Thirty-One and a Half Regrets (9 page)

Violet marched over and grabbed Mason’s arm, her fingers digging so deep she was bound to leave bruises. “Mason, can we talk for a moment?”

His gaze shifted to Thelma. “It looks like we have a few moments while we’re waiting.”

Violet dragged him into the back room and I followed them, numb with shock.

Violet jabbed him in the chest with her finger. “You have
no right
butting your nose into our business, Mason.
Our business
.”

Mason’s face softened. “And as Rose’s friend, I can’t in good conscience stand in the background without offering her legal counsel when I feel she needs it.” He shifted his weight. “Violet, you know good and well that this was instigated by J.R. Simmons. You don’t think that man will double-cross you both with a smile on his face? I want you to have this money as much as
you
want it, but I’d hate to see these people put you two through the Joe Simmons Puppet Show without anything to show for it. Trust me, Violet. I am looking out for your best interest here too, not just Rose’s. J.R. Simmons has used every trick in the book to get what he wants. I want to make sure both of you get what you were promised.”

His speech seemed to calm her down. She put her hands on her hips and looked at the floor, nodding. “Yeah, maybe you’re right.”

“Thank you.” He put his hands on her arms and squatted to meet her gaze. “I promise you, I would never do anything to hurt your business. I care about Rose and I see how happy it makes her. I want it to succeed, but as her friend—and yours—I can’t stand back and watch you be taken advantage of.”

She chewed on the inside of her lip for a moment. “Okay.”

He dropped his hold, becoming more official again. “And when that document shows up—and I’m certain it will—I want to look it over to make sure it’s legally binding.”

“How can you be so sure they’ll do it?” I asked.

Mason’s face hardened. “Because J.R. Simmons is desperate to put you and Joe together. Desperate enough to offer you several hundred thousand dollars to make it happen.”

“Oh.”

Violet was indignant again. “No, we’re getting that money because
I
applied for this grant.”

“And how long ago did you apply? A month?”

She scowled. “Three weeks.”

“And when was the last time you heard of the government working that quickly?”

Her scowl deepened.

Mason’s face softened as he searched Violet’s eyes. “Trust me.”

She took a deep breath then released it. “Okay.”

Several minutes later, one of Thelma’s associates appeared in the doorway of the back room. “Do you have a fax machine?”

Violet’s eyes widened. “Yeah.” And she rattled off the number.

The document arrived several minutes later and Thelma tapped her foot impatiently while Mason read it over. When he was done, he turned to Violet and me. “This says that you will both be present for the press conference and that the money will be deposited into your account by noon tomorrow. There are no other stipulations or requirements. It also asks you to agree to let them use whatever footage they get for promotion or any other way they see fit. While I admit the wording of the last part concerns me a bit, I think you’ll be fine.”

Violet already had a pen in her hand. “Where do we sign?”

When I signed it, I wasn’t surprised to see J.R. Simmons’s own signature next to ours. “How did they send it so quickly?” I whispered to Mason after I handed Thelma the document.

“Because I suspect he already had it prepared.”

“We need to hustle, people,” Thelma shouted, clapping her hands together. “We’re officially behind schedule.”

The small business group had brought two cameramen and while waiting for the document, they set up the lighting for the interview. They put a microphone on Violet and filmed her walking around the shop straightening the pots and gift items we sold. After a few takes of that, they had her stand by the register and asked her questions about opening the nursery. Another cameraman asked me to go outside so he could get some shots of me with the plants we had lining the sidewalk.

I was thankful the camera crew didn’t seem interested in talking to me, only filming me watering the flowers and talking to a pretend customer. Mason stood off to the side, watching in silence. While they followed me around for the next fifteen minutes, three news vans drove up and parked on the street. The crews emerged and they began setting up for the press conference. Someone had set up a rope barrier between the sidewalk and the parking lot. The crowd on the other side of the rope had swelled even more.

The cameraman turned to see where my attention had gone. “Ms. Gardner, we need you to pretend the people on the street aren’t there.”

