“And that means that I shouldn't?” Liv couldn't stop the angry words that spewed out. “That gives you the right to sabotage me?”
“You'd be nothing without me,” Nancy yelled, her voice cracking. No doubt from holding back tears and rage. This woman standing before her was not the woman Liv had met so many years ago. The Nancy she knew was having a serious break from reality.
“How was I supposed to know that when I put up that sign for help six years ago I'd be hiring a baking prodigy?”
“It's not about stealing business. There's enough business for everyone.” Liv didn't understand. She tried to put herself in Nancy's shoes, tried to imagine what her reaction would be if she had taken a young baker under her wing and they finally flew out on their own. Pride. She would feel pride and satisfaction at a job well done.
Funny how that theory didn't apply when Nancy had put together her plan of sabotage. Liv pushed her hair off her face and gathered it in the back. She breathed out, steady breaths, her heart pumping her blood way too fast. “You never liked me, did you?”
“Olivia, it's not that I don't like you. You're a lovely girl, but…”
“You've been jealous. All this time, you used me. All this time—”
“There you go again. Feeling sorry for yourself.” Nancy crossed her arms over her chest.
For the first time since Nancy joined Liv on that sidewalk, she could see the desperate, delusional woman that had been hiding in front of her since day one. And just like she had with every other aspect of her life, it was time for Liv to take the reins and show Nancy just how sorry she felt. And it wasn't for herself.
“You're weak,” Liv snarled. The smirk on Nancy's face disappeared with every word. “You're insecure. I've carried you for a long time. I didn't realize that until just now. Without me, your business is going to suffer.”
Nancy recoiled. This was Liv's own form of revenge. Leaving Nancy with the fear that, at any time, she could steal away the customers she spent years accumulating. Nancy would forever be waiting for the bottom to drop out of her business, and Liv would watch from the sidelines, wondering how long it would take her to crack.
“Good-bye, Nancy.” Liv gathered her wits, but before she stepped away, she turned and leveled Nancy with a harsh stare. “May the best woman win.”
Liv headed home in the fresh winter air and took a deep, calming breath. It was amazing how she could lose so much in so little time. It was mistake after mistake, problem after problem. She had presented a confident front when she left Nancy alone on the street with her mouth practically on the floor, but all she wanted to do was crawl into her bed and sleep away her pain.
She took one last look at the building, at her dreams that had settled as ash on the sidewalk, and made the walk back to her condo, unsure of where she was going from here.
Chapter Twenty-Two
When she stepped off the elevator, Liv was shocked to find Brett at his front door. She had hoped to sneak inside and hide. One look and he knew something was wrong.
“Liv?” He was dressed in jeans and a tank top. The very same outfit he had been wearing when Patti fell in love with him. Or so she had once mentioned. His multiple tattoos flexed and shimmied when he moved. “What happened to you?”
She must have looked as bad as she felt. She had no jacket—there was no time to grab it when she fled the building. Instead, she had a fire blanket to keep her from getting a chill.
“Just another day at a cupcake bakery. No big deal.” She wanted to fall against him. She needed some kind of human contact as tears stung at her eyes.
But Brett wasn't the person she wanted to talk to. She needed Patti.
“Where's your woman?”
“She had an evening class.”
Right. It was Friday.
“Liv, what the hell happened? Were you…in a fire?”
She was too tired to explain. She hadn't told anyone about meeting her father, or how Jake had lied to her, or even about Nancy and her betrayal. And now this. There was too much to tell and she didn't know where to begin.
She turned and walked to her front door. “I'm going to bed.”
“Not so fast.” Before she had the chance to lock him out, he pushed past her and into her condo.
“Suit yourself.” She let the blanket drop to the floor. “You can just follow me to my bedroom, then, while I sleep away my sorrows.” The smell of her space comforted her. Sweet icing and coconut. She used to have a bakery that smelled like that.
“Don't be so dramatic,” he said from the front door. He followed, his footsteps heavy against the carpet.
“Dramatic?” She had every right to be dramatic. “My business burned. It burned, and I have nothing left. Not to mention the fact that my mentor tried to sell me down the river and my boyfriend—I actually had a boyfriend—betrayed me and was in alliance with the one man who I've hated almost my entire life. I think I've earned dramatic.”
She stood with her hands on her hips, her body shaking from the change in temperature. But with the look on Brett's face, she realized she had taken out on him her own frustrations. He didn't deserve that. And he didn't deserve to be the one to listen to her worries.
The look of shock on Brett's face quickly turned to sympathy. She knew she had just thrown him a curveball the size of a mountain. But he took it in stride. “Tell me what happened.”
In the couple of years Liv had known Brett, they had always gotten along. They laughed and joked together, but never had they had a heart to heart. He shot her a challenging look, as if daring her to spill her guts. Everything was too fresh, the hurt too deep. She didn't want to talk.
