“You should do yourself a favor—do all of us a favor, really—and stop trying to screw this up.” Sutton grabbed our coffees from the barista and took the seat next to me. “The tree thing was perfect. The declaration of undying love? A bit overkill, even for the resident songwriter.”?
“I’m not trying to screw anything up, Sutton. My feelings are legitimate. They always have been. She’s the one that pushed me away, not the other way around. I’ve never stopped loving her for one second. She’s in everything I do. All of my music, every song I write is our song.” I fidgeted with the cup in my hands. “This was all your idea anyway.”?
Sutton took a sip of her coffee and leaned back in her seat, watching me closely. “She’s right, though. If she asked you to stay, you wouldn’t have the life you do, you know? And she’d always feel guilty about that.”?
I nodded. That part was undeniable. I’d been grateful for my success as a musician, but it came at the ultimate price.?
Losing her wasn’t worth any of it.?
Moving to Nashville was me proving a point. To my family, to my friends, to everyone who thought I couldn’t make a name for myself if it didn’t have “Esquire” attached to the end of it. And it felt good. It felt really fucking good.?
But not nearly as good as being near Magnolia or having her in my life.?
“You don’t think having some sort of sham wedding with my brother isn’t going to make her feel guilty someday? How’s it any different?”?
Sutton smiled and leaned in to me, placing her hand on my arm. “I think she loved Dane in her own way. I can’t speak on how she feels now that she knows the truth, but this is an orphan we’re talking about here. She’s lost everyone she’s ever loved, including you. Dane is here, for the most part. There’s always the promise he’s coming back at any rate. He might be an asshole, but he’s here, and hewantsto be here. And, more importantly, she’ll never leave Savannah. This is where she belongs.”
“Even if it’s all fake? If it’s all for money?”?
She sat back and picked at her scone. I could tell she was choosing her words carefully, and I sat on the edge of my seat. “It’s not about the money, Lee. Have you ever talked to your momma about how she and Vance got together?”?
“No, I haven’t,” I said and nodded for her to go on. My heart was drumming in my chest. Sutton knew something I didn’t know, and it was likely the missing link to everything that’s been happening since I left.?
“It’s none of my business, you know. But Eunice and Magnolia met for lunch around the time the agreements got drawn up for the bar. She didn’t go into detail, but she let it slip that Cole and Eunice were once an item and that it ruined her friendship with Magnolia’s momma, Diane. Apparently, Diane and Eunice were best friends.”?
I flung myself back in my seat and ran my hands over my face. So many things suddenly clicked into place.?“And, let me guess, my grandfathers each had a hand in that?”?
Sutton shrugged. “You know, she didn’t confirm nor deny that, but I have a sneaky suspicion. The timeline makes sense. Eunice went to Boston for college while she was still dating Cole, and she met Vance somewhere in the city whenhe was at Harvard. They were engaged shortly after that.”?
She stuffed some scone in her mouth and chewed quickly before continuing. “And, according to the plaque on the wall of the Wilder Law Firm, your maternal grandfather became a partner alongside your paternal grandfather only a few weeks after Eunice and Vance announced their engagement. I saw the framed newspaper cutout announcing his promotion on the wall when I was catering a mediation there a few weeks ago. A quick Google search brought up your parents’ engagement announcement around the same time.”?
“Are you a chef or a private detective?”?
She chuckled. “Little bit of both.”?
“And you think this is why she’s marrying Dane? Because it’s a business deal, and if my momma could do it, Maggie can, too?”?
Sutton leaned in toward me again and offered me a sympathetic smile. “I don’t think so, Lee. I know so. Because I heard it straight from the horse’s mouth.”?
***
After my workout and a few hours on the guitar with Ryan, I swung by to see Charlie. I considered stopping by the bar to talk to Maggie, but with everything she knew about my brother, the Trust, and all the other pieces of the puzzle, I knew I wasn’t the one who could change her mind.
But maybe her brother could.?
“All I’m saying is that she thinks she’s alone in this world, and she’s not. Do you think she feels she has your support?”?
Charlie was still working on Maggie’s mural little by little, but with all of his custom holiday orders, he had fallen behind. But there it was, almost finished, staring at me.?
It was beautiful. Becauseshewas beautiful.?
“She has my support, Lee. Please don’t come up in my studio and accuse me of not being a good brother. Magnolia and I are adults now, but we’re still very close. That said, though, what decisions she makes, romantically or otherwise, are completely up to her.”?
“You’d really let her walk down the aisle toward a man that’s aggressive toward her, controlling, manipulative, and not to mention probably cheatingon her…”?
Charlie stopped what he was doing and turned toward me. “Wait, what? That’s a pretty lofty allegation there, my friend. Don’t say something like that if you can’t back it up.”?
I told Charlie about the shadows in his video calls with our family and how I had a gut feeling that Dane’s proposal to Maggie wasn’t all tied up in flowers and romance. He was up to something.?
