Chapter 27
Chapter Twenty-Seven
M attie spent the first three days after she arrived at the hideaway house being fussed over and coddled. It was an overwhelming amount of attention, but she had to admit that she was starting to feel a little better about life in general. She hadn’t cried once today, mostly because she didn’t have her phone. Piper refused to give it back until things settled down, claiming that doom-surfing tweets about herself wasn’t healthy.
She had a feeling it was to keep her from seeing any messages Adam might have sent, but she didn’t argue.
When Kat arrived at the driveway gates, it was a welcome distraction.
“Got a special delivery here,” Kat shouted at the intercom. “Open up.”
Mattie dutifully pressed the button to open the gates, and everyone wandered outside with her to watch Kat lead three delivery vans down the driveway.
“He threatened to keep sending these to my office if I didn’t let them deliver to you.” Kat scowled at the vans. “My office isn’t that big.”
Three men carried vase after vase filled with pink and white hibiscus into the house.
“How many more?” Mattie asked one in a red delivery cap.
He jerked his chin toward the van. “On the last van now. Probably ’bout fifty left. Whatever he did must have been epic. This delivery paid my rent for the next three months.”
Mattie looked questioningly at Kat. “Adam sent a hundred and fifty vases of flowers?”
Delivery man number two tipped his hat as he passed her on the way out. “More than that. There’s a hundred in each van.”
Della whistled. “I’ve never had anybody send me more than two dozen roses before. Not even the crazy rabid fans. That’s some serious guilt right there.”
Lizzie poked Renic in the arm. “You’re going to have to up your game next time.”
Renic looked affronted. “Who says there’ll be a next time?”
Piper and Lizzie both gave him the patented Bellamy stare.
Renic grinned in the face of their obvious disbelief.
“I say you should throw these flowers out,” Kat muttered. “He’s trying to weaken your resolve.”
Della took a vase from one of the delivery guys. “No way. These are way too pretty to waste. Besides, after what he did this is the least he can do.”
“If you don’t want them, we can have them sent to the children’s hospital,” Lizzie suggested.
“I still don’t see why you sent the Jet Skis back,” Della said. “If the man wants to grovel, let him grovel. Then kick him to the curb.”
Mattie sighed. “Because I didn’t want him thinking he can buy my forgiveness. Besides, we don’t need Jet Skis. You live in a city, I don’t go to the beach, and Piper’s too busy.”
“Shame,” Della said. “I loved that cute turtle decal on them.”
“We should have taken them,” Lizzie said. “We could have offered them up for guests to use on the lake, like the kayaks.”
“We would have had to ship them cross country. We can buy new ones ourselves,” Renic said. “That way we can have the Belhurst Castle logo instead of turtles.”
The man with the red hat stopped in front of her and handed Mattie a vase filled with all pink flowers. “I’m s’posed to point out the note on this one.”
Mattie took the vase from him and stared at the small red card tied to one of the flower stems. Her name was scrawled across it in familiar handwriting.
“Have a good day.” The man tipped his red cap, and the three drivers went back to their vans.
Mattie carried the vase into the house. She’d have known the flowers were from Adam with or without the note because it was such an insane amount. Who else would send her this many flowers? “How did Adam even find this many hibiscus in LA? It’s not like we’re in the tropics.”
“Crazy as he is, he probably had them flown in.” Kat flicked her hand toward the back of the house. “Is there a smoking section out there?”
“You’re supposed to be quitting.” Mattie carried the vase to the kitchen.
“I’m not going to light it,” Kat assured her. “I’m just going to suck on it and dream of lighting it.”
Every surface inside the house, including some of the floor, had been transformed into a forest of pink and white.
“It looks like a flower shop in here,” Lizzie said.
“Or a funeral home,” Renic commented.
Lizzie hit his arm. “Stop that.”
“You have to admit as apologies go this puts the over in overkill,” Renic said. “It makes the rest of us look bad. And here I thought he outdid himself with the Jet Skis.”
Mattie hugged the vase in her arms. The red card jiggled every time she took a step, taunting her. The past three days had been filled with overtures of guilt from Adam. It was getting hard to ignore.
