ChapterFourteen
Josh openedhis briefcase and pulled out the alternate proposals he had put together in a hurry. They didn’t even begin to compare to the original proposal, but he had to try something. Allen entered his office with a cup of coffee and a solemn expression. His friend had remained by his side all this time, even when the company didn’t take off as quickly as they had hoped. And now, Allen was planning to be here when it all crumbledaroundhim.
Allen placed the cup on his desk. “Mr. Gregory will be here in thirty minutes. Is there anything else Icando?”
“Go.”
Allen quirked a brow athim. “What?”
“You’ve done enough. Just because Lily and I didn’t work out doesn’t mean you have to give up on Connie. Fly back to Florida when this is over. If it goes like I anticipate, you probably want to take a break before figuring out yournextjob.”
“We’ll be fine,” Allen said, but his tone betrayed hisconfidence.
Josh said nothing and returned his attention to his proposals, tweaking a few last details. He tried to remain focused, but the idea of Lily returning to that man made his stomach churn. How could she do it? Maybe she wasn’t the woman he thought she was. Maybe he’d been wrong again. He had a track record for misjudging women who captured his attention. And Lily definitely captured his attention. Besides, he’d only known her for a few short weeks. Barely long enough to really get to knowsomeone.
Hearing the front doors to their office open, he groaned inwardly. Great, Mr. Gregory was early. That was just what he needed.Well, I might as well get this over with. He sighed and straightened his suit jacket as he stood. Satisfied, he gathered his documents and headed to the conference room to set up for hismeeting.
He opened the door to find Lily standing at the front of the room. He stopped short and his papers slipped from his hands as a surge of emotion rolled over him. He was delighted to see her, but upset to face a woman he thought he knew and who had let him down. What could she possibly say that would change things between them? He couldn’t be with a woman who wilted under the demands of her ex and allowed him to control her with threats. “What are you doing here?” He flinched at the cold sound in his voice and awkwardly bent down to gather up hisdocuments.
She looked good, wearing a dress with a belt that accentuated her thin waist. The powder blue color made her hair andeyespop.
“Please, give me five minutes,” Lily said, barely above awhisper.
He glanced at the clock. “My meeting with Mr. Gregory, the one who wanted your artwork, is in twenty. I need to prepare andsetup.”
“Five minutes,” she said again. “It could changethings.”
He set his material on the conference table but remained on the opposite side of the room. “I don’t know what it’ll change, but goahead.”
She let out a long breath, and that was when he noticed her hands were shaking. He wanted to comfort her and run from the room at thesametime.
“Remember when we spoke about why I couldn’t finish the drawing? Why I haven’t been able to paint or sketch for thelastyear?”
Henodded.
“Well, I thought it was because I didn’t have thetalent.”
He groaned, but shecontinued.
“You thought I couldn’t finish it because I was still giving my ex power over me. That I was still connected to him insomeway.”
He gripped the back of the leather chair to keep his emotions incheck. “Yes.”
“We were both wrong.” She took another quick breath. “It had nothing to do with Stephon or my past, but everything to dowithyou.”
Josh grabbed his foam display boards and headed to the front of the room. “It won’t work. You can’t expect me to stand by while you go back toStephon.”
“It’s you. It’s been you since the first day you walked into my cottage and showed me that picture. I had originally drawn it with the hope that things would remain the same, that I’d get to keep living the lie he had created. But unexpectedly it turned into possibilities. Yet I was scared of those possibilities. Scared that you’d let me down, or that I’d let myself down. I had been profoundly hurt, but that wasn’t it. I couldn’t draw or paint because I couldn’t feel any love in my life. But nowIdo.”
“Really? I thought so, too, but the minute your ex enters a room you doubtyourself.”
“You’re right. I did, but I won’tanymore.”
“I’ve seen it, Lily. What’s changed? What makes you so certain it won’t happenagain?”
Lily turned over the board on the easel at the front of the room, and he stumbled back a few paces at the sight of the drawing. Better than the original, this version was full of hope and happiness and love. He moved closer to study the man and woman under the arching limbs of the tree with the ocean stretching out beyond them. To forever. It was Lily and him. There was no mistake. The man in the drawing had the same eyes she’d drawn after meeting him the first time. “It’s amazing. When did you…howdidyou…?”
She chuckled nervously. “I stayed up last night and worked on it until three this morning, then I paid an exorbitant amount of money to fly here in time for your meeting.” Lily shifted between her feet. “Not thatImind.”
