Page 101 of Enticing Her Love

Her mother put her hand over hers. “It’s okay, honey. You don’t have to talk about it.”

“But she should,” her grandmother said. “Matters of the heart are unlike anything else. They have a way of twisting and turning in our heads until we don’t know what’s real and what’s not. It’s best to just get it out there.”

The others nodded in agreement. Sutton met the caring gazes of the women she knew would always have her back and forced herself to tell them what happened. “I trusted him. I know that’s stupid, given our history, but I did. I told him about my idols and where I wanted to be in five years, and he acted so supportive. He asked what I’d want to report on if I could report on anything. It wasn’t something Discovery Hour would typically take on, which should’ve tipped me off, but it didn’t.”

She paced the kitchen, her voice escalating. “I was so caught up in him, when he said to write it up so he could see if I had what it took, I thought he really believed in me. When we were at that craft show last weekend, he made me a beautiful leather bracelet with knots and beads, and every piece had a meaning that was about us and our time in the rainforest together. It was so romantic. And then at work today, he left a beautiful leather journal on my desk with my name embossed on it, and he wrote all this cute stuff in it about us. I thought he was my person and I was his.”

“Aw. That’s so sweet. Can I see the bracelet?” Jules asked.

“Jules. This doesn’t have a happy ending,” Leni said sharply. “Let her finish.”

“Oh, right. Sorry,” Jules said.

“It’s okay. I don’t have it anyway.” A dull ache lodged in her chest. “When I went to his office to thank him for the journal, he wasn’t there, so I was going to leave a note. That’s when I found a list he’d made of all of my shortcomings. He wrote down all the reasons why I don’t have what it takes to be the type of journalist I want to be. And it wasn’t a short list. I left the journal and my bracelet on his desk and took off.” Tears of anger and hurt burned, and she choked out, “Who makes a list like that about the person they’re seeing?”

“An asshole, that’s who.” Leni seethed. “Who the hell is he to make that kind of judgment, anyway? He’s just some dumbass survivalist. He doesn’t have journalistic experience.”

“He’s not a dumbass,” Sutton choked out, feeling protective of him again, which pissed her off even more. “Discovery Hour was his concept.”

“So what? That doesn’t make him qualified to judge you like that,” Indi said, quick to agree with Leni.

“You don’t get it,” Sutton snapped, and revealed another hurtful layer. “He was right about all of it. He knows what he’s doing, but that’s not the point. The point is, he didn’t mean all the nice things he said to me. He was acting, or playing a game, or…I don’t know.”

“Oh, honey,” her mother said. “I’m so sorry.”

“You and me both. I fell for him, Mom. Hook, line, and sinker.” Tears welled in her eyes.

“I can see that.” Her mother drew her into her arms.

“I thought we were building something special.” Tears slid down her cheeks. “I really thought we could have what all of you have.” She stepped out of her mother’s arms, swiping angrily at her tears, and guzzled the rest of her wine.

“I’m sorry, sissy.” Jules hugged her, shedding tears of her own, which made Sutton feel even worse. “He’s a big, fat jerk for doing this to you.”

“Maybe the list wasn’t about you,” Tara said hopefully.

“It’s definitely about me. He called me out by name on it,” Sutton seethed.

“Have you talked to him about it? Could you have misconstrued what you saw?” Daphne, always the peacemaker, asked.

Sutton shook her head. “No. I’m sure I didn’t, and I’m not going to talk to him about it. I don’t want him to know how bad he hurt me.”

“Your boss hurt you?” Joey asked as she and Hadley came into the kitchen.

Shit. Sutton swiped at her tears. “No—”

“Yes, he did. The little shit,” Leni said.

“Mama, Aunt Leni said a bad word,” Hadley tattled.

“I know, honey. She’s upset that someone hurt Aunt Sutton,” Daphne explained.

Hadley scowled and crossed her arms. “I’m upset, too.”

“I’m fine, Had,” Sutton said lamely, feeling guilty for allowing the kids to get mixed up in her heartache.

“Is he the boss that was trying to get you fired?” Joey asked. “The one Leni said you should bag?”

There was a collective gasp, and their grandmother giggled. Their mother glowered at her. Sutton wished she’d been more careful about their conversations and said, “Yes.”