LILY’S LIFE LESSON #22
If you’ve heard the words you’re fired more than once, then it’s probably your fault.
The thorny look on Trace’s face made Lily want to sink into the ground, but she couldn’t blame him. Today could’ve been catastrophic for Ben, and Parker had outed her before she could tell Trace the truth herself.
Parker had come looking for ammunition that Megan could use against Trace. Lily had given it to him. And now Trace wanted an explanation. An explanation that was well deserved and long overdue.
She nodded. “First, let me say I’m so, so sorry about this.”
His cast-iron expression speared her in the heart.
“I wanted to call, but I left my phone in my office, and Ben was adamant about looking for a place for the ducks to swim right then.” Lily hugged herself against the chilled wind. Suddenly, she felt so very, very cold. “It was thoughtless of me to bring him to the cove.”
“I didn’t want those damn ducks to stay at the resort because I knew they’d be trouble.” Trace’s voice was gruff. “And no, you shouldn’t have brought Ben here.” Trace pinched the bridge of his nose. “Hell, Lily. You shouldn’t be here without me or someone else. It’s dangerous, and you knew why it would bother me. But that’s not the only reason I’m so damn upset.”
The first crack of thunder echoed around them.
“I know.” She felt her throat closing. “We should’ve already had this conversation.”
Trace stopped pacing and gave her a look as dark and cloudy as the sky. “There is no we. Not unless you can explain what Parker meant. Please tell me you didn’t give my ex-wife leverage she can use against me. Please tell me the years I’ve spent trying to protect my son weren’t for nothing.” His voice was strangled, and he ran his fingers through his hair. “Please tell me I didn’t open myself up to the wrong woman again.”
Lily’s chickens—or ducks, if she wanted to put a fine point on it—were coming home to roost. A sting started behind her eyes, and not just because she was guilty. Tears threatened because of the pain her dishonesty was about to inflict.
She was definitely her father’s daughter.
She drew in a breath, squared her shoulders.
“Lily’s my middle name. The only person who called me that was my grandmother. Her name was Lily Barns. My name is Scarlett Devereaux.”
His brows drew together as he stared at her. “Scarlett?” he whispered.
She laced her fingers in front of her chest and did some pacing of her own to keep her nerve up. “I lied to your father so he’d hire me.” She let out a hollow chuckle. “My work experience was all true. In fact, I actually left things off my résumé so I wouldn’t seem overqualified, but I used a false name and signed my own letters of recommendation.”
“You told me your ex was your boss, and your last job didn’t end well. Why?” Trace’s voice was low, like he was stunned and trying to process everything.
“Andrew . . .” She chewed her lip. “My ex-fiancé fired me because my father went to prison. Andrew didn’t want that blemish on his career, so he broke up with me. And he fired me too.” She swallowed back the burn in her throat.
“But why?” Trace spread his arms wide. “Why go to such extremes to be deceitful?”
Ouch. That shouldn’t hurt because Lily had been deceitful. But it did hurt. Cut her to the bone, in fact. “The press stalked my family for months. I thought it would get better after my father was convicted. It didn’t. It got much worse, and no one would hire me to do what I do best because of the constant media coverage. And because of Andrew ruining my career to cover his ass.”
“Why here? Why Angel Fire Falls?” He started to pace again.
She shrugged. “It seemed so remote, so far removed, I figured no one would find me here. I lost my job, lost my fiancé, lost all my friends. My father will be in prison for a very long time, and my mother was drowning in denial and booze. There was no reason for me not to move far away. I thought Angel Fire Falls would be the perfect place to start over.” The thunder growled, and Lily looked up. “Your dad didn’t do a background check. Obviously, that should be a requirement in the future, but I figured I’d do a kick-ass job for your dad and earn my place here.” How wrong she’d been. “Caring about your family wasn’t part of my plan. I didn’t see that coming. I wasn’t expecting to fall in love with you either.”
