Three Little Words (22 page)

“Nice ass,” Eddie said. “Think they’ll take their shirts off?”

“It’s sixty-two degrees out there,” Isabel pointed out.

“They’re men. Let them show us they’re tough.”

Isabel shook her head. “You’re all insane.”

Patience grinned. “Come on. It’s fun. How often do we have three hot football players move to town?”

“We have bodyguards,” Isabel told her. “That’s enough. We don’t need those guys.”

“Oh, they’re pretty,” Taryn said, walking into Brew-haha. “And if you ask them nicely, they’re good at lifting and toting.”

Noelle turned to her. “Are they all single?”

“That’s what they tell me.” Taryn walked to the counter. “Can I get a latte, or do I have to wait until the show is over?”

“I think I can steam milk and watch at the same time,” Patience told her.

Isabel took a second to admire Taryn’s royal-blue suit. It matched her eyes perfectly and contrasted with her dark hair. Black suede pumps completed the outfit.

“You really know how to dress,” Isabel said, thinking her own black dress served a purpose. The bride never felt upstaged. She knew that was important, but looking at Taryn made her want to wear something more interesting. Maybe one of the new designs Dellina was always bringing in. At least she had her shoes, she thought, glancing down at the bright red pumps she’d slipped on that morning. Ridiculous but beautiful.

“I have an image to uphold,” Taryn said. “Clothes might not make the woman, but they help. My shoes intimidate the boys, much like yours would, and that’s good, too.”

She took the latte from Patience and paid her, then crossed to the growing crowd by the window.

“They gonna get naked?” Gladys asked.

“Unlikely,” Taryn murmured. “They’re exploring. Maybe, if we’re lucky, they’ll do some push-ups.”

Isabel heard distinct sarcasm in her voice, but Eddie and Gladys didn’t seem to notice.

“Wonder if they like older women?” Eddie asked. “I could teach that tall one a thing or two. Or maybe he could teach me.” She and Gladys giggled.

Taryn stepped closer to Isabel. “Those old ladies are a little disconcerting.”

“You get used to it,” Isabel assured her in a low voice. “They show up at events like this. I heard that a couple of years ago the town had male models in for a calendar to raise money for the fire department. Eddie and Gladys brought chairs and stayed for the whole event.”

Noelle walked over to them. “I’m feeling nothing,” she said, sounding disappointed. “I’m ready for something, I can feel it, but these guys aren’t doing it for me.”

Taryn smiled. “Kenny will be disappointed to hear that.”

Noelle glanced toward the window. “I don’t even care which one is Kenny. Are there more men moving to town? Because this is getting ridiculous.”

Dellina strolled over. “I want to do more than look,” she said brightly. “Is Sam single?”

“Yes, but he’s annoying. Just so you’re warned.”

Isabel looked at Taryn. “You’re really not interested?”

“Yawn,” Taryn said. “It is physically impossible for me to be less interested. I know them far too well to want to be romantically involved with any of them.” She shuddered. “No. We’re close. I adore them but I would rather date a fence post. At least it wouldn’t argue.”

* * *

I
SABEL
AND
M
ADELINE
walked back to Paper Moon. When they got there, Ford was waiting by the front door, looking all masculine and sexy. When he saw her, he raised an eyebrow.

“Really?” he asked in a low voice. “Ogling football players? I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. After all, you promised to love me forever and look what happened there.”

Madeline giggled as she let herself into the store. “I’ll leave you two to work this out,” she said, then disappeared inside.

Isabel put her hands on her hips. “How did you know?”

“Unlike you, Patience is concerned about Justice’s feelings. She called to tell him what was going on and he told me.”

She held in a smile. “I’m sorry you had to find out that way. About the other men I was watching.”

“Ogling. There’s a difference. I’m very disappointed in you. I expect better from my fake girlfriends.”

While she enjoyed the teasing, there was a part of her that wanted his words to be true.

“I’m sorry,” she told him. “Patience called and asked me to come over. I didn’t find out why—I just went.”

“Oh, sure. Blame it on Patience.” He stepped closer to her. “I can see we’re going to have to have a serious talk about your behavior.”

