Chapter 48
PETAL
“You want me to what?” I ask.
Someone wants to interview me? Sure, the press were camping out at my home and workplace until just the other day. They must have wanted something, like some dirt or gossip or some such.
Are they still digging?
Rake holds his hands up. “I know, I know. I’ll let BJ know it’s a stupid idea.”
“Wait. Hold on. Will it help you or something? Is that the thinking?”
He shrugs. “I don’t know. I guess it’s another way to ‘control the message’ as the PR assholes like to say. It’s a stupid idea. I’m sorry I brought it up.”
I plop down on the living room sofa, tired after a long day at the bookstore and then driving through rush hour traffic to get back to the city.
I wanted to see Rake, so of course, it was worth it.
“No. Don’t say that. I’ll give it a shot. Not sure what I’ll say, but I don’t mind. I’ll just answer their questions honestly. There’s nothing to hide anymore.”
He looks shocked. I kind of am, myself. What’s come over me, talking to the press voluntarily?
“Really?” he asks. “If you’re sure, we can call the reporter right now on video chat, just to make an introduction. Get that out of the way.”
We sit together at the dining table in front of my laptop and Rake initiates the call.
“Hi there,” a cheery blonde says. “I’m Charlotte from Good Morning San Francisco.”
Never heard of it before now. I wonder if I can work in a mention about the bookstore. Maybe Mom’s Cable Car Museum, too.
“I am so happy you guys agreed to talk to me. And aren’t you just the cutest couple?” she gushes.
Okay, that’s corny, but Rake and I smile at each other anyway.
“Rake and Petal, I don’t want to take much of your time, it is the dinner hour, after all,” she says. “I wanted to do a little meet and greet in preparation for the show.”
We nod, which I hope is part of the meeting and greeting.
“So Petal, I’ll be throwing you a few softball questions, like about how you two met and got married and all that. It will be super relaxed. No big deal.”
She babbles on about a few other details
“Sounds good, Charlotte,” I say.
“Yup. It’s that simple,” she chirps. “I’ll send you the studio address.”
“Great. Thanks.”
That was easy enough. But just as I’m about to close the laptop, Charlotte stops us.
“Oh wait. One more thing,” she calls.
“Sure,” I say, confident I’ve got this under control.
“Petal, you have in your past a relationship with someone named Andy Stackhouse, don’t you?” she asks, flipping through some pages on her desk.
Her gaze returns to me with a friendly smile.
I don’t smile back.
Where is she going with this?
I swear, if this woman fucks with me—
“What about it?” Rake asks politely when I grab his thigh with a death grip.
“Thanks, Rake. My question is directed at Petal, though. Apparently, Mr. Stackhouse has said you left him for Rake. Can you clarify whether that’s true or not.”
Okay. I get it now. That’s how this is going to be.
“I can assure you, Charlotte, that Andy’s and my engagement ended long before I ever even met Rake.”
She looks puzzled and flips through her papers again. “But according to Andy, you knew Rake before you cancelled your wedding.”
Oh my God. I’m going to kill him. That’s all there is to it.
“Charlotte, did he also tell you I left him at the altar because just before I was to walk down the aisle, I found out he was fucking some other woman.”
Her eyes bulge at my F bomb, but really, what does she expect?
I decide to go with it. “It’s true. Can you believe that? It was one of his friends from college, Jessica, who he always claimed was a stuck-up pain in the ass. Crazy, huh?”
Rake nudges me, but it’s too late. I’m on a roll now and I’m going to make her listen to me.
“So Charlotte, you know how it is when a guy screws you, right? I nursed my wounds for a couple months, and then attended one of my mother’s charity fundraisers.
She’s heading up a capital campaign for the Cable Car Museum.
Have you been there? Great little place.
Anyway, I was swatting at a fly with my auction paddle, and somehow won this guy right here.
What luck, huh? And on our first date, we went to Vegas with a bunch of his friends for some dinner and gambling, and they dared us to get married. ”
Charlotte’s looking at me like I am crazy.
I may be.
Push a woman far enough, and this is what you get.
“And look at me now, married to this awesome hunk of a pro athlete.” I grab his head and kiss him on the temple. “What more could a girl ask for, am I right?”
I stop to catch my breath and realize it might be a good time to shut the hell up.
Everyone else is silent too.
“So Charlotte, we’ll chat later at the formal interview. Looking forward to it!”
Nodding, she rubs her hand across her forehead. “Um, yes. Great.”
I close the laptop.
“That went well.”