It's a Fugly Life (Fugly #2)(45)

“Thank you, Dr. Monroe. See you next week.”



When I got home, I took a deep breath and decided it was time to call Max, like Dr. Monroe said. It went into voice mail, so I called Keri.

“Lily! Ohmygod. Where have you been?”

“I’m in California,” I replied.

“You have to come back. I can’t put everything off any longer and people need to get paid. There are also five different store leases we’re about to lose if someone doesn’t sign.”

“Where’s Max?”

“Gone—he took off again last week.”

“Why didn’t you call me?”

The awkward silence on the other end of the line made my skin crawl.

“Keri?”

She sighed. “He told me not to. He said he’d really f*cked things up this time and to leave you alone—something about causing you enough damage.”

Huh? “This makes no sense.”

“Please, Lily. You have to come back. I gave up a great job to work here, and I can’t afford to be unemployed again.”

I knew I was partly to blame for her losing her job earlier this year after CC was sold.

Crap. “I don’t know if I can—I mean…it’s complicated, Keri.”

“It’s not complicated, Lily. You own this company—yes, I know about it because I helped the lawyer with some of the paperwork. This is your vision, Lily, and we’re all behind you, but we need you. Max is…he’s…”

“What? He’s what?” A giant jerk-faced creep?

“I’ve worked for him for years,” she said. “I’ve never seen him like this. Before he left last week he was all…broken. Completely broken.”

I whooshed out a breath. Something had happened to him, but what? My gut told me it had to do with his sister. “Do you have any idea where he is? Did he take his plane anywhere?”

“He’s back in Buenos Aires. He said he’d return in a day or two, but even if he did, which he didn’t, he’d be in no shape to run things. Every time I talk to him, he tells me everything will have to wait. He’s a mess. Please, Lily. I’m begging you. This isn’t about you and Max. It’s about all of us and our families.”

I groaned and then looked up at the ceiling. I was sure my mother would be happy to work at the store for another week—she seemed to love it, and she’d been having fun getting all of her friends to come by for fresh baked cookies and coffee, book club meetings, knitting lessons, and anything else she could think of to get folks to come and hang out in the store. “Seeing the store full makes more people want to come in and shop,” she’d said a few days ago with a perky smile. And she’d been right. The numbers didn’t lie. Of course, I had no clue where I’d land with the building, which was now tied to Max.

“Okay,” I finally said. “I’ll come. Can you check on a flight for—” There was a knock at my door. “Hold on, Keri.” I walked over and opened it, not expecting to see the stout green-eyed woman who stood there. “Mrs. Ferrari?”

The woman’s eyes looked puffy and the tip of her nose was red. She’d been crying.

“Leely, we must speak.”

“Uh, sure. Come in.” I lifted the phone to my ear. “Keri, I have to go, but if you can help me find a flight, that would be great.”

“I’ve already found one while we were talking. It leaves out of Santa Barbara in an hour.”

I debated for a moment. “Sure. Okay.”

“I’ll text you the details—thank you, Lily. You’re not only saving my ass but everyone who works here now.”

“See you soon.” I ended the call and turned to Mrs. Ferrari. She wore a flowery white and purple dress and had her brown and silver streaked hair pulled back into a bun. Compared to my own mother, she looked much older—more like a grandma than a mom. I guessed from the size of Patricio’s family, she’d started having babies young and didn’t stop until she had Patricio in her forties.

“Please have a seat.” I gestured to the little couch in my living room slash dining room. “Can I get you a glass of water or some coffee?”

She sat and held out her hand. “No. No, thank you. I won’t be long. I only came to speak frankly with you, from a mother’s heart.”

“Did you drive here by yourself?”

“Yes.”

“To see me?” I ran my hand nervously over my ponytail.

“Yes.”

I took a seat in the armchair. “What’s going on?” From the torn-up look on her face, it couldn’t be good.

“Patricio has told me about his lies.”

He did? Shocking. I’d half expected him to wait until she was home or on her deathbed before he ever came clean.

I folded my hands neatly in my lap. “I see.”

“Dis is why I am here, Leely. I know that my boy has his beeg head up his *. But he loves you, Leely. And he is a good, good boy. Do not listen to the lies these garbage people Coles tell you. They are low and despicable with no morals.”

Errrr… “Did Patricio send you here to say that?”

“No!” She shook her finger at me. “He thinks I went out for a walk on the beach. His car is crap, by the way, these German things drive like lumps of butter sliding down a cold river.”