“Were people unhappy about the job you did?”
“No, but all the same, it was misrepresentation. Fraud, maybe.”
Sophie nodded. “I should never have sent you alone. At the least, I should have explained I was sending you in my place.”
Allie took her hand away and clenched it in her lap. “Tarryn said they would have understood. And I think they would have.”
“But we didn’t know at the time.” Sophie sighed. “What a mess. I’m so sorry, Al, I got you into this. It’s up to me to try to fix it.”
“I don’t think you can. She was so furious. She doesn’t want anything to do with me. And once Phyll hears about what happened, I think she’ll be livid as well.”
“This is what we’ll do.” Sophie jutted her chin. “I’ll get out this damn bed. We’ll go and have breakfast because any minute Bree is going to yell it’s ready. And I still have to tell you about Bree. Over breakfast, you can tell me all about the festival: what went wrong, how you fixed it. The ideas you came up with, the extra work you did—and I know you put in way more than you had to. Then I’ll call Phyll, try to repair the damage. I’ll offer a thirty per cent reduction on my fee.”
“No!” Allie’s gasp strangled in her throat. “You’ll make a loss. I know you already cut the price to the bone. If you do it for a third less—”
“It’s the right thing to do. I should have done it at the start rather than asking you to go in blind.”
“But your business.” She spread her hands. “Your house. You won’t be able to keep up the mortgage payments. You said—”
“I know what I said.” Sophie’s lips twisted. “But things will be worse if I don’t do this. Worse for my business in the long term, and worse for you now.”
“It’s too late for me.”
“You don’t know that.” Sophie flung back the bedclothes and used her hands to lift her injured leg to the floor. “Now, find me some clothes. I’m going to get dressed.”
Allie lifted her chin. “I’ll call Phyll. Quandong came to mean a lot. Maybe she’ll listen to me.”
Sophie eyed her for a moment. “Are you sure? Because this is my mess to fix.”
“Yes. I need to do this.”
“Okay, then. But still offer the fee reduction.”
“Five minutes!” Bree called down the hall. “Come and get it.”
“What did I tell you?”
Allie went to the drawers and pulled out undies and a T-shirt. “These do?” She added the shorts that were hanging over a chair.
“Yeah, thanks.”
Allie waited as Sophie struggled to pull on undies and the shorts without knocking her leg. When she was ready, she handed her the crutches. “Are you back with Bree?”
“Sort of. As much as anyone can be when they’re restricted like this.” Her mouth turned down. “But, yes, we’ve made up, and she’s said she’s with me for the long haul. She’s being great, Allie. I couldn’t do without her.”
“She’s changed? The Bree I remember was a lot more”—she picked her words carefully—“self-absorbed.”
“I think so. And I want to try again. I still love her, Al. I tried to get past her, even before this.” She gestured to leg. “I’m just hoping not to get my heart broken—again.”
Ain’t that the truth. Allie sighed. That was all most people could do. For her, it was already too late. Hopefully, Sophie would find her happiness.
* * *
“She lied to me, Will. Straight-out lied about who she was. She’s Allison, not Sophie, and she’s straight.” Tarryn tipped the last of the red wine into her mouth.
Garrett refilled it and shot a glance at his partner.
“She doesn’t sound very straight to me. I can’t remember your exact words, but ‘great sex’ was in there, along with ‘amazing lover.’” Will rested a hand on hers where it lay on the counter.
