Free Chasing I Do (The Eastons #1) by Marina Adair

away without a goodbye, and you, Darcy, were one of the best I’ve ever had. You deserved more from me. And for that I am truly sorry.
    ~ G
    Jillian finished, held up a finger so she could read it again, then slid another cupcake in front of Darcy. “That was a good note.”
    Without a word, Darcy pulled out the newest offer that Rhett had emailed last night and handed it to Jillian. “Now, read this again and tell me if you see a problem with it.”
    “I think I need a cupcake before I do.” Grabbing Darcy’s cupcake, her friend dove in, not coming up until the wrapper was licked clean, and she’d finished the contract.
    “Oh, boy,” Jillian said dramatically. “He said he was sorry, then gave you the wedding of a career, and a hundred-thousand-dollar venue fee.” Jillian set the wrapper on the bench. “I mean, yes, it was clear there’s no wiggle room on most all of his conditions, but I don’t see a problem at all. You get demanding clients all the time. You are the Bridezilla’s kryptonite.”
    “The email was titled, We need to talk . He never mentioned Kylie, but I know that’s what he meant.”
    Jillian set down the contract. “You do need to talk. About a lot of things. He needs the chance to understand why you never told him about Kylie, and you need a chance to finally clear the air and get past the big Easton rain cloud that has been following you for five years.”
    It wasn’t all the Eastons who had haunted her memories. More like one specific Easton.
    Gage.
    “But that isn’t the Gage I knew,” she said, pointing to the contract. “That guy is calculating, unwavering, and cold.” She held up the note and felt her resolve soften. “This is the Gage I remember. The one who was humble and honest, and always did the right thing, no matter how hard. The guy who would never use his family’s name and money for leverage. This is the guy who I miss.”
    The guy who would know that, although Darcy might make her own mistakes, she didn’t need a hundred-thousand-dollar bribe to set things right.
    “He told me to disregard the apology, and offered me money.” Exactly what Kyle would have done. What he had done—several times.
    “What if the money had nothing to do with his apology?” Jillian offered, as if handling a dispute on the playground. “What if he apologized, then changed his mind in giving it to you because he didn’t want it to get lumped in with your decision about Rhett’s wedding?”
    “Maybe.” That did sound more like Gage, and took some of the sting out of his offer.
    She hated to think that after all of the years of friendship, it would end with a signature on a contract and a payoff. Not that she’d been excited about the thought of having him back in her life, but after seeing him, and how much he looked like Kylie…
    She shook her head. The similarities were astounding and had left her spinning with all of the possible what-ifs. She’d tried to keep busy, tried not to dwell on things that couldn’t be changed. But in the middle of the night, when the house was quiet and Kylie was fast asleep, doubt would creep in. Take over until decisions she’d been confident in started to show their cracks.
    Margo had accused her of marrying Kyle for his contacts and money. Only to dump him when his career took a nosedive. And she didn’t want to prove the woman right.
    Both his career and their engagement had taken a nosedive because he’d slept with his boss’s daughter. And a six-figure bonus didn’t erase the heartache the Eastons had put her through. It also didn’t erase the fact that Kylie had a whole other family out there who she didn’t know anything about.
    “He wrote that note before he met Kylie, and his “disregard the apology” was his way of saying he thinks I made a mistake. What if he’s right, what if I did make a mistake?”
    The one bite of cupcake she gotten before Jillian stole it soured in her stomach.
    Gage might have made a rash decision to