Cassandra packed the last of her things in her suitcase. She still had time before her ride came to get her to take her to the airport, but she was restless. She’d considered a walk on the beach but really thought the safest, Delbert-proof place to be was inside the cottage.
She heard a rap at the door. Probably Violet checking to see if she needed anything. The woman had done such a great job remodeling the cottages. The resort was lovely and welcoming. If she ever did decide to come to Moonbeam again… and she wasn’t sure that would ever happen… she’d stay here at Blue Heron Cottages again.
She walked over and pulled open the door.
Livy stood there with two coffees. “Hi. I didn’t get to really talk to you last night, so I figured I’d bring you coffee this morning. Catch up with you before you leave.”
She reached for the coffee. “Thank you.” How was she going to escape Livy’s questions this time?
“Come out and let’s sit on the porch.” Livy motioned to the cushioned chairs.
She glanced each direction, knowing it was silly to worry that Del would just suddenly pop up at the cottages, and walked outside.
They settled into the chairs, and Livy stretched out her legs before turning to look at her, her expression insincerely innocent. “So… how are you doing? I heard you and Del aren’t seeing each other anymore. What happened?”
That didn’t take her long. “It just didn’t work out.” She was going to leave it at that and see if she could dodge the subject.
Livy looked at her closely. “Why not?”
She sighed. Her newfound family wasn’t much at leaving things alone when they wanted answers. “We live across the country from each other. We each have our jobs. Our homes in separate states.”
“They’ve invented this thing called the airplane. You might have taken one here to come to the wedding.” Livy rolled her eyes. “That’s not it.”
“You’re not going to let this go, are you?” Though she knew Livy wasn’t really prying. She was just concerned.
“Hey, Parker women never give up. So, what is it? What went wrong? Are you sure you can’t work things out?”
Livy looked so hopeful, but there was no hope for her and Del. “I… there are just some things that I can’t tolerate in a man.”
Livy frowned. “I can’t imagine what Del could ever do that you couldn’t tolerate. He does work long hours… but so do you. It’s not that, is it?”
She sighed, knowing that Livy wasn’t going to drop it. And really, she kind of needed someone to talk to about it. She’d told no one. Not Ted. Nobody. “It’s… I heard why Camille and Del broke up. She told me. He cheated on her. I just cannot go out with a cheater. Waiting for it to happen to me… again. Not after going through it with my ex-boyfriend.”
Livy’s eyes widened, and she set her cup down with a clatter. “That’s not why they broke up. Not at all. And I can’t imagine why she’d tell you that. Del is not the cheating type. And it’s obvious that he’s nuts about you.” Livy’s eyes narrowed. “Exactly what did Camille say?”
“She said that she found out Del cheated on her. With more than one person. And she was so surprised because she was the last to know.” She shrugged. “Exactly like it was with Vincent. I never even had the slightest idea that he was cheating on me. Camille said we women need to stick together, so she told me so it wouldn’t happen to me, too.”
Livy’s expression turned furious, and she reached over and grabbed her arm. “That’s not what happened. Camille is… How should I say this? She’s mean. Stuck up. Thinks she’s better than everyone. She’s… a liar.”
Cassandra stared at Livy. Livy’s impression of Camille did not jibe with hers. The woman had just tried to keep her from getting hurt by Del.
Livy shook her head. “You don’t know her. The real Camille. She was mean to Emily when she was working on the history alcove at The Cabot. I think that was the last straw for Del because he was so proud of Emily and all the work she did. He called it quits with Camille. I think she thought he’d come back to her, but he didn’t. So she showed up at the grand opening and acted like nothing had happened and they were still together. I guess she made a few choice remarks at the grand opening, and Delbert basically threw her out. Reiterated that they were no longer dating.”
Cassandra frowned, trying to digest everything that Livy was saying. A quick memory flashed through her mind of Camille possessively grabbing Del’s arm at the Grand Opening of the Cabot. A blunt remark Camille made about how the Cabots had let the hotel fall into disrepair.
“So, you see. Camille wasn’t trying to do you a favor, woman to woman. She was trying to break up you and Delbert.”
“So… Del broke up with her? Not the other way around?”
“Right.” Livy nodded vigorously. “And really… you know Del. Can you actually imagine him cheating?”
“I didn’t think Vincent, my ex-boyfriend, would cheat either. It’s such a big button with me. I didn’t think I’d ever learn to trust a man again after Vincent. But then I fell in love with Del… and then heard he cheated on Camille.” Though she hadn’t known Vincent as well as she knew Del. She’d known Del for years. Knew him so well…
She rubbed her arms as a cold wave of realization hit her.
No, there is no way that Del cheated on anyone. No way.
How could she have been so foolish?
Regret and embarrassment rushed through her. “Oh, Livy. What have I done? How could I have believed her? Why didn’t I just talk to Del and tell him what Camille said? Let him explain. I should have talked to him.”
“I guess you were scared. Frightened it would happen again like it did with your ex. But Del is different. He’s kind.”
“He’s a wonderful man,” she whispered. “And I’ve ruined everything.”
“You haven’t ruined everything,” Livy grinned. “You know those romance movies where you want to scream at the actors to just go talk and it will all be sorted out? This is me screaming at you to go talk to Del. Head out right now to find him and tell him everything that happened. He’ll understand.”
“I don’t know. I really hurt him. He might not trust me now.” Panic swelled through her at the thought.
“You’ll only know when you get a chance to see him. Go. Talk to him.”
“I will. I’ll try. Thank you for talking to me. Making me tell you what happened.” She jumped up and hugged Livy.
“Hey, that’s what family is for.”
“I’m going to go find him right now.”
Livy grinned. “Perfect. I’m sure you two can work it out.”
“I hope so. I truly hope so.”