Lacy snarled. “Yes it is. He couldn’t afford a plane ticket home for Christmas, so you dumped him.”
His eyes widened and his face went slack. “Anna?”
That was the accusation Blue had hurled at me when I’d broken things off. It was a partial truth. But there was so much more to it than that. He must’ve told her this version and now she was using it to call me out in front of everyone, cameras rolling.
I told myself not to cower but I couldn’t help it. Everything in me screamed to run. To get out of there now. I stood my ground. “I hadn’t seen you in eight months. You promised you’d come and then you called me up and told me you couldn’t afford it. I just…” I gulped. “I couldn’t do it any more. I missed you terribly. It was…really stressful. That’s all.” There was so much more to it but it was a conversation we needed to have alone. Not in front of a bunch of strangers.
“Lacy’s right, son,” Shane said smoothly behind me, making the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.
Daisy appeared out of nowhere, a sickening smugness on her lips. “I did some digging and she’s right,” she purred, trading a glance with Lacy. “I think you’ve been backing the wrong horse. Lacy is the one who’s always had your best interests at heart.”
My legs trembled. A camera man inched closer. This was the stuff the night terrors were made of.
Blue’s eyes pinballed between me, Daisy, Lacy, and Shane. For a moment they stopped on me. A gulp jerked his chin. “I asked you why we broke up and you left all of that out.” Then to Shane. “You let me spend all this time with her and you knew that?”
I took a step away from him, the betrayal stealing my air. That’s all it took for him to turn on me?
Lacy walked over and put a hand on his arm. “She’s the reason you chose Knoxville.Wechose Knoxville. You said you were going wherever the money was because you were never going to be poor again.” Her glare was poison-tipped. “She hated that you grew up in a single-wide. Hated that your mom was an elementary school cafeteria worker. Hated that your parents were divorced. Because she’s the great Anna Dupree. Her family is perfect. And they own a fancy cattle ranch.” Her hand gestured at me from head to toe as if my outfit screamed money. It didn’t. I had on my usual leather cowgirl boots, yes. It was basically the Dupree family shoe of choice. And I was wearing a pair of Seven jeans but I’d gotten them off the clearance rack at TJ Maxx. I had on the same shirt as Blue. A Knoxville baby blue and orange athletic tee that someone had shoved at me when we walked in the door. My cubic zirconia studs were from Target. Lacy’s brow quirked and her lips pursed. “And her uncle is stupid rich. This girl doesn’t care about anyone who doesn’t have money.”
I fell back a step, my heart trying to explode out of my body and bolt from this room before I could get my legs moving. I didn’t care one bit that he’d grown up in a single-wide. I loved that his mom was a cafeteria worker. Her kind smile had greeted me every day when I got lunch as a kid. Long before I even knew Blue. I didn’t care that his parents were divorced, and the irony of Lacy saying I had a perfect family was almost laughable. My mom got pregnant with me when she was fourteen, and my dad was an exchange student from Italy who took off and hadn’t tried to contact me once in my entire life. And Ford hadn’t been famous or rich when Blue and I broke up. He’d been a lost college dropout filming a music competition reality show.
I looked up at the boy who I’d always seen as a protector and friend. “None of that is true.”
Lacy’s lip curled over her teeth, reminiscent of an attack dog. She wound her long, thin fingers around Blue’s bicep. “Yes, it is. Stop lying. Now that he’s rich and famous you want him back. And since he’s lost his memory you’ve latched on like a leech.” She threw her hand out. “If you really cared about him, where have you been the last four years?”
I scanned the crowd for someone, anyone, to side with me. But I was completely alone. Everyone was glaring at me like I was a sycophant.
Blue’s fists curled and uncurled, his eyes ping-ponging between Lacy and me. “I can’t do this right now,” he hissed. His eyes landed on Lacy. “You need to go.” Her eyes narrowed. “Now.” She spun on her heel and shoved through the crowd.
I let out an exhale of relief.
But then he turned his disappointed, wet eyes on me. “You too, Anna,” he said in a power-whisper.
I stood frozen in shock for a moment. Then I nodded, tears filling my eyes. I turned, pushing my way through the crowd behind me, hiccuping sobs as the cameras took in every tear. My phone was out of my pocket before I got out of the room.
There was a text from Holden.
Uncle Holden
Absolutely do not let Blue sign that. He will lose money. If you read the fine print, all the extra money goes toward his dad—giving him a house and a fat living stipend if Blue switches to Texas.
“Too late. I don’t care,” I sobbed to myself. Then I dialed Ford. Thankfully, he answered on the first ring.
“Ford?” It took all my effort to speak. “Can you c-come get me?”
“Yes. Of course. Are you okay?”
“I-I’ll,” I hiccuped. “I’ll tell you about it when you get here. I’ll drop a pin for you to find me. I’m at the football stadium.”
We hung up.
I spun, trying to figure out how to get out of this cavernous maze of halls, and bumped straight into someone. I stepped back. “I’m s-sorry, “ I said, my eyes on my feet.
“Anna?”
I looked up to see Madden.
One look at my tears and he came forward, worried. “What happened?”
