My eyes were playing tricks on me. They had to be, because there was no way that he was here.
Blake couldn’t be here, standing in the doorway of SD Ink in Calla Bay, Massachusetts.
I jumped to my feet, instinctively grabbing my cell off the table.
For some reason, memories of the last time he showed up at my work swam through my mind. That was my last day, not only at that job but any job. Not until I came home and Luke hooked me up with a job with Seb.
Thank God Seb wasn’t here. What if Blake made a scene again? I was positive he was going to. He wasn’t here to catch up, after all. Would Seb fire me too?
No, that was ridiculous. I knew that. Seb wouldn’t have fired me for my ex showing up back in January, when I was still dead set on hating him. He certainly wasn’t going to fire me now.
“Blake? What are you doing here?”
“I’m here to get you back. I’ve missed you, baby,” Blake said, his sad puppy dog eyes locked on mine.
“How did you even know where to find me?” My brothers already knew what my relationship with Blake was like. They wouldn’t have told him where I was. Luke and Reid had filled Wyatt in when he got home, and we had a heart to heart about everything afterwards. My dad was still mainly in the dark, but he knew enough. Who else could he have reached out to? It wasn’t like he knew anyone in Calla Bay, other than me.
“I saw your video for this place. The one where you’re crying over your mom. I looked it up and saw the feed for this place. It was obvious it was you managing it,” he said. He made his way into the space, looking around, probably to make sure there wasn’t anyone else here. He turned back to me, sincerity in his clear, brown eyes. “I’ve been miserable without you. I need you to come home.”
“I am home. I’m not going back to New York. I’m not getting back together with you,” I told him bluntly.
“You were just upset. I get it. I didn’t always treat you right, and I’m sorry. But it wasn’t all bad, Lydia. Don’t convince yourself that a couple of mistakes are worth throwing away everything we had.”
“They weren’t just a couple of mistakes. They were a patternof… It doesn’t matter. I’m not going back with you. Just leave.”
I unlocked my phone and immediately called Seb. When he didn’t answer, I tried again.
“What? No explanation? No conversation? I can’t defend myself? It’s just whatever you say goes, and that’s it.” His anger was building. He moved further into the room, each step bringing him closer to me. I took one step back and then another. Blood rushed in my ears, drowning out everything other than him. I didn’t want to take my eyes off him, but I needed to look at my phone. Chancing a quick glance at my phone, I selected the next best contact. I gripped my phone tightly, praying that Luke would answer, because otherwise, he was about to get one jumbled-up voicemail.
“Yes. I’m not having this conversation with you, Blake.”
“And I’m not leaving here without you, Lydia. I came all the way down to this fish market town… for you.” He continued his slow stride toward me.
“Don’t, Blake. I’m not joking. Stay over there,” I said.
“Stay, leave? Which is it, Lydia? And you think it’s me that’s the problem? You’re a fucking mess. You should be glad that I still want you. God knows no one else does. I could have a hundred other women, but I’m here for you instead.”
“I didn’t ask you to come here. Feel free to find one—or more—of those hundred women. My life is here. We are not together anymore. Just go,” I cried.
A faint voice sounded, and it took me a second to place it. I glanced down at my phone and saw my call was connected. Luke was coming. I just needed to kill enough time for him to get here. Or better yet, convince Blake to go back to New York—without me.
29
Sebastian
“Thank you, Mrs. Wheaton. I appreciate you working with me on this,” I said, standing from my chair to shake her hand.
“Of course, Sebastian. I’ve known you and your family since you were knee-high. I want to see you succeed. It benefits both of us,” she laughed. “I’ll get the updated loan documents over to you for signature later this week. If you run into any trouble again, come talk to me ahead of time so we can try to figure something out before you get behind.”
“Will do, although I’m hoping to be past that now,” I said. “Thanks again.”
I walked out of the bank with a smile on my face. The amended loan was going to give me so much more freedom. The lower payments would allow me to invest in my business again. Maybe I would hire a receptionist to help manage the scheduling and collections. Or if I could get another artist on board, that would increase the revenue exponentially while giving an opportunity for someone to make their livelihood doing something they love. I wondered if Lindsay would consider coming back.
My phone buzzed in my pocket again. It had rung a few times while I was in the meeting, but I didn’t want to be rude to check who it was. I grabbed it now and saw Wyatt’s name lighting up the screen.
“Hey. What’s up?” I answered.
“Where the fuck are you?” he yelled. The panic in his voice stopped me in my tracks.
