Chapter Thirty-Four

 

Scottie stayed in bed all Saturday crying. Wailing, actually. Tara could have easily mistaken her for giving birth. Yeah, it was pretty pathetic, but her heart was broken. It had never been broken before, not like this. Not by a man she loved. The one man she’d loved without loyalty was her father, and that hadn’t fared well her whole life.

But she’d been so close. She’d seen what it was like to fall for someone. The high was so sweet and vast. The low, on the other hand, was pure devastation. She wanted so much to experience the high again, but that meant the low would always be a possibility.

A knock at her bedroom door took her from her thoughts. She wiped her face against her soggy pillow, moist with tears and snot from her crying sessions.

“Scott?” Tara opened the door. “Are you okay?”

“Yes.” She cried again, hugging her pillow. God, she needed to stop this. It wasn’t like she’d lost her life. Well, it kind of was that way, in a dramatic sense.

“Oh, Scottie.” Tara went to her and sat on her bed. She patted Scottie’s back. “Why are you doing this?”

“What do you mean?” She peered up at Tara from the pillow.

“Torturing yourself.”

“I’m getting over a breakup.” She wiped her eyes and sat up. “This really sucks. I’ve never done this before.”

“Yeah. Breakups suck,” said Tara. She shook her head, and Scottie remembered she’d broken up with Brett a week ago.

“I guess we’re in the same boat,” said Scottie. She stared at her friend, who seemed totally okay. “How are you handling it so well?”

“Because Brett is a complete jackass.” Tara’s forehead creased, her lips pressed together in a line.

Scottie crossed her arms over her chest. “Why are men such jackasses?”

“They aren’t.” Tara leaned back on her arm, rubbing her stomach.

Scottie scoffed. “Name one.” Would she ever meet a man who wanted to stay? Who wanted to be loyal and not sleep around? Did that man even exist?

“Konrad.”

Her eyes snapped to Tara’s, who was not going to retract her statement. “Umm. What?”

“Konrad is not a jackass.” Tara lifted her eyebrows. “I kind of think you’re the jackass in this scenario.”

Scottie felt like her friend had hit her in the face with a dodge ball. “Excuse me? Did you not pay attention? Did you not understand I was seventh on a hookup list for September?”

“Yeah, yeah. I know. You were seventh. I heard.” Tara rolled her eyes. What had gotten into her? Scottie didn’t know whether to kick her out in anger or cry more.

This wasn’t fair. None of it.

“He’s a player. You were right.” Scottie’s temperature rose. “And now you’re saying this? What the hell?”

Tara shrugged. “I cringed to see that man beg you for forgiveness.”

“As he should!” Scottie wasn’t wrong here.

“No.” She shook her head. “He didn’t have to do any of it. Come over. Beg you at our door. Offer you your grandmother’s brooch and then basically get on his hands and knees and beg again at his own surprise birthday party—in front of his friends, no less.”

Scottie dropped her gaze to her pillow. She couldn’t look at Tara. She couldn’t allow herself to see it from that perspective. He had bared himself. Painfully. And she had rejected him harshly. But she’d been hurt, devastated. What else could she have done to protect herself?

“Do you have any idea how many men would say ‘oh, well’ and move on without another thought?” asked Tara. She glanced at her hand. “Do you know how many men would ghost out, never to be heard from again?”

Scottie knew this from some extent by watching her mother’s struggles. There were times her mother had been too depressed to cook because of a breakup. Why wouldn’t Scottie want to stay alone after witnessing her mother’s pain?

“I don’t think I know a guy who would give up a Mercedes for me, Scottie.”

Scottie wanted to cry again.

“I know it’s hard for you, because of your jackass dad who basically abandoned you, but Konrad isn’t him. He didn’t abandon you. I think you abandoned him.”

But it hurt too much, and Scottie was so scared to admit she might have been wrong. What if he ultimately couldn’t be loyal? Could she really take that chance again with him?

“Look…” Tara sighed. “I’m only telling you this because I know what it’s like to have no loyalty from a man. I know what it’s like to be in love and be a slave to that love and to wonder if he feels the same. But you … you didn’t have to worry about that. Konrad is in love with you. Everyone in that room could see it. I don’t think any of us can say that wasn’t love. I know I can’t.”

Oh, God. Scottie brought her hands to her face, sighing heavily in them.

“I’m telling you this because…” She trailed off. Scottie looked at her. “Because, I’m pregnant.”

“What?” Scottie leaped on to Tara, hugging her. “Are you serious?”

Tara nodded, her face in Scottie’s hair. Now Tara was crying, her words muffled in Scottie’s hair. “I’m pregnant, and Brett doesn’t want anything to do with it.”

