Chapter Eight
Darkness blanketed the street,making the drive to Decatur even longer. I needed to get to Edward. The man I was meant to be with. The man who spoke poetry and treated me like I was the only woman in the world. It was time for me to focus on our relationship, not on some childhood fantasy that would only leave me brokenhearted and alone. The minute Kevin forgave himself for Joe’s accident, he’d be out of Magnolia Corners for good. And I’d be left behind like mymother.
I pulled into the small restaurant and went inside. “Is Dr. Edward Talbert hereyet?”
The hostess scanned the list in front of her. “No, ma’am. You can wait in the bar if youwish.”
“Thanks.” To evade the cold shooting inside each time someone opened the front door, I found a seat at the far end of the bar. “Can I have a glass of ice water with lemonplease?”
The bartender gave me the evil stare for a moment, but I plopped a twenty down on the bar top and he changed his expression. “Certainly.”
I texted Edward, but he didn’t respond. After thirty minutes, I was getting irritated. At nine p.m., he called me. “I’m so sorry, love. Listen, change of plans. Meet me outside. I’m herenow.”
The phone went dead before I could even reply. I waved bye to the bartender and found Edward in his car outside. He rolled down the window. “Come on. I need to get to a party. You’re coming withme.”
I sat in the car, but before I could even get a kiss, he put the car in reverse and sped throughtown.
“What’s going on?” Iasked.
Edward turned on his signal and merged onto the highway. “Turns out that Dr. Westbound loved a paper you wrote and mentioned to another staff member that he’d love to speak to you about your philosophy behind it. That got you an invite, and I’m your plusone.”
“We’re going to walk into the party together?” I asked. This was it. We would finally announce our relationship to thestaff.
“Of course. Why not? You’re not a child. There are only a few years’ age difference between us. It’s realistic that we’re friends. You’re a rising star in the program, and I’m a professor.” He took an exit off to some rich neighborhood I’d never seenbefore.
All of a sudden, I felt awful about throwing the word “friends” in Kevin’s face. “So, we’re not dating?” I glanced over to see Edward’s brown eyes fixed on the road ahead, his gaze transfixed on his promotion. “Not yet. After I snag the dean of school and you graduate. That’ll be the time. You agreed to that,right?”
“Right.” I had to admit, it had been fun for a while meeting at secret locations and no one knowing about us as a couple, but the situation was getting old now. I understood why and agreed, but it didn’t make iteasier.
He turned onto the upscale street of Peachtree Estates Road and pulled up behind a row of cars near an estate with a wrought-iron gate that had fancy swirls that ended in an arrow point. The numbers 5249 were prominently displayed in gold script on a mailbox next to the car. It wasn’t a normal mailbox, it was as ornately designed as thegate.
“I don’t know about this.” I pointed at my sexy cocktail dress I’d worn to get Edward’sattention.
“Oh, I think that’s perfect. You look stunning, my dear.” He kissed my cheek. “Leave the purse, though. It’s a little toosouth side of townlooking. Oh, I almost forgot. I have something for you.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a sheet ofpaper.
I opened it to read a verse from one of the poems he’d read to me. Usually I felt special and knew he’d taken time to pick out the perfect verse and hand write it in his fancy script, but not this time. This time it only felt like I was reading general words. I wasn’t being fair. Edward was trying his best in an impossible situation. Once I graduated, things would be better between us. Relationships were work, and I needed to tryharder.
“Come on. We’d better get inside.” He hopped out of the car and raced around to my side. “Let’s go make a future forus.”
I liked his words. It gave me hope that he still wanted to make things work between us. We entered the home full of people dressed in conservative attire, so I tightened my coat around me. The butler held out a hand, and Edward yanked the coat off my shoulders and handed it to theman.
“There’s Dr. Westbound now.” Edward rushed over and held out his arm to me. “Hello, gentlemen. This is Zoey Dixon. She’s about to graduate with her undergrad and start her master’s degree in EnglishLiterature.”
Dr. Westbound’s gaze traveled to my plunging neckline. His lips curled up in a strange lopsided grin. “It’s a pleasure to meet you in person, Ms.Dixon.”
“Miss Dixon. She’s not married.” Edward scanned the room. “Would you mind keeping my friend company? I need to go speak with someone.” He darted off, leaving me with Dr. Westbound and his roamingeyes.
For over twenty minutes, I evaded the man’s hands that kept finding their way onto my exposedskin.
Finally, Edward swooped in and whispered in my ear. “I’ll be back in a little bit. I need to pick somethingup.”
I slid away from Dr. Westbound toward Edward. “I’ll go withyou.”
He didn’t listen to my plea and disappeared out of the room. I waited for him to return for what seemed like forever. When Dr. Westbound’s hand made it to the middle of my back, I knew I needed to escape. I didn’t want to make a scene, ending both Edward’s and my careers, but I wouldn’t tolerate being subjugated to this man’s advances. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to find the little girl’sroom.”
“I’ll escort you, mydear.”
I thrust my drink at him. “No, please, guard my drink instead. You know how parties can be. I wouldn’t want to worry about anyone tainting my drink.” With no intention of returning to partake in any more beverages, I didn’t waste any time bolting out of the room toward the front door before I realized I didn’t have my car or my purse or my phone. Dr. Westbound entered the hall, so I slid into the dining room. I found a group of ladies speaking, so I approached. “Excuse me, I’m so sorry to trouble you, but do any of you have a cell I might be able to use? I’m afraid I left mine in the car, and my date had anemergency.”
