Chapter 42
ONE MONTH LATER
Boxing up the last pieces, I stood back and surveyed the empty shell I used to call my office.
Six years ago, when I started Treasured Moments, I was so filled to the brim with excitement at the chance to start my own business that I let it blindside me to reality.
However, without signing a contract with Fernando, I would never have been able to do it. I likely would have caved in to my mother’s peer pressure and started the modelling career she wanted for me.
And only the cosmic gods knew how my life would’ve turned out then.
Leaving the business I helped create felt bittersweet.
For all the shit, all the bad that came from working under my mother’s thumb, there was good too.
After all, it led me to Elliott and put me on the path of finally standing on my own two feet and cutting the last string that kept me tied to my mother.
From here on out, if my mother wanted to be in my life, firstly, I expected an apology, and secondly, it would be under the terms that she learned how to treat me like her daughter and not as someone she got to squash and belittle.
Unfortunately, I didn’t hold much hope that it would happen.
Same went for Maya, who completely cut me out of her life the second I left her wedding. She had even gone so far as to block my number.
I won’t lie and say it didn’t sting.
But she made her choice, and it was about time I started making my own, too.
So, my focus was on creating the life I wanted. A life where I got to selfishly and without guilt put myself first.
A bizarre yet exciting thought.
And with Elliott’s stay coming to an end at Spring Hope today, I couldn’t wait to build that life with him by my side.
In four more hours, I would get to pick him up and do exactly that.
“The rumors are true, I see.”
Nearly breaking my spine, I whipped around and found Ursula standing in the doorway.
“I must say, it takes some smelost to quit your own business,” she drawled. “Then again, it never really was your business, was it?”
As much of a nightmare Ursula had been, her daughter’s party was a complete success.
Thankfully, Frederic’s connection to the Monarch Club, along with the pull he had there, made my job ten times easier.
Whatever I needed, Frederic made it happen without question.
“Well, I can’t deny it’s a shame,” she continued. “You are, after all, one of the best in the city at this line of work. I’m not quite sure who I will entrust to do what you do.”
A compliment from her was like being handed a rare jewel.
Ursula walked into the office and placed her Prada bag on the bare desk. “There is one small problem I need you to sort before you leave.”
“You realize I am no longer employed here as of one hour ago.”
Waving me off, she rummaged in her bag. “It occurred to me last night that the balance for my little dove’s party still needs to be paid.”
“Like I said, I no longer work here. If you want to sort out payment, Kelley is still employed for another two days.”
My faithful and loyal assistant handed in her notice the second I told her I was leaving.
No matter how much I protested to try and make her stay, and I mean I freaking tried—for crying out loud, the woman was a single mom—she refused to work under my mother without me.
Thankfully, I helped her find another job.
Truthfully, Elliott helped me help her. During one of our phone calls, with our contact being limited to a daily call while he was away, I mentioned Kelley’s refusal to listen to me.
He, in turn, contacted his sister-in-law, Evelyn, who eagerly took Kelley on as a personal assistant at her publishing company, Ivy and Quill.
Seriously, I had no idea what I’d do without Elliott.
Always swooping in like my own personal Superman—mouthwatering Clark Kent glasses and all!—and saving the day.
Ursula pulled out her checkbook and a pen, scribbled her signature, and then handed me the check. “Here.”
Before I got a chance to protest, I glanced at the paper in my hands.
The check wasn’t made out to the business. It was made out to me.
My brows came together sharply. “You’ve made a mistake.”
“Darling, I never make mistakes.” She capped her pen. “You worked for every cent of that check, Livi.”
“Look, thank you, but if my mother discovers that you’ve done this—”
Ursula scoffed. “Sophia does not frighten me. If she has something to say about it, she knows exactly where she can find me. And trust me, I have little qualms telling her why I gave you the money and not her.”
I swallowed thickly, unable to look away from the check.
This kind of money meant I’d be able to travel the world. Or never work a day in my life again. Or start a brand-new career, doing something else I was passionate about.
“I understand what it’s like to live stuck beneath a parental thumb.
I’ve spent my whole life that way, and although it’s worked out well for me, I do sometimes wonder how different my life would have been if I said no to my father.
” Ursula’s voice softened. “Take the money. Do whatever you want with it, but use it to stand on your own.”
“I don’t know what to say.”
“Nothing, just take it and live the life you want for yourself, not for anyone else.”
Without thinking, I hugged her.
