“All right. I’ll text youtonight.”
She ended the call and tapped the message notification on her phone. In Ash’s text, she tapped on the slideshow and waited with her breath caught in her chest as each pictured detailed the destruction Ash referredto.
Her mama’s beloved store was reduced to rubble. Light fixtures were destroyed. The shelving was ripped from the walls. The floors were covered with glass and debris. It didn’t look like the trendy store her mother had created with nothing but her backbone andsweat.
Mandisa was startled out of her shock by Slade’s voice on the opposite side of the door. She wiped at her face quickly, attempting to composeherself.
“Hey, there,” Slade called to her. “I’m finished here. You ready to get back to our plan of spending the next few days buried beneath thecovers?”
“Sure, just let me put in a quick call toKandi.”
“What are you calling Kandifor?”
Mandisa watched Slade. Everything about him looked cool and confident. Nothing about his bright smile and open posture gave anythingaway.
“She’s my friend and I miss her. Do I need any other reason to call her,Slade?”
Slade shrugged his shoulders. “I’m sure you don’t. I just wanted to make sure you were adhering to the rules of our wager. No workcalls.”
“Of course. I mean, why would I need to call work? You promised that if something was wrong at work Kandi would call you and you’d tell me right away. If I’ve learned one thing in the short time we’ve been together, it’s how honest and open you are. I know if something were wrong, you’d tell me right away. Isn’t thatright?”
She waited a beat, part of her hoping he would come clean, the other hoping he could create some plausible scenario that would explain away hisdeception.
He stood there, an easy smile glued to his face while he pulled her into his embrace. He leaned down and placed a gentle kiss to her cheek as he said, “Of course I would,darlin’.”
The image of Judas betraying Jesus with a kiss came to her mind. It felt like someone had taken a sledgehammer to her soul knowing that Slade deceived her. The bottom fell out of her stomach, and she had to swallow to keep the contents of it from racing up to hermouth.
“Hey, let’s hurry and get back to the ranch, cowboy. I think I’ve had my fill of Austin for theday.”