Piper peered at the card. “Wonder what he wrote.”
Mattie glanced at her. “Thought you’d rather I burned it. That’s what you said about the notebook.”
Three days ago, Piper had arrived with an armload of mail from Mattie’s house, along with a beautiful hand-bound leather notebook and a sealed envelope. Mattie had thrown the envelope in the trash, but she couldn’t bring herself to toss the notebook, so she’d buried it in the bottom of her suitcase. Its presence unnerved her so much that she shoved the suitcase into the back of the closet and piled her dirty laundry on top of it.
“Yeah, well. I might have been a little extreme about that.”
“Somebody’s a drama queen,” Della sing-songed. “I mean, did he have to send so many flowers? Weren’t his first two presents enough of a message?”
Mattie buried her nose in a flower. “One notebook and a Jet Ski wouldn’t be enough, especially after I sent the Jet Ski back. Adam moments are over the top and in your face.”
“He sure knows how to escalate, I’ll give him that,” Renic said. “I wonder what he’ll send next.”
Mattie hmmed . If she had to guess, he might resort to skywriting or commercials on the radio and TV.
“Are you going to read the card?” Piper asked quietly.
“I don’t know.” Mattie looked at her with curiosity. Her sister had been withdrawn and thoughtful for the past couple of days. It was so unlike her that Mattie had asked her if she was sick. The response had been a scathing retort on busy workloads.
It had been easy to throw away the first card. She hadn’t wanted to read the second, but she hadn’t been able to bring herself to get rid of it either. The initial anger and hurt she’d felt when she first arrived had faded, thanks to her sisters’ efforts. Maybe she should find out what he’d written this time. But did it even matter? Was there anything he could say that would make her forgive him?
A little whisper in the back of her mind said, Give him a chance to explain .
Mattie carried her vase of flowers onto the back porch and sat down in one of the cushioned chairs around the outdoor dining table. “I really do love hibiscus.”
They reminded her of Syer Island, which reminded her of Adam, which reminded her of why she was hiding out in the first place.
Lizzie sniffed one of the flowers before she sat down next to Mattie. “They don’t really smell like anything.”
“Good thing, otherwise the house would be unbearable,” Renic said.
“They remind me of the ocean.” Mattie liberated the card from the flower stem and held it in her hand like a grenade that might go off any second.
“You going to read that, or should I toss it in the pool?” Della asked.
Mattie brushed the envelope with her thumb. “He does know how to make a statement, doesn’t he?”
Kat snorted. “He knows how to make a complete ass out of himself. Don’t tell me you’re softening on this guy.”
Mattie stared down at the envelope and didn’t answer.
“Oh come on, Mattie. It’s just another way to manipulate you to get what he wants.” Kat liberated an envelope from her bag and slapped it on the table. “That’s a revised contract release. He drafted his own, but he’s refusing to sign unless you agree to meet with him first.”
Renic picked up the contract. “Huh. He left a note on every page.”
“What’s it say?” Lizzie asked.
Renic flipped through the pages, then handed them to Mattie. “Take a look.”
There were sticky notes on every page of the contract. Mattie pulled them off one by one as she read them out loud.
I didn’t mean to lie to you.
I know you can’t forgive me.
Please give me a chance to explain.
Just one meeting. Kat has the address. You set the day.
After that, I’ll sign.
The songs are yours, either way.
Mattie put the notes down next to the flowers. They had a rhythm and flow that sparked her imagination. There was a song buried in those lines, somewhere.
“He rewrote the contract?” Piper asked.
“I didn’t read the whole thing,” Renic said.
“There’s only one change,” Kat said. She flicked her cigarette with one finger even though it wasn’t lit. “Second page, third paragraph. It gives all rights to any song produced as a result of the retreat to Mattie. Not just the two they finished, but any other song as well. Delusions of Glory may perform them, but Mattie retains the copyright and gets full royalties.”
“Wow.” Piper sat back in her chair looking stunned.
