She’d always wanted more.
That was her own burden to carry. Focusing back on the couple in front of her, the one she could maybe offer some comfort to, she gave them a small smile. “I’d suggest starting with the staff to rebuild the environment. Admit your wrongs, restate the rules, and start fresh with as many of them as will let you.”
“And the rest?”
“They’ll go their own way eventually. I don’t think any of them will give you too many issues.” Angelica had spent hours working with as many of the staff as she could, and they were all competent. It was probably the one reason that Desert Paradise hadn’t caved yet. “We’ll work on setting you up so that you can succeed and perhaps reduce your debt on this place again. Make an income since I know neither of you has taken a salary in three years.”
Sydney’s jaw went slack. “No one knows that.”
“I do.” Angelica gave him a hard look. “Both you and Lisa have sacrificed tremendously for the people who work for you, and they need to understand that. You’ve put them first for the most part. You’ve wanted to pay them first before yourselves, and that’s honorable.”
“Then what?”
“Then you work on your relationship with Kayla. At least as much as you can.” Angelica folded her hands in her lap. “You get her into rehab if she’ll go, and you go to therapy with her. Work on it, do it slowly. But don’t let her back in this hotel to work. She’ll be the black hole that she was before here. She needsto be out from under your thumb, and she needs to face the consequences of her decisions.”
Lisa wrinkled her nose, her lip curling up in a cry. “I don’t know how to do that.”
Honestly, Angelica didn’t either. She’d never been in a situation like that because she wasn’t a parent. But she did understand it from the daughter’s side of things. She held herself steady, not budging an inch. “You need to set the boundaries she’s unwilling to set for herself.”
Which had been exactly what she’d done with her family years ago. And still, they’d pop up when she least expected them and impose their will on her life. Or at least, attempt to. That’s what this week had been for her father, and Angelica was finally ready to admit that.
She loved him.
But they weren’t good for each other.
Angelica nodded at them. “Take a few hours to calm down and we can make a plan to talk to the staff when you’re ready.”
She took her iPad with her when she stood up. But she didn’t say goodbye as she left. She needed the break as much as they did, and she was going to take it.
When she reached the main lobby, the workers eyed her before shifting their gazes back down to their computers worriedly. She sighed heavily. She had her own repair work to do. Then again, she probably wasn’t ever going to come back here, so did it ultimately matter if they weren’t scared of her? Not really. Sydney and Lisa needed to be that for them now.
“We’re leaving,” Christian’s voice rocked through her.
Angelica shivered, looking to her left to find Christian leaning against the wall by the elevator, arms crossed as he clearly waited for her to reappear.
“Leaving?” Angelica asked, clenching her fingers tightly around the iPad to keep herself grounded.
“Dad’s already in the car waiting for me.”
Angelica frowned and stared toward the front doors of the hotel. He didn’t even want to tell her goodbye? Not that she’d expect anything less from him. As much as she knew her mother was the narcissist, her father also had those same tendencies.
“He doesn’t want to get in your way.” Christian sighed heavily, pushing off the wall and coming closer to her. “I tried to convince him to at least talk to you.”
“And?” Why did she ask that? She didn’t need to know the reason. It was only going to hurt. But she still couldn’t stop herself from asking.
“He said if you wanted to talk to him, then you knew how to find him.”
Angelica sighed and closed her eyes. Pain seared through her chest. It was always up to her, wasn’t it? It was always on her shoulders to be the one to give in or change. Neither of their parents could ever see what they’d done wrong in the relationship.
“Come here.” Christian put his hand on her shoulder and pulled her in.
Angelica moved with him, pressing her face against his chest and breathing in his scent. Christian held her in the hug, arms wrapped around her back and his nose buried in her hair. She stayed there, relaxing into his familiar touch and scent, remembering that it hadn’t always been this bad. Christian at least loved her, even if he often seemed to side with the family instead, leaving her all out on her own.
She’d been so excited when he’d been born, only for it to turn around on her in a matter of months when she was no longer the golden child who could live up to their expectations. She was the one who wasn’t new, who wasn’t malleable, and she never would be that young girl again.
On instinct, Angelica wrapped her arms around Christian’s waist and hugged him tightly. He might be nearly a foot taller than her now, but he’d always be her little brother. She’d spent years helping to raise him and loving him, and she wouldn’t give those days up for anything. And she wasn’t sure, at this point, when she would see him again.
Christian pulled back and smiled at her. “I wish we’d get to see more of you.”
