I shoved Macy out of the way and stepped inside to get a better look. She was right. We were standing in what appeared to be a two bedroom apartment. Make that a furnished two bedroom apartment. We went through the place, oohing and aahing over every little thing. It was far nicer than anything I had ever seen on the farm when I lived there.
When we were finished oohing and aahing over the apartment, the boys drove us back to Cedar Valley. Macy had left her car parked there and I needed to finish dress shopping, even though it was the last thing I wanted to do.
“As a thank you for your help today, I’m going to help you finish shopping. Unless something has drastically changed, I’m guessing you still hate clothes shopping,” Macy said.
“You are most certainly correct. I don’t know what it is, but I just hate it, especially when it’s for a special event. The whole thing stresses me out.”
She giggled. “You just relax and I’ll have you fixed up in less than an hour.”
She wasn’t kidding. Less than an hour later, I was waving goodbye to her and climbing into the SUV with three dresses, three pairs of shoes, and accessories for each.
Phoenix was at the clubhouse and asked the boys to bring me there instead of taking me back to his house. I chuckled to myself and our obsessive need to see each other as often as possible. I was planning on asking them to swing by the clubhouse so I could see him before going to the house.
He stood and came around his desk to greet me with a kiss when I walked into his office. A long, mouth-watering, panty-melting kiss. “Hey, doll face, how was shopping?”
“Huh?” I dumbly asked, still reeling from his magical lips.
He laughed and arched a brow. “Shopping? Did you find a dress?”
“Oh, yes, I did. Well, I didn’t so much as Macy did, but that’s neither here nor there. I have three dresses and all the shit I need to go with them.”
He leaned against the edge of his desk. “Tell me about Macy.”
“Not a lot to tell. I ran into her in the dressing room. We talked over coffee. She’s recently divorced. She moved backed to Cedar Valley and was living with her parents, but Ember hired her and she’s moving into one of the rooms on the farm property tonight.”
“What?”
“Uh, she was having a hard time finding a job and I knew Ember was looking for some help. It seemed like a win-win situation,” I explained, not liking the sudden tension in the room.
“It probably is for Ember and Macy, but I don’t know how Badger will feel about it.”
“Why would it matter how he feels about it?”
“Badger and Macy didn’t exactly part ways on friendly terms. She crushed him, Annabelle. I mean, she really did a number on him. I know it’s been years, but I don’t think he’ll be happy to see her.”
“What happened between them?” I asked.
“I have no idea. He didn’t want to talk about it after it happened and he never did.”
“Phoenix, he was probably just butt-hurt about being dumped. If he never said anything else about her, he’s probably been over it for a long time.”
“Yeah, you’re probably right. I’ve got a few things to finish up here. Do you want to stay and wait for me or go on to the house?”
“I’ll see you at the house. I want to hang my dresses before they get wrinkled.” I raised up on my tiptoes to give him a kiss before I left him in his office.
As I was putting my new dresses and accessories away, I decided I would drop by to check on Macy the following morning. Phoenix may not have been able to get Badger to talk, but I knew I could get Macy to tell me what happened. Besides, they were going to have to see each other sooner rather than later, seeing as how I already invited her to the wedding.
The phone ringing interrupted my thoughts. “Hello,” I answered distractedly.
“Doll face, is everything okay?” Phoenix asked, sounding tense.
“Everything’s fine. Is everything okay with you? I just left there.”
“Yeah, I know. I need you to come back over to the clubhouse. I was just calling to let you know I was sending Coal to bring you over.”
“Okay…you know I could’ve just walked over.”
“Humor me, okay? I’ll see you in a few.” With that, he disconnected the call, leaving me with an uneasy feeling.