A whisper of a laugh escaped from her as she awkwardly patted me on the back. “Normally, I expect people to buy me dinner first before I let them touch me.”
“Apologies,” I hugged her tighter, “but seeing as this feels like a once-in-a-lifetime thing, I’d be stupid not to milk it for all it’s worth.”
“Daddy always warned me generosity would come back to haunt me.”
I broke away from her and laughed.
“Now go.” Ursula motioned to the door. “Get away from this place and start living.”
“Thank you. Seriously, thank you so much.”
She smoothed the front of her designer dress. “Don’t thank me yet. Independence is expensive and it comes with no refunds, but I’m sure it’s worth every penny.”
Pocketing the check, I grabbed the last box and did exactly what she said; I left and didn’t dare look back.
Driving back to my apartment, butterflies stirred lazily in my stomach.
Only a couple more hours until Elliott would come home. Christ, I missed him. I missed him more than words could express.
One month felt like an eternity, and although we talked on the phone every day, I couldn’t wait to see him again.
To touch him. Smell his aftershave. Kiss him. Hold him and never let him go.
Parking my car, I left the boxes in the backseat and headed straight inside. The boxes could wait. First, I needed caffeine and to stash the check somewhere safe before taking it to the bank.
However, as I stepped into my apartment, my whole world came to a standstill.
There, standing in my living room, with a smile that stole the very breath from my lungs, was Elliott.
“Hi, Peaches.”
Tears stung my eyes.
My Elliott. Mi amor was here. He was home.
“What are you doing here?” My bottom lip trembled as I smiled. “I was going to pick you up in a few hours.”
“I couldn’t wait until tonight. Hell, I couldn’t wait one more second.” His voice turned raw. “It’s been a month, and goddamn it felt like a lifetime being away from you that long.”
I moved, closing the distance between us. His aftershave hit me first. Freaking hell, I missed that smell so much it actually hurt.
“How are you?” I asked quietly. “Are you okay? How was the facility?”
He swallowed hard. “Better. I mean, I feel different now. Lighter. Focused. Like I’ve been stumbling around in the dark for so long, but someone has finally turned on the light.”
A tear sprang free.
He deserved the whole damn world and more.
“And I know I’ve got work to do every day, something I want to do. But being here with you? I know I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be.”
Another tear sprang loose, those little cabrones unable to stop themselves.
Unable to hold back any longer, I threw my arms around him. “I missed you so much.”
“I missed you, too, Peaches.”
Something hard pressed into my stomach.
Jolting back, my brows bounced. “Wow, there, calm down, boy, it’s only been one month.”
A looooong month that not even Dean Winchester could take the edge off.
He chuckled. “It’s not what you think.” Pulling a binder out from under his jacket, pink tinged his cheeks and spread to the tips of his ears as he handed it to me.
It was exactly the kind of binder I used for our original fake dating plan.
This binder’s cover was plain, but the neat handwriting spilling across the first page made my heart stutter.
“What’s this?”
“Plans for all the places we can travel to.” A nervous smile toyed on his lips. “Back in Montana, you said you wanted to see the world.”
Warmth spread through me. Thumbing through the binder, maps, lists, little notes tucked between pages, countries, cities, tourist and off-the-beaten-track sights, even cafés he thought we’d like.
He’d thought of everything.
For crying out loud, my tears didn’t stand a fighting chance.
“During my month at the facility, there were a lot of reflection times. It’s during those moments that I was able to think about what I wanted to do with my life. With our life.”
Running the pads of my fingers over a map, I slowly looked up at him as he wiped a tear from my cheek.
“I want to give you the life you deserve,” he said gently. “Not only because I love you, but because I finally see what we can have together. Adventures, freedom, laughter. A life where we get to chase our dreams side by side.”
“I can’t believe you planned all that.” I set the binder behind me on the coffee table. “You’re meant to be the disorganized one out of us, remember?”
“What can I say, I’m full of surprises.”
Throwing my arms back around him, I kissed him and savored every part of having him back home once again. “That you are, mi amor.”
He wasn’t wrong.
Elliott was indeed full of surprises, with the biggest surprise being that he came into my life and swept me off my feet.
I swore off love, happy—fine, not happy, but somewhat okay to spend my life alone.
Then, without warning, Elliott stumbled into my life when I least expected.
Little did I know the man who promised to be my fake boyfriend would be the same man to make me believe in love again.