Page 108 of The Love Lie
Sitting on a toilet at the office of the job she hates, bawling her eyes out over the guy she stupidly let get away, in a four-hundred-dollar suit she doesn’t even like but had to buy in order to keep up appearances while she saves every cent she possibly can in case an illness that all medical knowledge says is unlikely to return somehow does, and—worst of all—fooling herself into believing she’s being strong.
But what’s the alternative—quitting? Telling Emily the truth? Accepting the job as her official CFO? Running off to Nebraska to live happily ever after on a ranch with the sexiest man she’s ever seen?
Sam can envision it so clearly, like pictures from a future she’s already lived. Late nights on the phone with Em. Flights to Los Angeles. Presentations with investors, tours of factories, interviews with new employees. Cooper picking her up in that fucking chopper just to see her stew every time she gets home. Mornings curled up on the deck to watch the sunrise. Evenings snuggled up by the fire. Afternoons spent poring over spreadsheets while she sits at the desk he set up in front of the window so she’ll see that lone silhouette of a cowboy onhorseback long before he officially makes it home. He’ll say it’s because he likes the thought of her watching him, but really it’s because he likes the sight of her greeting him at the door with nothing on but that old shirt of his she still uses to keep warm.
In her daydreams, there’s no possibility they’ll break up, no chance the company won’t make it, no future that would leave her destitute and desolate beyond repair.
But that doesn’t mean it’s not there.
How do people do it—make that leap of faith, face those fears, overcome them?
She would give anything to understand.
Buzz.
The vibration against her hip pulls her back to reality. Sam sucks in a ragged breath and wipes the wetness from her cheeks. The name on the caller ID is the last one she expects to see.
Your better half.
Em.
Sam silences the call. She’s been avoiding her sister for weeks, and mid-cry in a bathroom stall over the fake engagement that might destroy Emily’s life isn’t really the ideal time to change course.
A text comes through.
I know you’re at work. Sorry!! But I’m having a panic attack. I need you.
The phone rings again.
Sam slides her finger across the screen.
“What?” she asks, her heart in her throat. There’s absolutely nothing in Emily’s text to imply it’s something serious or health related, but that doesn’t matter. It’s where her mind goes with her sister. Every time. Even after six years of good news. She doesn’t know how to stop. “What’s wrong?”
“I need to go to LA,” Emily says in a rush.
“When?” Sam asks, trying to catch up. “Why?”
“Logically, I knew this was coming. The season always ends with a live finale, but I don’t know, I’ve been blocking it out or something. I completely forgot. But Nina just called with my flight info. It’s real. It’s happening. I’m going to sit on that stage and talk to the thirty men I broke up with in front of the whole freaking world, and I need to somehow not let it slip that I got with their producer instead. How am I going to do this, Sam? How am I going to face them?”
That’s what this is about?Sam exhales as the tension in her body lets out. “Em, half those guys were assholes and the other half were there for Instagram followers. None of them are going to give a shit that you’re with Jake. And none of them have to know, either. Just be the sweet Southern belle I know and love, and you’ll be fine.”
“I’m a terrible liar, Sam. You know I am. I’m going to let something slip—”
“You won’t.”
“I will. On live TV. I’m going to let something slip and it’s going to ruin everything.”
“It won’t.”
“You need to help me.”
Her heart shudders to a stop as she slaps her palm against the stall for support. “Em.”
“You break up with guys all the time. You know how to deal with exes. I clearly don’t since the one and only time I’ve had to face an ex, I jumped almost immediately back into bed with him.”
“Em.”
“Oh god. Do you think they’ll be mad? Are they going to be mad?”
