BONNIE WOULD BE sure to note that Blue Springs Hospital was thankfully only five miles away from the house on Greenbriar if she listed it for Aaron after the renovation. It also only took eight minutes to get there when the person driving went a tad over the speed limit. Had it been any farther away, things may have ended much differently for her father, who had gone into anaphylactic shock in the car.
“Can I get you something to drink?” she offered Aaron once they got her dad back home. She pulled a can of soda out of the refrigerator for her dad. “He’s got some soda and lemonade in here.”
“I’ll just have some water,” he replied. “Which cabinet houses the glasses? I can get it myself.”
Bonnie pointed at the right one before running the can of soda out to her dad, who was resting on the couch in the living room.
Aaron handed her a glass of water when she returned. “Thanks,” she said, grateful that he’d thought about her. She drank the glass down. Who knew that fearing for her father’s life would make her so parched?
“I never would have guessed that your dad would be the first one we’d have to run to the hospital. My money was definitely on me.”
Bonnie let out a soft laugh. “My money would have been on you, too.”
Aaron placed a hand on her shoulder. “I’m glad he’s okay. That was more intense than I was prepared for. I can only imagine how scary it was for you.”
“Way too intense for me. Maybe a power higher than Lauren was trying to tell me something. Maybe we shouldn’t go into business together.” Bonnie had never experienced such panic. The helplessness she had felt when her dad’s lips swelled and he could barely breathe was like no other. All she could think was that this was some sort of bad omen.
Tipping his chin down, Aaron frowned. “A wasp nest is not a sign. It’s a nuisance like the mice. That house needs us. I mean, first, it needs some other people to come in and get rid of the mice and wasps, but then it needs us.”
He was funny, so gorgeous, and he’d been so sweet to her. Still, there was this lingering feeling of dread in the pit of her stomach. There were so many reasons not to work with Aaron.
“I can’t get this darn thing off,” her dad said, walking into the kitchen tugging at his hospital bracelet. His gray comb-over was sticking up instead of slicked down.
“Here, let me get it.” Bonnie retrieved the kitchen shears from the wood block on his counter. She snipped off the plastic band, and he rubbed his wrist.
“What house are we going to go look at after lunch?” he asked.
“Dad, you almost died. You’re staying home.”
He hitched up his pants and shook his head. “Relax, Bon Bon. I’m fine. A couple bee stings aren’t going to take me out.”
“That doesn’t mean you don’t need to take it easy.”
“I’ll take it easy when I’m six feet under,” he argued.
Bonnie could feel her blood pressure rising. “Do you want that to be sooner or later?”
“I already decided I’m putting in an offer on the Greenbriar house.” Aaron stepped between the bickering father and daughter. “We don’t need to look at anything else, David. We can spend the rest of the day brainstorming ideas from the comfort of your living room.”
“Okay, sounds good. What’s for lunch?”
Taking a deep breath, Bonnie let her fists unclench. Her father was so infuriating and stubborn. She could have pleaded with him to rest until she was blue in the face and he still would have refused. Thankfully, Aaron was here to save the day.
“Should I run out and pick something up?” Aaron asked.
“We have plenty of food here.” Bonnie couldn’t allow herself to depend on him to always swoop in. Even though it was nice to have someone supporting her when it seemed like the rest of the world had turned their backs on her, she couldn’t count on it to last. Lauren would see to that at some point.
Aaron let out a slight snicker.
“What’s so funny?”
“Nothing. I just thought of something Lauren used to say.”
“About?”
“About how she liked to come over to your house when you guys were little because your mom always made all your meals. She said you guys never went out, even on special occasions.”
Bonnie suspected that Lauren didn’t say she liked coming over to eat her mom’s food but rather shared how sad it was that the poor Windsors lived the way they did. Bonnie had never felt embarrassed to have Lauren over until they were teenagers and she could truly appreciate how different their life situations really were.
The Windsors did not live like the Coles. There hadn’t been a room in her house that Bonnie would’ve called formal. Her mom had never asked anyone to take off their shoes when they came inside because a little dirt never hurt anything. A white-glove test would have revealed some dust for sure. And unlike at Lauren’s house, where they’d had a personal chef make all of their meals, Bonnie’s mom had always done the cooking.
“I’m sure Lauren loved to tell you all about how she used to have to slum it over at my house growing up.”
Aaron’s brows pinched together. “Slum it? Are you kidding me?”
“You guys had Byron, who had cooked for the queen of England. I don’t think my mom’s chili really competed.”
