Thirty-Six and a Half Motives
Page 15

I wouldn’t, not really. I was scared to death of J.R., and knowing that Jed had my back made me feel a whole lot better.
Jed seemed to ponder my threat, then nodded as we walked out the door and toward our separate vehicles.
Now that I was alone, the knowledge that I’d broken up with Mason hit me square in the face. Somehow I’d just ended my relationship with the man I’d planned to marry. Where did I go from here?
All I wanted to do was go home, crawl into bed, and cry my eyes out. But I wouldn’t give myself that luxury. I needed to focus on neutralizing J.R. Simmons.
The only strategy that came to mind was to check on the progress Maeve had made in decoding the shorthand on the lone remaining page of Dora’s secret journal, recovered from the warehouse where she’d worked with Daddy and Paul all those years ago.
When I stopped at the next stoplight, I grabbed my phone out of my pocket. Swallowing the lump in my throat, I ignored the three missed calls from Mason and called his mother instead.
“Rose,” she said, her voice warm and soothing.
Oh, mercy. A new thought hit me. Was I going to lose her, too? While I hadn’t doubted she’d stick by me if Mason left me for good, the situation had changed. Would she change her mind when she found out that I was the one who’d broken up with him?
“Maeve,” I said, my voice breaking. “Can I come over for a few minutes?”
“I’m at the nursery,” she said, sounding distracted. “I’m filling in for Violet.” Distantly, I heard her say, “The few pansies we have left are outside on the right.” Then she said, “Sorry about that, Rose. I was helping a customer.”
“It sounds like you’re busy,” I said, my voice tight. “I’ll talk to you later.”
“Rose, are you all right?”
“No.” I said, choking on the word. I glanced in the rearview mirror at Jed in the sedan behind me. Now that I knew about my protective guard, he clearly didn’t feel the need to hide any longer. But I looked away, not wanting him to see me upset. There was only one person I wanted to talk to about my breakup—it was the real reason I’d called her.
“I broke up with Mason.”
“What?” She sounded dismayed. “Rose, what happened?”
I took a deep breath, fighting back my tears. “I’d rather talk about it in person, but I’m guessing Anna’s there, right?”
“Yeah . . .”She sounded worried. “How’s Mason?”
“I don’t know,” I said, fighting the urge to break down. “I did it over the phone.”
“Rose.” I heard the disappointment in her voice.
“I hadn’t planned to do it, Maeve, but he was upset.” I didn’t want to drag her into the specifics. “Let’s just say my ties to the criminal underworld are still very much in place, and Mason is upset at the position I’ve placed him in.”
“Does he have any idea—”
“No, Maeve. Please don’t be upset with him. He’s a man of principles, and it’s unfair to ask him to bend them, especially given his position.”
“Once again you’re saving him,” she said, sounding sad.
I took a deep breath, hoping to soothe my frazzled nerves. “I did the right thing.” No matter how much it hurt.
“I can see why you think so—”
“Maeve. It’s done,” I said, with a firmness I never used with her. “I wanted to talk to you for two reasons. The first is I wanted you to hear it from either me or Mason. I had no idea if he would tell you, so maybe you should reach out to him.”
“Of course . . .”
“But second, I need to know what progress you’ve made on the journal page.”
“I confess, I haven’t gotten very far. It’s not coming back to me as quickly as I’d hoped, and I’ve been covering for Violet.” She paused. “How did your talk go earlier?”
“Do you know?” I asked, my voice breaking.
“Only that she’s very sick and has to go to Houston.”
“She’s going to be okay,” I said with determination.
“Of course she is,” she said, as if there shouldn’t be any doubt. “And we’ll make sure we keep the store in great condition for her until she gets back.”
“Will working at the nursery be too awkward for you?” I asked. “Because of me and Mason?” I hadn’t even considered the ripple effect of our breakup, but I didn’t want Violet to worry about anything other than getting better.
“Of course not, Rose. I still love you whether you’re with Mason or not. I’ll always be here for you.”
My voice cracked. “Thank you.”
“But don’t rush into any snap decisions, okay? Give this some thought. You and Mason truly love each other.”
She was right. We did love one another. But I had to wonder if love was enough.
“I’ll talk to you tomorrow, Maeve.”
“Okay.”
I parked in front of the office, and Jed parked around the corner. I noticed him get out of his car and head toward the square.
The door chimed when I walked in the office, and Neely Kate looked up with a questioning glance.
“How did it go?” she asked.
“As well as could be expected,” I said, heading toward my desk.
Bruce Wayne gave me a sympathetic look, but to his credit, he never even hinted at an I told you so.
At around five o’clock, I still had several estimates to prepare, so I handed Neely Kate the keys to my truck.
“Why don’t you take my car home, and I’ll stick around and get these plans done?” I asked.
I also needed to look at the finances to see about paying Maeve something for her work at the shop. Knowing her, she’d do more than she’d agreed to. We would also need to hire more help for our landscaping business soon. I’d expected the landscaping business to get off to a slow start, but it had exceeded our expectations.
Neely Kate’s mouth dropped open. “What about your date with Mason?”
Oh, crap. I’d forgotten to tell her. I’d been too busy worrying about Violet and trying to figure out how to stop J.R.—anything to avoid thinking about the end of my relationship. And I sure didn’t want to bring it up now.