Page 61 of The False Flat

But it was becoming clear. As I spoke, a weight was lifting. “I know you don’t understand, but I love Nashville. And I’m just now realizing that I don’t have to have a fancy office or huge clients to be happy or even successful.” I’d been ignorant, trying to make this transition work in only one way, when I hadn’t considered any of the others. I had a house that was paid for, and it might not be as professional as an office with a glass-topped desk, but I could just as easily work from home. And I felt foolish. Deanna was right: if I really put myself into this and stop letting the doubts stand in my way, maybe I could make this work.

“I met a little man named Myra at the coffee station outside my office several days ago,” I told him. “He’s now my client.” I shook my head. “I don’t need the big guys; I need Myra.” Tears were in my eyes because now I knew where to put all my energy. It wasn’t going to be easy, and it was terrifying, and I’d still have to deal with my feelings for Grant, but that was exactly what I’d do. I’d deal with them. Because not even Grant was going to stand in my way. I didn’t want to lose what I had in Nashville, so I’d learn to control myself.

“Fuck Myra.” His words made me flinch. His jaw tightened as he leaned forward and once again picked up my hand and the ring and slid it back on my finger.

I was too stunned to stop him, too wrapped up in my realizations.

“Dammit, Pen, I thought you were stronger than this. I’m not going to let you ruin this for us. You’re going to move back here and take the job because that’s what sane Pen would do. Someday, you’ll thank me for pushing you through this dark time.”

I was done.

He didn’t deserve my sympathy. He wasn’t the victim here.

He was an ass.

“You know what? I don’t need to wait to thank you. Thank you. Thank you for showing me without any doubt that I’m doing the right thing. And in case you’re too thick to comprehend what I’m saying, let me lay it out for you.” I lifted his hand, took the ring off my finger, and jammed it onto his pinkie as far as it would go. Now, he was too stunned to do anything. “I don’t want you. I don’t want Hedge International. I don’t want the perfect little house you and my mother picked out for me.” I started to walk away, but I turned back. “You know what I do want?” I picked up my dessert plate and his. “I want this five-star chocolate torte.”

I clomped away in my too-tight heels and my mother’s silk dress, a little token that would forever be the reminder of the night I took my life back.

As I passed the bar, my phone rang. I set the tortes down on the counter, asked for them to be boxed up, and pulled out my cell. Erin. Impeccable timing.

“Hey, Erin. What’s up?”

“Hey. I know it’s kind of a weird hour on a Friday night, but I have some news. Am I disturbing?”

“Not at all, just dumping my boyfriend after he proposed to me.” I glanced behind me, wishing they’d hurry up with the tortes before Chad came out here.

“Whaaaat? Chad? Where are you?”

“W. A. Frost.”

“Like, five minutes from me W. A. Frost?”

“Yep.”

“OMG. My ex is on a date. You wanna come over?”

I hesitated; then a waiter handed me the boxed desserts. I certainly wasn’t going back to my mother’s. And I was going to need an assistant.

“Text me your address. Do you like chocolate torte?”

CHAPTER 23

ONE GIRL + ONE DOG =

“Forgive the furniture,” Erin said, waving me into her living room and pointing to a leather chair that would’ve been nice if it hadn’t been completely destroyed by . . . a wild animal? “When Kane broke up with me, I let Hulk tear into his favorite chair. I’m not proud.”

“Where is Hulk?” I looked around for her dog.

“With a friend. I took him over when I thought I had plans for tonight so he wouldn’t be alone. Funny, I’m the one who ended up alone.” She threw a blanket over the chair and curled up in it. “I can’t believe you’re here! I was sulking. This is perfect.”

I handed her one of the to-go containers and a set of plastic utensils from the paper bag they’d given me at W. A. Frost. “Well, my return wasn’t planned, and the proposal was a complete surprise.”

“And you said no? In that dress? That was cruel. You look hot.”

I nodded. “Thank you.”

“Tell me everything.”