Della picked up the notes and shuffled through them. “I don’t get it. Why not just sign the original contract? He’s giving her more than she asked for. ”
Renic nodded with appreciation. “It’s quite the gesture, I’ll give him that.”
Kat snorted. “It’s just another con.”
“I’m not so sure about that,” Lizzie said. “It seems pretty sincere to me.”
Mattie stared at the unopened red card. Adam had seemed sincere on the island too.
“You’re not going to meet with him, are you Mattie?” Kat asked. “Want me to tell him to get lost?”
Mattie looked at the field of pink and white inside the house. “Tell him I’ll think about it.”
Later that night, after everyone had gone to bed, Mattie carried the unopened card up to her room. She pushed the dirty clothes aside and pulled the suitcase out of the closet. She took the notebook and card to bed with her and curled up next to them with a pillow.
Curiosity drove her to open the envelope. A simple fold-over note was inside.
Mattie,
I’m sorry.
I lied to you because I couldn’t think of any other way to get to know you.
But being with you was never a PR stunt. It was a teenage dream. An adult fantasy.
The reality was better than I ever imagined.
I let you down. I should have been the kind of man who would tell you the truth from the start.
The truth is, I love you .
I want you to be happy, even if it isn’t with me.
Please talk to me. Meet with me one last time, so you can look in my eyes and see that what I say is true.
You are everything that makes songs worth singing.
Adam
Mattie reread the card until the words blurred together.
Two days later, Mattie still hadn’t made up her mind about meeting with Adam. Her internal arguments for and against were muddy, and at the bottom of them was one simple fact that was becoming impossible to ignore.
She missed him.
When Lizzie suggested they should get out of the house, Mattie at first refused.
“They’re probably still looking for me,” Mattie told her.
“You’re not the juicy topic anymore. Larissa Thompson just filed for her tenth divorce,” Piper said. “Come on. Nobody will know we’re there. You need to get out.”
Della nodded her head in agreement. “We’ll take the SUV. People will think we’re FBI or something. Nobody will see you.”
With all three sisters ganging up on her like that, she finally relented. They piled into the SUV, leaving Renic behind.
“It’s a girls’ trip,” he said firmly. “Besides, I have some phone calls to make. Have fun.”
Mattie had no idea where they were going until Della pulled up outside The Flower Pot.
Mattie couldn’t make herself open the car door. The last time she was here, she’d left so angry she couldn’t see. Her stomach tied up in knots just thinking about it.
Della jumped out and handed the keys to the valet.
Piper climbed out, then poked her head back in. “Quit stalling. It’s just brunch. I promise no fighting. Best behavior. I swear.”
Lizzie squeezed Mattie’s hand. “Come on, Mattie Cake. This will be good for you. For all of us.”
Mattie sighed and got out of the car.
It was eleven-thirty, but the restaurant was empty except for the waitstaff, who didn’t act like they remembered her.
“Did you buy out the place?” Mattie asked as she followed Della through the restaurant to the hidden patio.
“Maybe.” Della strode across the patio to the table and flounced down into a chair. “It was hard enough getting you out of the house. I wasn’t about to let a few customers chase you away.”
“Worried I’ll start shouting again?” Mattie sat down. “I’m not mad at you anymore.”
Della cast a cautious glance in Piper’s direction. “That’s not what this is about.”
Piper frowned at Della, then gestured at Lizzie. “Might as well get this over with before we get derailed.”
Mattie looked at her eldest sister. “What’s going on?”
Lizzie cleared her throat. “We thought a family meeting was in order. You have a decision to make, and you aren’t making it.”
Mattie glanced around at the other two, who looked at her with eager but cautious expressions. “Which decision is that?”
“The kick-Adam-to-the-curb decision,” Della said. “It’s time to put him out of his misery and move on. Kat agrees with me. ”
“But Renic and I don’t,” Lizzie said. “We think you should hear him out. It’ll give you closure.”
“I say he’s had enough of your time,” Della said.
Mattie looked at Piper. “And you?”
“I think…” Piper looked like she was wrestling with some internal conflict.
“You think I should walk away,” Mattie supplied.
