She could brush off his question or she could be forthright. She hadn’t even told her sisters, but somehow she felt she could tell Connor. Felt he’d understand in some way that her sisters wouldn’t. Although now that she knew what Emma was going through with Ethan, she might have to rethink that.
“Didn’t mean to pry. You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.”
“It’s all right. I managed the front of the house at Pirouette. Nick was the beverage manager. Our general manager was set to retire, and I was up for the promotion. Honestly, it was just kind of assumed—by everyone, I think, not just me—that I’d get the job. I worked hard. That place was my entire life.”
The neighborhood was silent except for the nattering of a nearby squirrel and the bits of gravel crunching under their feet.
“Nick and I started dating around Thanksgiving. He pursued me relentlessly for weeks, but I was... reluctant. Not on account of him specifically—he seemed nice enough—but it’s my nature to be a little guarded. I don’t let people in easily.” She tossed him a smile. “You might’ve noticed.”
The one he returned made her toes curl in her sandals.
“Anyway, after a while I started trusting him. I let him in, let down all my barriers and allowed myself to fall in love. At least I thought I was in love. I’m not so sure now.” She shook her head. “I don’t know why I’m telling you all this. I haven’t even told my sisters this much.”
“Maybe you just needed to get it off your chest. It won’t go any further.”
She believed that. The Connor she was only beginning to see wasn’t the type to gossip behind someone’s back. He’d listened thoughtfully so far, and it felt good to be heard. She thought of Emma hiding her separation. And Nora, keeping her pregnancy under wraps. What drove the Monroe sisters to keep secrets from each other? Something to ponder... another day.
“So...,” she continued. “Fast-forward to May twenty-ninth. My relationship with Nick had been exclusive for months and had grown quite serious. The GM was set to retire in June, and I walked into the GM’s office to find Nick and the owner, Evangeline, talking about me. He was running me down, and it was obvious from what she was saying that she was promoting Nick instead of me. After hearing this, while I stood mute and in shock, he kissed her. It was quite the intimate embrace, let me tell you. Clearly not their first.”
The image made her chest feel hollow all over again. But was that heartbreak she was feeling? Or simple disillusionment?
He gave her a sad smile. “I’m sorry, Maddy. That must’ve been very hurtful.”
“Evangeline didn’t even know we’d been dating, because Nick had convinced me to keep our relationship on the down low at work. I’m pretty sure he was only playing me, playing Evangeline, the whole time.”
“May twenty-ninth... That was the day I called about your grandma.”
“Right. That’s why I didn’t answer your calls. I kind of fell apart after what I saw. I wanted to hide from the world. I was so... hurt and angry.”
“Who wouldn’t be?” He drained the rest of his tea, making a slurping sound as he reached the bottom.
“By the time my best friend, Holly, dragged me from my sleep-drugged coma, you’d already left quite a few messages.”
“Did you confront that tool you were dating? Quit your job?”
Maddy shoved her hands in her pockets. “Not really. They saw me, realized what I’d seen and heard. I left and haven’t spoken with either of them since.”
“Man. He got off way too easily. Want me to beat him up for you?” He glanced at her, looking half serious.
Maddy gave him a wan smile. “I’m not sure which was more hurtful—the way he stabbed me in the back professionally or betrayed me personally. The fact that it all seemed so premeditated, that I was blind to it, is what’s stuck with me the most. It’s made me really unsure of myself.”
“I get that.” His voice was low and rumbly. “It’s one thing to distrust others, but when you can’t trust yourself, it throws everything into question.”
She glanced at him, then fell into his warm gaze, feeling wonderfully understood. “Exactly.”
He brushed his hair back. “Listen, Maddy, we’ve all been mistaken about people a time or two. It sounds like this Nick was a real con artist. And that’s on him, not on you.”
“That’s exactly what Holly says.”
“That doesn’t make it any less hurtful, I know. But something I’ve always hung on to... When I can’t trust others and I can’t trust myself, I can always trust God. He’ll work it all out, you know?”
“Yeah. I think I lost sight of that for a while.”
She’d left God in the dust quite some time ago, in fact. She’d been so busy trying to prove herself at work. And then Nick came along, and he was yet another distraction.
“Don’t beat yourself up, Maddy. God’s still right where you left Him.”
The thought washed over Maddy like a cool waft of water on a hot summer day. Connor was right. She gave him a sideways glance, wondering, not for the first time just who this man was. Sometimes people were not at all who you thought they were. But she was starting to see that sometimes this was a good thing.
