Max reluctantly gave Angie the space she wanted after the lousy meeting with Jordan McKinney. A week went by with no word of that deadbeat. Max hoped he left the state of Georgia and slunk back under the rock from which he crawled out.

Too bad it wasn’t just him and Jordan at the meeting. Then he would’ve made it clear in very unmistakable terms that Jordan wasn’t welcome to come around and make threats to blackmail Angie. But Max felt like he was the weak one. Like his attorney said, he couldn’t prevent Angie’s ex from inquiring about her and Raymond. Jordan had all the rights. He had squat.

Even so, he meant what he promised Angie. He’d find a way to protect her and her son.

On the weekend, he called to check on her. He kept getting her voicemail. Every so often, she’d return his messages with a short text letting him know she and her family were doing fine. She didn’t want to talk to him. Frustrated, he returned to work.

He spent the next two business days tying up loose ends with the Preston-Landers land deal. They sold him the property and he got the deed. He alerted the building contractors and suppliers that it was time to get down to business.

“The groundbreaking ceremony is on Friday morning,” he informed them all via virtual meeting on his laptop. “Next week, we’ll meet again to review your bids.”

An hour after the virtual meeting, a small news channel from Harper contacted his office. They wanted to know if he could come by the studio that night to talk about the new hospital and how he was continuing his father’s legacy. Max agreed. Everything appeared to be going well for him except for one thing.

He sent a quick text to Angie. Groundbreaking ceremony tomorrow morning. Pick you up at 9.

She replied to him a couple minutes later with a one-word text. OK.

Max prepared to leave the office to drive home to his bachelor pad. He wanted to hear Angie’s voice and see her smile. He thought about the last kiss they shared in New York.

Stop. He shook his head when he was alone, riding down the elevator. Where was this focus on Angie coming from? She was already distancing herself. He should do the same. He told himself it was the logical thing to do.

Wasn’t it?

Angie got her son off to school and went home to change into a dress for the groundbreaking ceremony. She barely had time to get ready. She checked herself in the mirror above the console table in the hall downstairs.

She hated obsessing over her appearance, but today she had to look pristine for Max’s big moment with the local media. She assumed his mother and sister would also be present for the ceremony, since it was in honor of his father. This was it. Her final and most important public appearance with Max. She had to make it good. Then it would be over and she could go back to a drama-free life.

Grandma’s reflection shown behind her. She wore a skirt suit and fancy hat.

Angie looked over one shoulder. “You’re dressed to the nines. Are you coming with me?”

“No, I have a senior ladies luncheon. The girls are picking me up at eleven.”

“That’ll be fun.” She would’ve liked her grandmother to be at the hospital site with her for support. Maybe it wasn’t a good idea, though. Her grandmother might be able to pick up on the tension she felt about seeing Max again.

“You look so elegant.”

“Thanks, but I don’t feel that way.”

Her grandmother’s smile faded into a concerned expression. She came closer. “Why not?”

“This…whole thing isn’t me.”

“I disagree. You don’t wear dresses every day, but the style suits you. You know where you get it.”

Angie laughed. “Yes, Grandma. Everybody knows you have style and class.”

Her grandmother gave her a discerning look and patted her on the back. “What’s really bothering you?”

She wondered the same thing herself. Over the course of the last three days, her thoughts centered on Max. She wasn’t looking forward to dealing with all the questions people would ask her after their engagement was cancelled, but that wasn’t it. What else was bothering her? “I’m not sure. I guess I’m nervous about going to the groundbreaking ceremony today. It’s going to be televised.”

“Weren’t there photographers and TV cameras at the New York art gallery, too?”

“Yes, but this is different. It’s local. Everyone’s eyes will be on us again.”

“You’ve done it before. You can do it again.” Grandma talked to her while looking at their reflections in the mirror. “I wish your brother could see you. Detrick would get a kick out of seeing his little sister engaged to his good friend.”

“You think so?”

“I know he would. You didn’t smile much since he passed. That changed after you got engaged to Max.”

She stared at her engagement ring. If she had to admit it, she did share some fun times with Max at the theater, family reunion, and while touring Times Square. Was her grandmother right? Did she owe her happier shift in mood to him?

“Angie, I meant to tell you this while I was in the hospital. I’m happy about your engagement to Max. I wasn’t sure about him at first, but I see how he looks at you, how he looks after you and your son.”

She started to form a reply when she saw a grey Lincoln pull up to the driveway. Angie had a flashback to when Max’s attorney Rob first came to the house with the fake engagement contract. What was he doing here again, right before the ceremony?

“I have to go.” She gave her grandmother a hug, tilting at an odd angle to avoid simultaneously crushing and being jabbed with her grandmother’s fancy hat.

Angie stepped outside and trotted to the grey car. She squinted to see Rob through the tinted windows. Something wasn’t right. Why didn’t Max call or text her to say he wasn’t going to make it to her house?

She opened the passenger side door and stuck her head in. “Hi, Rob.”

“Get in. I’ll talk on the way.”

Talk about terse. She got in the car. He put it in drive and hit the gas. She found the grab bar above her head real quick. “No wonder you and Max are such good buddies. You’re speed demons.”

“Angie, Max had to show up at the hospital site ahead of time else he would’ve come here.”

“Is he well? You sound intense. More than usual.”

Rob made a left turn. “My tablet is on the backseat. Take a look at it.”

She reached for it once he slowed down long enough for her to do so without fear of losing her breakfast. She swiped past the screensaver to see an email. “It’s an email forwarded to you.”

“Read it. The local news channel sent it to me after they got it an hour ago.”

Not liking Rob’s cryptic manner, she scanned it in a hurry. I know all about Max Kelly and his so-called fiancée Angela Franklin. Max is nothing like his father, a man of morals and honor. He and Angela are liars… The email went on to reference Angie, calling her a “gold digger” and how she kept her son’s paternity a secret for years. Raymond’s name was never mentioned, nor was the sender of the email, but she knew without a doubt who it was. Anger and hurt for the potential pain this would cause Raymond made tears well in her eyes. “Jordan McKinney sent this email.”

“We know. Max and I are on damage control, and so are you.”

She wiped her eyes, being careful not to smudge her mascara. “What do you mean?”

He turned again on Teak Ridge Drive, the road where the new hospital was to be located. Cars lined up ahead of them, creating traffic to get to the plot of land where the ceremony was to take place. “Don’t answer questions from the press this morning. If they stick a mic or phone in your face, tell them you’re here to support your fiancé and his family.” He parallel parked and turned off the engine. “Got it?”

Angie nodded, weary.

“Good. Smile. Act happy to be here, or at least happy this appearance will be a short one.”

With the news she received, she felt like every minute was going to stretch into forever. She got out of the car and trudged over the freshly-mowed grass. She wished she had worn flat shoes. Now her heels were going to sink into the dirt, along with any notion that she was going to get through the morning with no sweat.