Chapter 31
Chapter Thirty-One
Magnolia
I’d known we were cutting it close for time with Presley’s wedding in general.
It wasn’t a small-budget affair, and to have only two and a half months to pull it off was a big task.
One I was absolutely up for, but right at this moment?
After the frustrating meeting I’d had with my mother?
My mood wasn’t great, and my energy level was in the cellar.
Both Luke and I were sleep-deprived, short-tempered, and stressed to the hilt as we worked on our separate projects in his chilly barn.
His most pressing concern was the barn’s new heating system, which was currently not working right. We’d need to pass out parkas at the wedding if he couldn’t fix the problem.
My project at the moment, one of a long list, was assembling the remaining centerpieces. Cambria had been swamped with candle orders, including ours, and had finished the last batch for the wedding late last night. I was nearly done when my phone rang in my pocket.
“Hello, this is Magnolia,” I answered, not recognizing the number.
“Hello, Magnolia. This is Allegra, Ella McCabe’s assistant.”
“Yes,” I said, standing up straight to stretch my aching back as I wondered why the heck Ella’s assistant was calling. “I remember. What can I do for you?”
“Ella would like to reschedule that appointment if that’s possible. She wanted me to apologize on her behalf—”
“She’s fine,” I said, my curiosity growing.
Luke came out of the barn kitchen, his attention on me as he pulled a chair out from a table and sat down tiredly. He was due to go help with tree sales, I knew, but he looked about to fall over.
He raised his brows at me as if asking what the call was. I shrugged as Allegra continued.
“She said to tell you she received incorrect info and that she’s so glad your boyfriend went out of his way to set her straight.”
“Wait,” I said. “What?” I frowned at Luke.
“She had no idea the person who warned her father about you was your estranged father or that he was trying to hurt you.”
My stomach sank at the mention of my embarrassing family drama. “He’s…not actually my father,” I said stubbornly.
“Felix James is—was with a company that Ella’s father has done business with for years. Her father didn’t realize Felix was no longer employed. Her friend Everly filled her in on the truth.”
“Everly?” She had to mean Everly Ash, but I didn’t know her well.
“Apparently your boyfriend tracked Everly Ash down at a party and asked if she knew Ella. He remembered they’d done a duet and was hoping Ella and Everly were friends. Everly told her everything about the spurned Felix and his vendetta against you.”
“There’s some history between us, yes,” I said, striving to stay professional.
Why the hell did Luke interfere? Did he think I couldn’t do this on my own?
As I paced out of the room, into the preparation room, I did my best to maintain my end of the conversation as we set a time and date to meet right after Christmas.
When I ended the call, my gut was roiling.
I didn’t even want to meet with Ella. I would, because it was potential business, and as the new planner on the block, I needed every last event I could book, but I wasn’t sure I’d ever feel comfortable sitting across the table from her, wondering if she’d hired me out of sympathy or pity.
Between my mother and now Luke, I felt as if nothing was under my control.
As if someone had swooped in and taken away my autonomy and made decisions about my life without my input.
Just like when Felix had decided I would marry his stupid, philandering underling, Rick.
Or in high school when Felix had pulled strings to make sure I made the cheerleading squad even before tryouts because it would look better for him if his daughter was a cheerleader.
“Hey,” Luke said from the doorway behind me.
I didn’t turn around.
“Magnolia? What’s wrong?” he asked.
“That was Ella McCabe’s assistant,” I said, my voice low and monotone. “She wants to meet with me.”
“Yeah?” His tone was cheery, animated. “Mags, that’s great.”
I pressed my lips together and pivoted to face him. “Luke, it’s not great.”
His smile faded. “What? Why?”
“You went behind my back, made a decision about my business without my permission.”
He ran his fingers through his hair. Maybe I’d have handled this better if I hadn’t just had a similar argument with my mother. Unfortunately we weren’t going to find that out today, because I wanted to scream.
“It’s my business,” I emphasized. “Nobody else’s. My successes and my failures. I don’t need a man thundering in and saving the damn day for me, Luke.” My voice had climbed in volume and pitch.
“I wasn’t thundering in or saving the day,” he said tiredly. “I just wanted to help.”
“You have to understand that sometimes people don’t want help. Sometimes they want to prove themselves. Need to prove themselves.”
“Magnolia, you don’t need to prove anything. You’re doing fantastic with your business.”
“Then why not stay out of it?” I asked.
I was wound up. Exhausted, stressed, and a touch hysterical with the emotions storming through me. Maybe I was being a raging stubborn idiot, but I didn’t care. I was sick to death of people who thought I wasn’t capable of running my own life.
“Ella McCabe is huge,” Luke said. “If she signs with you, it’s all you. I just wanted you to have the chance. You said yourself planning her wedding would be a foot in the door with the country-music scene.”
“It might be, but how can I feel good about it if she signs with me and if it leads to more business? Don’t you see? It’ll always be thanks to you.”
That truth made me feel like vomiting. In that moment, I couldn’t see how it would ever feel like my success—if I did someday find success. There would always be a kernel of doubt.
My entire business felt tainted. I’d started it by myself because I needed something that was all mine. It was supposed to be my fresh start after escaping Felix’s control.
Luke was only a couple of feet away from me now, but I was too upset. I needed to get out of here before I said something I couldn’t take back.
“I need to go,” I said abruptly. Without waiting for him to respond, I marched out of the prep room, grabbed my bag, left the centerpieces right where they were, and headed to the door.
“Magnolia,” Luke called out just before I reached it. “Come back here. Can’t we talk about this like adults?”
My answer was a big, fat hell no, but I didn’t bother to say it. I smacked the barn door open, stormed to my car, and managed to get off Luke’s property before my eyes filled with tears.
Luke
I stood there staring at the door Magnolia had exited through, trying to wrap my head around what had just happened.
“What the fuck?” I asked nobody.
She was pissed that I did something nice for her?
Something that had worked out to her benefit?
She’d gotten a meeting with a famous country star. If she landed Ella’s wedding, it would be because of what Magnolia said and the impression she gave during the meeting, not because I’d put a bug into Everly Ash’s ear.
All I’d done was try to help her with one little action. It’d been a serendipitous moment, not premeditated, just a random long shot for me to ask Everly if she knew Ella.
Now I was the bad guy?
Fuck that.
I was dead-fucking tired, battling the fear that this barn venture was a huge waste of time and money, and I had another six or seven hours of work ahead of me yet tonight.
I couldn’t let my outrage derail me, not with two days left to finish tree season strong, to get the barn heated, to make sure every detail was ready for West and Presley’s wedding, and to somehow find the will to celebrate the holiday with my family.
I wasn’t feeling any damn holly-jolliness at the moment. Tomorrow wasn’t looking good either.
On the bright side, I would not be visiting Magnolia tonight, so maybe I’d be able to catch up on sleep.