“Yeah, will do. Have a good afternoon.”
He walks off down the drive.
I wait for a moment, enjoying the warm breeze blowing across my face. Isla might be planning to start divorce proceedings, but she might change her mind and decide to make a go of it with her husband. I hope she doesn’t for her sake, and Max’s. But even if she does apply for a divorce, it’ll take two years for it to come through. That’s a long time for a woman to be tied to another man.
Thoughtfully, I open the door for Ghost and follow him into the cool interior. I’ll be seeing Isla soon. Maybe it was foolish to ask her to dinner. I’m getting tangled in the Ark’s relationships, and that’s making it so much harder to make a decision about when to leave.
What am I going to do?
Chapter Eight
Isla
At 4:45 p.m., I meet Cullen in the Quad, and we start walking down the hill. He’s booked a table at the Italian,Casa di Mare, which I know means ‘House of the Sea’, and we decide to go straight there. Max walks in front of us, chatting to Ghost, and excited at the thought of getting a whole pizza to himself.
Cullen walks quietly. His posture is defensive, shoulders hunched, hands jammed in his pockets. I have a feeling his meeting with Noah didn’t go well.
“If you’ve changed your mind about going to dinner,” I tell him softly, “please just say, it’s not a problem at all.”
He looks at me, startled. “No, not at all. I’ve been looking forward to it. Sorry, I’m a bit distracted.”
“Do you want to talk about it? No worries if not. We can just chat about other things.”
He looks away, to the view of the Pacific that’s gleaming in the afternoon sun, giving me the chance to study his profile. He’s a handsome guy, but he hides it beneath his gruff facade. He’s wearing a hat and sunglasses, so I can’t see his eyes, but I can sense he’s upset about something.
He sighs. “The meeting went well. Brock King has offered half a million dollars from the We Three Kings Foundation as a donation toward setting up the PAWS Center.”
I inhale, my eyes flaring. “Oh wow! That’s fantastic!”
That earns me a smile. “It is. Archer was overwhelmed. It means he can get the place up and running, and it’ll cover the renovation, initial staffing, that kind of thing.”
“I’m so pleased for him.”
“Yeah. Having the support of the guys at the Ark will be great, too. Leon was there, and he knows so much about funding,so he’ll make sure Archer’s able to make the place pay for itself. Noah was keen to point out that it doesn’t mean he’ll interfere at all, either. It’s Archer’s baby, and he’ll be responsible for its vision.”
“But…”
“Archer wants me to run the center with him.”
“Oh, gosh, what a surprise.” My tone and smile tell him that I’m not shocked at all.
He gives me a wry glance. “You saw this coming?”
“Kinda. Help him run it in what capacity?”
“As joint CEO. Him in charge of the therapy side of things. Me looking after the animal part.”
“CEO,” I tease. “Do I need to call you chief now?”
He just gives a short laugh, slowing as we reach the Hemsworth farm. We stop at the fence and look across at the farmhouse.
“So… how do you feel about that?” I ask.
He leans on the fence and looks down, kicking the bottom plank.
“You’re angry,” I murmur. “Because you were blindsided?”
“Partly. Archer knows I’m planning to leave before Christmas. I wish he’d spoken to me alone about it first.”
