Page 112 of Until You

Chapter Twenty-Nine

On Thursday afternoon, Lanie was happier than she’d ever been. They were opening in four days, and things were right on track. The construction was complete. Almost all the clothing had been delivered. The employees had been hired and were almost finished with their training.

For the first time, Lanie believed not only that the store would open without a hitch, but that she and Tyler could have a future together.

Lanie had been right about barely seeing Tyler this week, but she hadn’t felt panicked about it since she knew she’d be there next week to spend time with him.

Part of her increased workload was because Stephanie had flown to Phoenix for a couple of days to check on the retail space for the next Margo Benson Boutique, but she was due back this afternoon. Lanie had missed her more than she’d expected. It wasn’t unusual for Steph to take off for a few days, and Lanie was used to her absences, but this one felt different—maybe because after the opening, Stephanie was moving on without her. The thought made Lanie pause and worry that she’d made the wrong decision when she’d turned in her resignation, but deep down, she knew it had been the right move. Still, she felt like she was losing her best friend.

She was about to head back to the office and wait for Stephanie. But as she grabbed her purse, she heard a persistent rapping at the front of the store. She considered ignoring it—they were used to curious passersby trying to get a look inside—but this sounded different than usual. Scowling, she walked to the front and opened the door, shouting through the tarp, “I’m sorry, but we’re closed.”

“Ma’am,” a deep voice said, “this is official business of the Jackson County courts.”

Lanie’s heart lodged in her throat. She quickly unlaced the cords holding the tarp shut and pushed it aside to face a man in a dress shirt and tie who shoved a folded stack of papers at her. “Have a nice day,” he said in an apologetic tone.

Not anymore.

She locked the door, then slowly walked to the sales counter and opened the packet.

Dinah Pettier, owner of Dinah Fashions, had filed a lawsuit to block the opening of the retail store owned by Montgomery Enterprises, and an injunction had been ordered to keep the store from opening until the matter had been resolved.

This was bad. It wasn’t the temporary stay that Victor had filed weeks ago. She was no attorney, but it didn’t take a genius to figure out that her opening was destroyed.

She walked the block to her office and scanned the pages. After she sent the document to the corporate attorney, she waited for the call that came ten minutes later, confirming what she already knew. This injunction was more serious and would likely keep them from opening.

No opening. No promotion. No job in Kansas City.

No Tyler.

No, she couldn’t think about Tyler right now.

She sat in her chair, staring at the papers on her desk. She needed to figure out what to do about her career. She’d called Aiden a couple of weeks ago and turned down his offer. Would he let her change her mind? Or maybe she could—

What was she going to do about Tyler?

Tyler had deep roots here in Kansas City—a successful career, his brothers, and his best friends. He couldn’t move somewhere else, and she couldn’t handle a long-distance relationship.

When Lanie was little, her father had taken sporadic trips for work, but a year after her mother started working again, her father was offered a job in Dallas. He’d begged her mother to move, but she’d taken a job she loved and refused to give it up. Her father had taken the job, commuting back and forth on the weekends, but when he was home, he was angry and bitter at her mother for separating their family. Two years later, he gave it up and moved back home, but the damage had been done—her parents’ marriage had been irreparably broken.

If Lanie moved to Atlanta, she’d rather leave with warm memories of her time with Tyler than have their relationship disintegrate into something ugly and bitter.

She should have been prepared for this new legal development. Since nothing legal had happened immediately after the barbecue, Lanie had mistakenly believed that they were in the clear. She’d trusted it so much that she’d planned to start moving her few belongings to Tyler’s condo the day after the wedding.

What was she going to do now?

The door opened and Stephanie walked into the office, rolling her carry-on suitcase behind her. She dropped her purse on her desk, and her eyes widened when she glanced at Lanie. “What happened?”

“It’s over.”

Stephanie froze. “Did something happen with Tyler?”

Tears burned her eyes. She’d deal with the Tyler issue later. She needed to focus on her job. Lanie picked up the legal papers and handed them to Steph. “It’s a new injunction. And legal thinks this one will stick.”

Stephanie sat in her chair and quickly flipped through the papers. “But they’re going to fight it, right?”

“Of course, but we have to prepare for the worst.”

Stephanie leaned her head back into her seat. “We won’t be able open,” she said in defeat. “This has never happened before. How does this work? We stay here and open at a different location? Or we give up and move on to Phoenix?”

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