Huh. He really is on the phone in his otherwise empty office.
He waves me in and gives me the ‘just a second’ sign with one hand. “Well, it was supposed to be here three months ago, and I’ve got our first guest arriving in less than three hours. What am I supposed to take him out to the island on? A catamaran?” Pause. “I know Riva Aquaramas aren’t exactly easy to come by. That’s why we placed the order nearly six months ago.” Pause. “I’m looking at the email exchange right now and your response that says it would take three weeks tops.” Pause with Harrison scowling and shaking his head (a rare sight, to be honest, because nothing rattles my brother). “It had better be.” Pause. “Yeah, you too.” Hanging up, Harrison stands and says, “Sorry about that. Recreating Eden has been tougher than I thought.”
“You probably should have left it to God,” I tease as he walks around his desk to pull me in for a hug. “Oh, you might want to wait until—”
Too late. He’s hugging me. Now he’s wincing and pulling back fast. “Jesus. What happened to you?”
“Long story.”
“If I had to guess, I'd say you stayed up all night partying then overslept and had to rush to the airport.”
“Yeah, here’s a little tip for you: when someone says ‘long story,’ it's usually an indication that they don't want to talk about it.”
“Harrison, bad news.” Libby's voice comes from down the hall as her heels click along the tile floor. She walks through the door carrying an armload of files, and her expression goes from worried to delighted as soon as she notices me. “Thank goodness you're here!” She gives me a quick side hug with one arm then asks Harrison excitedly, “Did you tell her yet?”
“I was waiting for you so we can tell her together.”
“Tell me what?” I ask, looking back and forth between them, wondering if they’re about to announce the location of my surprise party at which they will then announce my new position as executive chef ofallthe restaurants at the resort. Not that I needthatkind of validation. I’m honestly thrilled just to be able to give back in any capacity.
Come on, beallthe restaurants!
Libby takes two steps toward Harrison, and I wait while they give each other a kiss on the lips and she tells him how sweet he is to wait for her. Kind of yicky, to be honest, but in a weird way it warms my heart.
Harrison turns to me with his arm still wrapped around his fiancée’s shoulder. “First, an apology. Libby and I wanted to host a big welcome home-slash-graduation party for you, but things have been more than a little crazy around here with us trying to get ready to open Eden.”
“Oh, geez,” I scoff. “As if I need a party.”
Harrison looks slightly skeptical but I’m going to ignore that. “I take it you’re all done being mad that I didn’t give you enough notice to make it to my grad ceremony?”
He gives a conciliatory shrug. “As much as I hate to admit it, you were right to keep it from me.”
“I know,” I say, feeling a teensy bit smug. “Because you would have come and from the looks of things, there’s no way you would have had time for a trip to New York.”
“It’s beeninsane!” Libby nods. “But we promise to have a celebration for you as soon as we can.”
He looks down at me and clears his throat. “Second, let me say well done, you. If mum and dad were alive, they’d be incredibly proud to see the young woman you've become and how hard you've worked to get here.”
Libby cuts in with, “It's not just your parents who would've been proud. You should see this guy going on and on about you to anyone he meets. I'm pretty sure every guest at this resort knows that his little sister just graduated from culinary school.” She grins up at him adoringly and rubs his abs.
Okay, this is starting to be a lot less cute. We’re moving into ‘toothbrush too far down my tongue’ territory now.
Harrison grins down at me. “Now, I know you must be exhausted after finishing exams and making the trip home, but I’m afraid rest will have to wait because we’d like to offer you the most important position for any chef to ever have at Paradise Bay—and you need to start today.”
Oh my God, I’m being offered the resort’s executive chef position!My knees feel suddenly weak, and I have an urge to sit down. I nod solemnly, ready to take on the biggest challenge of my life. “I’m up for it, believe me.”
“Good, because in two and a half hours, the biggest VIP in our resort’s history is about to—”
“An hour and forty-eight minutes, actually.” Libby gives Harrison a sideways look.
“What?” Harrison's head whips around. “His plane wasn’t supposed to land until 6 p.m.”
“That was the bad news I was bringing down the hall. Somehow his pilot managed to jump the queue on the runway and then make up twenty-three minutes in the air.”
“Shit. But the Aquarama hasn't arrived. Plus, there’s no way Emma can prepare that fast.”
“Prepare for what?” I ask, trying to appear calm. Even though my brain is two steps ahead of me in knowing what my new assignment is, the rest of me hasn’t figured it out. And when it does, all of me will be sssoooooo disappointed.
The two ignore my question. Libby says, “It’ll be fine, really. Justin’s cleaning theRogue Funright now. Besides, we haven’t advertised that guests will be taken to Eden on a Riva, so he won’t know the difference.”
