Page 49 of Horn of Plenty
Mabel stared at the date.
“Chelsea Blaine wants to meet with me in New York in three days,” she whispered to Duke, unable to stop the excitement bubbling in her chest.
Maybe she could have it all?
Was it possible that there were those in the fashion world who still wanted to partner with Bella Mae even after she’d been exposed as a fraud?
She hadn’t been able to bring herself to look at any of the Bella Mae social media accounts or check the email associated with her former identity.
What she did was wrong, but it wasn’t a crime. She’d created a fictional person that fit a brand. Everything that had to do with fashion and design was the God’s honest truth. And didn’t she owe it to herself to at least consider Chelsea’s proposal? There was no harm in flying up for a meeting.
But at the thought of Cal’s reaction, her belly tightened into a knot. Still, there was a possibility he would understand. He understood her love of fashion—or did he?
Uncertainty clouded her mind when a scraping sound pulled her attention from her spiraling thoughts. She glanced up to see Duke scratching on the door to the cottage.
She didn’t have to decide anything now. She had a little time to figure out what she wanted to say to Cal. Shifting the stack of letters, she opened the door for the dog, then gasped. “You’re here?” she breathed, dropping Chelsea’s note along with the stack of mail at the sight of Cal sitting at his desk, typing away on the laptop.
He glanced over his shoulder. “Where were you expecting me to be?”
“I thought you were in the field fixing the fence,” she replied, her pulse kicking up as she stared down at the letter.
“I had to come back and get this done quickly. I forgot that I needed to place an order for amaranth seeds for the east field to get them by next week. Did something happen? You look a little shaken,” Cal said, bending over to collect the letters.
So much for having a little time to figure out a way to broach the Chelsea proposal gently.
Her body flushed with heat as he picked up the sheet of paper, then frowned.
“There’s an opportunity for me in New York City,” she blurted as he scanned the page.
“I can see that,” he replied, his voice void of emotion as he returned the letter to her. “You’re going to tell that Chelsea woman no, aren’t you?”
Her heart sank. Nervously, she glanced around, trying to find the right words, when Mabel the Cat padded into the room and hopped up onto the desk as the other cats paraded in after her. Could the animals sense that tensions were high? She stared at the cats, not sure what to say to Cal to make him understand.
“Mabel,” he said, sounding more like an old schoolmarm than the man who’d professed his love for her. “You know that you can’t go.”
Can’t go?
Anger coursed through her body. She loved him, but she wasn’t about to let him tell her what she could and couldn’t do.
“It’s just a meeting, Cal,” she replied, doing her best to keep her tone even despite wanting to hit him over the head with her stiletto.
He crossed his arms, going into stone-faced farmer mode. “From what I read, it sounds like more than a meeting.”
The disapproving lilt to his voice made her want to scream. But she didn’t. She could reason with him.
She lifted her chin to let him know that she wasn’t about to back down. “Why couldn’t I do both? I’ve got a system in place for the Eat Elverna marketing plan. We’re not inventing the wheel anymore. I could handle everything from anywhere on the globe.”
Cal’s gaze hardened. “We need you here in Elverna. I need you here in Elverna.”
She took a step toward him. “I understand that. I do. But this is something I’ve always wanted, and we don’t even know what it is. I can’t see the harm in listening to what Chelsea has to say,” she reasoned.
He raked his hands through his hair. “I knew it,” he muttered under his breath.
“Knew what?” she shot back, her patience wearing thin.
Yes, the man was wary of cities, but he wasn’t in charge of her.
No one decided her path.