“No!” Scottie pulled back, looking into her friend’s face, anger filling her up where the sadness had been moments ago. “Are you kidding me?”

Tara’s eyes watered.

Scottie wanted to wring Brett’s neck. Her hate for him came to full fruition. “I’ve never liked him. I always thought he was such a loser. He didn’t deserve you at all.” Scottie’s words spilled like water from a faucet no longer denied to run free. “You deserved so much better than him, the dumbass! I can’t believe he would just walk away like this! From you and his unborn child!”

The pain of Scottie’s childhood came back. She’d been the result of a one-night stand. Like Brett, her father hadn’t wanted anything to do with a child. Her parents had both been only twenty years old and from very different worlds. Thank God her grandmother had stayed in touch.

“Scott?” Tara’s voice brought her back to the present. “This is what I’m trying to tell you…”

Scottie shook her head, not understanding anything. Or understanding and refusing to acknowledge it. “What?”

Sighing deeply, Tara grabbed Scottie’s hand and held it tight. “Good men are few and far between. God, I hate that saying. My mom always said that. But, really, I think Konrad is one of the few good ones.”

“But—”

“I know what he did, and I know what he was. I mean, he was a total playboy. Check social media. A lot of women wanted a chance at him. But what he did … the way he basically laid himself at your feet not once, but twice, and in front of people … he’s a good one.” Tara released Scottie’s hand. “Don’t forget that just because of your hurt pride. Which really is what? Nothing. It’s your way to protect yourself from getting hurt. But you can’t. Not if you want to fall in love and get married. I know you do.”

“The list…”

“Screw the list! Who cares about that list? You know why? You were last on it, right?” Scottie nodded as Tara continued. “You were last on that list, and I don’t think there has been anyone else since you.”

Scottie was beside herself. “I don’t know…” It was more than she could emotionally handle.

Tara stood, looking as frustrated as Scottie felt. “Whatever. I just wanted to let you know that.”

Scottie slumped back down on the bed, pulling her phone from under the pillow once Tara was gone and she was alone again. She scrolled through Konrad’s last text messages.

Konrad: I’m coming for you. I hope you are ready for me.

Konrad: Scottie, please answer the phone. I need to talk to you.

Konrad: Baby, I know why you are mad. Can you please talk?

Konrad: Scottine, I’m sorry. Hear me out.

Konrad: Please let me explain. I love you.

The last message was from last night, after the party fiasco.

Konrad: I’m sorry I disappointed you. But you also disappointed me.

Her gaze moved up one, to the last text from Thursday night. Please let me explain. I love you. How did that message get lost in everything else? Too late now.

****

Two weeks later October had come around finally, and Scottie browsed the Internet for jobs. It was Monday, prime time for job searching. She had been unemployed since Korr Properties and just couldn’t go back to the agency. She’d lied to them anyway.

So many things she’d do differently. She felt as if she’d aged two years and not two weeks. She hadn’t really been unemployed, though. She’d helped Tara with the catering business by booking appointments, invoicing, doing inventory, and the like. She’d also still helped serve and prepare the menu several times since Konrad’s surprise birthday party. Tara’s business was really taking off, which was wonderful. The plan was to work until the baby came in seven months.

“You should just work for me.” Tara’s voice came from behind.

“No. Thanks, though.” Scottie wasn’t a good assistant. She needed a job where she could make decisions and have a role with authority.

“Or…” Tara paused, pulling out a chair across the dining table from Scottie, who continued to scan openings. “You can be my partner? I mean, you have a business degree. You can manage the business side of things.”

Scottie looked up. “Really? Your partner?”

Tara beamed. “Yeah. You’ve been so good with the money part of Decadent Chick. I don’t think I would be getting this successful if it wasn’t for you.”

What a compliment! Scottie’s eyes moved to the computer screen again. Why not? It seemed like the next logical step. And she loved working with Tara, despite everything. She could help build the catering business for Tara and the baby. It could be their legacy.

Just as she was about to give Tara an ecstatic yes, her gaze moved over an ad that caught her attention.

ASSISTANT BREWERS WANTED

New microbrewery now hiring. Inquire on-site.

Scottie read the address listed. The EaDo property. Konrad had sold the property to the Bayou Sling!

Oh, God.

Scottie stood from the chair, knocking a stack of catering invoices to the floor. She couldn’t explain the rush inside her to act. It was primal. It was what she needed. Nothing could stop her, not her pride or her stupid what-ifs, from taking the plunge. And for the first time, she wasn’t afraid of where she would land.