Easier said than done. I knew Joe would arrive at any moment, and I felt like I was going to be sick. I took a deep breath. I had agreed to do this. It would all be over soon.

When they finished filming, Joe still hadn’t arrived even though it was well past one. I’d noticed Jonah in the crowd earlier and since the camera crew was done with me, I waved him over. He pushed his way through the gathered mass of people and I couldn’t help but think how different this was from the first time I met him at the grand opening of the nursery. That time, he’d arrived with an entourage and his own camera crew. I had to say I liked this new Reverend Jonah much better.

Someone called out, “Reverend Jonah!”

Jonah’s television smile switched on and he turned to wave. He may have changed, but his on-screen persona had endured the transformation. I had to admit he was a great showman.

When he reached me, I grabbed his arm and pulled him around the side of the building. “Did you have a chance to talk to Scooter?”

He leaned his head closer to mine and lowered his voice. “I did, but I didn’t get much information.”

I glanced at Mason, who stood at the edge of the parking lot, looking official. He seemed to be scanning the crowd for something. His gaze landed on mine and his mouth tipped into a sexy smile. My stomach fluttered and my skin heated despite the chilly wind. Flustered, I returned my attention to Jonah, trying to concentrate on the task at hand. “What did he say?”

“Scooter has been out at Weston’s Garage quite a bit over the last week. He says there was lots of activity and he knew something big was about to go down but claims not to know what. He saw Bruce Wayne there on Friday and over the weekend.”

My heart sunk. “It sounds like they were helping Daniel Crocker break out of jail, but I just can’t believe Bruce Wayne would be a part of that.”

“We don’t know for sure that he
was
. Maybe that’s why he disappeared. Because he refused to cooperate.” His voice lowered. “I really think it’s time for you to tell Mason.”

Movement in the parking lot drew my attention. As a dark sedan pulled into a parking spot, Thelma came outside with Violet and her cameraman in tow. I drew in a breath of anticipation as the rear car doors opened. When Joe got out, he was already waving to the crowd, wearing a smile I’d never once seen on his face the entire time we’d known each other. He shook several hands before he walked toward us. He was handsome in his dark gray suit with a red tie and several women in the crowd shouted his name and whistled. Joe ignored them as his gaze landed on me and Jonah, his face hardening.

My chest tightened and I tried to take a breath. Of all the reactions I’d expected from him the first time we saw each other again, this disdain was stunning.

Thelma intercepted him on the sidewalk and it took him several seconds to give her his attention.

I blinked to ease the tears burning my eyes. What had I done to earn that look from him?

I barely had time to recover when the next person to emerge from the car sent the blood rushing from my head—Hilary. She wore a cream colored dress with a green vine print as though she were playing along with the whole gardening theme. Her long auburn hair was pulled back from her face and hung in waves. If I didn’t know the real her, I would have believed she was the sweet, dutiful fiancée of an up-and-coming political star. She was pretty enough to be a Hollywood celebrity.

My gaze strayed to Mason, who was watching me with a worried expression. I had no doubt he’d seen Joe’s reaction. I flashed him a tight smile even as I fought to take a breath.

Hilary waved to the crowd, her smile lighting up her face as she made her way to Joe. She looped her arm through his, pulling him like she was staking her territory. Her left hand rested on his forearm and the massive diamond on her finger caught the sunlight, sparkling like one of Ashley’s glitter-encrusted art projects. I couldn’t help comparing her engagement ring to the one Joe had given me. The one that now sat in a box in my underwear drawer. The rings were so vastly different it was like they had been given by two different men. But then again, I wasn’t surprised.

This man who was working the crowd wasn’t the one I’d known. He smiled and shook hands, talking to strangers as though they were his close friends. I had no idea why he was wasting time on people who weren’t even his constituents, but maybe he was thinking long term. After all, I’d seen a vision in which Hilary was his wife and he was winning a U.S. Senate seat.

I searched the crowd that had now swelled to over a hundred people. There were more people here today than had shown up for our grand opening. A group of middle-aged women held up signs with pictures of Joe and Hilary with crowns drawn on their heads with black marker and the word “Jolary for President!” handwritten at the top. It took me three whole seconds to figure out
Jolary
was their version of
Brangelina
.