Trace’s expression morphed from dazed to confused. When he finally worked through his emotions to settle on just one, it stole her breath. She’d expected anger. Anger she could’ve handled much better than the pain she saw in his eyes, as though she’d just stabbed him in the heart with a rusty icepick.
So she made it easier for him. Took some of the burden because he didn’t deserve to carry it all.
She gave him a reason to fire her.
“My father embezzled millions from FEMA and homeowners who’d lost everything. He defrauded businesspeople who’d invested into rebuilding hotels and casinos along the Gulf Coast. He’s got a lot of enemies who’ve made threats and hate me by association.” She let her eyes close for a beat. “I suppose Ben’s mom could use it against you, especially since I spent so much time with Ben.”
Trace’s eyes were as hollow as his tone. “Scarlett.” His voice was dull, resonating with the sound of brokenness and betrayal. So very different from the Voice that had turned her heart and her body into mush when its very first syllable licked over her. “You’re fired.”
She swallowed. Tried to stop the quiver of her lip and the bile welling up from her churning stomach. “I . . . I understand. I’d . . . like to tell Lawrence myself.” Despite her best effort, her voice still cracked.
“You’ve done enough. I’ll take care of it. Be ready to leave as soon as the storm blows over.”
She nodded. “For what it’s worth, I planned to tell you everything after I fulfilled my responsibilities to the resort and the other businesses who are working with us.” She turned to trek up the path.
She’d expected as much. Deserved it, even.
Still, nothing prepared her for the pain that knifed through her chest as she made her way to her cottage, knowing she’d never see the resort, the island, or the Remington family again. Most of all, knowing she’d never see Trace, the man she’d fallen head over heels for even though he was her boss and the last person on earth she should’ve let herself love.
She hardly noticed the mud or the biting drops of rain as the sky opened up and the storm dumped on her.
Lily didn’t see the sense in prolonging her painful and humiliating exit from the Remington. Instead of waiting for the storm to pass, she packed her bags and brought them to the front door.
She didn’t want to bother the Remingtons any more than she already had by asking one of them for a ride. Instead, she made up her mind to rig her own transportation to the ferry crossing.
Where was Mabel McGill’s giant tricycle when she needed it?
“Sorry, kiddos,” she said to the ducks. “But I need your pool for my luggage.” She dragged it onto the front porch, then went back inside for one last look.
She was going to miss her little cottage. Somewhere along the winding island road to her new life, the quaint cottage had become her home.
She knelt down in front of the larger habitat Ben and Trace had built a couple of weeks before to accommodate the growing ducks. “Promise you’ll take care of Ben for me?”
They quacked and squawked, which brought a smile to her lips that didn’t reflect her bone-deep sadness.
Fifteen minutes later, she had her luggage loaded into the toddler swimming pool and the pool secured to the back of the bicycle through a hole she’d punched in the pool’s plastic side. She zipped her jacket and put the hood up to shield her from the rain.
No one was out and about at the resort because of the storm, so when she pedaled down the long drive and through the exit, dragging a plastic pool behind her, no one stopped her.
By the time she reached the ferry terminal, she was soaked.
“One ticket, please,” she said as she stood in front of the scratched acrylic window.
Mabel McGill leaned forward to eye Lily’s expensive French luggage. Which didn’t look at all expensive anymore. The shape it was in said it’d been circling the globe since the day she disembarked from the ferry and asked to borrow a giant tricycle.
“Could you call the Remington after I’m gone and tell them the bicycle and pool are here? They belong to them.”
Mabel lifted a penciled brow. “One-way ticket, then?”
“Um, yes.” Lily handed her a few bills.
“You’re just in time, hon. We’re about to shut down the ferry because of the storm.” She handed Lily a ticket. “Sorry it didn’t work out. Those Remington men are heartbreakers.”
Was it so obvious that Lily’s heart was ripped in two?
She shook her head. “The Remingtons were great. This one’s on me.” She slung her alligator purse over a shoulder. “Thanks, Mabel. Take care.”
Without a backward glance, Lily drew on every ounce of courage she could find and rolled her tattered luggage up the ramp to go . . . home.