Chapter 56

It was a natural state of Meredith’s life that when something was going fantastically well for her, it inevitably fell spectacularly apart.

She’d forgotten about that.

The universe had lured her into a false sense of security. She’d somehow landed herself in a globally recognized contest that was already yielding a hell of a financial return for her—and the winners hadn’t even been announced yet! And while Meredith credited the boutique’s account when she tallied receipts, Lacey insisted all the Wildflower Passion sales go directly to Meredith.

They were still having a push and pull over this, because Lacey was insistent Meredith get her just desserts for her creation. Whereas Meredith asserted that she couldn’t have even started down this path without Lacey’s base products and Chase’s wildflowers. Not to mention the space in the back of the shop for her workstation and the ability Meredith had to market her products to Lacey’s customers.

But that wasn’t the current wall she hit.

No, the one she slammed into was the most painful one of all.

It’d started with her parents suddenly contacting her. Out of the blue.

Guess what? Her mother had read about Meredith’s new line and the contest (i.e., the prize associated with the contest) and bam! They were immediately back in her life!

Well…They attempted to immediately insinuate themselves back into her life—by way of email and text messaging.

None of which Meredith had replied to. She was still formulating an appropriate response that didn’t include the words suck it when they had the gall to show up at the diner one morning while Meredith was having breakfast with Garrett, Lacey and Chase. Tristan was there as well, and damned if Emma—who was serving them—wasn’t acting as jittery as a caffeine addict who’d inhaled way too much coffee.

Conversely, she was mysteriously coy and sort of acting as though Tristan Laughton really wasn’t the greatest thing to a caffeine addict since the triple espresso. Like, notably acting as though he weren’t hot shit. When, in reality…Tristan pretty much was.

Meredith found this both curious and comical at the same time. It was an odd little dance the two of them were doing, but Meredith couldn’t tell if there was something going on between them they didn’t want anyone to know about, or if Emma’s “crazy” was acting up.

She was sort of known around town for being the epitome of the Miranda Lambert song. Well, not just the one about it not being her Mama’s broken heart, but pretty much every Miranda Lambert song. Emma was a little volatile when the mood struck.

At any rate, that wasn’t the issue at hand.

The arrival of Meredith’s parents was what threw her for a loop this morning. And not a fun, zip-a-dee-do-dah one you’d get at an amusement park or a county fair.

Garrett and Lacey, of course, had no clue as to the shift in the air when the Carlisles strolled in, looking as though they’d never actually left Wildfire, like they didn’t live two towns over, because they couldn’t stand the humiliation and mortification their only daughter had put them through when she’d blown up that chem lab and had been expelled from school.

Jesus Christ.

Just when Meredith had finally gotten over that horrific event herself, just when she’d put the past behind her, just when she’d come to realize that she was making all of her dreams come true by way of an amazing new career—and the prospect of an even bigger and brighter one if a manufacturing company offered her a deal—fabulous new friends and the ultimate in a boyfriend…Someone had to come along and bust her bubble.

Her parents.

Again, Chase and Tristan were the only ones at the table who caught the change in tides from a casual and lighthearted breakfast to a highly tense one Meredith wanted to escape—as quickly as possible.

So quickly, she wiped her mouth with her napkin and set it on the table. Then she pushed her plate, only a quarter-eaten, toward Garrett and said, “I just remembered there’s something I forgot to do this morning. Finish this, please. Do not let it go to waste—it’s the best damn omelet; it’d be a total shame to trash it.”

Before he could say anything in return, she shoved back her chair and headed out the back entrance to the parking lot where she tried to breathe properly.

And likely would have been able to inhale normally, except a minute later, she heard her mother call out, “Meredith Jane Carlisle! Where are your manners, girl?”

Oh. My. Fucking. God.

Was her mother serious?

Meredith spun around and all of the hurt feelings and the pain of instant abandonment due to her not having measured up in these people’s eyes crashed over her.

She gaped.

Her father joined them, holding his arms open—as though she actually might walk into his embrace? As if she actually would!

After all this time!

After the way they’d told her she was on her own when she’d been kicked out of school. After they’d called her a failure and had told her she was an embarrassment to them. Not even giving a rat’s ass that Meredith had suffered greatly. That her Ivy League college experience was over before it’d ever truly gotten started; that any chance at a career in the chemistry field was a distant dream; that…life as brainiac Meredith Jane Carlisle had known it was pretty much over.

Until she’d rebuilt that life.

And now here were the two people who’d doubted her the most, who’d left her high and dry.

Suddenly wanting to bring her back into the family fold.

All because of this contest that somehow validated Meredith in their minds.

Now, she was their daughter again?

That was absolute bullshit. Meredith stared at them, completely taken aback that they’d deign to come to town. That they’d act as though no bridges between them had been burned.

And while it was in her nature to forgive and forget—for-sure it was…This was one instance when Meredith had a hell of a time accepting the treatment she’d received from the parents who were supposed to love her unconditionally—not turn their backs on her during difficult and trying times.

She searched her mind for something reasonable to say, but her logical side warred with her emotional side…And there was a distinct yearning deep within her to state her case, to tell them precisely how badly they’d cut her to the quick, to actually tell them—these people who’d raised her—they weren’t fit to be her parents.

Meredith had not soared to astounding heights with the SATs or gotten into an amazing college because of them. While they’d been off traveling or boasting about how damn smart she was, it was Meredith who’d done all the work to get herself that scholarship.

Thus, her failure was her own.

And any success today was, indeed, her own.

They clearly weren’t onboard with that line of thinking, though.

Her father had the audacity to say, “Come give me a hug, girl. It’s been way too long. You really should have visited us.”

She should have visited them?

They’d cut her out of their lives!

Tears welled in her eyes. She was aghast. Completely and totally shocked to the core of her being.

She couldn’t even speak.

No words formed in her brain that would offer a response to them and they certainly didn’t make it to her tongue.

Well…There were words she’d like to say.

But Meredith wasn’t about to make a scene in the parking lot. Her days of doing that were far over.

Hell…Her days of letting anyone treat her poorly, to dismiss her were long over.

Meredith Jane Carlisle had changed.

These people didn’t know that, of course.

But she did.

So, too, did the one man who clearly intended to stand by her, no matter what.

From behind her parents, Garrett came strutting out of the back door and stood just off to the side, his legs wide, his arms folded over his expansive chest.

“Meredith Jane,” he said. “Honey, is there a problem here?”

No doubt, Chase and Tristan had filled him in one the situation.

And here was her knight, wearing his shining armor.

As usual.

But this was Meredith’s scenario to reconcile.

She had to be the one to make the choice as to what to do here…