Piper had been firmly anti-Adam when the photo landed on the internet, but the past week she’d been quiet, like she was trying to stay out of it.
“No.” Piper shook her head. “No I don’t.”
“Tell her, Piper,” Lizzie said gently. “She deserves to know. She can’t make a decision without all the facts.”
Mattie frowned. “What facts?”
Piper gestured for the server. “Bring us a round of mimosas, please?”
The server nodded and hurried off.
“Piper?” Mattie hugged herself, worried by Piper’s reluctance to explain.
Piper saw her face and relented. “A couple of days after you got back, Adam came to see me at the studio. He told me a few things.”
“Like what?” Mattie couldn’t imagine what Adam had said to get on Piper’s good side after everything that had happened.
“He said he fired his manager.”
Mattie sat back. “Really. They’ve been with that guy forever.”
Piper nodded. “Yeah. It’s a pretty big statement to ditch a relationship like that.”
“So what?” Della said. “I don’t see how that makes up for what he did.”
“Maybe it doesn’t,” Piper conceded, “but Adam bought out the rest of the photos that guy took and had the ones that were posted pulled off the site. That won’t stop it from spreading, because it had been tweeted and retweeted, but still. That’s why you aren’t on the home page anymore. Adam paid to have it removed.”
The mimosas arrived, and Mattie took a long sip.
Piper studied hers without drinking. “That’s not all he said.”
“Oh?” Mattie watched her sister over the rim of the glass.
Piper exchanged glances with Lizzie, who nodded encouragingly. “He told me he loves you. Shouted it, actually.”
Mattie put the glass down. Condensation dripped down the sides onto the table while tears bubbled in her eyes. I’m not sorry I got the chance to love you . She remembered the exact words Adam had shouted at her because she’d replayed them over and over in her mind. She’d thought he meant he wasn’t sorry he slept with her, which she’d taken a step further to mean he wasn’t sorry he got that award-winning shot of her naked. But maybe he’d meant something else. Something more.
Della snorted. “Like that means anything.”
“It means something, Della,” Piper snapped. “It means a lot.”
“Please. He’s probably lying,” Della scoffed. “It’s just pretty words to soften you up so you give him what he wants.”
“Really?” Mattie sniffed. There was unacknowledged pain behind those words. “Has that happened to you?”
“Sure, lots of times.” Della shrugged. “Everybody says stuff like that at parties so they don’t have to spend the night alone. Then they all head out in the morning, on to the next gig and the next bed. Adam’s no different.”
Mattie’s instincts rejected that idea. Adam wasn’t the type to go around saying I love you as a party favor. He was the type to save it for someone who really mattered .
“What the hell kind of parties do you go to?” Piper’s face twisted up with confusion.
“Ladies,” Lizzie interrupted, “we’re not here to talk about Della’s social life. Piper, tell her the rest of it.”
Mattie looked at Piper. “There’s more?”
“He told me to tell you that you shouldn’t give up on forever, and that you deserve to be happy even if it’s not with him.”
Mattie blinked at the tears in her eyes, but they fell anyway. This time, though, they were tears of hope.
“Mattie,” Lizzie said softly. She put her hand over Mattie’s and squeezed. “I know this isn’t the same thing, but I know what it’s like to have a misunderstanding screw up a relationship. Learn from my mistakes. Talk to him. Just talk. If you still want to walk away after that, then do it. We’ll help you. But at least get the full story first.”
Della put a soft hand on Mattie’s arm. “What do you want, Mattie? I’ll back whatever you say.”
Mattie’s heart was full of the love her sisters shared with her. This moment was everything she’d lost, everything she’d missed from that horrible day in the greenroom until now. Della was putting Mattie’s needs first, Piper had Mattie’s best interests at heart, and Lizzie made sure they never lost sight of each other.
“I love you. All of you.”
Piper pulled out Mattie’s phone and handed it to her. “Guess it’s time to give this back to you.”
Mattie brushed tears away while she waited for the phone to start up. There were three hundred thirty-three unread text messages from Adam. She skipped past them to Kat’s message string and typed, Tell Adam I’ll be there Saturday.