Wait for Me / Trust in Me (14 page)

“Not possible, but I guess I'll just have to wait and find out.” He looked around the shop again before facing Emma. “Are you doing okay? I mean, this is a complete one-eighty from what you were doing at Montgomerys.”

“I am more than okay. Baking was always something that I loved but never had the courage to think about as a career. Between your mom and Margaret, I'm making a go of it.”

“Will I see you at the party?” he asked.

“Probably not. I'll be bringing everything over before any of the guests arrive. I'm just the hired help that day.” It wasn't said with any form of malice, she was simply stating a fact.

“Well, that's just not right. I think you should get to stay and enjoy the festivities. If nothing else, you should get to sit and collect all of the compliments the desserts are going to garner!”

“You're sweet, but with the agreement that your mom has with the club, they will have people to do the serving and so really, all I need to do is drop everything off.”

“Seems a shame, Emma,” he said and then paused. “We miss you.”

“Thanks, Jason. I miss everyone too,” she admitted honestly. Emma knew that by everyone she was implying the office staff, but it was really more than that. If Jason caught on to that fact, he chose to say nothing.

“Well, maybe I'll see you at the party. I'll try to get there early just in case you need a hand.”

“Take care of yourself,” she said, hoping he realized that she wasn't encouraging him to visit with her again. The fewer Montgomerys she saw, the more intact her heart would stay.

Valentine's Day dawned cold and gray. Snow was in the forecast, and Emma was more than a little nervous about transporting dessert for two hundred people. Her purchase of the bakery had been completed the previous week and one of the things she'd invested in was a delivery van. Her staff helped her load everything into the van and she had been assured that there would be staff at the country club to help her unload.

Since there was a chance that she'd be seen by some of the guests, Emma had chosen to dress up. Wearing a deep purple wool wrap dress that was cut modestly low in the front and had a full skirt, she felt that should she get caught staying longer than planned, she'd be able to blend into the crowd. For the transport and set up, she wore conservative shoes but had a pair of matching heels in her bag just in case.

Things went from bad to worse almost instantly. The club was short on staff and could only spare her a few minutes to move the heavier items into the catering hall. Emma glanced around and silently prayed that Jason would be true to his word and arrive early.

He did not.

Once the cake was set up as the centerpiece of the dessert station with the help of the few staff members she'd been able to utilize, Emma went to work on getting the rest of the desserts set up and displayed properly. She was halfway through when Monica and William showed up.

“Oh, Emma! Everything looks beautiful!” Monica gushed. “William, doesn't everything look wonderful?” Her husband nodded and simply smiled with gratitude at Emma. “How is everything going?”

“Well,” Emma began, unsure if she should be the bearer of bad news.

“Is there a problem?” William asked.

“It seems that the club is a little short staffed today, so there wasn't enough help for me. I was able to get everything in but I'm afraid I'm a little behind on the setup. I was hoping to be done and gone by the time you had arrived.” At the crestfallen look on William's face, she corrected herself. “Not because I didn't want to see you, but because I didn't want you to see things still being set up. I wanted everything to be perfect for your arrival.”

“We certainly appreciate that, Emma,” he replied. “Tell us what you need and we'll give you a hand.”

“Oh, no! Please don't!” she cried. “It's your party and you shouldn't have to do any of this!”

“Nonsense. We were promised a full staff and I will be having words with the event manager over that. In the meantime, let's get this all set up.”

As much as Emma wanted to argue, she wanted to get the setup done so she could leave even more. In less than twenty minutes, between the three of them, the table was completed and looked exactly as she had pictured it in her mind. She couldn't have been more pleased.

“Emma,” Monica began, her throat clogging with tears, “it's more beautiful than I ever imagined. The cake is just…stunning.” It was a multitiered cake, each layer a different flavor, and it was decorated with all the milestones from the Montgomerys' life together. “And all of the pastries…it's a cake lover's dream!”

“I'm glad you're pleased,” Emma said, visibly relaxing for the first time in hours. “Now, you go and enjoy your party. Congratulations to you both.” She turned to grab her bag when she felt William's hand on her arm. She stood and faced him.

“Actually, Emma, we were hoping you would stay and celebrate with us,” he said shyly. “You were the icing on the cake, so to speak, in making this day be everything that my lovely wife envisioned, and it would mean a great deal to us if you'd stay.”