“You’re probably right.” She batted her eyes at him. “Maybe I should be punished later.”

“That goes without saying. I’m thinking a tongue-lashing at the very least.”

She shivered as she remembered what Ford could do with his tongue, then dropped her head in mock submission. “Whatever you think is best.”

He pulled her close and kissed the top of her head. “I don’t want to have to have this conversation again.”

“Of course not.”

As he hugged her, she felt the vibration of his chuckles. “You’re good at this,” he said quietly. “How do you feel about escaped prisoner and the warden’s wife?”

She grinned. “I think I could get into it.”

“That’s my girl.”

“Actually, we might need to reverse those roles. Your mom called me again to set up a one-on-one.”

“Talk about a buzz kill!”

“I know. There’s only so much longer I can put her off.”

He kissed her. “I have to get back to work. See you tonight?”

“I’ll be the blonde.”

“Thanks for clarifying.”

Isabel walked into Paper Moon and sighed. Her fake-dating situation was getting complicated. The obvious solution was to end things, but she just plain didn’t want to.

Before she could return to the back room to help Madeline with the rest of the gowns, her cell phone rang. She pulled it out of her bag and pushed Answer without checking to see who was calling.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Isabel.”

“Sonia.” She crossed to one of the chairs and sat down. “I haven’t heard from you in a while. Did you get my messages?”

“Yeah. Sorry. Life’s been crazy here. I’ve been meaning to call.”

“I’m glad you did. We have a lot we need to be doing and talking about.”

“I know. Well, sure. That’s why I phoned, so we could talk.” Her friend cleared her throat. “Look, I don’t know how to say this. It’s why I haven’t returned your calls. I’ve...” Sonia paused. “I’ve gone into business with someone else.”

Isabel stiffened. “What? What are you talking about? We had a deal together. We had plans.”

“I know. I know. I should have said something before. It’s just...I didn’t want to wait. You’re not coming back until February, and that’s a long time.”

“It’s five months. With everything that has to be done, it’s not that long at all.”

“Right, but there are other things. She has more money to put in the business. We can start bigger and not take so long to get noticed. I want that. This is my dream, Isabel. I have to do this. I’m sorry if you’re disappointed.”

“Disappointed? I came back here to earn more money to put into
our
business. I came back to brush up on retail so I would be more of an asset. We discussed that. We discussed everything.”

“I know that but retail is risky and this is a better bet for me. Do you really have to be so harsh about it? I was hoping we could stay friends. Can’t you just be happy for me?”

For her? Isabel wanted to ask about her own dreams, but she knew Sonia didn’t care about that. She had made it very clear she didn’t care about anyone but herself.

“Good luck with everything,” Isabel said, knowing she sounded bitter but unable to care. She ended the call before Sonia could respond.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

F
ORD
STARED
HELPLESSLY
as Isabel wiped away tears.

“It’s so unfair,” she said, her lower lip trembling as she spoke. “All of it. Now I know why she’s been avoiding me. She knew. All this time she knew she was going into business with someone else and she never said anything.”

They were in the living room of her house. A relatively large room with big windows, but Ford felt as trapped as if he were locked in a five-by-five cell. He didn’t know what the hell he was supposed to do to make her feel better and he couldn’t walk away.

Madeline had called him less than half an hour ago. She’d said Isabel had gotten a call and had left the store in tears. Madeline hadn’t known what had happened, but she’d been worried about her boss. Ford had come running, only to find Isabel as devastated as Madeline had suggested.

“I can’t believe it.” She crushed the tissue in her hand, then looked at him. “I can’t believe it.”

There was raw pain in her eyes. He desperately wanted to fix the problem, only he couldn’t begin to figure out how.

“I’m sorry,” he said, dropping to his knees in front of her. “I’m really sorry.”

She nodded. “I know. It’s nothing about you. It’s me. God, what’s wrong with me? First Eric and now Sonia.”

“You’re not the reason either of them acted the way they did.”

“I know that in my head, but my gut tells me something else.” She lowered her head and he saw tears fall onto her fingers. “It’s like the death of a dream.”

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.

* * *

I
SABEL
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.

* * *

C
ONSUELO
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.”