For two days, Laney avoids Bruce. But when he appears at the shop’s back door around five o’clock Wednesday afternoon, she can no longer postpone the inevitable. For the sake of Bruce’s career, she must end their friendship. While Hugh has yet to post the photograph of Laney and Bruce kissing on social media, he’s using it as leverage. He wants Laney to give their marriage another chance, and she’s playing along with him for now.
Laney steps out into the alley. “You can’t be here, Bruce. I’m still being followed.”
“How can you tell?” he asks with concern written on his handsome features.
“Because I’ve been hyperalert. A black sedan has been following me, and I sense someone watching me.” Laney stares down at the ground, kicking at pebbles. “Whatever this thing is between us must end. I owe it to my girls to give my marriage another chance.” As the lie leaves her lips, a sharp pain penetrates her chest.
“So, you’re going back to him, just like that?” Bruce snaps his fingers. “Without even putting up a fight?”
She glares at Bruce. “Technically, I never left him. Besides, with no grounds for divorce, what choice do I have?”
“Don’t do this, Laney. You’re wasting your life and your happiness on a man who doesn’t appreciate you. Run away with me. There are states that allow for quick divorces.”
“But none that will grant me custody of my daughters. I’m sorry, Bruce. If you ask me to choose between you and my girls, they win.”
Bruce leans against the side of the building. “Of course they do. That was insensitive of me. I’m in love with you, Laney. I can’t let you go.”
Her heart skips a beat at the sound of the words she’s longed to hear. But they are meaningless now. “If you really care about me, you’ll leave me alone. You have to trust that this is for the best.” She goes inside the flower shop and locks the door.
Propping herself against the door, she holds back her emotions until she hears Bruce’s truck leave. She sits down at the table and buries her face in her hands. Laney is so tired of crying, so tired of constantly obsessing about her marital problems. With Bruce out of the way, she can put her plan into motion.
She will cook Hugh a nice dinner tonight, make certain he drinks too much, and antagonize him into attacking her. She’s willing to suffer any amount of pain if it means getting rid of him.
The handgun she stole from his gun safe is heavy in her handbag as she locks up for the day. She knows how to shoot the gun, and she’ll use it if necessary to protect herself and her girls.
After stopping by the grocery store, Laney is on her way home about six fifteen when Hugh calls. She’s tempted to let it go to voice mail, but he calls so rarely these days it might be important. She answers with a tentative hello.
“Laney! I’m glad I reached you. I just got a text from Sheldon about a family emergency. We’re meeting at Ada’s wine shop. Get over there as soon as you can.”
“What sort of family emergency?”
“He didn’t say. Something to do with Dad.”
“Don’t drag me into your family drama, Hugh. You go ahead without me. I’ll have dinner waiting when you get home.”
“It’s important we present a united front with my siblings. I’ll see you in a few minutes.” He ends the call before she can argue.
Curious about the family emergency, Laney makes a U-turn and heads back toward Magnolia Avenue.
When the small lot behind Primo Vino is full, Laney parks in front of her flower shop. She crosses the street, and as she approaches Primo Vino, she hears shouting coming from within. She slips in the door unnoticed and inches close to Charles’s wife, Hazel.
“What happened?” she whispers. “Why is everyone so angry?”
Hazel cups her hand over her mouth. “Apparently Daniel was pretending to be dying.”
Laney gasps. “That’s the most twisted thing I’ve ever heard.”
Hazel crosses her eyes. “Right?”
Laney tunes into what Ada is saying. “I’m done with Daniel Love. He’s not my father. Handle this however you want. But leave me out of it.”
When more arguing erupts, Charles takes Hazel by the arm and drags her out the front door. Laney makes her way over to Hugh’s side. She can feel the heat emanating from his body. He’s furious. Daniel’s not dying, which means Hugh won’t be inheriting the vineyard.
“Quiet!” Sheldon shouts over the angry roar. “Everyone, listen up! What Dad has done to us is unacceptable, and we can’t let him get away with it. But we’re too upset to make any major decisions tonight.”
“What do we do when word of his betrayal leaks out?” Casey asks.
