Three Little Words

She raised her head. More tears spilled from her blue eyes. “No. It’s not like the death of a dream. It is the death of a dream. We had everything planned. It’s why I came back.”

She shook her head. “Okay, part of the reason is Eric. I wanted to get away from the city, but still. I thought...” She swallowed. “I believed in her. In what we were going to do, and she dumped me for someone with more money.”

He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. He knew there was something he was supposed to be saying—he just didn’t know what it was.

“She wasn’t your friend,” he murmured, holding on tight and wishing that was enough. “A real friend would never do this to you.”

“I kn-know.” Her voice caught as she burrowed into him. “That makes it worse. I lost my business dream and a friend all in the same conversation. Why didn’t she tell me before? Why didn’t she hint?”

She drew back and stared at him. “Is it me? Did I make this happen?”

He felt her pain and wanted to rip out his own heart, if that would help. He wanted to find the Sonia bitch and— He swore, knowing he couldn’t take out his temper on a civilian. Especially a woman.

“It’s not you,” he told her, touching the side of her face. “You did what the two of you agreed to. You followed the rules.”

“I keep doing that,” she said dully. “And getting screwed. Maybe I need a new plan.”

She got up and walked to the window. She crossed her arms over her chest and turned back to him. “Have you ever wanted something this much, only to lose it?”

He rose and shook his head.

“It sucks,” she told him. “It sucks a lot.”

He believed her and a part of him envied her ability to feel that kind of passion. Because the truth was he’d never wanted anything all that much. What he desired came easily, and when he was tired of it, he walked away. He’d done it all his life. A revelation that didn’t help Isabel at all.

* * *

ISABEL TURNED BACK to the window. Ford didn’t have any answers, and she should stop badgering him for them. She was about to tell him she would be fine, when someone knocked on the door.

“I’ll get it,” Ford said quickly and hurried to the front of the house. Seconds later he reappeared with Patience at his side.

Isabel brushed away her tears. “Calling in reinforcements?”

He shrugged. “I was afraid I couldn’t handle it.”

“You did great.”

Patience hurried to her. “What happened? Are you okay?”

Isabel told her about the call and what Sonia had said.

“That’s unbelievable,” her friend said. “What a bitch.”

“That seems to be the general consensus.”

Patience led Isabel to the sofa, then looked at Ford. “I’m okay to stay the rest of the day.” She turned back to Isabel. “He’s getting that trapped, uncomfortable look.”

“I’m not,” he said defensively.

Isabel managed a smile. “You did great. Thank you.”

“You sure?”

“Very.”

She crossed to him and kissed him. “Thank you for not running screaming from the room while I was crying.”

He hugged her. “I’m sorry.”

“I know.”

“See you later?”

She nodded and he left. “Want some tea?” she asked her friend. “It seems to be the right thing to do in a crisis. Make tea.”

“Sure.”

They went into the kitchen. Isabel put water on to boil and dug out a selection of tea bags. Patience found two mugs and put them on the counter.

“Now start at the beginning.”

Isabel repeated the phone call, then sucked in a breath. “It’s so unfair. I’ve been calling her for a few weeks now and I never heard back. I should have guessed something was up. But Sonia would often get busy and disappear. She was posting on Facebook, so I knew she was okay. I thought it was a creative thing. I didn’t get that she was screwing me the whole time.”

She felt her eyes start to burn. “I was so sure we were going to make something brilliant together. Start our business and take the fashion world by storm. Maybe not hurricane strength, but at least a decent wind event.”

She tried to smile, but her mouth refused to cooperate. “I feel like an idiot.”

Patience moved closer and touched her arm. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“That’s what Ford said.”

“He’s right. You trusted a friend and she betrayed you. If she was having second thoughts, she should have said something.”

The water started to boil. Isabel poured it into the two mugs. Patience dropped in the tea bags.

“It’s the second half of a one-two punch,” Isabel admitted. “There’s also the humiliation factor. My husband leaves me for another man, and my business partner dumps me for someone with more money. I’m the common denominator, so I must be doing something wrong.”

“You’re not,” Patience insisted. “You’re trusting people you love. If they betray you, the fault is theirs. You and Sonia had a deal. She broke it. I know it sounds harsh, but maybe it’s better to find this out before you put your money on the line. She sounds like the kind of person who would run off at any point in the deal. What if you’d opened the store and then she’d left?”

Isabel hadn’t thought of that. “I would have been left with a store and no designer.”

“Exactly. That would suck more.”

They walked back into the living room and sat down.

“I’m so confused,” Isabel admitted. “About what I’m supposed to do now. How am I going to trust anybody? But I also know not trusting isn’t a good thing, either. I don’t want to live my life in a cave, bitter and scared of how someone might hurt me.”

“Good, because the only caves I know of are on Heidi’s ranch, and she ages her goat cheese in them. I don’t think you’d enjoy that. I would guess the smell would be difficult to take, day after day.”

Isabel managed a slight smile. “Thanks for putting my cave-living dreams in perspective.”

“You’re welcome.” Patience squeezed her hand. “I’m sorry this happened. But at the risk of being annoyingly cheerful, you have options.”

“Options that will lead to more disappointment,” Isabel grumbled. Right now she felt as if she would never figure out how to make a decent decision ever again.

“That’s my little ray of sunshine,” her friend said with a gentle smile. “Okay, you’re not going to open a store with Sonia in New York. There are hundreds of other places you could do it. Pick a city.”

“I don’t have another designer to work with.” Isabel leaned her head back against the sofa and sighed. Nothing was ever going to be right again.

“I didn’t realize there was just the one.”