“Oh, I don't know,” she said, indecision weighing heavily on her mind. Part of Emma wanted to make a mad dash for the door, while the other looked around the room and marveled at what a spectacular party they were going to have.

“If it makes you feel any better, you can help cut the cake and serve when the time comes,” Monica said.

“Oh, what the hell,” she said. “Why not?” And just like that, she was swept up into a big embrace by the two Montgomerys who were flanking her. “Okay, okay, the two of you have a party to host and your guests should be arriving shortly. Let me go and freshen my makeup and put on my party shoes and then we can start celebrating!” She hugged them both and then went in search of the powder room.

“I thought she'd put up more of a fight,” William said, watching Emma walk away.

“I think she misses you as much as you miss her. She just needed to have the excuse to stay.” Leaning over and kissing her husband, Monica smiled.

“What was that for?” he asked, his own smile spreading.

“For thirty-five wonderful years.” William leaned in and kissed her properly. He could still make her swoon after all these years. “Now, let's go and greet some guests.”

* * *

Emma was enjoying herself thoroughly. She didn't think it was possible, but she was surrounded by most of the Montgomery family and having a wonderful time. Both Jason and Mac had danced with her until her feet hurt, and she couldn't remember the last time she had laughed so much.

The dinner menu had been elaborate and it was almost time for dessert to be served. Excusing herself, she went in search of the event manager to see what role she needed to play in that particular part of the evening.

“I know you're a bit short staffed, so if you need me to assist in cutting and plating the cake, I'd be more than happy to help,” Emma said.

“Thanks, Emma,” the woman replied. “We got extra staff to come in so I think we're going to be okay. Sorry about earlier.”

“It was no big deal; it's what I'm paid to do.”

“Well, you were promised staff to help you, and you ended up doing the bulk of it by yourself—along with the Montgomerys.” She cringed. “Not my finest hour.”

Emma laughed. “No worries, we all know that sometimes things happen that are beyond our control. Besides, everything worked out and looks great.”

“Your display is magnificent. I'd like to meet with you next week and see if maybe we can work out some other events together. The baker here is fine for small events, but we would love to have someone who could handle the more specialty end of it, and if this is what you can provide, we'd love to do business with you.”

Emma was floored. An account like this would be huge for her business. Pulling a business card from her purse, she handed it over. “Give me a call. I think we can definitely work something out.” They shook hands and Emma watched as the other woman walked away before doing a little happy dance in place and then hoped that no one noticed.

With a quick glance around, she straightened her skirt and made some last-minute adjustments on the dessert table when someone spoke from behind her.

“May I have this dance?”

Emma froze. It wasn't possible. There was no way this family could possibly lie to her again! And she fell for it! Dammit! Taking her time fanning some napkins and turning a few cupcakes to optimize their appearance, Emma finally turned around and faced Lucas. She couldn't make herself utter a word; she simply stared defiantly at him.

Lucas wasn't sure what to expect when he saw Emma, but the woman staring coolly at him was definitely not it. Clearly he had his work cut out for him. Without saying a word, he merely held out a hand to her and waited for her to take it.

“You're kidding, right?” she finally said.

One dark eyebrow arched at her. “About asking you to dance? No, I don't really kid about stuff like that.”

“I'm not dancing with you, Lucas,” Emma snapped.

Looking around the room, Lucas turned back to her and leaned in close. “People are watching. You don't want to make a scene, do you?”

Oh, she wanted to make a scene; she wanted to make a great big epic scene where she screamed the room down and raged at all of the ways the Montgomerys weren't to be trusted. Ever! But Emma saw that they, indeed, had an audience. She reluctantly took his hand and let Lucas lead her out onto the dance floor for the slow song the band was playing.

Her goal had been to remain silent but her curiosity got the best of her. “What are you doing here, Lucas?”

“I thought that would be obvious; it's my parents' anniversary.”

Growling with frustration, Emma glared at him. “I know it's their anniversary. What I mean is everyone said you weren't coming, that they hadn't seen you in months. Why show up now?”

“As I said, it's their anniversary and I wanted to be here. And for the record, I have seen them.”

“Figures,” she mumbled.

“Excuse me?” he said, a smile tugging at his lips.

“I said it figures,” she hissed. “Your family seems to excel at lying, particularly to me.”

“And that's a bad thing?” he asked, spinning her gently as he tugged her a little bit closer.