She turned and stalked off into her bedroom, hoping Brett would find it awkward enough not to follow. But he plopped his butt on the edge of the bed right beside her.
She let out a groan, but resigned to the fact that he wasn't going anywhere.
“What do you mean your business burned?”
“There was a fire. Everything's gone.” With that confession, she began to cry. The tears that had threatened to fall earlier finally surfaced.
He cursed under his breath. “Are you all right? Are you hurt?” He reached out and touched her shoulder.
“
I'm
fine. But…” Everything else was not.
“I'm so sorry. I don't know what to say.”
“Save it, ‘cause there's more.”
His eyes widened.
“Nancy was the one responsible for the inspection, the mistake in the advertising, and for me not getting my business loan.” And maybe the fire. But that was a heavy accusation, and she just couldn't bring herself to say that out loud. Not until it had been proven by the police.
“What the hell, Liv?”
She pulled the bed cover over her body. He might as well know everything. If she was going to heal, she would have to say it out loud, come to terms with this new information. “Jake works for my dad. I was just a game.”
“That slimy son of a—” Brett fisted his hand on his thigh, his knuckles turning white and the muscle in his jaw working overtime as he clenched his teeth. But after a few beats, his face and body relaxed. “Patti told me about your dad once. How he left you and your mom.”
She acknowledged with a quiet hum, but her thoughts were all over the place. “You know, I pegged Jake the minute I met him,” she continued. “But something told me he might be different.” Tears flooded her eyes. “He only needed to get me to that book launch so that he could get a promotion. I even told him about my father and he still…” She was a blubbering mess. “I'm sorry.”
“No sorries. I may not be as compassionate as Patti or as supportive as Austin, but I'm here and I can listen.” He leaned in, offering his shoulder.
She smiled and, for a second, forgot her worries. “Patti's lucky to have you.”
Brett shrugged. “I know.”
She snorted out a laugh and fell into his open arms. There was nothing sexual about their embrace, nothing awkward or inappropriate. Just comfort and understanding. Exactly what she needed.
“What's that?”
She looked up and followed Brett's gaze. He was looking right at the photo Jake had left.
“Jake left it for me. I guess he had it delivered before the evening went south.”
Despite the crack through the middle, the picture was still very much distinguishable. “Is that you?” He tilted his head, trying to get a better look.
She sighed. “Yep.”
“Did he take that picture?” Brett rested his chin on her head.
“Yep.”
He hugged her tighter. “I'm sorry to say, but he's good.”
“You can say it. It's not like I want him dead or anything.”
“Austin might.”
They both laughed.
Liv remembered the night at the gallery so vividly. The night he opened up to her. The way his face lit when he stepped through the doors, the way he nervously waited for her to comment on the photo. Everything about the man she thought he was had disappeared, and in its place was revealed a sweet, talented, compassionate man. She loved that he was so honest, so vulnerable.
She pulled away and stared up at Brett. A questioning expression had settled on his face.
“What's wrong?”
He shook off his stoic expression. “Nothing.” He gripped her shoulders, holding her at arm's length. “Are you sure you're all right?”
“I'm better now.” She pulled out of Brett's grip and leaned back on the headboard. “I guess I needed to get it all out. Thank you.”
“Oh, I almost forgot why I was on my way out.” Brett took an envelope from his back pocket. “This was left downstairs for you. Manny the security guy asked me where you were and I said I'd drop it off.”
The envelope had no name or address, and it was sealed. Mysterious. Maybe this was Jake's way of apologizing. Maybe it was from Nancy.
She looked up at Brett. He shrugged. Liv stopped hypothesizing and removed the single piece of white paper. The handwriting was unrecognizable. She scanned down to the bottom and her eyes widened at the name that had signed the note.
“Liv?”
She reached for Brett's arm, squeezing for comfort.
Dear Olivia,
Saying I'm sorry will probably never be enough to fix the damage I've caused.
You see, I'm not a good man. One morning I woke up and realized that I had settled. I was selfish, still am selfish. I had dreams and desires I wanted to pursue. I had no business being a father and a husband. Leaving the two of you was the best decision I've ever made, because it gave you a chance at a happy future.
Please do not blame Jake for my mistakes. I betrayed him just as much as I betrayed you, and I don't blame him for quitting his job. Don't be quick to give up on him. He loves you. I've spent so much time feigning love that I know the real thing when I see it.
I want you to know that I think about you all the time, and I'm proud of the woman you've become. I don't expect a thing from you, but if you can find it in your heart to tolerate me, even if for only a few minutes, please meet me at City Tavern. I will have a standing reservation for three in case you decide to give another man a second chance.
Yours,
Robert Shelton
Her father was the last person she expected to hear from. She felt…nothing. She was neither mad nor sad, happy nor disgusted. She was numb.
