“Why did you do it? There is no guarantee that this company will make any profit.”

“I don’t fucking care about the money, Sophie. I wanted to help you…just a second.” Sophie heard him speak to a woman in muffled voices before coming back on the line. “I have to go, Sophie.”

She couldn’t help the jealousy that twisted in her stomach even though she had no idea who was with him. She wanted to be there beside him. “I miss you,” she whispered.

“Don’t say things you don’t mean. Goodbye, Sophie.” Tears slipped down her cheek as she listened to him hang up. She had no idea where in the world he was right now, she only knew that wherever it was, her heart was with him. She let her phone slip from her fingers and fall into her lap as the tears flowed freely. Why did I say that? Either get in or get out.

“Did you see the arms on the guy out there? What’s wrong, Sophie?” Mel sat in her chair and wheeled herself closer to Sophie.

“It was Ashton who gave us the money.” Sophie wiped her tears from her face.

“Then he’s smarter than I gave him credit for.” Mel tried to brighten Sophie’s mood. “How can he go wrong investing in two hot girls selling their cookies?”

Sophie couldn’t help but laugh through her tears.

“I miss him so much, Mel, it hurts.” Sophie welcomed Mel’s embrace when she offered it. “Why couldn’t he love me enough to walk away from her?”

“So much for not falling in love.” Mel patted Sophie’s shoulder.

Sophie took a deep shaky breath. “Ashton moving away was a sign that this was never going to work anyway. How can he really love me when he admitted to still having feelings for Lucinda?”

Mel looked at her with an unsure expression on her face. “I have no fucking idea. I don’t think things line up the way they are supposed to unless you make them. You think about things way too much—it even makes me confused. I just know that you can’t just keep staring at that painting of him hoping that he’ll crawl out of it.”

“I know,” Sophie sighed. “What time is it? I have to head into the restaurant for my last shift.” Sophie stood up and took a deep breath and dried her face.

“Okay. We’ll talk about this later…you’re not gonna do anything stupid like tell him we don’t want his money right?” Mel asked nervously.

“It’s a little late for that.”

“Good,” Mel said relieved as she leaned back in her chair. “Though, maybe you should ask him to explain what is going on with Lucinda. It might make this whole situation clearer.”

Chapter

Twenty-Eight

When Sophie walked into the restaurant for her last shift she felt a mixture of sorrow and anticipation. She had an attachment to this place after spending so much time within these walls. She had gotten the job when she moved here two years ago. Even though people had come and gone, there were still some she worked with who had been constant in her life during that time. Even with the recent drama with Megan, she would miss this place. There was also the excitement to be entering a new chapter in her life. She knew that this job was only supposed to be temporary. It was never a long-term plan and now life was leading her down another path.

Megan had avoided Sophie since her outburst and Sophie was grateful for it. She wanted to get her job done without having to watch her back. Sophie managed her tables and things moved rather uneventfully through the evening until Sophie approached her last table of the night. Lucinda was sitting in a booth by herself, waiting for her.

Sophie felt her stomach drop as she looked at Lucinda staring back at her. Sophie turned on her heel to find one of the other waitresses to serve her, when Lucinda called after her.

“It’s not what you think. I just want to talk to you…promise.” Lucinda didn’t have the usual menacing energy that she usually exuded. She looked smaller than Sophie remembered her with her shoulders rounded and her small frame tucked behind the table. The only thing Sophie could read was the sadness that had settled around her. Her strawberry blonde hair was cut shorter than Sophie remembered, falling just below her shoulders. “I don’t want to start anything.”

“I hope you realize it’s a little hard for me to believe that with our history.” Sophie looked around the quieting restaurant. Sighing in defeat, she slid into the booth next to her. “Talk then,” Sophie said with reservation.

“Okay, where do I start? This is not easy for me but I owe Ashton.” Lucinda fidgeted with her hands like she was nervous. The gesture surprised Sophie. “My whole life I was never really good at anything but I had my looks and that seemed to get me what I wanted. It’s all anyone seemed to care about. Everyone looked up to me and I won’t lie, I loved the attention. I loved the power that I had over people but it didn’t matter how much makeup I wore or what outfit, I always knew Ashton saw through it all. I wasn’t a good person but he stayed with me anyway. He always took care of me…especially when my father died. My father was the only person besides Ashton that saw something more in me than what was on the outside. When he died I was devastated.”

Sophie stayed silent as Lucinda spoke. She wasn’t even sure where this conversation was going but she found this side of Lucinda endearing. It made her seem real. “I had only just started going back to school after his death when you showed up and something changed in Ashton. There was a fire in his eyes when he looked at you I had never seen before, no matter how much I tried to win his affection. You were this perfect person that I worked so hard to convince people I was. I hated you so much…” Lucinda said the words but they lacked true conviction, as if the feeling was lost to them now.

“He always tried to convince me that he didn’t have feelings for you but I knew he was trying to protect you. That is what he has always done. He protects those he cares about. I was a horrible person and I wanted to destroy everything about you because you were everything I was not. He fell for you in one instant. I saw it when you walked into the classroom. I knew he wouldn’t break up with me because he knew I needed him. I was struggling with my father’s death and I took advantage of his loyalty when I should have let him go. It was me who made up all the rumors and then told everyone it came from Ashton. You believed every word and I loved it. The only reason he was mean to you was because it was the only time you ever acknowledged him. You would fire up. Any other time you would keep your head down and ignore him. To be honest, I was scared you would take Ashton from me and he was all I had.”

“I didn’t mean to make you feel that way, Lucinda. I just wanted to be left alone,” Sophie interjected softly.

“I know. I was a bitch. Fuck it, I’m still the biggest bitch ever but I know I needed to do this. Ashton doesn’t deserve this and…neither do you.” Lucinda looked a little pained at her confession.

“The day you saw me and Ashton together at the coffee house, we had come from the clinic. I recently found out I’m pregnant. The guy I was with took off when he found out. My mother doesn’t want anything to do with a daughter who is pregnant out of wedlock because it doesn’t fit into her life plan. I am no longer her perfect little girl. I have no one…except Ashton. He said he would help me out. He drove me to the clinic but I couldn’t go through with it. He promised to keep my secret until I can wrap my head around what I’m going to do. He doesn’t love me, Sophie, he never did. Not in the way I wanted, at least. I have always felt like a little sister to him that he wanted to protect because he saw the sad, damaged girl on the inside. I knew you were in the coffee shop, that’s why I kissed him. The part you missed was when he told me that his heart belongs to you.” Lucinda took a deep breath. “He’s miserable right now because of me.”