“Fine, Cindy. I’ll handle it for the festival. After that, if Sarah can’t do it, the shop will be closed until you return.”
“Thanks, Oppa. I’ll see you next week.”
He hung up the phone and turned to find Vanessa staring at him.
“Do you usually do that?”
“Do what?”
“Always give your little sister what she wants when she asks for something that inconveniences you? From your end of the conversation, it certainly feels like this isn’t the first time Cindy’s pulled a stunt like that.”
Vanessa was right. Cindy did pull stunts like this regularly, and because he was her oppa, he swooped in to save her all the time. Somehow, hearing Vanessa point that out didn’t sound all that good.
“She’s my sister. She was fifteen when we lost our parents. Forgive me if I’ve overindulged her a bit over the years.”
Vanessa shrugged. “Sounds more like spoiled instead of overindulged.”
Michael was beginning to get defensive. It was his nature to always protect Cindy. He was all she had. If he could help, he would. Even when the mess she’d made was of her own doing, he couldn’t just stand by and do nothing. Especially when he remembered the last time he’d failed to step in and do what needed to be done. If he’d done so then, maybe they wouldn’t be orphans.
“Listen,” Vanessa continued, “I understand how important it is to have love and rock-solid support from a loved one. At some point, however, you’re going to have to let Cindy find her own strength. That was what my grandmother did for me. She poured everything she had into me in order to make me stronger, still she never failed to let me know when I was getting it wrong. It’s one of the reasons I came here to help you. I could almost hear her tellingme this was the right thing to do, and I needed to dig deep and find the strength to do this.”
She had this far-off look in her eyes as she talked about her grandmother, as if she were remembering a specific memory with the woman.
“You sound like you miss her a lot.”
“I do.” She offered a wavering smile as she returned her gaze to him. “And I always will. She always believed in me and, like you, would help me any time she could. I want so desperately to be the woman she believed I could be.”
She must’ve decided that was enough sharing, because she picked up her fork and pointed it at him.
“Anyway, let’s get back to you. So, all your scheming and Cindy’s not even gonna be here?”
He shook his head as he returned to his seat at the table. “It appears that way.”
“Why did you have me come out here if you knew she was away?”
“Because she was supposed to return today before the rain came in. I figured tomorrow would be perfect for us to meet.”
She picked up her fork and cut into her food before speaking again. “Well, you tried.” Her voice was sincere and comforting. “The plan was to get me down here to talk to Cindy and then for you to get my ring back from her. That’s obviously not going to happen now. So, we might as well enjoy our meal and get a good night’s sleep so you can take me to my car in the morning and I can be on the road.”
“I’m really sorry, Vanessa.”
She twisted her mouth into a playful smile. “Don’t be. You’ll just mail me my grandmother’s ring as soon as you retrieve it.”
He opened his mouth to speak, and she held her finger in the air. “Nope, I held up my end of the bargain. Poor planning on your part doesn’t invalidate my efforts. A deal is a deal, Sheriff.”
He half groaned, half laughed. She was right. A deal was a deal,and she’d held up her end, trudging out to the middle of nowhere in the middle of a monsoon. His plan might have failed, but he couldn’t break his promise.
“Fine. I’ll make sure you get your grandmother’s ring.”
She smiled at him, full and genuine, and he ached a little in the presence of its splendor. He was going to miss that smile. And even though he wouldn’t let himself admit it, he was going to miss Vanessa more.
Chapter 9
Vanessa sat quietly as Michael pulled his SUV intothe inn’s parking lot with a growing sense of sadness mixed with regret twisting inside her. There was a rock sitting heavy in the pit of her stomach, and she couldn’t quite understand why it was there.
This scenario couldn’t have worked out better for her if she’d planned it. She’d come to Monroe Hills as promised, but the universe had somehow turned things around so she wouldn’t have to deal with a situation that was sure to be messier than Vanessa wanted to admit. The cherry on the top: she’d avoided dealing with Karl and she’d still get her grandmother’s ring back.
This was a win-win. So it shocked her when sorrow swelled inside of her. Even more surprising was Michael’s kind face. It didn’t mirror the disappointment slightly growing in her chest, and that fact troubled her.