“He may have cooked for kings and queens, but Byron wouldn’t make something called a PBM sandwich, though. It was Lauren’s absolute favorite, and not a fluffernutter sandwich as I wrongly assumed once.”
Bonnie’s heart ached a bit at the memory. Her mom had made peanut butter and marshmallow sandwiches quite often, because they were a family favorite. Her mom would use her cookie cutters to make them into different shapes depending on the time of year. Hearts in February, shamrocks in March, pumpkins in October.
“PBM sandwiches are the best,” her dad chimed in. “You got any marshmallows at your house, Bon Bon? I could really go for a PBM for lunch.”
She did not have any marshmallows, and seeing that she was banned from the local market, she had no desire to drive to the next town over to get some. She was hungry now. “I’ll try to remember to pick some up the next time I’m in Morris. You’ve got plenty of turkey here to make a few sandwiches.”
“Why don’t we go grab some marshmallows downtown?” Aaron asked naively. “We can be back in minutes.”
“Because your sister has informed all Cole-run businesses to refuse me service.”
Aaron’s eyebrows shot up. “What?”
Bonnie shrugged. Did he not understand the extremes to which Lauren was willing to go?
He took her by the hand and tugged her out of the kitchen toward the front door. “We’re going to change that right now.”
“Aaron—”
“Bonnie. That’s wrong. I will not allow my family’s businesses to start discriminating against people.”
“Stop,” she said, trying to hold her ground but losing. “Are you planning on accompanying me everywhere I go so that you can order people to do the opposite of what your sister and father told them?”
“If I have to.”
It was sweet of him to offer, but unrealistic. It was clear that he wouldn’t be deterred today, however. She got in the car and let him drive her over to the market. She followed behind him, waiting for someone who worked there to notice her and alert the manager. Aaron had been walking with such purpose until they got inside.
He turned around with a chagrined expression. “Honestly, I have no idea where anything is in this store. Do you know where the marshmallows are?”
Cooking the food wasn’t Byron’s only responsibility. The Coles didn’t shop for groceries.
“Aisle four,” she replied, trying to hold back her smile.
He took her by the hand and led her to aisle four. Scanning the shelves, he grabbed two bags. “Miniature or jumbo size?”
“Miniature.”
He tossed her the correct bag and set the other one back on the shelf. “Let’s check out. I dare someone to say something to you.”
Just as they exited the baking aisle, Cal was heading their way. The look of determination on his face when he saw Bonnie quickly morphed into one of confusion when he noticed Aaron by her side.
“Bonnie. Aaron.”
“Cal,” Aaron said with a tilt of his head. “How’s it going?”
“It’s going. Is there anything I can help you find today?”
Aaron shook his head. “I don’t need anything. Bonnie’s here to get some marshmallows.”
“I see that,” Cal said, seemingly torn about how to handle this. “I thought we talked about the predicament I’m in here, Bonnie.”
“Oh, you made yourself very clear,” she replied. “But Aaron really wanted me to buy these marshmallows here, so...”
The three of them stood in the middle of the main aisle in some sort of weaponless standoff. Bonnie wasn’t sure if she should simply walk past him or wait for him to take the marshmallows away. No one seemed to know what the next move was. The tension made Bonnie’s stomach ache. She wasn’t good with confrontation, and she hated the fact that Lauren was forcing people to do just that to her on the regular now.
Aaron broke the silence. “Well, her dad is waiting for his lunch. It was good to see you, Cal.” He placed his hand on Bonnie’s back and gave her a gentle push forward.
Bonnie stepped forward, maintaining eye contact with Cal the whole time. She tightened her grip on the marshmallows, certain he would snatch them if given a chance.
“Does your sister know you two are shopping together?” he asked as they moved past him.
“Does that matter?” Aaron asked, his tone challenging Cal to say yes.
“Honestly? I’m not sure. All I know is I have clear instructions when it comes to Bonnie, and you being here with her makes it difficult for me to know what to do.”
“I wish doing the right thing wasn’t difficult with or without me here,” Aaron said. “Refusing to provide service to a perfectly upstanding member of our community isn’t right. You should feel more conflicted about which tie to wear in the morning than if Bonnie should be able to buy these marshmallows.”
Bonnie stared at Aaron’s handsome face and a rush of those feelings she’d been having earlier hit her with even more force. He made her feel warm from the inside out. The way he defended her so effortlessly made her almost believe that everything might be okay one of these days. Her gaze shifted to poor Cal. It had been difficult for him to turn her away yesterday, but the man had a family to support and a boss who was telling him to shun her. She didn’t hold him responsible for Lauren’s maliciousness. People did what Lauren told them to do. It had been that way the entire time they had been friends.
