I stepped closer. The man Grant was talking to locked eyes with me, eyes that were cold and angry. Darian Cole.
I felt an icy chill run down my spine.
“For some reason, I don’t believe you.” Mr. Cole gestured toward me.
I stepped closer as Grant turned around. His eyes found mine and went from confused to frustrated.
“Maybe if you weren’t spending your time with a certain gold digger, you could actually have a successful business. You would have caught it sooner, and you would have prioritized keeping your client, your only client, happy.” He slapped his hands together causing a sharp sound. Grant flinched. “Your father was right. You’ll never amount to anything because you aren’t willing to do what it takes. I don’t know why I let you convince me to give you a chance.”
“Hey!” I was furious with Grant, but I wasn’t going to let this man sit here and talk to him like that. “Maybe if you weren’t actually a jerk, you wouldn’t have to trick a whole town of single ladies into trying to give you a chance.”
Mr. Cole stepped to the side, so he had a clear path to me. His fists were clenched, and a vein had started to pulse on his forehead. “You want to say that again?”
I now understood the saying “if looks could kill.” I took a half step back before I reminded myself I wouldn’t let this bully push me around.
Grant stepped over, blocking Cole’s path. “Emma, you need to leave.” He didn’t even care enough to look at me, just yelled over his shoulder.
“I just wanted to see you, I thought you might need help. You said you would call and?—”
“Emma, go. Now,” Grant quipped over his shoulder. “You said you wouldn’t show up at Kismet events.”
I raised my chin higher. “I did, and you said that you wanted to give us a try, and a bunch of work-life balance crap. So, I guess we both lied.”
Jane was wrong. He hadn’t wanted to see me. He had cut contact on purpose.
Darian Cole growled. “Someone ought to teach that woman some manners.”
Grant stiffened and stepped closer to Cole. “Emma, leave. Now.” His voice was sharp—louder than necessary. Angrier than I’d ever heard.
Any hope I’d held on to shattered like glass. I’d tricked myself into believing that Grant would want to see me or at least have an explanation. Instead I was met with his cold anger, and I knew if we had anything previously, it was long gone.
I forced my chin higher, even as my throat tightened. “I know the way out.” My voice didn’t crack, not yet. “Don’t worry. You’ll never see me again.”
I turned, pushing through the double doors before the first tear could fall.
The evening air was cold against my skin, but not as cold as Grant’s dismissal.
My fingers fumbled for my keys; I couldn’t see through the blur of tears. My breath hitched, shallow and frantic. I needed to leave. Now. Before the sob in my throat broke free. I was totally throwing away this outfit. I ran to my car and drove out of the parking lot.
Jane and Mom had been wrong.
I should have never come.
I should have never tried.
I should have never loved.
Chapter Fourteen
I putmy car into park on the long gravel driveway and reached for another package of tissues. I ripped it open, my hands shaking. My breath came in sharp, hiccupping gasps that deprived my lungs of air. My chest ached, raw and hollow, as if my heart had shattered into something too sharp to fit back together.
I tried.
And it still didn’t work. I still wasn’t wanted.
No one stayed, no one wanted me.
My throat burned with unshed sobs.
