Three Little Words (Fool's Gold #12)(75)

“She wasn’t your friend,” he murmured, holding on tight and wishing that was enough. “A real friend would never do this to you.”

“I kn-know.” Her voice caught as she burrowed into him. “That makes it worse. I lost my business dream and a friend all in the same conversation. Why didn’t she tell me before? Why didn’t she hint?”

She drew back and stared at him. “Is it me? Did I make this happen?”

He felt her pain and wanted to rip out his own heart, if that would help. He wanted to find the Sonia bitch and— He swore, knowing he couldn’t take out his temper on a civilian. Especially a woman.

“It’s not you,” he told her, touching the side of her face. “You did what the two of you agreed to. You followed the rules.”

“I keep doing that,” she said dully. “And getting screwed. Maybe I need a new plan.”

She got up and walked to the window. She crossed her arms over her chest and turned back to him. “Have you ever wanted something this much, only to lose it?”

He rose and shook his head.

“It sucks,” she told him. “It sucks a lot.”

He believed her and a part of him envied her ability to feel that kind of passion. Because the truth was he’d never wanted anything all that much. What he desired came easily, and when he was tired of it, he walked away. He’d done it all his life. A revelation that didn’t help Isabel at all.

* * *

ISABEL TURNED BACK to the window. Ford didn’t have any answers, and she should stop badgering him for them. She was about to tell him she would be fine, when someone knocked on the door.

“I’ll get it,” Ford said quickly and hurried to the front of the house. Seconds later he reappeared with Patience at his side.

Isabel brushed away her tears. “Calling in reinforcements?”

He shrugged. “I was afraid I couldn’t handle it.”

“You did great.”

Patience hurried to her. “What happened? Are you okay?”

Isabel told her about the call and what Sonia had said.

“That’s unbelievable,” her friend said. “What a bitch.”

“That seems to be the general consensus.”

Patience led Isabel to the sofa, then looked at Ford. “I’m okay to stay the rest of the day.” She turned back to Isabel. “He’s getting that trapped, uncomfortable look.”

“I’m not,” he said defensively.

Isabel managed a smile. “You did great. Thank you.”

“You sure?”

“Very.”

She crossed to him and kissed him. “Thank you for not running screaming from the room while I was crying.”

He hugged her. “I’m sorry.”

“I know.”

“See you later?”

She nodded and he left. “Want some tea?” she asked her friend. “It seems to be the right thing to do in a crisis. Make tea.”

“Sure.”

They went into the kitchen. Isabel put water on to boil and dug out a selection of tea bags. Patience found two mugs and put them on the counter.

“Now start at the beginning.”

Isabel repeated the phone call, then sucked in a breath. “It’s so unfair. I’ve been calling her for a few weeks now and I never heard back. I should have guessed something was up. But Sonia would often get busy and disappear. She was posting on Facebook, so I knew she was okay. I thought it was a creative thing. I didn’t get that she was screwing me the whole time.”

She felt her eyes start to burn. “I was so sure we were going to make something brilliant together. Start our business and take the fashion world by storm. Maybe not hurricane strength, but at least a decent wind event.”

She tried to smile, but her mouth refused to cooperate. “I feel like an idiot.”

Patience moved closer and touched her arm. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“That’s what Ford said.”

“He’s right. You trusted a friend and she betrayed you. If she was having second thoughts, she should have said something.”

The water started to boil. Isabel poured it into the two mugs. Patience dropped in the tea bags.

“It’s the second half of a one-two punch,” Isabel admitted. “There’s also the humiliation factor. My husband leaves me for another man, and my business partner dumps me for someone with more money. I’m the common denominator, so I must be doing something wrong.”

“You’re not,” Patience insisted. “You’re trusting people you love. If they betray you, the fault is theirs. You and Sonia had a deal. She broke it. I know it sounds harsh, but maybe it’s better to find this out before you put your money on the line. She sounds like the kind of person who would run off at any point in the deal. What if you’d opened the store and then she’d left?”

Isabel hadn’t thought of that. “I would have been left with a store and no designer.”

“Exactly. That would suck more.”

They walked back into the living room and sat down.

“I’m so confused,” Isabel admitted. “About what I’m supposed to do now. How am I going to trust anybody? But I also know not trusting isn’t a good thing, either. I don’t want to live my life in a cave, bitter and scared of how someone might hurt me.”