In sixth grade, Lauren had told everyone in the entire school to wear pink on her birthday because it was her favorite color. Boy or girl, it didn’t matter—the expectation was to wear pink. Every single one of them showed up to school wearing something pink. That was the kind of social power Lauren wielded.
Nothing had changed all these years later. People did what she asked them to do. They didn’t ask why they had to do it, they simply obeyed.
Everyone except Aaron.
AS LONG AS Aaron had anything to say about it, Bonnie was not walking out of this store without those marshmallows. He understood that Cal was only doing what he was told, but didn’t people have a conscience? Was there anyone in this town willing to push back against something so unfair and ridiculous?
“Maybe you could be the one to buy the marshmallows instead of Bonnie,” Cal suggested as they made their way to the checkout.
Aaron hated that idea, but Bonnie clearly wanted to avoid any more attention. “Smart,” she said, slapping the bag against his chest for him to take.
“No,” he said, handing them back. “The whole point of coming here was to show them they shouldn’t discriminate against you.”
“Let’s not make a scene and let’s not make things harder for Cal, who has a family to support and can’t afford to lose his job because someone, otherwise known as your sister, finds out that he sold me marshmallows.”
“Yeah, let’s not do that,” Cal said, anxiously tugging on the blue-striped tie around his neck.
Cowards. They were all cowards. Lauren wouldn’t do that. She was using fear to control, but Aaron knew deep down that she was harmless. “She’s not going to fire anyone over marshmallows.”
“Are you very handy, Cal?” Bonnie asked, her hand on her hip and her head cocked to the side. She held the bag of marshmallows out. “Because if you sell me these, you could end up like my father, who Mr. Cole fired for basically being related to me. Thankfully, Aaron is here to hire anyone his dad and sister fire to help him renovate houses, but you need to be handy. Are you handy?”
Point taken. Maybe his family wasn’t as harmless as he thought. He snatched the bag out of her hand. “Fine. I’ll buy them, but I want everyone in this store to know these are for Bonnie Windsor, because she isn’t the reason my sister didn’t get married.”
Several shoppers stopped and stared as he strode to the front of the store and checked out. He had to end this nonsense and the only way to do that was to talk to Lauren. After he ate lunch with the Windsors, he was going to do just that.
“Did you bring a reusable shopping bag, sir? Or did you want to purchase one?” the young man bagging the groceries asked.
Aaron seized the bag of marshmallows from the boy. “She doesn’t need a bag.” He handed the cashier a five-dollar bill and tossed the marshmallows to Bonnie while he waited for his change. The least she could do was carry them out of the store.
“Good job not making a scene,” she said as they exited the store.
“This better be the best sandwich I have ever had in my entire life.”
Bonnie’s laughter was almost worth his frustration. “I fear that expectations may be too high at this point.”
She was wrong. PBM sandwiches were the greatest invention known to man. It was like a s’more with peanut butter instead of chocolate that was smashed between two slices of bread instead of graham crackers. They were broiled in the oven just long enough to toast the layer of mini marshmallows and begin to melt the thick layer of peanut butter Bonnie had spread on there. Aaron and her dad both ate two.
“I completely understand why Lauren loved these,” he said, taking his last bite. At least Aaron could relate to his sister on this one particular subject.
Bonnie shook her head. “I can’t believe she actually talked about PBM sandwiches. I always assumed nothing compared to what you ate at home. I remember thinking the best thing in the world were the sundaes we used to eat at your house that were served in those huge glass bowls.”
“Those were good, and I’m sure Lauren enjoyed them. I think she loved PBM sandwiches so much more because they were made with love by your mom. Everything Lauren does is because she desperately wants people to love her. Byron could add sprinkles to ice cream sundaes, but he never added any love.”
He watched as Bonnie let that sink in. Truthfully, he was trying to make her feel a little bad for his sister. No one knew better than he did that they hadn’t exactly grown up in the most emotionally warm family, and that had affected Lauren more than him. Based on her expression, he could see there was still some hope Bonnie might find it in her heart to someday forgive his sister for what she’d done.
She wiped a bit of peanut butter from the corner of her mouth with her napkin. “Lauren may want to be loved, but she needs to learn that you have to give to receive.”