“Yes, Lucas, lying is a bad thing and I don't appreciate it at all. I trusted your parents. I took this job because they promised that you wouldn't be here. I kept my word, but apparently they didn't feel the need to do the same.”

“Well, maybe they did it for a good reason.”

Emma pulled back slightly and stared at him as if he'd lost his mind. “And what could that possibly be?”

It didn't take much to pull her back into his embrace, and Lucas just let himself feel for a moment before speaking again. “Let me ask you something. Why did you quit Montgomerys?”

“Who said I quit?”

“Are you still working there?”

She rolled her eyes. “You know I'm not, Lucas. I couldn't possibly cater this event if I was. And what does that have to do with anything?”

“Why'd you quit?”

“It was time to move on,” she said simply, wondering when the hell the band was going to finish the damn song so she could get out of this nightmare.

“Liar,” he whispered up against her ear and smiled when he felt her shiver.

When she went to pull away, Lucas merely held her tighter. “Let me go,” she demanded quietly.

“No.” He felt more than heard her sigh.

“Lucas, now is not the time for this conversation. Please let me go.”

“Tell me why you left Montgomerys.”

“You're not going to let this go, are you?”

“The band was told to keep playing until I told them to stop,” he said lightly, rubbing his cheek next to hers. “So really, the quicker you talk to me, the sooner those poor guys can get a break and people can have their dessert.”

“You're a real bastard, you know that?”

“I never claimed to be otherwise.”

“Fine,” she huffed. “I heard your entire conversation with your father that day. I was horrified that he would do something like that and use me that way. I couldn't work for him anymore. I don't respect him.”

“And why wasn't I allowed to know?” Lucas leaned back and looked into her face, amused at how her blue eyes, normally so full of joy, were now shooting daggers at him.

“Because it wasn't about you and it didn't concern you. I left because of what he did to me,” she said adamantly. “And your ego is so huge that you would have thought that it was all about you.”

“True enough, but a lie is still a lie, Em.”

Now she looked at him with confusion. “Excuse me?”

“You're standing here right now, in my arms, and you're lying to me.” He turned them again on the dance floor and smiled at the band before giving her his full attention again.

“How am I lying to you?” she demanded, struggling to put some distance between them.

“I think that you were angry with my father and rightfully so. But I think that you could have forgiven him.”

“Then you don't really know me.”

Lucas leaned in and nuzzled the side of her neck before whispering in her ear, “Oh, I think I know you better than you think. I believe that had I not gone off and had such a temper tantrum before talking to my father and if I hadn't accused you of such horrible things, you would have stayed on at Montgomerys. You would have made Dad grovel, but you would have stayed. I'm the real reason that you left and you didn't want to add more fuel to the fire between me and Dad.”

“You're crazy.”

“Maybe.” He shrugged and lifted his face so he could look into her eyes. “But look me in the eye right here, right now, Emma, and tell me that I'm wrong. Tell me that I'm not the reason you left.” His voice was low, but fierce, and Lucas felt that his entire future hinged on this one moment.

“What difference will it make? I'm done with Montgomerys: the company and the family.” Emma's bravado faltered slightly and the longer she looked into Lucas's eyes, the more lost and confused she became. Lucas continued to watch her, and Emma felt as if all conversation around them had stopped. The band kept playing and all she wanted was to run and hide.

What was one more lie? Everyone else seemed to be okay with lying to her, why should she feel guilty about speaking one of her own? But she couldn't do it. “Lucas, I refuse to answer that question. Now stop the band, please,” she said firmly and nearly fell to the floor as Lucas released her. His eyes were fierce, burning into her.

They stood there like that for what seemed like an eternity before Lucas turned toward the band and nodded his head. “Thank you for the dance, Emma,” he said softly and then turned to walk away.

And that's when she noticed it.

“You're not limping,” she said out loud before she could stop herself.

Lucas turned and looked at her. “No, I'm not. I don't plan on limping much in the future either.”

Emma took a step toward him. “Why not?”

“I had the surgeries done,” he said matter-of-factly. “I've got a lot more rehab to go through, and there are still times when my knee gives me some trouble, but unless I really overdo it, I don't limp.”

She was stunned. “Oh, well…good for you. I'm happy for you, Lucas. Really. Maybe now you can finally be happy.” Knowing that at any moment she was going to burst into tears, she said a hasty good-bye before fleeing the room.