And Stella wasn’t ready for that.
She needed to think. Betrayal like this was not common for her. It had been almost two decades since she’d dated anyone, so while she knew from her girlfriends over the years that most men were dogs, she hadn’t experienced it for herself until now.
Except was Sam like that too?
He’d lied to her, but it was only to keep her close. And now that she’d spent time in Willow Beach, Stella was grateful for that time. It all hinged on a deception, which was what made it difficult. It felt like taking a bite of the world’s tastiest dessert only to learn it was made with dehydrated elephant dung. Yes, it was still delicious, but you wouldn’t have taken a bite if you’d known.
Stella knew, without a doubt, she would have driven out of Willow Beach Saturday morning if Sam had been honest about her car being fixed.
Instead, she’d stayed.
She’d stayed. She’d gotten to know them. And she’d had a good time.
Could she really be mad at someone for forcing her to have a good time?
Her mind was still a tangle of knots when her phone went off. For a second, she hoped it would be Sam, calling to explain. Maybe Drew had told Sam what happened after she left. Maybe he was looking for her.
Disappointment coiled in her stomach when she saw Brenda’s name on her screen. She sent it to voice mail. A minute later, her phone buzzed again, alerting her to the voice mail. Stella listened.
“You need to call me back ASAP, Stella. Mark came into work today in a mood, and there is talk that he is going to ask James to take over the Australia project. He keeps saying we can’t wait a week to get back on track with it. I mentioned that you were two weeks ahead of schedule, but I can’t say anymore without having his fury directed at me. You understand. Anyway, James also told Brian that Mark has mentioned giving him the promotion. I know I’m the one who sent you away, but it might be smart if you get back here tomorrow. Things are falling apart.”
A few hours ago, that message would have had Stella in a tailspin. As it was, she didn’t even have it in her to care.
As soon as the promotion was announced at work, she’d had her eye on it. Not because she wanted it necessarily, but because what else was she going to do—just keep her same position forever? It felt like it was time for something else, and Stella needed a goal to achieve, so she’d focused all of her energy on it.
Now that it was probably going to go to someone else, Stella realized how little it truly mattered to her.
And now that she’d seen Georgia working at the inn and Tasha working at the theater, and even Sam working at his shop, she realized that she hated her job. Not what she did, exactly, but the people she worked with and the way everything was managed. Mark was controlling, without any of the expertise or knowledge that made it acceptable. He used control in lieu of those things. It was maddening, and if he wanted to fire her, Stella would be fine with that.
She was contemplating calling Brenda back when her phone rang again. This time it was Jace, and she answered on the first ring.
“Hello.”
“Oh good. Mom.” His voice always sounded deeper on the phone, reminding Stella of how much of a man he really was. He also sounded relieved.
“Is everything okay?”
“It is now,” he laughed. “Grandma just called me because she went to your house to pick up some signs or something, and you weren’t there. She used the spare key to go inside, and she said it looked like you left in a hurry. Apparently, you left the television on downstairs.”
“Why did she call you instead of me?”
“Because it’s Grandma. She probably just hit the first number programmed in her phone.”
“And that’s you and not me?” Stella was almost offended.
“What can I say? Grandson trumps daughter, I guess.” She could hear the squeak of his swivel chair through the phone, meaning he was sitting at his desk in his dorm room. “So, where exactly are you? Do I need to be worried?”
Stella quickly laid out the whole ordeal, leaving out the parts about Brenda thinking she was boring and in need of a life of her own. She just described it as a spontaneous vacation gone awry.
“It sounds like Willow Beach is all right, though. You’ve always wanted to live in a place like that.”
Stella frowned. “Excuse me? Since when?”
“Since every time you’ve ever seen a picture of a beach house or even heard the mention of one, you’ve said, ‘Wouldn’t that be the life?’”
Come to think of it, she had always liked the idea of being a beach bum. Though, that didn’t exactly equate to wanting to live in a beach town. If anything, it just meant she needed to take more beach vacations.
“I guess so, but I think Boston would be more my speed.”
At that, Jace barked out a laugh. “You didn’t want to buy that house on our tiny town’s Main Street because you thought there was too much traffic. How much more do you think is in Boston?”
“I’d take a taxi.”
“You get car sick.”
“Oh yeah.” Stella hadn’t sat in the back seat of a car on a long trip in so many years that she had forgotten about that entirely. Even short trips in the back of a car made her nauseous.
“Honestly, Mom, how do I know you better than you know yourself? Don’t forget you’re allergic to mustard while I’m away!”
“Very funny,” she said, fake-laughing. “We’ve got a comedian here.”
She realized she’d repeated Sam’s joke from that morning, and suddenly, it felt wrong not to mention him to Jace. In her son’s entire life, Stella had never been serious about a man. And she wasn’t serious about Sam,
