My phone starts to ring just after lunch, and I’m shocked when I see it’s Archer calling.
“Hi,” I answer quietly. I head out to the terrace to take the call.
“Hey.”
“Are you okay?” I ask.
“I’m holding up.”
“I assume you heard about your parents,” I say. Ford got a call shortly before we had to leave for the airport while we were still at the mansion about how much the judge set bail at, and from the way he choked on the phone call, I don’t assume it was a small amount.
“Yes.”
“Is the FBI still looking into you?”
“I actually called to talk about the fundraiser,” he says, dodging my question.
He asked me to plan a fundraiser for his foundation ages ago, and I created this cute little evening garden party fundraiser with a live band. The entire thing has been booked and planned for months, but I’ll need to get back to town a few days prior to the event to hammer out the last-minute details.
“What about it?” I ask.
“Is everything still on?”
“You think because you dumped me that I’d be so unprofessional as to fuck over your event?” I ask, more than a little bruised that he’d think so little of me after we were together for so long.
“Of course not, Tate. And you know I didn’tdumpyou. That’s not what happened.”
“Felt like it,” I mutter petulantly.
“I’m sorry,” he says, his voice all low and raspy in that way he does when he really means something. “I just need everything to go off without a hitch since I’m still being watched.”
It feels like code. Like he can’t talk about it—maybe his phone is tapped, or someone’s watching. He can’t be too careful.
In any event, I miss what we once had. We weren’t destined to make it to forever, and I’ve come to terms with that.
It still sucksbig timeto have your entire world flipped upside down. We were friends first, and I miss our friendship.
I blow out a breath. “Everything is set in place. I’ll check in a week before the event to let you know if we need anything.”
“Okay. Thanks.”
“Mm-hmm.” I very nearly let it slip.K, love you, bye!
It was the way I always ended our calls.
Not anymore.
“Well, talk to you then,” I say instead. I cut the call before he can say anything else, and then I promptly burst into tears.
And wouldn’t you know it? That’s how Ford finds me after he finishes up his calls.
“What’s wrong?” he asks gently as he settles into place on the chair beside the one I’m occupying.
“Nothing,” I lie.
“You can tell me.”
I draw in a deep breath and sniffle, and then I wipe my eyes as I square my shoulders. “Archer called. He wouldn’t talk to me about the big stuff, and then he presumed to suggest that I’d be immature enough to drop the ball on a charity event I’d been planning for him because of what happened between us. Between that and you selling the mansion, I don’t know. It’s just been a disappointing twenty-four hours, you know?”
