Page 90 of Full Circle

She was spot on, like always. I wasn’t the same person I used to be, so how could I expect any less from Celeste? But that meant we needed to grow back together because I knew in my heart that she was meant for me. It was the only truth I had ever known. Even the brief few minutes I had spent in her atmosphere earlier reconfirmed that in my soul.

And if that wasn’t enough proof, surely the fact that my only experience with a one night stand just so happened to be with Celeste meant something. The very Universe wanted us to be together! We were magnets, fighting our attraction only to wind up paired anyway.

It didn’t matter what had changed for Celeste or for me. When two souls were forged together, nothing could keep them apart. I waited ten long years for a sign that our days apart were over. Now that I had my first taste of her, there was no going back. I was going to make her forgive me or I was going to die trying.

CHAPTER 42

MISTAKES WERE MADE

CELESTE

My mind was racing as I played out all the different scenarios in my head of what could happen. The injustice of it all was too much.

I had done everything Desiree had ever asked of me, without complaint, since the day my daddy died. In all the years she left The Comfy Cushion to me, I never once called off sick or closed the restaurant for my own personal reasons. Only on rare occasions when Iris had a recital and I was permitted to go. Any time Iris was sick and I needed to be home with her, Marla had closed her own business to help ours.

Acting as though all of my sacrifices, all of my hard work, were merely a whim she entertained and not the means by which her household functioned was the worst kind of insult. I was breaking my neck to keep a roof over our heads and all she did was remind me of the ways it wasn’t enough. There were so many important moments for my daughter that I missed because I wanted to keep the peace, because the restaurant was the only link I had left to my parents since Desiree took over our house.

And now all of it had been for nothing. What was worse—all of it was going into the hands of a man I had hated for half my life. Mr. Madden wasn’t even going to maintain the integrity of The Comfy Cushion. He wanted to commercialize my mama’s handwritten recipes so that he could install a fast food version in all of his stores.

I might not know much about business, but I wasn’t sure that half a million dollars was the right price for all that.

How the heck had Desiree even contacted him? Did he know about Iris? For her to have spent so many years keeping Wesley in the dark about our daughter, it seemed odd for Desiree to involve Wesley’s father in anything.

But wait—what if this business deal was the real reason Wesley was here? My stepmother had been manipulating me for so long in so many ways, I wouldn’t put it past her to shove Wes into the equation. That would ensure my emotions were muddled and I was no longer thinking clearly, therefore far more willing to give up Mama’s recipes. Desiree didn’t know I had given the book to Marla for safekeeping and I prayed she didn’t find out.

My fury only continued to grow the more I speculated on Wes’ involvement in their scheme. It was the deepest form of betrayal, a pain that made the past ten years pale in comparison. There was only one way to find out.

“Jesse,” I called out. “We’re closing up early.”

“Sure thing, boss,” he said jovially. He was the most easygoing man I had ever met.

The thing about living in Southern Georgia is that thunderstorms roll in on the drop of a dime. By the time Jesse and I had everything shut off, wiped down, and back in its place, dark clouds were surging across the sky with cracks of lightning and booms of thunder that were loud enough to wake the dead. A torrential downpour broke out, with rain pelting so hard and fast, I couldn’t see the playground across the street.

Flooding was quite common during rainstorms like this, so it was really a blessing in disguise. We weren’t going to miss out on any business by closing up early, and my stepmother wouldn’t be caught dead out in the mud and rain, so she wouldn’t come looking for me if I were out too late. The downside, however, was that I also didn’t want someone to notice my daddy’s truck parked over at Ms. Shirley’s house. I was going to have to run there and hope like hell I didn’t catch my death of cold on the way.

Waving goodbye to Jesse, I took off down the alleyway, pushing under the loose board in the fence to cut through Old Man McInworthe’s backyard, and over onto Ms. Shirley’s street. My clothes were soaked through the moment I stepped outside, my long hair plastered to my face. I looked like a half drowned house elf.

Ms. Shirley’s house hadn’t changed a bit since I last visited. Her car was parked in its usual place in the driveway, but no matter how hard I pounded on the door, no one answered. A light shone in one of the rooms upstairs, which meant Wes had to be inside.

“You’re not ignoring me that easy, Wesley Madden!” I muttered to myself.

Following along the side of the house, I unlatched the gate and let myself into the backyard. There I found Wes shirtless, in a pair of black sweatpants, strumming on an acoustic guitar on the back deck. Rain pelted the metal awning overhead and canceled out the music notes.

My brain short circuited when he jumped to his feet, displaying a six pack set of abs that definitely hadn’t been there when we were kids. His eyes set my skin on fire as he quickly descended the steps towards me.

“Why did you come here?” I screamed. It was hard to hear anything over the thunder and rain. “What’s the real reason?”

“You!” Wesley shouted back. He was now drenched, too, great, big droplets of water gliding down his nose. “It’s always been you!”

My heart strings tugged. They wanted me to break down my walls and believe him, but I couldn’t. There was no way this was real.

“You’re lying!” I choked back tears. “This has to do with The Comfy Cushion and your dad’s stupid deal!”

Wesley looked dumbstruck. “What? What deal? You’re not making any sense!”

“Just forget it!” I yelled in frustration.

I turned to leave and his hand gripped my elbow. It left my skin tingling from his touch.

---