Page 122 of Meet Cute Reboot
After all that thinking, I still don’t have a plan to save my business. To save both businesses. Because if MatchAI fails, there goes my Old Towne Ghost Tours equity. I’ll be back to eating ramen and baked beans in a ramshackle apartment while Nana’s house crumbles around her.
A little voice in my head tells me Luke won’t let me fail. He’ll quietly find a new investor while extricating himself. But that was the “new” Luke. The “new” Luke who faked being mature so he could get me back while messing around with Macy on the side. When I put it to myself this way, I get really mad at that little voice. Why would she even consider accepting help from Luke Curtis after all he’s done to me?
It’s seven thirty when I settle into my office chair. The office is quiet, ominously quiet like it will be when all my furniture is moved out and I’ve gone to fetch my next free meal at the City Mission. Sarah won’t arrive for another half hour. I’ll have to let her go. She’ll have to scrounge for a new job, maybe move away from Charleston, try to make a go of painting. Her paintings will be featured in the best New York City galleries, and I’ll be painting the front door of my rundown apartment to try to cheer up the depressing neighborhood.
You hush. Why so negative? Where’s Boss Cassie?
Everything will work out. It will be okay. If I have to start over, I’ll start over. I did once. I can do it again.
My pep talk bolsters me and the caffeine from my black coffee fools me into believing I have enough energy to tackle this day. I don’t have time for negativity. I have to execute.
To execute, I need a plan. I don’t have a plan.
I sigh and tap on my laptop to wake it up. As I’m scrolling through emails, the doorbell rings. I don’t think Amazon delivers this early. The sign on the door clearly reads we don’t open until eight thirty. Who else could be bothering me at this hour?
Old Luke had the nerve to ask me out for coffee yesterday. Old Luke most assuredly has the nerve to bother me at seven thirty on a business day. If it’s him, I can’t promise I won’t punch him in the nose.
I head over to the front door. I can see my guest through the glass. It’s not Luke. It’s worse. I contemplate turning my back on Macy and walking away. Let her stand there and ding the dumb doorbell. I’m in no mood to commiserate about my cheating ex. Because that’s why she’s here, right?
On the off chance that she’s not here to complain about Luke, I unlock the door and open it, but I don’t move. My body language clearly reads “you are not invited into my personal space.”
“Hey,” Macy says. She’s shorter than me. Her hair is blond and thin, the ends broken off haphazardly.
“Hello.”
“Luke didn’t send me here. His mom told me where you work.”
“I’m not open yet.”
“I know. I’m getting ready to leave town.”
A toddler appears from behind her legs. He looks up at me with doe eyes while he sucks on his fingers.
My heart softens a bit.
I still don’t invite her in.
“Listen,” Macy continues, “Luke’s not a bad guy. Yesterday was all me. I drove across country and surprised him. We were a thing back in L.A. I faked being pregnant with his kid and then it all fell apart.”
My eyebrows slide up my forehead.
“Yeah. I cheated on him.”
Shock trickles down my neck and arms.
“Anyway. So, for nine months, he thought Gabe was his, and...” Macy looks down at her son. “He’s not. We broke up at the hospital, but I was unemployed with a baby. He didn’t want me to struggle, so he sent me money every month. He has beenfor the last couple of years. Sometimes when I need a bit extra, I’ve just been texting him. He’s never turned me down. I guess, I thought since he was being so nice, he still had some feelings for me.” Macy scoffs at her own comment.
My thoughts are fragmented. The kid isn’t Luke’s. Macy isn’t his girl on the side. Luke’s charitable heart kept Macy from the poor house. Luke took care of a little boy that wasn’t even his, after being lied to for nine months and having his heart broken.
Why didn’t he tell me all this?
This sounds like the new Luke.
“I lied to him and told him I needed five thousand dollars to fix my transmission. I used it to cut ties with L.A. and drive out here to surprise Luke. As you can guess... Well, maybe you can’t because you left before he cussed me out—he wasn’t happy.”
I take a deep breath. Fatigue wears on me, a heavy relaxed sensation. Not the tired-wired of last night. “How do I know you’re not lying? How do I know he didn’t set this up?”
Macy picks up Gabe and supports him with her hip. “I guess that’s up to you to decide. I can tell you he never cheated on me. He supported me through my pregnancy. We decorated a nursery together. He was all in.”