Heartbreaker

'Yeah, they did. Brenner was altering the books and stealing from Griffen, the developers. Steve’s going to be going away for a long time. Hey, did I tell you what Christopher did?'

'The groom?'

Tommy nodded. 'While he and Michelle were in Hawaii on their honeymoon, he spent a lot of time on the phone putting together a deal. He convinced Griffen to buy another parcel of land the city owns and leave the town square alone. The way he worked it out, some of the profits will go to renovating the square and bringing in new businesses. Christopher’s done a very good thing for this town. As soon as he gets settled, he’s going to hang his shingle two doors down from Laurant’s store. When the store opens, Michelle’s going to manage it.'

'What will Laurant be doing?'

'Painting.'

Noah smiled. 'That’s good.'

'It’s time for you to take another antibiotic.'

'I’ll wash it down with a beer.'

'It’s ten o’clock in the morning. You can’t have a beer.'

'You priests are too damned strict.'

Tommy got him a Pepsi and sat down again. 'I heard that Wesson is thinking about resigning.'

The smile left Noah’s eyes. 'He should be encouraged to quit.'

'You should cut the guy a little slack,' Tommy said. 'Nick told me he made himself a target in the cabin, trying to divert Stark and help Nick get a clear shot.'

'It was too little, too late. I don’t want to talk about Wesson. Pete already filled me in on what went down. So, tell me,' he continued, 'did Nick leave her or not?'

'She left him.'

'No kidding. Where’d she go?'

'To Paris.' Tommy was beaming when he added, 'She won the lawsuit. She got every penny of Grandfather’s money back, plus a heck of a lot of interest. She had to fly over to sign some papers.'

'All’s well that ends well.'

'I didn’t tell Nick why she went.'

Noah raised an eyebrow. 'What did you tell him.'

Tommy shrugged. 'That she went to Paris.'

'Implying it was permanent?'

'I might have.'

'There’s no way in hell he went after her. Getting on a transatlantic flight. He’d never do that, not in a million years.'

Tommy looked at his watch. 'He should be landing in Paris any minute now.'

Noah laughed again. 'He is nuts. It was okay for him to leave her, but he couldn’t stomach the notion of her leaving him?'

'Actually, he got to Des Moines before he turned around and drove back. Then I had to tell him she was gone.'

'Forever.'

Tommy nodded. 'Tough love,' he explained. 'I love Nick like a brother, but I had to get tough.'

'You mean you lied to him.'

'Yes.'

'Well, I’ll be damned. I think you just committed a sin. Want me to hear your confession?'

Laurant was exhausted. She cried most of the way to Paris, and when she wasn’t weeping, she was fuming because she had fallen in love with an idiot. She didn’t get any sleep at all, and as soon as the plane landed, she had to go directly to the law firm’s offices to sign the papers.

They wanted to celebrate. She wanted to go to Boston and find Nick, but couldn’t make up her mind what she would do once she found him. One minute she thought she would kiss him, and the next she thought she would give him a piece of her mind, but then, she didn’t know her mind anymore. She used to be such a practical, down-to- earth sort of woman, but Nick had changed her. She couldn’t sleep, she couldn’t eat, she couldn’t do anything but cry.

She checked into the hotel and took a long, hot shower. She had packed a pretty nightgown, but she put on the red T-shirt with the open-mouthed bass on the front instead.

How could he leave her? The tears started flowing again, and that made her angry. She remembered his reaction when she’d told him she loved him. He’d looked horrified. She thought it was because she was complicating his life, but now she stopped fooling herself and accepted the truth. He didn’t love her. It was that simple.

Laurant grabbed a Kleenex, got into bed, and called Michelle to cry on her shoulder.

Michelle answered on the first ring. She sounded sleepy. 'If you’re calling to tell me how sorry you are about the wedding, I forgive you, just like I did the last three times you called me in Hawaii. None of it was your fault. Okay? Mother forgives you, Daddy forgives you, and so do Christopher and I.'

'He left me, Michelle.'

Her friend was suddenly wide awake. 'What do you mean, he left you? Nick? Where are you anyway?'

'Paris,' she answered, sniffling.

'You’re crying, aren’t you? You lost the lawsuit. Laurant, I’m so sorry.'

'I didn’t lose.'

'You mean you’re rich again?'

'I suppose so.'

'You don’t sound very happy about it.'

'Did you hear what I said? Nick left me. I didn’t tell you the last time I called, but he left me the day after the wedding. He shook my hand, Michelle, and then he left. He doesn’t love me.'

'He shook your hand?' Michelle burst into laughter.

'It isn’t funny. This phone call is costing money, so be sympathetic and be fast.'

'Okay,' Michelle said. 'There, there. It will be all right.'

'Now you’re being sarcastic.'

'Sorry,' she said. 'What are you going to do about him?'

'Nothing. He doesn’t love me.'

'I saw the way he was looking at you while you were dancing at the picnic. It’s the same way Christopher looks at me when he wants… you know.'

'That’s lust, not love. I scared him.'

'Oh, dear. You do have a knack for doing that. There’s only one thing left to do,' she advised. 'You’re going to have to go after him. Hunt him down.'

Laurant sighed. 'You aren’t helping. I’m feeling miserable. I hate being in love.'

'Go after him,' she repeated.

'And then what? I can’t make him love me. I hate feeling like this. If this is what love is all about, you can have it. You know what I’m going to do? I’m going to get on with my life and forget him. Yes, that’s what I’m going to do.'

'Okay,' Michelle agreed, and Laurant could hear the smile in her voice. 'Just one question. How are you going to forget him?'

'I fell in love with him almost overnight, so it probably isn’t the real thing. That makes sense, doesn’t it?'

'Oh, please. Do you hear yourself? In your heart you know this isn’t an infatuation. I fell in love with Christopher after our first date. Sometimes it happens that way. I just knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him. Go after Nick, Laurant. Don’t let pride mess this up.'

'Pride doesn’t have anything to do with it. If he loved me, he wouldn’t have left me. It’s over, and I have to accept it.'

Laurant felt like her heart was shattering. Michelle was talking now, but she wasn’t listening. She interrupted her friend to say good-bye. She wanted to go home, but she didn’t know where that was anymore.

She called room service and ordered hot tea. Coping. That’s what Nick had told her she was doing when she fixed herself tea.