Anger burned her stomach and grew into a raging inferno. She stood, pushing her chair so hard that, despite the thick carpet, it slammed against the wall. Every eye turned in her direction and the new president stopped babbling. Her father raised an imperial eyebrow that in the past would have had her cowering and slinking back into her seat. Not this time. She’d lost everything that mattered. There was nothing more for her to lose.
“Charlotte.” Her father’s tone was severe. Cold. No different from the look in his eyes or the ice encasing his heart.
“I quit.” She glanced at her watch. “Effective three thirteen p.m.”
Her father didn’t blink or acknowledge her words in the slightest. Milton Hayes, an old-timer and the closest thing she had to a friend in the company, nodded once as if agreeing with her move. The new president looked startled and opened his mouth as if to speak, but she no longer had to listen to anyone. Brushing past him, she walked to her office. She had very few personal items there, only a throw on the back of her chair that she used on damp or chilly days to keep her feet warm and an old snapshot of her with her mother and sisters. She dropped the picture into her purse, grabbed the throw and turned off the light.
“Mr. Adams from the First Bank of America is holding on line four,” Anita said when Charlotte approached.
“He is no longer my problem,” Charlotte said, not slowing as she passed the woman who could have been a friend if Charlotte had taken her up on one of her many overtures. Another foolish move she’d made in the futile effort to gain her father’s approval. Charlotte stalked to the elevator then pressed the button several times, anxious to get out of this place.
Finally the elevator door slid open. Blinking back hot tears, she stepped inside. She refused to let even one teardrop fall. She squeezed her eyes shut and breathed deeply until she’d smothered the urge to cry. Crying didn’t change anything; it only gave someone else power over you.
After dumping her belongings onto the passenger seat of her car, she sped out of the garage. Shields Manufacturing was in her past and she wasn’t looking back.
By the time she was sitting on the sofa in her duplex, the anger and numbness had worn off and the magnitude of what she’d done hit her, making her sick to her stomach.
She’d quit her job.
She wasn’t worried about money. She’d invested wisely and lived well within her means. But she’d severed the link to the only family member she had a relationship with. The relationship she’d done everything to hang on to. And it had cost her everything. She’d all but given up her life to earn her father’s love and now knew it had been for nothing. He didn’t care a thing about her and nothing she did would ever change that.
She forced the nausea away. She’d survived worse things and come out a wiser, stronger person. She’d survive this, too.
“Almost there,” Rick Tyler said, infusing his voice with enthusiasm. He stole a look at his brooding ten-year-old stepson then focused back on the road, steering the U-Haul around a curve.
“Big whoop.”
Rick bit back a sigh. To say Bobby had resisted moving from Milwaukee would be an understatement. But then, he’d expected resistance. Bobby had fought Rick tooth and nail about everything since his mother walked out on them a year and a half ago. They hadn’t heard a word from her since and they didn’t have a way of contacting her.
“Sweet Briar is a great place. Even though I grew up in New Jersey, I spent a lot of time here when I was in college. I actually worked at a furniture manufacturing company for a couple of summers.”
“You know how to make furniture?” Bobby asked, his eyes sparking with a hint of interest.
“No. Actually, I worked in the main office.”
The gleam left Bobby’s eyes. Rick couldn’t blame him. Shuffling papers didn’t hold nearly the excitement of using big tools. And his experiences had convinced him that corporate America wasn’t for him. Though Rick had hated the work, he’d enjoyed his time with the boss’s daughter.
Charlotte had been sweet and funny, if a little too eager to please her father, something he’d suffered from as well. They’d gotten close and their fathers had pressured them to get engaged.
Rick knew he shouldn’t have gone along with the plan as long as he had, but things had spun out of control so quickly. It had gone from simple talk to a fait accompli in a matter of weeks. And he had loved Charlotte, even though he hadn’t been in love with her.
As the wedding date drew closer, Rick’s doubts had increased. Their parents were calling all the shots and he had felt trapped.
His father had wanted Rick to join the family business. After all, he would soon have a wife to support. Rick’s dream of going to medical school had been going up in flames in front of his eyes. He’d needed to stop things. He’d tried and tried to get Charlotte to call off the wedding.
When she wouldn’t agree, he hadn’t shown up at the church.
He’d hated hurting her, but he’d been desperate. He’d cared enough about her not to marry her when he’d known he’d only grow to resent her if he couldn’t follow his dreams. In the long run, it had been best for both of them. At least that was what he told himself when the guilt kept him awake at night.
“If it was so great then why didn’t you stay?”
“I’d been accepted to University of Michigan medical school.” His life had moved forward and the town had become a part of his past. But he hadn’t forgotten the time he’d spent with Charlotte. The summer they’d spent in the quaint town had been one of the best of his life. Sweet Briar seemed like the perfect place to start over and raise a family.
Of course, even as he believed it would be good for Bobby, he knew he had some bridges to repair, starting with Charlotte. He’d tried to apologize to her for leaving her at the altar, but he hadn’t succeeded. If he was going to move here, he was going to have to make amends to her. Additionally, he had to prove to the people of the town that he was worthy of being their doctor.
Jake Patterson, his mentor from medical school, had relatives in the area. He’d been the one to mention the town’s needs. The longtime doctor had died three years ago, leaving the people of Sweet Briar to travel to Willow Creek for medical care. Two other doctors had come and gone after him. When Dr. Patterson put Rick’s name forward, he reported back that several members of the town council and a few older residents in town expressed reservations about Rick. They remembered him as the runaway groom who’d thoughtlessly left one of their own standing at the church. They weren’t sure they could count on him to live up to a commitment.
Even though Rick didn’t need anyone’s approval to open a practice, he’d reached out to the mayor and the council. Rick had promised the mayor that he’d stay at least two years. Still, he knew he had a lot of hard work to do if he intended to show the people of Sweet Briar that he was reliable.
Of course, winning over the town was only part of his problem. He also needed to find a way to make amends to Charlotte. That was a key factor in deciding to return to Sweet Briar. He didn’t like the way he’d ended things between them. After what happened with Sherry, it became imperative to him that he make things right with Charlotte. He needed to do it in person.
Twelve years ago he’d known he’d hurt her, but hadn’t realized just how much. Then his ex-wife left him and he’d gotten a taste of the pain Charlotte must have experienced. The humiliation. Now Rick knew he’d blown a hole in Charlotte’s heart when he didn’t show up at the church. No matter how desperate he’d felt, he should have shown up. He didn’t imagine seeing her again would be pleasant, but he didn’t deserve it to be. What he’d done had been reprehensible. He knew that now. He only wished he’d