Page 48 of Hers to Love
“Yeah. I’m thinking about taking a few business classes myself. I have a lot of help, but I don’t want to screw up these opportunities. They don’t fall from the sky everyday.”
That was for sure. Her job with Marshall literally fell out of a gorgeous Italy that she missed already. She’d have to visit Kat’s bakery every day, just to surround herself with the smell of freshly baked bread and pastries. She wouldn’t have pasta that good again, but maybe there was an authentic, hole-in-the-wall Italian restaurant in town that could come close. She had a lot of time to figure everything out.
Kori checked her phone again. No messages. It was just as well. A clean break was better than a messy one. Although she had hoped to hear from Sabrina, after the way she’d left Marshall, she hadn’t expected anything more from him.
Well, nothing more than the return of her heart.
Chapter 21
Kori and her mother walked into Kat’s new bakery. It wasn’t open to the public yet, but everything looked shiny and ready for the first customers. The only thing missing were rows and rows of sweet desserts behind the glass showcases on the counters.
“Kat, this is amazing,” Kori said in awe as her eyes scanned the small restaurant. It boasted a number of tables both inside and outside, and a chalkboard menu on the wall that would list the daily special flavors. Kat had chosen bright colors in her decorations, and the place already smelled like she’d been baking all morning. Warm and sweet.
“Doesn’t it?” Drew wrapped an arm around Kat’s middle and brought her in close, planting a kiss on her cheek. “I told her she better get back there and start baking me some sweets.”
Kat swatted him with a small dishtowel. “You’ve got plenty of sweet.”
“Sure do.” He kissed her full on the mouth.
Kori looked away, her heart wrenching in pain. It’d been a week since she’d left Italy and still no word from Marshall. Foolishly, she wanted to know if he was still the CEO of his company. And Sabrina was conveniently avoiding her calls and not returning her text messages. She never expected to lose both the man she loved and her best friend in less than a month’s time.
The only thing keeping her sane was researching for her new business. She had a website, plenty of marketing set up, the list of services she would provide, and accounting all set to go. The only two things left were the launch and getting clients. Two of the most difficult things.
“How was everything?” Kat asked in a sober tone.
The gravesite. With her mother, Kori visited where her father had been laid to rest. They had a nice, long talk about missed opportunities and unmet expectations. Kori’s heart had started to heal, but it would be a long time before she could release the stress and tension she had self-inflicted to be what her father had always wanted. She was a success and would be again—on her own terms.
“I don’t think I could ever apologize enough,” Mary said. A shaky hand tapped against the slick, polished tabletop. “I know I should’ve done more for you girls. I only hope you’ll let me do as much as I can for the rest of my life.”
“Don’t stress yourself out about it,” Kat said. She placed a serving tray full of cupcakes down on a table for them. She rubbed her mother’s back. “Eat your feelings instead.” She winked.
“Yeah, Mom. We understand now, and we’re willing to get past it. You have to, as well,” Kori added.
Mary sat down on one of the bright green chairs and took a cupcake. “I think, as a parent, it’s hard to face that you’ve failed your children in some way. You can’t get that time back to do it over again. It’ll have a lasting effect, and I don’t want m girls to suffer any more because of what happened and what I was afraid to do.”
Kori leaned over and kissed her mother’s head. “We love you, Mom.”
Mary smiled up at her daughter and wrapped an arm around her waist. “I love you, too.”
Kori sat across from her mother, thinking about Marshall and whether or not he had felt the same about Sabrina. How had their conversation gone? Kori had thought she and Sabrina were on good terms—until the silence. To preserve his relationship with Sabrina, maybe he had decided not to contact her anymore. Kori’s eyes stung again, but she blinked back the tears, determined not to let them fall.
Her phone buzzed, and she hurriedly pulled it from her purse. It wasn’t Marshall, but her lawyer. She had to be in NYC tomorrow for a meeting with Brigham’s legal team. They wanted to discuss terms.
“Terms?” Kat asked, eyes wide as she looked over Kori’s shoulder at the text. “What does that mean? It’s not going to court?”
“That’s probably a good thing,” Drew said. “If they want a discussion, they may be willing to settle.”
“Or threaten to sue me into unrecoverable bankruptcy,” Kori muttered.
“Let’s try to be positive about this,” Mary said. “You know the truth, and so does he.”
“But he has a team—”
“We don’t know anything yet. You know what my therapist told me? She gave me an acronym to memorize. F.E.A.R. False evidence appearing real. If you don’t know anything, there’s no need to fear. Get the facts first, then make a decision.”
All pairs of eyes trained on Mary.
“Mom, when did you become this sage of wisdom?” Kat asked.