“True.” He couldn’t disagree. Lauren was much better at getting than giving. Aaron still wanted to believe that Lauren loved Bonnie even if she had a terrible way of showing it.
Aaron’s phone rang. Caller ID told him it was his father, who only called for one of two reasons: to tell Aaron to do something or to tell him to stop doing something. Given Aaron’s life choices recently, either reason had potential today.
“Dad?”
“My office in fifteen minutes, or else.” That was all he said before hanging up. He didn’t even give Aaron a chance to respond.
“Everything okay?” Bonnie asked as Aaron slid his phone back into his pocket.
“I have been summoned to my father’s office. ASAP.”
Bonnie gave him a sympathetic smile. “There are so many things you could be in trouble for doing today. I tried to warn you.”
“It’ll be fine,” he said, more to convince himself than her. “Maybe I won’t go. What can he do to me?”
David chuckled at Aaron’s unconvincing bravado. “I don’t think you want to find out, son. If I was you, I would go.”
Internally, Aaron groaned. He knew he would have to face the music at some point. It was discouraging that it hadn’t taken very long.
“I guess we’ll discuss plans for the house when I finish having a very grown-up conversation with my father about how I am an adult who can make his own decisions.” Aaron placed his plate by the sink. “I wish he’d just chastise me over the phone rather than make me drive over there and back.”
“Good luck,” both Windsors said as he reluctantly left.
He hated how little impact asserting himself had on his father. It didn’t matter that he’d quit and no longer worked for him—if Walter Cole wanted Aaron in his office pronto, Aaron was expected to be there. It was going to take some practice saying no when being the cooperative child had been his MO for so long.
His father’s assistant gave him the same sad smile Bonnie had. “He’s ready for you.”
Of course he was. He probably had scheduled this ten-minute tirade into his day between brokering a deal with some foreign investors and a call to someone on his board of directors. Aaron stepped into the massive corner office. The views from his dad’s office were some of the best in all of Blue Springs. It was too bad the old man never took a moment to appreciate it.
The elder Cole sat behind his immense mahogany desk. Everything about the office screamed power and wealth. His chair was more like a brown leather throne on wheels, which sat much higher than the stationary ones on the other side of the desk. Pictures of Walter with important people hung on the walls alongside the awards and achievements he had earned over the years. Aaron realized there wasn’t one photo of the family.
“How’s it going, Dad?” Aaron took a seat across from his dad. “Did you need my help hiring my replacement? You do know I don’t work here anymore, right?”
“I don’t have time for your smart mouth. You need to call off whatever deal you made with David Windsor. You are not going to work with him. It upsets your sister, who in turn upsets your mother. I don’t want to deal with your mother being upset. I have enough on my plate since you decided to abandon the family business.”
Aaron tried not to laugh. It was hilarious to hear his dad speak about him as if he was so essential to the company’s success. “Well, maybe it’s time Mom stopped letting Lauren dictate how she should feel. Just because Lauren is deflecting her anger onto Bonnie instead of onto Mitch, doesn’t mean we all have to follow in her foolish footsteps.”
His father slammed his fist down on the desk. “I don’t care who you think or don’t think is to blame. Your sister was humiliated in front of everyone she knows in the most egregious way possible. You act like it’s no big deal and she should just get over it.”
“I’m not trying to downplay what happened.” He hadn’t meant to come off as dismissive of Lauren’s feelings. It was everyone’s lack of care for Bonnie’s. “I understand that what Mitch did was terrible. But do you get that it was Mitch who did this to Lauren, not Bonnie? Have you blackballed the Bennetts as well? When Mitch comes back from France, will he not be able to buy bread at the market?”
His father leaned back in his chair. “You will not do business with either of the Windsors. I have a call with New York. You can go now that we’re clear.”
Aaron could feel his heart thumping in his chest. He had to remind himself he didn’t work for his father anymore. “Or what?”
His dad set his phone down. “Excuse me?”
“I won’t do business with them or what?” Aaron couldn’t imagine what threat his dad could actually pose.
His father simply answered, “Or you’ll force me to choose between your happiness and your sister’s.”
Aaron would have asked what that meant, but his father was clearly finished with him. He picked up his phone and dialed someone in New York.
Reasoning with his father was pointless. This wasn’t only about the Windsors and Lauren’s hurt feelings. This was about getting what he wanted. His father wanted him to come back and work for Cole Industries. Instead of supporting him in what he wanted to do with his life, Aaron’s father was willing to go out of his way to see to it that his son failed. The reality of that was worse than anything he could actually do to him.