Page 25 of Save the Last Dance
“I’ll be fine. Thanks.” The last thing she needed was her mother showing up here. Her mother who was too perfect to ever say she was stressed. Who took so much pride in her ability to do it all that she expected everyone else to be able to do the same.
“Can I come in, honey?” Trish asked. “You sound awfully sad.”
The worry in Trish’s voice became more obvious. For that matter, Ally was pretty sure she heard other voices in the background, too. Were they all talking about her? About how she was a total loser hiding out in the bathroomwhile the one person she cared about slipped away for good?
She dug her nails into her forearms. Except this time, they were sticky. Like she’d stuck her arms in a vat of thick hair chemicals. What the hell?
Looking down, she saw bright red covered both arms.
Blood.
She was bleeding—hard—from the scratches she’d already made on her arms. Scratches she’d never be able to hide under her friendship bracelets. There were even a few drops on the floor.
Nausea gripped her stomach. This was bad. Really, really bad. She’d lost more than Ethan. She’d lost control.
“Ally, I’m going to unlock the door, okay?” Trish’s voice came again.
It was only a matter of time before her coworkers in the salon found out what a colossal loser she was. Soon, her mother would know, too. But right now, the sadness leaking out of her in blood and tears, Ally felt more relief than shame. At least now she wouldn’t have to worry about being good.
The Finley namecast a big shadow in this town. Literally.
Nina arrived at Finley Building Supply shortly before noon with a basket of cupcakes and parked under the cooling shelter of the sign overhead bearing the family name. Tough not to think about Mack when she saw reminders of him everywhere. His father had opened this store as a young man and grew the business himself along with a construction company, handing it over to his oldestson when Scott and Bethany married. The structure had been expanded multiple times until the original storefront was now just office space for the big, warehouse-like building that welcomed shoppers today.
Locking the truck, Nina hefted the basket of treats and headed toward the main entrance. She surreptitiously glanced around the parking lot, but didn’t see Mack’s car. Her dreams the night before had been full of him, memories of their kiss sparking a longing that had lingered for hours after she awoke. She couldn’t afford another run-in with him until she’d had the chance to think through what had happened between them.
Inside the building, the scent of pine and sawdust put a sharp tang in the air. Sale signs for windows and doors hung low over bins of hardware. At the end of one row, Nina spotted a small forklift backing up, driven by a young man in a hard hat while Bethany directed him.
Hurrying toward them, Nina waved when Bethany looked her way. Bethany spoke into a walkie-talkie and then headed for Nina. Her jeans and white T-shirt, emblazoned with the store logo, hung loosely from her thin frame, as if she’d lost weight recently and hadn’t bothered to shop for her smaller size.
“How thoughtful of you.” Bethany’s eyes went to the basket. “A lot of workers will be thrilled to eat these.” She waved over a young woman who looked like she was taking inventory on a tablet. “Grace, will you put these on the counter in back where the guys will see them between deliveries today?”
Like the last time they’d spoken, Bethany was polite but didn’t seem remotely tempted by the scents wafting from the basket of cupcakes. Not that everyone had to love the bakery treat of Nina’s choice. But truly? Most people did.Nina got the impression not much would put a smile on Bethany’s face these days. Grace, in the meantime, grinned ear to ear as she took the basket.
“I came close to the lunch hour in case I could entice you out of the store for a bit.” Nina tugged her purse strap higher on her shoulder, her red sheathe dress all wrong for a casual day around town. She hadn’t quite calibrated her wardrobe back to small town Tennessee from the Upper West Side.
Which was one of the reasons she wanted to reconnect with Bethany. She could use a friend now as she faced monumental life decisions everywhere she turned. With Gram. With her business. With her living situation.
Funny how, even with all of that to weigh, she found herself thinking about Mack more than anything else lately.
“Really?” Frowning, Bethany checked her watch. “Wow, it’s almost noon. Actually, I have some deliveries coming soon. Would you mind if we sat out back for a few minutes instead? There’s a picnic table, and it’s so nice outside.”
A few minutes? And no food?
“Is it too late to call Grace back with the cupcakes?” As soon as she said it she realized it was rude to give a gift and then ask to eat it. “Kidding,” she covered lamely. “I’d love to sit outside.”
Ten minutes later, they had cups of water from the water cooler and cupcakes that Bethany requested on her walkie even though Nina had tried to fake like she didn’t need one.
Nina devoured a huge bite of hazelnut yumminess while Bethany carefully nibbled the edges of her cupcake where there was no frosting.
“You seem to have a huge amount of responsibilityhere,” Nina observed between bites, wishing she could have taken Cupcake Romance to the level of success that the store was obviously experiencing. “I can’t believe the size of the new building.”
“We’ve more than doubled it.” Bethany set down her cupcake and glanced back toward the building. A delivery truck was just pulling into one of the loading bays. “I thought at the time working on the new building would bring Scott and I closer. I quit teaching so I could be here full-time.” She shrugged. “But I think, since I lobbied for the expansion, he figured I could handle the added workload. I went from occasional hours to full-time to manager in the course of a year.”
Nina tried to put the pieces together and couldn’t make them fit. “Doesn’t he work here anymore?”
She didn’t mean to pry, but Scott used to be a fixture at the store when Nina lived in town.
“Unofficially? Yes, he comes in and helps with deliveries now and again.” Bethany’s posture turned stiff and she crossed her arms. “But he hasn’t collected a paycheck in years. The owners of the company—Scott and his siblings—only make money if the business realizes a profit, so you can bet I’m motivated to see that we operate in the black. Since I left teaching, the store is our only source of income.”
