She was done crying. “What I can’t figure out is this other guy…Cadwick. He made a full-court press to get me to call him if Granny decided to sell. Then I saw him with Granny last night. He had papers with him. They looked official. But I don’t know if he’s working with Gray or if the two of them are competition.”
“You think Cadwick’s the guy who was tricking your Granny into thinking he was your dad?” Cherri dipped a fresh spoon into the tweaked batter. She tasted it. A smile flickered across her lips.
“I guess. When I told Gray about Granny thinking Dad was telling her to sell, he seemed genuinely surprised.” Maizie stood and plopped a spatula full of icing onto the sheet cake on her prep-table.
“Probably because he was surprised,” Cherri said behind her. “I’ve met Gray, Maizie. He didn’t set off any of my jerk alarms. Just ask him about the letter. See what he says.”
Maizie shook her head, spreading the icing as though it was paint on a clean canvas. “What could he possibly say? He used his connections to find a way to steal Granny’s land. Does it matter whether he went through with it or not?”
“That depends on you.”
Maizie glanced over her shoulder. “On whether I think he would’ve used it if things didn’t work with us?”
“On whether you’re so scared of your feelings for him, you’ll use any excuse to run away from them.”
Maizie turned back to her cake with an exasperated sigh. “Don’t start that crap again. I don’t have any deep-seated emotional scars from my parents’ death that affect my views on relationships.”
“You mean any scars you’re aware of.” Cherri came over and leaned a hip against Maizie’s prep-table, still nibbling the last bit of batter from her spoon. “Most crazy people have no idea they’re crazy.”
“I am not crazy.”
“That you’re aware.”
Maizie slanted a look at her. “Cherri…”
“Okay, okay, you’re not crazy.” She waited a half beat. “But you do have issues.”
Maizie grunted and rolled her eyes. Gawd, she hated it when Cherri played armchair psychologist. She honestly believed the one lone psych course she’d taken in college qualified her to diagnose everything from passive aggression to emotional transference.
Maizie picked up the spatula and went back to her icing.
Cherri caught the subtle telltale signs of Maizie tuning her out. “Just listen. What’s the one thing you always say you remember about your parents right before the accident?”
Maizie really didn’t want to do this. It was an annoying, quasi-amusing distraction, but in the end she’d still have to figure out what to do about Gray. “I don’t know, Cherri. Let’s drop it, okay?”
“No, wait. Every time you talk about the accident, you remember how happy they were. And then it was all taken away. Your dad got too distracted by his happiness. And so now you avoid happiness to keep the same thing from happening to you.”
“They were just laughing, Cherri. Joking. My dad looked at my mom for a second. That’s how most accidents happen. The driver looks away, gets distracted, for whatever reason.”
“Exactly.”
“So if it had been his coffee cup spilling or his cell phone ringing, you’re saying I’d avoid relationships with people who have coffee in the car or talk on their cells while driving?”
“Maybe.”
Maizie couldn’t help but laugh. “That’s messed up, Cherri. Don’t quit your day job, ’kay?”
“I’m serious.” Cherri pushed at her glasses with her knuckle. “Okay, fine. Maybe that’s simplifying it a bit. But you have to admit there’s a pattern here.”
“Oh yeah?” Maizie covered the last inch of chocolate cake with ivory icing then grabbed the blue piping bag.
“As long as I’ve known you, nothing gets in your way. Nothing distracts you…especially men. You date, but most times it’s just a physical thing. Y’know, something to take the edge off, sexually.”
“You make me sound like such a lady.”
Cherri ignored her comment, pushing her hairnet off her brow. “Every once in a while someone with a little more going on upstairs comes along. He makes you laugh, makes you a little bit happy and then…BAM. You dump him. You make up some lame excuse about being too busy taking care of the shop and your grandmother and not wanting to be distracted…”
“Okay, one-I am busy. And two-none of this has anything to do with Gray trying to steal my grandmother’s land.”
“Yu-huh. Name one guy who’s ever affected you the way Gray Lupo does. One guy who’s made you smile just thinking about him, who’s had more in common with you, who’s made you feel even half of what you feel when you’re with him.”
Maizie didn’t say a word. She couldn’t. There had never been anyone like Gray in her life. Cherri was right. But Maizie kept her focus on decorating the sheet cake.
“Face it, girl, you’re wiggin’ out and it’s got nothing to do with real estate.”
Maizie slammed the piping bag on the prep-table, blue icing squirting out in an arch to the floor. “The letter was there, Cherri. On his desk. Nothing ambiguous about it. At some point he’d planned how he could steal the land.”
“But you don’t know why. Maybe he was trying to help.”
“Help? How? By taking the one thing she loves almost as much as me?” Maizie’s voice rumbled in her chest. Tension roiled through her belly, her heart beating faster and faster like a thing gone wild.
She swallowed hard, tamped down the first stirrings of her wolf. When she spoke again, her voice was calm, controlled. “Fine. You think I’m jumping to conclusions? You think I’m just trying to avoid some…some…guy?”
Maizie reached back, untying her apron. She yanked it over her head and crumpled it onto the prep-table. “I’ll ask him. Happy? And when it turns out he’s got no legitimate excuse, I’ll be back here with a big fat I-told-you-so.”
“And if he has a good excuse?”
Maizie’s jaw tightened. She pressed her lips into a flat line, breathing through her nose. She didn’t want to think about it. She was already too close to the edge with Gray, too close to falling head over heels. If he gave her even the smallest reason to admire him, he’d own her heart completely. She’d have no control, no chance to protect herself if something happened to take it all away.
She shook her head and turned toward the door. “I’ll be back.”
“I’m so sorry, Maizie. He went out for a run with the others about an hour ago. There’s no way for me to contact him. Honest.” Annette stood in the marbled foyer of the Lupo mansion, wringing her hands.
Shoot. If Maizie hadn’t stopped off at her apartment to shower and spend two hours choosing the perfect outfit before driving the forty-five minutes to Gray’s mansion she might have caught them.
“Do you know which way they went?” In her wolf form she could probably track the pack and catch up with them. Unfortunately, Maizie hadn’t figured out how to switch back and forth yet. Wasn’t completely convinced she could.
“I’m not certain, but they usually work their way down to your grandmother’s cottage. Gray’s always kept an eye on her. It’s sort of become part of their normal route.”
I bet. “Thanks, Annette. I’ll drive around and wait there. Maybe I’ll catch them before they head back.” Maizie turned to leave, but Annette’s words stopped her.
“He loves you. You know that, right?”
Maizie glanced over her shoulder. “I don’t know anything.”
“Wolves mate for life, Maizie. Even though you’re his true life mate it took a lot for him to let go of his bond with Donna. It went against everything he is, but he did it for you. For both of you. To give you the soul-deep connection you both need.”