Chapter 53: Chapter 53
As soon as he was gone, the tears sprang free. Memory swiped at them with both hands before she slammed her fists into the counter. It all suddenly made sense—Dak had to have known about the house all along! He was never interested in her. He just wanted the house with the perfect ballroom. Beardly was probably an associate of his.
It wasn’t 3:00 yet, but Memory was done. She flew across the room to the door and locked it, flipping the sign as she went, and then switched off the lights, shooting to the back of the building where she could be alone. She went into the stock room and dropped to the floor, her arms tossed over a box, her head buried on top of them. Her shoulders shook as wave after wave of tears rippled through her.
After a few minutes of thinking through the situation, she realized she wasn’t just sad—she was angry. How dare he come in here, to her town, and try to take advantage of her? To pretend to care about her just to get a prized possession of hers? It was all so sick and horrifying, she wouldn’t have even thought him capable of it if she hadn’t been suspicious all along of anyone in his field. Memory swiped at her eyes, rubbing them on the sleeves of her red sweater. Dak didn’t deserve her tears. He was a jerk, and he deserved to be told exactly how she felt about him.
She pulled her phone out of her pocket and saw that she had another missed call from him and another voicemail. She didn’t bother to listen to it. Instead, she pressed his name and cleared her throat, hoping he wouldn’t be able to tell that she’d been crying.
He answered almost immediately. “Hey. Where are you? The store’s locked. Are you okay?”
“What kind of a moron do you think I am?” she blurted, ignoring his questions. “Do you honestly think that one little kiss is enough for me to give up something that’s been in my family for decades? I mean, really, Dak, you’re charming and handsome and all of that, but I’m not some desperate freak! Just because I’m a small town girl, that doesn’t make me so anxious to find any good looking man I’d be willing to sell a piece of my soul!” By the time she finished that sentence, she was out of breath from yelling.
“Memory—what in the world are you talking about? Calm down.”
“Don’t you dare tell me to calm down! I got your message, Dak. And then your friend Corbin showed up with his little contract. Am I going to see your name on there, too, or is it hidden behind some corporate name?”
“Corbin? Beardly? He was there? At the store? Why?”
“Oh, please. I’m sure you have no idea. He said he talked to you this morning. You told me you had some deal to make, and then you call me and say I don’t have to worry about the roof anymore. Well, guess what? I’m not selling! Not to you, not to Corbin, not to anyone. You jerks are all alike. Well, I’m afraid you’re going to have to find someone else to take advantage of because it’s not going to be me!” Her emotions had taken over again, and she was sure anyone listening would’ve thought she’d lost her last marble, not that anyone could hear her in the supply closet. Still, she took a few deep breaths, trying to remind herself to be rational.
He was quiet for a second. “Memory, I understand that you’re emotional right now, that you probably just said goodbye to Ellie. I don’t know what Corbin said to you, but I can assure you, I have nothing to do with him or his firm. The fact that you would think so little of me, after all of the time I’ve spent the last two weeks trying to prove to you who I am, that I’m not like those other developers who swoop in and take advantage of people who are down on their luck, well, it’s a kick in the gut to say the least.”
She was calmer now, but she was still hurt. “I can’t believe you’re still trying to deny it, Dak. Why can’t you just be a man and own up to it?”
He sighed loudly, and she knew he wasn’t going to say what she wanted to hear. Not that she wanted it to be true. Part of her wanted to believe this was all a silly misunderstanding, but she’d known all along there was no way someone like him could really be interested in her. This way made much more sense. “Memory, you said you heard my message. Did you hear my second one, too?”
“What difference does that make?” He was trying to change the subject.
“A lot. Look, I’m not going to admit to anything except I’m very sorry that you’re hurting so much. Are you still here? At the store? Why don’t you let me in, and we can sort this out face to face?”
Memory ran her sleeve across her nose, drippy with tears. Letting him see how hard she’d been crying over him would be humiliating. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Come on, Memory. Don’t do this....”
“Not now. Maybe... maybe... after Christmas.” She dropped her head into her free hand, her hair tangling around her fingers. The fact that she was even considering talking to him again under the circumstances made her hate herself. How could she possibly still be considering finding a way to make this work after what he’d done?
“Fine. I... uh... I’ll leave you alone. But I have something for you. I’ll drop it through the mail slot in the door, with your keys.”
She didn’t say anything, but the angry part of her brain wanted to ask him if it was another copy of the contract Corbin had left.
“You know, Mem, one of these days, you’re going to have to learn to trust people again. I know you’ve been hurt, that you’ve lost people that you love, and that you feel like you aren’t worthy of being loved, but it isn’t true. I don’t want your house. I want you. I am not my money, and what I have doesn’t define who I am. When I’m with you, I’m just Dak, not Dakota Armstrong Brooks IV. And that’s one of the things I love most about you. You’re real. But you’re letting emotions you’ve kept bottled in for far too long cloud your judgment right now, and that’s a shame because I really wanted to spend Christmas with you.” He cleared his throat, and she thought the tears that were running down her cheeks now were probably mirrored on his. “Maybe I’ll get that chance next year. Merry Christmas, Memory.” He hung up, and Memory found herself holding a disconnected phone to her ear for far too long before her emotions took her back to the place she’d been in before she’d called him back, a shuddering, convulsing heap on the floor.