“It's from my father.” Liv looked up and met Brett's kind eyes. She held it out to him and he took it from her, his eyes scanning the words. She heard him curse softly under his breath.
Seeing her father at the book launch had been unbelievable. Almost like an out of body experience. She still couldn't reconcile that the man who looked so happy and sure of himself was the same man she remembered from her childhood. And the words in this letter didn't describe the bastard she had created in her head all those years ago. If these words were true, then her mother never revealed the truth about why he left.
She would need to think long and hard before she even toyed with the idea of giving her father a second chance. That she was even considering it was a sign that she had changed. It was Jake who'd changed her. It was Jake who'd opened her mind and sewn up most of the tear in her heart. But then he'd stomped on it and handed it to the man who had broken it in the first place.
Even if she let go and tried to forgive him, she was reminded of the pain. She needed answers. Maybe a trip home to see her mother was just what she needed to put everything into perspective.
“Are you all right?” Brett rubbed her leg.
“I think I'm going to visit my family.” She needed some motherly advice, and a motherly explanation.
“Are you sure about that? I've heard some pretty interesting things about your family.”
She laughed. “It's been a long time. I should visit.”
“Do you need me to do anything?”
Brett wouldn't be able to solve her problems, and she would never ask. But right now, all she needed was to feel loved. “Do you think you could just let me hug you for a little while longer?”
He opened up his arms and she fell back into his embrace. She sighed against him, letting the world fall away, even if for only a moment.
…
Jake sifted through the drawers of his desk looking for personal items to pack. He'd let the dust settle before returning to his office. He also wanted to make sure that his boss wouldn't be there. Luckily, he was away on a business trip.
He was surprised at the lack of personal items in his office. He had a picture of his nephew, a baseball that was autographed by one of Toronto's star players, and an extra shirt and tie. He'd been here for ten years, and this is all he had to show for living and breathing this place twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Pathetic, really. But it worked to his advantage. He didn't want a single memory of this place.
He breathed deeply, thankful for getting out while he still had the opportunity to start over.
And then there was Liv. She wouldn't return his calls. And he'd left a hundred messages. Short of stalking her bakery and condo, Jake had done everything he could to get her to talk to him. He couldn't sleep. He could think of nothing but apologizing, making things right. He loved her. And he needed to make her believe they were meant to be together.
When he looked up, Maggie stood in his doorway, tears in her eyes. “Are you sure you have to quit?”
He nodded. Despite the bad taste in his mouth regarding Weston Communications, Maggie would be the only person he missed and regretted leaving.
“Don't worry, Maggie. You'll have another hotshot publicist in my office in no time.”
She mumbled something under her breath that sounded like, “I don't want another hotshot.”
Jake smiled. At least someone in this place was loyal. He slipped his things into a bag Maggie had given him. He didn't even have enough to fill up the banker's box she'd set out for him earlier. “Good-bye, Maggie. I'm sure we'll see each other again.”
“Of course we will. I still have two nieces you haven't met yet.”
He laughed. “Fair enough.” He leaned in and pulled her into a hug. “Thank you for everything. I couldn't have done my job without you.”
She sniffled, and he was sure she'd rubbed her nose along his shirt.
“You'll be fine, Jacob.” She patted his cheek. “There are great things ahead of you.”
Maggie was right. There were great things ahead of him. He was certain of it.
He drove aimlessly through the city streets. Instead of driving home, he drove uptown toward Liv's bakery. It was time to step up his game. An in-person appearance was in order. One visit couldn't be considered stalking…could it?
Which is what he should have done from the beginning. He should have told her that night and gone to her condo and asked her to trust him. He didn't blame her for storming off. Why should she trust a man who blatantly deceived her in order to get what he thought he wanted?
The corner office. The promotion. He didn't want any of that. And why he thought he needed it to find a job in art was beyond him. Maybe self-doubt. He wanted to make it so that no one could pass him up.
He turned the corner onto Eglinton and had to bypass police tape. Shock and horror gripped him as he stared at the burned-out building that used to be Liv's bakery. He drove by rubbernecking, unable to tear his gaze away from the scene. Burnt. Completely burnt. What if she was in there? What is she didn't get out in time? Liv!
A car horn jerked him out of his trance and Jake hit his brakes hard, almost ramming into the car in front of him. He swerved around, violent curses from the other driver penetrating the windows, but he didn't care. He drove like a crazy person, weaving in and out of traffic. He wasted no time and parked on the street in front of Liv's building. The doorman immediately recognized him and buzzed him through.
He raced past the desk with a “thanks, man” and pushed the elevator button a good ten times before one appeared. The ride to the top of the building felt like the steady climb on a roller coaster, his stomach tightening with every floor that ticked off on the digital screen. And when he stepped off, a rush of adrenaline washed over him. He knocked on her door. Then a little louder. No answer. What if she was in the hospital? What if…