“There are plenty of reasons, Elliot. If you’d spent more than only the last few days paying attention to how things are really run, you’d understand that. It’s encouraging that you finally want to become involved, but we are not going to restructure everything we’ve built because you slept with some girl and think you’ve had some sort of epiphany while on vacation.”
“Lena has nothing to do with—”
“Enough, Son. I don’t want this to turn into some sordid family feud. This isn’t really the time or place for an in-depth discussion. We’ve given you our answer. Now, let’s all move on and enjoy what we can of the rest of this week.”
“And when we get back?”
“Like I said, your interest is a step in the right direction. But we aren’t going to stake the future of the charity on you until we’re sure this isn’t another phase.”
Elliot wanted to scream, but he kept silent. Nothing he said would help. They’d already made up their minds about him. He was a screw-up in their eyes. It didn’t matter that he’d come to them as an equal, fully prepared and wanting to take the next step. You couldn’t prove yourself to people who’d already made up their minds about you.
His father walked around the table and clapped a hand on his shoulder, giving it a slight squeeze before moving to open the door and wait for his mother. She kissed him on the cheek and followed his father out the door, taking with them any hope Elliot had of actually doing something meaningful in his life. His foundation wouldn’t be developed. He’d just be a figurehead to charm money out of people—day in and day out.
And Lena… He’d screwed that up, too. His parents would never accept her any more than they were accepting him. He had nothing to offer her.
Perhaps it was for the best. No one trusted him with anything of any importance. He had no business getting mixed up with a woman like her, especially with a child involved. He couldn’t even pull his own life together. He had no business messing up theirs, too.
He slumped into a chair, any confidence he’d had in his future had disappeared through the door along with his parents.
Lena paced down the hall from the conference room where Elliot had been ensconced with his parents for the last half hour. She had a good vantage point of the door. The second it opened, she ducked out of sight. She’d caught a glimpse of their faces, but it was impossible to tell how things had gone. They always looked like they’d been sucking on something sour. But they didn’t look any more out of sorts than normal, so that might be a good sign.
She waited a few more minutes, but when Elliot didn’t follow them out, she decided to go to him. She found him slumped in his chair at the conference table, staring off into space.
“Hey,” she said quietly, not wanting to spook him.
He blinked and looked up at her.
“Hey.”
She came around to his side of the table and leaned against it, close enough that he could reach out and touch her if he wanted. He didn’t. He didn’t say anything.
“So. How’d it go?”
Elliot gave a harsh laugh, rubbed his hands over his face, then shoved them through his hair. He stood up and started gathering his materials.
“They appreciate that I’m showing more interest in the charity, but they do not feel that foster kids are worthy of more help and think that I should keep my mouth shut and keep doing what they tell me.”
Lena’s jaw dropped. “They actually said that?”
Elliot let out a coarse sigh. “Not in those exact words, but their meaning was pretty clear.”
“I’m so sorry,” she said. She reached out to him, touching his arm, but he jerked away and continued to gather his things.
She tried to ignore his reaction and not be hurt by his rejection. His parents had really upset him. God knew they could be an ice-cold bitchfest of epic proportions. And a lot of men didn’t want to be coddled when they were upset. It was hard not to take it personally, but she did her best to put that aside for the moment.
“I’m sure they didn’t mean anything by it. Maybe it just wasn’t a good time to bring it up. The wedding is tomorrow, so I’m sure they’ve got a lot on their minds with that. After they get back from their trip in a few months, they could be more open to—”
Elliot was already shaking his head. “No, they won’t. They want me as a warm body on the scene, someone with the family name that can keep things going by my presence but who won’t really contribute in any significant way. I’m the monkey at the switch. That’s it. We were idiots to think this stupid idea would fly. Who were we kidding? There’s no way my parents were going to go for this. It was ridiculous to even try.”
Lena sucked in a breath. He’d loved the ideas they’d come up with, that she’d come up with. Her throat grew tight with tears she refused to let him see. This was all her fault. You’d think after years of coming up with one crappy idea after another she would have learned her lesson. It was bad enough she kept trying, but now she’d dragged Elliot into her vortex of failure. And sent him in to go up against his parents. What the hell had she been thinking? When he’d asked her for ideas, she should have gone with her gut and kept her damn mouth shut.
“I’m so sorry, Elliot.”
“It’s not your fault.”
She wasn’t so sure about that. “What are you going to do now?”
“What difference does it make?” he asked, his voice harsh. He had everything gathered up and headed for the door. He glanced back at her, frowning at the worry he must have seen on her face.
“Don’t worry. I’ll still fund your business. No reason for both of us to be failures,” he ground out.
Lena gasped. He closed his eyes for a second and sighed.
“I didn’t mean it like that,” he said, his voice softer. “I just wanted to assure you that I will still help with your company, even if we won’t be working together on the foundation.”
She reached a hand out to him but dropped it before she touched him. He didn’t seem to want her comfort. “Elliot, no matter what they said, the foundation is a good idea. Maybe we just need to—”
“No,” he said, his tone leaving no room for argument. He pushed the door open. “The foundation idea is dead, Lena. Leave it alone.”
He walked out and didn’t turn back. She didn’t blame him. She sank into a chair, struggling to shove all the pain rushing at her back in its little box where she could keep it at bay.
She’d done it again. Ruined something else. Why did she keep thinking she had what it took to make it in the business world? Hell, in any world. She’d never been able to make a success out of anything in her life. She should have known better. She still had the rehearsal and dinner to get through that night and the wedding the next day. Then she could go back home, back to her regular life. She could forget about Elliot, box up all her craft crap, and burn her idea binder. Elliot could keep his damn money. She’d rather work three jobs the rest of her life than take his pity money. Time to stop dreaming and wake up to reality.
Her dreams never became anything but nightmares.
Chapter Fourteen
Elliot sat to the side in the gorgeous courtyard where Oz and Cher would be married in less than twenty-four hours. The rest of the wedding party slowly filtered in, but Lena hadn’t made an appearance yet. He jammed his fingers through his hair. He owed her an apology. The look on her face when he’d stormed out of the conference room that morning had been tormenting him for hours.
It hadn’t been her fault his parents hadn’t gone for their idea. They wouldn’t have gone for anything he suggested, no matter what it was. He realized that now. But instead of making sure she’d known that, he’d snapped at her and stormed away.
He got up and paced near the staging area. The shame crawling through him was an unfamiliar and unwelcome sensation. And the thought that he might have hurt Lena in any way physically hurt. Like someone had his heart in a vice that they kept tightening. He wanted to make sure she was okay. Needed to make sure. It wouldn’t change anything. But still… He had to know she was okay before they said good-bye forever. How he was going to get through the next day, he had no idea.