Page 86 of Not the Billionaire

“Yes.”

“Why didn’t you mention that earlier in this conversation?”

“I wanted to hear the story from your perspective. He told me his reasons and that you found out the truth before he could tell you. He said he was more sorry than he could ever say, and he hoped I would forgive him for the deception.”

Tears began to burn her eyes. She couldn’t believe he had come there.

“Did you at least talk to him before you left?” Mom asked.

Genevieve swallowed hard. “No.”

“I think you should.”

She walked to the edge of the porch, staring out at the bright orange sky. “Why should I?”

“Because he loves you. And you love him.”

“I do not love Sebastian.” With each roll of his name off her tongue, it was getting easier to associate Sebastian with the face of the man she’d come to know as Kurtis. She pictured his face then. His eyes staring into hers, the curve of his jawline, the feel of his lips against hers. Her stomach fluttered. Sebastian. It hurt to even think his name.

At first, she kept picturing Gus’s face, because he was the one she had thought was Sebastian. That was part of the reason this was so confusing. Realizing that the man in the office that day, the man at dinner and at the club, the man who showed up drunk at the beach house—Sebastian’s family’s beach house—was actually Augustus.

“Genevieve, you are the most forgiving person I know, and you have a huge heart. Bigger than the rest of us combined.”

Her mother didn’t usually compliment her, and her words were both surprising and touching.

“You should hear him out.”

“I don’t know, Mom.” Yes, apologizing to her mom was a decent thing to do, but it didn’t make up for the many lies he’d told.

“Maybe you won’t like what he has to say, but then you’ll know, and you can move on.”

She hated the thought of moving on, but she hated being lied to more.

Mom didn’t say anything more about that. She stood and walked up beside Genevieve, put her arm around her back, and drew her into her side. “I’m sorry if I ever made you feel that you weren’t enough without a man. I was just very happy with your father, and I want the same happiness for my girls.”

“I know, Mom. I know you want the best for us, but sometimes you go about it the wrong way.”

“I’ll try to be better.”

“Thank you.”

“I love you, Genny.”

“I love you too, Mom.” Genevieve turned into her mom and hugged her tight. She felt tears threatening again, but this time they weren’t because of Sebastian Schultz.

Genevieve snuggled up on her couch under a fuzzy pink blanket, flipping through the channels but not actually watching. She had planned a perfectly good day of lying around and feeling sorry for herself. The job search was not going well so far. After a couple of interviews that had amounted to nothing, she’d expanded her search outside of the Grand Rapids area. She loved living here, but the idea of relocating didn’t bother her as much when she thought about escaping the memories. So far, though, she hadn’t gotten any nibbles on her résumé.

As she was about to settle in and watch the local news at noon, her phone rang.

“Hi, can I speak to Genevieve Willis?” the voice on the line said.

“This is Genevieve.”

“Hi, this is Cal from Kalispell Horse Rescue. Do you remember me?”

She sat up quickly, dropping the television remote onto the floor. “Cal? Of course I remember you. It’s been a long time.”

“Sure has. You were just a teenager last time I saw you.”

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