss, then asked her about a project she was working on for her one-woman research and editorial business, Abe realized Fox and Molly were growing together. Being each other’s support and strength.
Sarah was alone. Had always been alone in many ways. Even when she’d been married to Abe.
The realization was a gut punch that crushed all the air out of him.
“How’re the wedding preparations going?” David said to Molly.
Molly beamed. “I’m so glad you asked!” Running back into the hallway, she returned with a giant bakery box. Inside were at least ten tiny boxes. “Cake.”
“I love cake,” Abe put in, trying to get into the mood of things—he wasn’t about to ruin Molly and Fox’s excitement because he was sick to his stomach over his fuckups.
“Charlotte’s going to make the cake,” Molly told them after pressing another kiss to Fox’s dimple, pure delight in her expression as she spoke of her best friend. “She arrived in the country two days ago without telling me, and today she gave me the surprise of my life by turning up at the house with two sets of handmade cake samples.”
A pointed glance at Fox. “Funny how she had the code to open the gate when I hadn’t yet given it to her since she was meant to arrive tomorrow.”
Fox just whistled.
Laughing, Molly kissed him again, then pointed to the box. “This is the second set. I’m taste-testing the first set with the women tonight. I need you all to tell me your favorites since Fox is being no help at all. When I ask him what flavors he prefers, he shrugs and says, ‘Cake is cake.’”
“Swap out cake with pancakes,” Fox drawled, “and I’d be your man.”
She put a little notepad on the coffee table on which she’d left the muffins and cakes. “I’m going to let you taste the samples in peace,” she said. “But if you don’t give me some real feedback, I’ll stop bringing you muffins.”
As a threat, it was effective.
After she left, they decided to get some coffee and try the cakes before working on another piece.
Fox made notes for Molly. “See?” the lead singer said. “I’m being helpful.”
The four of them were proud at being able to narrow things down to a rich vanilla cake with chocolate-buttercream frosting; a cake that was labeled as “champagne,” with a frosting they couldn’t figure out but that tasted hella-good; and a passion fruit cake with cream cheese frosting.
Happy for his friend but still pissed off at himself, Abe was glad to get back to the music. It had always given him firm ground on which to stand. A little while later, after they paused so David could fix something that was out of alignment on his drum kit, Noah said, “Um, so…”
Schoolboy Choir’s guitarist never sounded like that. He usually projected an image of not giving a shit about anything—the rest of the world might be happy to go along with that, but his close friends all knew it was a front, Noah a man you could count on to be there when you needed him.
“Are you going red, man?” a wide-eyed David asked as all