“Why is he here? Why did he show up at Lake View Restaurant when he was supposed to be an hour away in Oxford? Why did he want a vacation home here? In this city? There are so manyother places in Mississippi he could have chosen if he needed one in this state so desperately.” I run a hand through my light brown tresses before making desperate eye contact with my boss again.
Please have the answers, Hadley.
“Well, I’m not entirely sure. He told Braxton that this was the spot he wanted without much of an explanation, and Braxton got Michael hired on to be Mason’s contractor. He’s been staying in Braxton’s old cabin with my college friend, Finley, since the wedding back in December. All I know is that he’s sticking around because he wanted to be hands-on during the building process.”
I don’t respond, thinking through everything she’s telling me. Why is he staying here? Shouldn’t he be touring or something? No. His tour ended in late November. Not that I should know that. But if that’s the case, wouldn’t he want to go home to Dallas for Christmas? Why spend it alone here when he could be with his dad, Greg, and step-mom, Jessie? I talked to her just the other day to thank her for the care package she and Greg sent me, and she never mentioned he was here, though she must have known…
Ugh. I wish I could make my brain forget things about him. I wish I didn’t check his social media accounts on the regular.Keep your friends close and your enemies closer,I tell myself.Yeah. Right. That’stotallywhy I stalk his socials…
“But if I’m being honest, knowing that the two of you were once besties, and well, it seems like there might have been more there, maybe he’s here to reconnect with you, Karoline.”
I give Hadley a bombastic side-eye as she shrugs her shoulders and takes another nonchalant sip of coffee. Talking with her has calmed my anger, but my thoughts are still a tornado of questions. Why has he been around for two weeks and not bothered to reach out if he was here to reconnect?
Unless his feeble attempt to catch me on my way out of Lake View on New Year’s Eve was his way of reaching? I mean, what did he think I would do? Throw caution to the wind, jump into his strong, bulky arms while his luscious hair blew in the slight breeze? Did he think I would press my lips to his full, plump…
New train of thought, Karoline!
That’s right. He’s a jerk. A no-good, very bad boy-man.
I finally answer Hadley. “There’s no way. You don’t know what went down between us… how he left me.”
“Do you want to talk about it?”
With a huff, the remaining anger and tension evaporates, replaced with emotional and physical fatigue. “No. I think… well, it hurts too much to talk about.”
“Sometimes we need to tell the story to let the pain out. The longer you hold on, the more it will hurt, hun. Healing can begin when you learn to confide in the people who love you. Trust me on that.”
Hadley’s words make sense, but I don’t think I’m ready. Besides Mama, only Chanel knows what he did, and it took a whole calendar year before I told her the story. “One day, Boss. But for now, can you give me a complex task to distract me? Something like rearranging the entire store? Christmas is over, after all.”
“Of course. But Karoline, as you know, your internship starts today, and I already had the project for you to complete planned out before I knew everything with Mason…”
The anger that had evaporated begins to rear its ugly head again, but I bite my tongue to keep from reacting. A feeling of dread settles upon my chest at the sorrowful tilt of her head and the way her eyes plead with me to understand.
Through my teeth, I question, “What is it?”
“Valentine’s Day is coming up, and you know it’s a big deal for our store. This year, I wanted to reveal that Tease Jewelryis associated with our store and start considering branching out the Southern Grace brand across the state and into other southern states, maybe nationally. But to do that, I need bigger publicity. And Mason has agreed, alongside his friend, country music star Genevieve Rhodes, to promote the jewelry and store brand.” Hadley pauses, seemingly checking me out to make sure I’m okay. She doesn’t know I’m holding my breath and suppressing tears as I nod along to her no good, awful, horrendous plan.
One. I hate Valentine’s Day. Two. I hate Mason Kane. Three. I loathe the two of them together entirely.
And Genevieve? I’ve seen the pictures of her and Mason holding hands, laughing, whispering in each others’ ears. Just friends?Ha. As if.
“Hadley,” I whine in desperation. “Anything else. Really. I’ll do anything else.”
I’ll design a new website. I’ll go knee-deep in social media analytics. I’ll be the reply girl for emails. All the things that make me want to pull my hair out because they don’t involve working with actual people. My extroverted soul would go stir-crazy.
“This marketing could give us the support and funds we need to branch out because of the online orders we will receive. I’ve already started back-stocking our most popular items, but I’ll need to focus on the orders and functioning of the store. I want you to head the marketing campaign, and it will serve as your internship project hours for the semester. I’ll be reporting directly back to your advisor at school on your progress. Trust me. You want this project on your record at school. It’s going to be epic, and your name will be attached to it.”
To my emotional demise, she‘s not wrong. Thisisthe perfect opportunity.
A few seconds tick by before I finally say, “So I’m heading up the Valentine’s Day marketing campaign, and I’ll be working with Genevieve, and,” I swallow the bile rising in my throat, “Mason?”
Hadley nods her head, a sympathetic smile stretching across her face. She tucks a strand of platinum blonde hair behind her ear. “I’m sorry, Karoline. I thought you’d be thrilled to work with the two of them, but I didn’t know your history.”
“It’s okay. You didn’t know. And even so, I have a job to do. You know I love this place with my whole heart and want to stay on even after I graduate. I’ll do what needs to be done and won’t let my past get in the way. Promise.” Oh, I pray I’m able to keep that promise…
Hadley hops off the stool, and I stand to follow her out onto the sales floor. “I’m so happy to hear that.” She stops me before she opens the door to the storefront. “Go wash your face and sip some tea before you come out here. Take some moments, okay?”
I tuck my chin to my chest. “Will do.”
