"Yes, equal partners." I say standing up tall and getting ready to go into the entire spiel as to why this would be a good thing. "I'd handle the admin side of the resort and you would be in charge of the service aspect, the events, what restaurants to allow, what excursions. We'd do whatever you think this place needs. With your vision and my bullheadedness I really don't see how a place like this could fail."
She looks down and it looks like she's crying but I don't know why she would be. . When she looks back up at me sure enough her eyes are glistening with tears and her face is wet.
"Love, we don't have to do this if you don't want to. I was just giving my thoughts. Please don't be upset. I haven't even told the owners I was interested."
"You think I could do something like this?" She gets closer to me and wraps her arms around my waist. "You really think I could run a whole resort? Aren't you scared that I'll crumble?" She whispers and I understand why she's upset.
"Delaney, you're the strongest person I know. Myself included. You can do anything you want to do. I'm just so happy to be able to be by your side when you do it."
She smiles and hugs me tightly. "This is going to be hard. Really hard."
"Nothing's hard with you by my side. We'll meet the challenge head on, together."
She pulls away from me and jumps slightly in excitement. "Let's do it!" She beams at me.
"What, really. You want to?" I 'd never thought she'd actually go along with it so quickly and now that he's saying yes I can feel my own excitement begin to bubble up.
"Yeah, I want to be your partner. We can really put this place on the map, I'm sure of it." She nods and I pull her close to me again in a tight bear hug. Just that easy this woman is making my dreams come true. I pull out my phone and send a text to my connection letting him know that I'll definitely be putting a bid in for the resort. This will be the start of a legacy for Delaney and I, one that isn't marred with our families bad blood.
CHAPTER22
DELANEY
Digging my toes into the warm sand, I hug my knees and stare out over the beautiful, sparkling ocean. Blue stretches out beyond the horizon, the sun casting a golden glow from high above me. The heat is perfect, not too wet and not too stifling.
“If you stare out there too long, your eyes will turn blue,” Looking up as Baron hangs over the side of the cabana, I smile at his joke. He carefully sits on the large lounge pillow next to me, crossing his legs and plopping a little cooler in front of him. “Are you sure you don’t want to go dip your feet in or anything? Doctor Morris only warned you not to go waist deep, she said nothing about your ankles.”
“I just like staring at it, really. I’d much rather go in the pool. It’s a lot smaller,” I confess, and Baron pulls out a can of sparkling water to pass it to me. I crack the top and take a sip, the carbonation dancing on my tongue. “The sand feels nice. I know what water feels like between my toes, but not sand.”
“You just want to be by the phone so when it rings, this agony will be over,” Baron teases me, but that same apprehension shines brightly in his eyes when I glare at him weakly. He sighs, grabbing a bottle of beer for himself and popping the cap expertly. “I know how you feel, though. Waiting to find out if our bid was accepted. . . it’s worse than when I bought the hotel in London, and that was at auction.”
“I’m glad we get reception here,” I grumble, grabbing Bran’s cell off the small table between us to frown. “We’re a half a kilometer from the hotel, after all.”
“Don’t remind me,” Baron groans, and I giggle as I set down his phone to rest my chin on my knees. “Those stairs are dangerous. It’s practically vertical in some places. I’ll dump out the cooler and fill it with sand and bring it back up if you want this so bad, but please, love. . . you can’t even deny you’re afraid of those stairs.”
“Aye, but I honestly didn’t think it’d be that bad,” I say with a guilty smirk. “Otherwise, we’d have had to go all the way around. It would’ve taken an hour to get here.”
“At least we would’ve been able to drive instead of clinging to a rope dangling off the mountainside,” Baron grumbles, and I roll my eyes. Now that’s just him being dramatic! The stairs might be a little rickety and steep, but it’s- it’s a scenic thing. Taking it slow is part of the experience! Taking a swig of his beer, Baron sighs and shakes his head. “Regardless, assuming we win the bid. . . have you been able to decide whether or not you want to tell your siblings the truth?”
“The truth,” I echo, bitterness souring my tongue. “Is that you were spot on, Baron. Everyone, including me, in my family is a boundary pusher, and then they are hurt when it ends up causing contention. I don’t want to invite that here, Baron.”
“Delaney, the alternative is being a hermit in the jungle with no support,” Baron turns to me, seriousness deepening the lines around his mouth and eyes. I bite my bottom lip anxiously. “We’re going to have an infant eventually. I know your brothers and sisters have done things that you’re finding hard to forgive, but. . . if you truly didn’t want them in your life, why’re you so on the fence about them?”
“Because I love them, but. . . that’s different from trusting them.” I answer glumly, and Baron reaches to rub my back soothingly. My heart aches, and my stomach ties in knots at the notion. One day, I had a good life with wonderful siblings, but then. . . Keenan got shot, and everything changed in an instant.
“Then you tell them you have expectations, and if they cross a line, there’ll be consequences,” Baron makes it sound so simple, though, and I sigh and hold my head in my hands, stretching my legs. The sand grinds against my skin, the heat now borderline burning as ice flows through my veins. “I think you’ve gone long enough letting them stew in their own shit, Delaney. It’s time to hear them apologize and judge for yourself how sincere they are, no? To give them the opportunity to acknowledge why this all happened in the first place? Do you even know why anymore?”
“Keenan never talks to me anyway, but,” I lick my lips heavily, the blood drumming wildly in my ears. “Eamon. . . has a video. He kept it. I’m on it, and he kept it like a little insurance policy for a rainy day. He never told me, and he had no intention of doing so. And Keeva. . . after Eamon’s wedding, I wanted to spend time with her, and she told me she didn’t have time for me and my drama. She was dealing with her own stuff. She didn’t even give me the chance to ask if she wanted to go to the fabric store or something- something we’d enjoy together? She just assumed I’d gob her ear off with how much being raped affected me, and she shut me out so fast. So. . . you tell me why I should even consider asking them to come here?”
“Because hearing them out is for you, not them, and it doesn’t mean you have to forgive them, love,” Baron says, his voice dribbling with sympathy, and I grunt in reluctant agreement. I open my mouth only to be cut off by his phone ringing insistently, and the dense atmosphere instantly lifts. I twist as he reaches to snatch the device, swiping the screen to hold it to his ear. “Hello? This is Baron Hollander. . . we won the bid? Yes! Thank you so much! Of course, of course, we’d be more than happy to extend our stay while you prepare the paperwork. Yes, I can always be reached at this number. Thank you again.”
“We got it?” I ask excitedly when Baron hangs up, and he grins broadly and nods. Throwing my arms around his shoulders with a joyous laugh. He hugs me back tightly, and I bury my face in his neck. Tears sting my eyes, and I inhale deeply as my heart grows with happiness. “We got it. Aye? You think it’s a sign?”
“That you should make up with your siblings?” Baron asks, his voice heightening in surprise, and I pull back to look down at my hands.
“Not. . . exactly. But it could be. . . an excuse?” I say tentatively, and I pick my nails anxiously. “An excuse that amounts to more than my siblings coming here to be shamed for their actions, I suppose? It’ll be easier to call them here for a celebratory event and get them to try to make amends on their own than force it out and be antagonistic from the get-go.”
“Learning we were buying this resort changed your mind just like that, huh?” Baron smiles knowingly, cupping the back of my head to press his forehead against mine. My cheeks burn with frustration, and I huff a hot sigh. “It’s a good idea. No matter how in the right you are, if you attack someone, they’ll defend themselves. Throwing a party to celebrate buying the resort is a good pretext.”
