Page 61 of Yours, Always
“I’m going to skip the coffee tonight and just have a cupcake.”
“Although that wounds me to my mortal soul, I’ll allow you to skip the coffee. You, Greyson?”
“I don’t want to wound anyone’s soul, so I’ll have a small black and a cupcake.”
Devlin held her hand to her chest. “Oh, this one’s a keeper, Pru.”
“I know how lucky I am.” Prudence took their cupcakes. “Will we see you at the parade tomorrow?”
“Yep! I’ll be there after the breakfast rush. I finally was able to hire an extra person to help around the shop.”
“Hey, good for you, I’m glad things are going so well.” Greyson’s tone was genuine.
“You and me, both. I’m getting ready to put an offer in on the shop next door.” Devlin grinned, clearly oblivious to the look Greyson shot Prudence as she waved goodbye.
Prudence and Greyson wandered around the street fair playing carnival games and eating fried food. “I know I didn’t want coffee,” Prudence explained later, while they were sitting at a picnic bench, “but I could use something to drink. Did you want anything from the lemonade stand?”
“That sounds great. I still can’t believe it’s so warm.”
“It really is the perfect end to the Fall Festival. I’ll be right back.”
Greyson leaned over to kiss her. “I’ll be right here.”
As Prudence stood in line at the lemonade stand, she felt a prickle at the back of her neck. She turned around to see what was bothering her and froze in place as she saw Greyson, standing, another woman’s arms around his neck. The other woman was none other than movie starlet Samantha Crane.
Prudence wasn’t the jealous type—she never had been. It was a wasted emotion if there ever was one, at least she used to think so until it hit her square in the chest. Seeing Greyson that close to Samantha Crane after their last few days together stung. She tried to shake herself out of it, but she couldn’t help sensing there was something Greyson hadn’t told her.
Against her better judgment, she got out of line and skirted around the back of the vendor trucks, keeping out of sight. When she was finally close enough to hear them, her heart stopped. Samantha’s arms were still around Greyson’s neck and snippets of her words reached Prudence, through the blaring music of the street dance.
“…you’re the only thing that keeps my world spinning…thought of what it would be like to come home to you, to kiss you, to hold you, to make love to you…absolutely nothing I wouldn’t do for you…what I need to do to call you mine.” Samantha Crane leaned in and kissed Greyson. Prudence’s vision blurred, tunneling into near blackness.
The speech. The grand speech Greyson had given her the night of his concussion was currently being repeated back to him by Samantha Crane.What the fuck is going on? Prudence turned and stumbled away, her arms in front of her, trying to catch herself as she fell to the ground, knees scraping on the concrete, tripped by a wire. She looked behind her to see Greyson’s eyes widen and saw him mouth her name. Horrified, she pulled herself up and kept running.
It has all been all a lie. Why the fuck would he want to be with small-town Prudence when he had a movie star waiting in California for him? She needed to get away, run away from the image of Samantha Crane kissing Greyson. Dodging dancers and revelers alike, Prudence spotted Annabelle taking pictures at the haunted house. She ran to her, the sound of witch’s laughter followed her, a mocking sound, sure that they were ridiculing her for ever thinking she’d be good enough for Greyson Atwood.
“Prudence, what’s wrong?” Annabelle exclaimed. Prudence could feel the panicked desperation on her face.
“Greyson,” Prudence gasped, out of breath. “I need to be gone from here, now.”
Annabelle didn’t even ask any questions. “Go to Devlin’s. No one else knows where she lives, and hewillcome for you.” Prudence spotted Greyson far off in the crowd, searching. “Go! I’ll call her and let her know you’re coming.”
Prudence turned and ran to the street, only slowing after she’d turned the corner. It was only a few blocks to Books and Beans, and Devlin lived in the loft above her shop. She pressed the buzzer and the door clicked immediately. She pulled it open to see Devlin at the top of the stairs. “Oh, Pru, what happened?”
Prudence burst into tears.
* * * *
Annabelle came into Devlin’s loft, looking like she needed vengeance, and she clearly needed it badly. She held a large, bound ream of paper. “I found this,” she slammed it on the coffee table, making both Devlin and Prudence jump. “I went to your place, Pru, to grab some things and I found this.” She stabbed her finger toward the offending paper. “It’s a script.”
“Yes, Nadia sent him a script to read while he was here”—her breath caught—“for a movie he’s supposed to do with Samantha Crane.” She picked it up and started to page through it. “A small-town romance?” she asked. Yellow sticky notes were plastered to the pages. ‘Scout locations then bring Sam in’,‘Is Samantha okay with nudity?’,‘Steamy sex scene, how much to show’. She turned a page and her breath stopped completely as she read the all-caps note: ‘PRACTICE MONOLOGUE’. It was the speech. The same speech he’d so lovingly given her the night of his concussion…the same speech she’d heard Samantha Crane utter to him just as lovingly before kissing him.
Then, Devlin was pounding on her back. “Breathe, Pru, you need to breathe.”
Prudence let out a gasping breath, trying to suck in lungfuls of air, even as she was getting lightheaded.I’m going to pass out. Scooting lower on the couch, she lay her head on Devlin’s lap.
“What kind of game is he playing with me?” Prudence questioned, after catching her breath. “Was it research, pretending to want to be with me so he could immerse himself in the role?” She knew how wrong it sounded even as she said it, but the proof was right there on Devlin’s table.
A still standing Annabelle took a seat in a chair next to the couch, her own anger deflating, shaking her head. “Script or not, this doesn’t make any sense, Prudence. None of it does. I’ve seen the way Greyson is with you. If that was faking it, he’s the best damn actor that’s ever lived.”