Page 89

Marianne looked up from taking a sip of her drink. “Did you say Sebastian Schultz?”
“Yeah, from the chocolate company. That’s the guy.”
“Huh.” Marianne had a funny look on her face. “I didn’t realize ...”
“Didn’t realize what?”
“Sebastian Schultz is the reason you got the job here.”
Genevieve nearly spit a chunk of french fry out of her mouth. “What do you mean?”
“He sent Cal a glowing letter of recommendation. Ruby showed it to me. He went on about your love for horses, how you’d worked here when you were younger, and he gushed about all your accomplishments at his company. He told all about the regatta you put on and all the money the fundraiser brought in. He said this was the job you were meant to do, and Cal would be a fool not to hire you.”
“But I sent my résumé to the rescue months ago, before I even got the Schultz Chocolate job. I thought that’s why Cal called.”
“Your résumé was filed away after they filled that position. Sebastian’s letter arrived the day after the position became available again.”
Genevieve stared at her plate, letting Marianne’s words sink in. She couldn’t believe he’d done that, and her heart began to ache.
“God has such a wonderful way of working things out, doesn’t He?”
She looked up at Marianne, who was smiling at her.
“Yeah.” Her lips were beginning to turn up in a smile too. “He sure does.”
TWENTY-SIX
On a perfect Labor Day Monday, with puffy clouds floating across a blue sky and a perfect warm breeze coming in off of Lake Michigan, Sebastian sat on the bottom step of the stairs leading up to his family’s beach house. Boats dotted the lake, but his eyes weren’t on the water, they were fixed on the spot on the beach just yards away where he had kissed Genevieve for the first time.
He felt her absence every day. She’d left Schultz Chocolate weeks ago, without a word to him. He had respected her wishes and left her alone, even though everything within him wanted to pick up the phone and call or text, or better yet, show up at her apartment to take her in his arms and kiss it all away.
August had been the longest month of his life. The days had crawled by so slowly, he swore the clock was mocking him. He’d tried to concentrate on work, but all he could do was stare at the screen or out the window at the river below. He’d stopped by her old office a few times and stared at the empty chair, remembering her sitting in that seat with her feet up on the desk, looking so stunningly beautiful. From day one, she had taken his breath away. He had tried going up on the roof to clear his head, but he pictured her sitting under the pergola, writing in her notepad, making lists, and crossing things off. He thought he’d smelled her scent floating toward him on the wind that day. It had probably been the flowers in the garden, but he could’ve sworn it was her.
He hated summer. This season was both the beginning and end of the most wonderful relationship of his life. It had brought the most amazing woman into his life, the one he truly wanted to spend forever with, but now she was gone.
It was his fault. He knew that and took complete responsibility for it.
Skylar, Gus, and Franky had accepted his apology for asking them to lie for him. Even Ida Willis understood his reasons for keeping the truth from her daughter and had forgiven him. But the person he wanted forgiveness from the most wanted nothing to do with him.
Skylar had confessed that she’d spilled his engagement-gone-wrong story to Genevieve, which upset him at first. He wished he’d been the one to tell her, but he understood that his sister was only trying to help Genevieve understand his thought process.
But still, she had left. She hadn’t reached out to him in any way since she’d gone. He knew he had hurt her deeply, but it broke his heart all over again.
He thought back to his engagement to Serena. There was simply no comparison. Even in the early days, when he believed she truly loved him, the feelings he had for her were only the slightest hum in comparison to the resounding chorus that was his love for Genevieve.
He loved her so much that he had let her go. So she could move on with her life. But there was no way he ever could. He would always love her. There would be no one else for him.
His eyes closed as he basked in the warmth of the sun. The lake made him feel calm during a time when he felt anything but. He breathed in the fresh air, ignoring the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs behind him.
“Tommy Turtle?” A sweet voice sounded in his ear.
His eyes shot open, and he looked up at the most beautiful face on earth holding a cup of ice cream. “Genevieve?”
She stepped down and took a seat next to him, handing him the cup with a spoon sticking out the top.
“How did you know where to find me?”
“Skylar.” She took a bite of her Peanut Pirate and glanced over at him. “That’s gonna melt.”