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“Her new goal? What’s her new goal?”
“You. You’re Eden’s new goal.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
After two weeks of making a complete fool of herself, Eden was starting to wonder if Nash was ever going to forgive her. He had ignored all her phone calls and texts, the “Please forgive me, sugar” sugar cookie bouquet and “I’m sorry, so sorry” singing telegram, and was doing a good job of avoiding her at home. She hadn’t seen him coming or going once from his house. When she’d called Grayson and asked, all he’d said was that Nash was busy at work. Which was just a nice way of saying that Nash was hiding from her. And there was only so much pleading a girl could do before she started to look pathetic. Of course, according to Chloe, she had passed pathetic long ago.
“You do realize that you’ve become a stalker, right?” Chloe asked as she executed a perfect downward dog yoga move. One that she had no doubt learned from Eden’s mother during her two-week stay.
Chloe had arrived back in town the day before, looking happy and chakra-cleansed. The police had finally apprehended Zac, and after the scuffle that had injured two officers, a judge denied him bail. Although Eden figured that the denied bail had more to do with her mother’s phone call than Zac fighting with the cops. Her mother had decided to take Chloe under her wing. Not only had she called the judge to fill him in on Zac’s violent history, but she’d also helped Chloe get enrolled in classes to get her high school diploma. She was convinced that Chloe had great potential that she had yet to tap. What Chloe had tapped was a lot of anger at Eden for waking her up so early and forcing her to come to the marathon.
“And besides a stalker, you’ve become an even bigger pain in my ass. Who runs this early in the morning?”
“Runners.” Eden stretched her hands over her head. “And I’m not a stalker. I had planned to run in the marathon long before Nash did.”
Chloe straightened and rolled her eyes. “But if Nash showed up right now and said he was headed to the bakery across the street, you’d forgo the running for a cup of coffee, wouldn’t you?”
“They have delicious hot chocolate too.” Madison took a sip from the paper cup she held. The diet Eden had put her on was long forgotten when the French Kiss swimsuit catalog came out. Madison’s voluptuous body was a hit with both women and men. Her new fame had landed her a big-bucks contract and close to a million likes on Facebook. Not to mention all the hits on her website, where she blogged about the joys of chocolate, modeling, shoes, and how to seduce a man. It seemed ironic that Madison would become a more popular writer than Eden.
Although Eden was hoping that would change. After returning to San Francisco, an editor from a big publishing house had contacted her. The editor had read the retraction letter and thought Eden had talent. Not nonfiction talent, but fiction talent. And if Eden ever wrote a romance novel based on the premise of a dark seducer, the editor wanted to be the first one to read it and make an offer. That was over a week ago, and as of now, Eden had sixty pages. Her goal was to have it finished in two months.
In the meantime, she had another goal to accomplish.
“I don’t want coffee,” Eden said. “I want to finish this race with my friends. I couldn’t care less whether Nash is here or not.”
Chloe shrugged and went back to stretching. “Then I guess I won’t mention that he’s standing right over there.”
Eden whirled around so fast that she bumped into Madison and knocked her cup out of her hand. It hit the ground and splattered everywhere. But Eden didn’t pay any attention. Her gaze was locked with a pair of violet-colored eyes. Eyes that gave her hope that all the weeks of e-mails, texts, and singing telegrams had paid off. That he’d finally forgiven her and they would cross the finish line of the half marathon together.
But then the air horn blasted, and without one word—not anI forgive you, anI love you, or even anI strongly like you—he took off running. Leaving Eden far behind.
As she watched his amazing butt disappear in the crowd of runners, the truth finally hit her like a wrecking ball right between the eyes. Nash wasn’t going to forgive her. They weren’t going to get married. Or even live together. She had failed. She had failed at the one goal she’d wanted to achieve more than anything else. And there was nothing left to do but accept defeat.
“I’m not sure,” Madison said, “but I think that blaring noise means the race started. So shouldn’t we be running? Or at least, lightly jogging.”
Eden fought back the tears. “I’m not running.”
“What’s going on?” Chloe pushed closer as runners swarmed around. “If you want to catch Nash, Eden, then you better hurry. He looks like he’s running to win.”
“I don’t want to catch him,” she said. “You were right. I’m just a pathetic stalker. A pathetic stalker who needs to realize that it’s over.” Feeling like a snail surrounded by a swarm of ants that all had a purpose, Eden walked over to the curb and sat down.
Madison and Chloe followed, Madison sitting down next to her. “You’re not a pathetic stalker. Tell her, Chloe. Tell her that she’s not a stalker.”
“I’m not going to tell her that. Especially when she has been acting like a stalker.” Chloe reached down and grabbed Eden’s hand before yanking her to her feet. “But that’s what makes you Eden. You’re one of those annoying people who flat out refuse to give up. No matter what the odds are or what anyone else thinks, you keep your chin up and keep on going. It was you who got Madison to believe she could do something besides being a hooker—”
“I was not a hooker,” Madison cut in.
Chloe rolled her eyes. “Right. And I wasn’t Zac’s punching bag.” She looked at Eden. “You made me realize that, Eden. And you also made me realize that whatever dream I can dream, I can achieve if I only work hard. And now after I just started to believe it, you’re going to tell me that you’re quitting?” She threw up her hands. “Fine. Then I’m quitting my GED classes. They’re too hard, and the one teacher makes me feel like a stupid idiot every time I ask a question.”
“She’s right.” Madison got up. “And I’m just going back to being an escort. It’s much easier than modeling. And keeping up with all the social networking is much more than I can take—”
“Absolutely not!” Eden yelled. “You can’t quit modeling, Maddie. Not when you have become such an inspiration for full-figured women.” She looked at Chloe and shook a finger. “And you, young lady, will not drop out of high school the second time.”
Chloe sent her a sardonic look and crossed her arms. “Then you can’t give up either. You need to go catch the man you love.”
Madison nodded. “Nash knew you would be here. If he didn’t want to make up, he wouldn’t have come.”
Hope bloomed. “You really think so?” Eden asked.
