Page 85 of Close to My Heart

“I’ve blown their trust too. It’s best to start over. Find something else I’m good at.” I felt despair, but then I remembered I’d had that idea about posting about other historical sights, and Annapolis was full of those. The only problem was whether my followers would ever get over my deceit. It was too soon to know. But I could try, start over with a new account and build it back up again.

Mother seemed at a loss for words.

When she didn’t respond, I spun on my heel and walked outside, grateful for the cool morning air. My skin was heated, and my stomach churned. I’d look for a new apartment, then pack. There had to be something that would be available now. I couldn’t stay here, knowing it would be sold, the house torn down, and the gardens turned into a development.

When I searched online, I found several options for apartments, made appointments to view them, then started the difficult task of packing up my life.

After getting a head start on packing, I headed into town to see the various options for my new home. I found one on the water, and it was a little more expensive, but it was available now, and the view would be healing. If anything had the power to make me feel better, it was the water, the one thing the Rosesmith Estate was missing.

I loved my home, but I’d move out in a few days. It was good but also sad. I’d never lived anywhere else except for when I went away to college. When I moved out, it would be like severing a part of me.

I focused on the logistics of my new life so I wouldn’t have time to think about the fact that Wes and I were done, and not just the marriage but our friendship too. I never got a chance to tell him how I felt, but what good would it have done?

He never said he felt the same way. He was hurt because of the way everything came out. That I’d suggested someone in his family must have done it. I don’t know why anyone would be that malicious. The Calloways had been like a second family to me.

For the first time, I opened my account and searched for the moment when our truth was revealed. There were comments on the wedding photo which had now gone viral, things like Sutton lied to get followers, it was all fake, and she just wanted to make money. The comments hurt. But I had lied to inherit money and the estate. Even if I had what I thought were legitimate plans, it didn’t make it right. I was just as greedy as my parents.

I’d drawn Wes into my crazy scheme, and he’d gotten hurt in the process. Would this blow back on him, his job, or his family’s Christmas tree farm? I couldn’t stand it if it did.

I couldn’t figure out which account was the first one to reveal it wasn’t real. There were so many comments, and they’d come quickly one after the other.

The system that built me up could tear me down more quickly than I ever could have imagined. I should post a video revealing the truth. It would confirm what they already knew, but I would feel better. But I wasn’t sure it was the right move.

The thought of not spending my holidays with the Calloways or my days with Wes hurt too much to even contemplate.

I’d grabbed ice cream from the fridge and was drowning my sorrows in sugar and bad reality TV when there was a soft knock on my door.

I couldn’t imagine who it could be

I hadn’t heard the telltale rumble of his truck arriving.

I opened the door. “Grandma. What are you doing out of bed this late?”

Her expression was grim. “I wanted to talk to you.”

I opened the door wider so she could come inside.

“Would you like tea?” I asked, feeling uncomfortable because she’d never been in my house.

She waved a hand at me. “This won’t take long.”

I sat in the chair across from her, my nerves making my leg bounce. “What’s on your mind?”

“I came to apologize.”

I laughed. “What would you need to apologize for?”

“I concocted that wedding stipulation in my will so that you’d finally go after what I’d suspected you’d wanted all along, and it worked spectacularly. I couldn’t have planned it better myself.”

What was she talking about? “You wanted me to marry Wes?”

“I saw something in him when he took you to prom. I knew he’d be a responsible, upstanding guy, and he adored you, even back then. I hoped you’d see it yourself, but you never seemed to. Always claimed you were merely friends.”

“We were,” I said weakly, not sure about anything anymore. My grandmother thought we’d make a good couple? She’d planned all of this?

“I was worried when you were dating those yahoos your mother was sending you out with. I should have known she’d get involved. But then you came to your senses, or Wes did, and you got married.”

I was having a hard time believing this was her plan all along. I couldn’t reconcile what she was saying with what I’d believed my entire life. That my family wanted me to date a man who came from a good family with the bank account to back it up. Was that just my mother the whole time?

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