Several younger women near the front were wearing T-shirts with Joe’s photo emblazoned across their chests with the phrase, “I want to be your
First Lady
on the street and the
First Slut
in your bed.” I wondered if they had truly thought that slogan through. My mouth dropped open when I realized Samantha Jo Wheaten was one of the women. She’d waited on us several times at the Suds and Spuds diner without ever giving Joe a second glance. But now that he had TV cameras on him, they all wanted him.

Joe watched as Jonah rejoined the crowd after offering me a smile and a thumbs up. Then Joe turned back to me, his cold eyes searching my face for a moment before he faced the crowd.

The blood drained from my head. Who
was
this man?

I considered bolting, the stupid grant be damned. I’d deal with Violet later.But as I went to leave, Thelma grabbed my arm and ushered me in front of the nursery doors. I caught a glimpse of Mason, who was hanging close to the building but staying away from the cameras. He offered me an encouraging smile.

I smiled back, not because I was happy with the situation, but because I could always count on him to be there when I needed him. The surety of this surprised me. Truth was, he’d been my rock for a while now. From getting me out of jail to saving me from Jimmy DeWade to helping me choose my truck, he had always been waiting in the wings to lend a helping hand. Now he was standing on the periphery again, and I realized I didn’t want him there anymore. I wanted him beside me. As soon as this nightmare press conference was over, I was going to address that.

But at the moment, I had to stand in front of the crowd in a straight line with the other official participants of this press conference, smack in front of the nursery. Violet and I hung to the right, while Joe and Hilary were on the left, Thelma between us. Joe stood less than four feet from me, close enough for me to see the tremor in his hand as he reached into his jacket and removed a folded piece of paper.

Several women shouted Joe’s name again and I noticed a sign that read
Joe, will you marry ME?
Hilary grabbed Joe’s hand and laced her fingers with his, smiling coyly at the crowd. “Sorry, girls. He’s all mine.” And without warning, she grabbed his face and gave him a kiss on the lips. Joe resisted for a moment before relaxing into her embrace. When he broke loose, he flashed a hundred-watt smile in response to the catcalls.

Violet stiffened next to me, and I was surprised when her hand slipped into mine. All my anger at her faded as we reverted to our familiar roles. The supporter and the victim. But I was tired of playing the victim, I reminded myself. I wanted to be the strong one for once. I squeezed her hand to show her how much I appreciated her effort, then released it.

Joe laughed. “We’re here today to recognize the Gardner Sisters Nursery, not give y’all a show.” He winked at Hilary, then looked down at his paper and gave a five-minute speech about Arkansas being built on the backs of hardworking entrepreneurs and how the Gardner sisters were carrying that legacy into the twenty-first century. To hear him speak of us, no one would ever guess he’d been there from the beginning, even reconstructing part of the greenhouse that stood twenty feet behind us.

When he finished, Thelma handed him a cream-colored, legal-sized envelope. He turned to us and presented the envelope to Violet. “It is with great pride and respect that the Arkansas Small Business Administration presents the Gardner Sisters Nursery with a two-hundred-thousand dollar grant to expand their business.”

The crowd cheered and cameras flashed as Violet took the envelope and shook Joe’s hand. He moved on to me next, his hand engulfing mine and holding on for several seconds as he stared into my face with a longing that stole my breath.

Hilary pulled on his arm until he released me, then he turned back to the crowd. “We’ll now take any questions y’all might have.”

Hands shot up in the air and Joe pointed to a blonde newswoman. “I’m sure you’re both used to the comparison of you two to Jackie and John F. Kennedy. What we want to know is when is your wedding and will it have a Camelot theme?”

Joe grinned, then shook his head. “We don’t—”

Hilary looped her arm through his and smiled up into his face. “It’s okay, Joe, we might as well tell everyone our big secret.”

His body tensed.

She stared down the cameras, her face beaming. “Joe and I are planning a December wedding and it
will
have a royal theme.”