Isabel straightened. “One what?”

“Designer. Sonia’s the only one?”

“Very funny.”

“I have a charming sense of humor.” Her friend shifted toward her. “I’ve seen Project Runway. Season after season they bring us brilliant designers. There are hundreds or thousands out there. You just have to find one. Or maybe five. Maybe it’s better not to have a partner right now. You could start with Dellina’s friend. Her clothes are great. They’re selling.”

Isabel saw her point. “That’s an option, except Sonia was kicking in cash, too. I don’t have enough money to start a boutique on my own.” She paused, wondering if she could stand to risk another partner. Between Eric and Sonia, she was feeling extremely unliked.

“What about Paper Moon?” Patience asked.

Isabel stared at her. “I don’t want to sell wedding gowns for the rest of my life.”

“I know that. But you don’t have to. It’s successful and there’s an income stream. That would help. You could add to the business. Bring in a few designers. Expand the business. The space next door is for lease. So lease it, open a wall and sell wedding gowns and designer clothes. I’m sure your parents would be thrilled to keep the business in the family, and you can probably trust them not to break your heart.”

Isabel stood up and walked away from the sofa. When she reached the fireplace, she turned back.

“I never thought of staying,” she admitted. “Fool’s Gold isn’t exactly the fashion capital of the world. My parents would be thrilled.”

“There are advantages to being here. We have a big tourist trade. There are plenty of women in town. Plus, you’ve sold everything from Dellina’s friend you’ve put in the window and that’s without trying.”

Not leave? She’d always planned to leave. To go back to New York. To make her mark. To stay here would be...

What? Settling? It didn’t feel like settling. She liked the town. She had friends she trusted and her family was here. She had to admit that spending more time with her nieces and nephews, not to mention her sister, would be nice.

“I’d have to get my own place,” she murmured.

“Easy enough to do. You said Madeline loves working in Paper Moon. Having her there would free up time to do what you really love.” Patience rose and crossed to her. “You don’t have to decide now, but at least think about it. I know you’re sad, but this isn’t the death of your dream. You’re being shifted into a different direction. Sometimes that’s not a bad thing.”

Isabel hugged her. “Thanks for listening,” she said.

“That’s what friends do. And the second it’s five o’clock, we’re getting drunk. Because that’s the other thing friends do.”

Isabel laughed. She was still hurt and confused, but she didn’t feel so lost. Maybe she would decide to leave after all, but she had options. Choices.

She walked with her friend to the front door and then out onto the sidewalk.

“You’ll be at Jo’s tonight right at five,” Patience said. “That was a statement, by the way, not a request.”

“I’ll be there.”

“Good.”

They hugged again, and then Patience headed toward Brew-haha. Isabel kept on going toward Paper Moon. As she smiled at people she knew, she wondered about the other complication. The one she couldn’t really talk about. Not yet.

If she didn’t leave Fool’s Gold, what was going to happen with Ford? Because she had a bad feeling that whatever she’d felt when Eric had left her didn’t begin to measure up to what it would feel like if Ford walked away.

* * *

CONSUELO STUDIED the collection. “I’m not seeing a lot of romantic comedies,” she said as she looked over the titles.

The neatly lined-up DVDs and Blu-ray movies sat on shelves by the TV in Kent’s basement. There were plenty of action movies and a large collection of kid movies, but little else.

She looked at Kent. “You realize I can’t find a single title that reflects the female point of view.”

“We’re not big on chick flicks in this house,” he admitted. “But if there’s something you want to watch, I can get it.”

“You’re willing to sit through Sleepless in Seattle?”

He smiled. “I’ve sat through worse.”

“There’s an endorsement.” She ran her finger across the spines. “These are okay, but they usually get the action sequences wrong. Or the bad guys are terrible shots. I see that on TV all the time. Our heroes can kill them with a single bullet, but the bad guys fire and fire and nothing happens.”

“Maybe the bad guys need more training.”

She shrugged. “I guess it would make for a short series if the lead guy was taken out in episode two.”

She turned her attention back to the titles. They’d come down here to pick out a movie for after dinner. Kent had invited her over a few days before, all the while making it clear this was a date. Reese was spending the night at Carter’s house. It was just the two of them.

Consuelo was willing to admit to a few nerves, but only to herself. She found dating complicated. Real dating. In the service, she’d occasionally hooked up with guys, but not often. In her line of work, a relationship had seemed impossible, and she was just enough like most women to not love casual sex. There were times when she wanted to be held because she was important to a man and not simply as a means to getting laid.

But this was Kent, which meant a traditional date. As he’d yet to do much more than kiss her, she wasn’t sure what, if anything, was going to happen tonight. She supposed if she wanted things to go further, she could make the first move herself.

Except she didn’t want to. She wanted...to be wooed.

Ridiculous, she thought, scoffing at the weakness the desire exposed. She didn’t need anyone. She was self-sufficient. A warrior.

“Hey, come back.”

She turned and saw Kent standing next to her. His dark eyes were concerned as he studied her face.

“What?” she asked.

“You were looking pretty pissed about something. I knew you’d gone away.”

His ability to read her surprised her. “How do you know I wasn’t annoyed with you?”

“I haven’t done anything yet.”

She smiled. “You’re right. I did go away. Sorry.”

“Want to talk about it?”

She shook her head. There was so much she couldn’t say. Not just the classified stuff. Those secrets were easy to keep. It was the rest of it—what she’d done. He understood the broad strokes, but that wasn’t the same as really knowing. Not that he could, because she wouldn’t tell him, and if she did, they were back to the classified issue.