“Excellent,” Martha replied. “I’ll be waiting with fresh pie and coffee.”
I smiled, hung up, and headed toward town.
* * *
The first thing that caught my eye as I drove into the motel was the long black limousine parked in front of the office. It looked so out of place, I almost thought that I was dreaming things. It was the way the twins standing on the sidewalk ogling it that made it real.
Not bothering with staying anonymous anymore, is he?
I shook my head in disbelief. Chance was obviously in a hurry to get back to his playboy life. It only confirmed to me how much I knew nothing about him, and how badly he had played me. I felt even worse than before.
I parked next to the limo, purposely slamming my door open against it. The twins cringed, and Britney gave me such a look of horror, it made her look comical. I greeted them with as much false cheer as I could muster, and peeked through the window into the front office. I didn’t want to run into Chance, and if he was inside, then I would just get right to work and talk with Martha later.
The front office was empty, though. I walked in and called out my arrival.
Martha came out from the back room, all smiles and smelling like she had just stepped out of a bakery. She wrapped me in her arms, her hug almost suffocating me as she pressed me to her.
“Oh, how I’ve missed you!” Martha cried out.
“I missed you, too, Martha,” I laughed. She let me go and I tried to rub life back into my arms. “If that’s how you greet me after a couple of days, what’s going to happen if we don’t see each other for a week?”
Martha waved me away and strolled to the coffee pot, switching it on while she cut two pieces of pie for the both of us.
“Have you seen the car outside?” she asked, balancing the pies on plates and handing me mine. She winked. “Turns out we had a real billionaire in our motel.”
“Chance Ridder.”
“You knew?” Martha said, eyebrows raised.
“I recently found out,” I admitted. “He’s been keeping a low profile.”
“Not so much when it comes to women in the flower industry,” Martha gave me a knowing smile.
“Oh, come on,” I sighed. “I was just showing him around.”
“Whatever you say, honey,” Martha said. “Are you sure you didn’t show him just a little bit more?”
“Martha!”
Martha laughed and held my face in both her hands. “Sweetheart, I’d be thrilled for you,” she said. “He’s a handsome man, and have I mentioned that he’s a billionaire?”
“Didn’t take you for a gold digger, Martha,” I laughed. “Besides, there’s nothing there, trust me. He’s nowhere near my radar.”
“Well, he’s definitely on Earl’s radar,” she replied, walking back to the coffee machine.
“You heard, huh?”
“The whole town’s heard,” Martha said. “That car came with a driver, you know. The man’s over at the Sheriff’s station paying your billionaire’s bail.”
“What?” I asked, my eyes wide.
Martha frowned. “The bar fight,” she explained. “Wait, what did you think I was talking about?”
I didn’t reply. I just jumped to my feet and raced out.
* * *
The sheriff’s station was surprisingly empty when I walked in, but the people I wanted to meet the least were all there.