Страница 18 из 96
It was a homemade mix, and written on the silvery disc in purple Sharpie, in a woman’s handwriting, was, “Merry Christmas, baby. Think of me, cuz I’m thinking of you.”
A
Think of me? Who was the me? The owner of the purple Sharpie? Eva? The Maxi-Mart exec? Was it Eva who’d made the mix of love songs? She bit her lip so hard it drew blood. Was this inevitable? After all, Mason was a competitor. He had to win, at any cost. And if it took sleeping with a sexy woman like Eva in order to close the deal, would he say no?
Would he?
Somehow, she pulled herself together and drove on to the country club. She managed to direct the workers who were loading up the sound equipment onto a truck for return to the rental company. She stayed until she was satisfied that the club’s ballroom had been restored to its formerly pristine condition. A
“Oh good, A
A
But Sallie had insisted she stay for lunch with her friends, refusing to take no for an answer. A
When she got back to the cottage, her Acura was parked in the same spot it had been that morning. Mason was sitting in the living room, dressed in faded jeans and his favorite raggedy Pe
Without a word, she tossed the CD at him, bouncing it off his chest.
“Ow,” he’d said, more surprised than angry. “What the hell is this?”
“You tell me,” A
Mason turned the CD from one side to the other. “It’s not mine,” he said. He tossed it aside. “Do you mind? Carolina is driving the ball.”
A
Mason shook his head. “Still not mine. Have we got anything to eat?”
“So you’re telling me an alien broke into your car and planted a CD of love songs there?” A
Finally, she had his attention. He looked up at her, his blue eyes narrowed. “What I am telling you is I’m hungry. Also, that is not my CD.”
She thrust the CD into his hands. “Whose handwriting is this? Are you telling me it’s not that Eva woman’s?”
He took the CD and examined it. “I suppose it could be hers. I don’t really know. Or care. And I don’t get why you’re getting so worked up about this.”
“I’m worked up because you came home nine hours late last night,” A
“Hell, yeah, I was with her,” Mason said, standing now. “I told you, we finalized the Maxi-Mart deal last night. Dad and I took Eva and the others to di
“It was two in the morning! Are you sure you and Eva didn’t slip upstairs to her room while you were at the Ritz?” She hurled the words at him, blind with anger.
He stared. “Did you really just say that? Did you accuse me of having an affair?”
“Aren’t you?’
“Have I ever lied to you, A
“What about last night?” she ignored his first question. “It was the company Christmas party. You were supposed to be there! Everybody was expecting you. I was expecting you. Do you know how humiliated I was? I worked my ass off putting that party together. For you. And your family and the company. But you didn’t even call. If you went to di
He shrugged. “Okay, my bad. I should have called. But Dad was with me. And we had Eva and the Maxi-Mart folks with us, and everybody wanted to head out and celebrate. I would have looked like a wuss if I’d begged off. What was I go
“And that’s worse?” A
Mason was still holding the remote control. He tossed it onto the chair where he’d been sitting. “Okay. This is ridiculous. I was late last night. I missed the Christmas party. I should have called. For that, I am guilty, and I apologize.” He turned and stomped toward the front door.
“Wait a minute,” A
Mason had his hand on the doorknob. “ “I’m through. I am not talking about this anymore. Either you believe me or you don’t.”
“Where are you going?”
The door was open and he didn’t look back. “I’m going over to Mama’s. She’s always got something to eat. Unlike here.” He didn’t slam the door. In fact, he didn’t even bother to close it all the way.
Half an hour later, A
Ten minutes later, she was on the bypass. At some point, she realized she didn’t really have a destination in mind. All she knew was that she had to get out of Passcoe and away from the Bayless compound.
An hour later, her cell phone rang. She picked it up, and, seeing the screen, tossed it back onto the passenger seat without answering. Mason. She blinked back tears, and a moment later heard the phone buzz, letting her know he’d left a voice mail.
Five minutes later, it rang again. A
Two hours later, when she pulled into the driveway of the modest little frame house at Holden Beach, she paused before turning off the ignition. Had she really just done this? Picked a fight with Mason? Accused him of cheating, and then run home to Mama? This was crazy. She should turn around, go home, and talk things out calmly with Mason. Make him understand how badly he’d hurt her.