“We tell the truth,” Sheldon says. “We shouldn’t cover for him. He’s dug his grave. He has to lie in it.”
Hugh steps forward, speaking for the first time. “I disagree. This will destroy our family’s reputation and put the vineyard in jeopardy.”
“Who else knows about this?” Sheldon asks Ada.
“Only Marabella and her nephew, Claude.”
“I’ll reach out to Marabella in the morning. We can trust her to be discreet. Let’s all keep this to ourselves for now. Go home, and try to get some sleep.” Sheldon takes his pregnant wife by the hand and leads her to the door.
“I’ll see you at home,” Laney says to Hugh and hurries out ahead of him. With Hugh so upset about his inheritance, Laney should easily be able to push him over the edge.
She speeds to the house and quickly unloads her groceries from the car. When Hugh arrives fifteen minutes later, she’s sauteing breaded chicken breasts while guzzling white wine. She figures the beating will hurt less if she’s drunk.
Retrieving a bottle of whiskey from the liquor cabinet, Hugh drops to a bar stool, pours a shot, gulps it down, and pours another. He rants on about his father’s deception, growing louder and drunker and playing right into Laney’s hand. She offers a sympathetic mm-hmm every few minutes while she assembles a chicken Parmesan casserole. She’ll wait a few more minutes before she pokes the bear.
“How could he do this to me?” Hugh cries.
Laney slides the casserole into the oven. “You’re not the only one affected by his actions. You have brothers and sisters. Think about Ada. He tricked her into having her wedding at Love-Struck.”
Hugh jumps to his feet and comes around to her side of the counter. “Ada is no longer a part of this family. She’s not his daughter.”
“Maybe not in the technical sense, but Daniel clearly still thinks of her as his daughter. That’s why he did all this. To get Ada back in his life. He’s gone to extraordinary measures to host her dream wedding.”
Hugh’s jaw tightens. “So what?”
“Admit it, Hugh. That’s why you’re so angry. Because Daniel loves Ada more than you, and she’s not even his daughter.”
A vein at Hugh’s temple pulses. “Shut up, Laney.”
Laney squeezes her eyes shut, preparing herself for the first blow. When nothing happens, she cracks an eyelid to find him drinking whiskey directly from the bottle.
“You have no idea why I’m so angry.” He thrusts the whiskey bottle at her and brown liquid splashes onto her blouse.
Laney blots at her blouse with a kitchen towel. “Then explain it to me,” she says, even though she knows full well what’s driving his fury.
“Dad’s not dying. Which means I’m not getting my inheritance. Which means you don’t get to live at The Nest.”
Laney’s jaw drops with feigned surprise. “I can’t believe you just said that. Is money all you ever think about?”
“Pretty much.” He palms her face. “Money and having sex with you.”
Laney smacks his hand away. “I’m never having sex with you again, Hugh. Get that through your thick head.”
“You’ll feel differently when I’m the King Kahuna at Love-Struck. My siblings will distance themselves from Dad to punish him for his deception. When they do, I’ll use the opportunity to ease my way into his good graces.”
“You’re delusional. Daniel will never pick you over them.”
Hugh’s face beams red and nostrils flare. “Why, you little bitch!”
She tenses her body as she braces for impact. “Go ahead, hit me.”
He throws his head back and lets out a maniacal laugh that sends shivers down her spine. “So that’s what this is all about? You want me to give you a black eye so you can go running to the police.” Grabbing a fistful of her blouse, he pulls her face close to his. “You can antagonize me all you want, but I will never be so stupid as to leave a mark on you.” He shoves her away and then pins her against the counter with his body. “You don’t know who you’re up against, Laney. I will beat you down, and I will eventually get my way. You’ll come running back to me, begging for forgiveness.”
She snatches a knife from the counter behind her. “Don’t hold your breath,” she says, brandishing the knife at his face.
“Don’t do it, Laney. You cut me, you go to jail.”
Laney hears her daughters’ voices in the foyer. Turning her back on Hugh, she returns the knife to the butcher block. Hugh may have won this first battle, but she has every intention of winning the war.