Harrison looks at me with pity. “Listen, Nora. You sit this one out, okay? Fidel and I will go source what’s needed. Stay here and make sure we’ve got a boat ready when we get back.”
“I wouldn’t even trust her with that,” Carolina mutters.
I glance at Theo, hoping he’ll ask his stupid secret fiancée to go easy on me, but he doesn’t. Instead, he says, “I’m sure Nora is more than capable of arranging transportation for some bottles, even if she’s clearly not ready to manage staff.”
He glances at me, and whatever my face is doing has him scrambling to add, “Granted this event would be a large undertaking for most people.”
My head snaps back. Did he just say all that? In front of all three of my bosses? When he knows I’ve been working my ass off for a promotion to management?
Yes. Yes, he did. And now I have that reason to hate him again.
A few minutes later, I barge through the front doors to Building C, a woman on the war path. I’m going to let Kat have it. Oh boy am I going to let her have it. Except when I get there, her desk is empty. I pull my mobile out to call her, only to see a text from her.Super bad headache today so I’m staying home. Hopefully I’ll be up and around tomorrow.
I’ll give her a headache, all right.
But not right now. Right now, I have to head down to the pier and talk to Justin about having a speedboat on standby.
* * *
Almost four hours have passed by the time Harrison and Fidel appear on the dock with six boxes of assorted bottles—enough for the three beach bars that will be used by the finalists. I scramble to help them load the first set of boxes into theRogue Fun, my face hot with shame.
Following Harrison back to the golf cart, I say, “I’m so sorry about all of this Harrison. I really am.”
“Mistakes happen.”
I know it’s not the right moment to ask, but I feel I can’t go another second not knowing if I’ve already lost the promotion. “About what Mr. Rojas said, that I’m not ready to manage people. I hope you don’t agree with him.”
Harrison stops and turns to me, while Justin and Fidel continue loading the boat. “I’m afraid he’s right, and it’s not just because of this one error. Every time I see Kat, she’s on her phone while you’ve been run off your feet. You’re here half the evening to stay on top of everything. A lot of the tasks you’ve had on your plate are pretty simple. She could have easily taken them on for you.”
No, no, no. Please no.“Kat’s my sister. You know how hard it is to work with family, especially teenagers. They don’t listen to anyone. If I’d had any other intern, I could have made it work.”
“A good manager knows how to get their employees to engage. I’m afraid you didn’t do that,” he says gently. “You’re an excellent events coordinator, Nora. You go above and beyond, and Libby, Rosy, and I value your hard work and talents. We want you to stick around for a long time. I know that eventually you’ll be ready to lead a team, but it won’t be anytime soon. You just need more experience.”
Don’t cry. Don’t cry.I nod, blinking at lightning speed and try to smile. “Okay. Thanks.”
“I’m sorry,” he says, glancing at the boat. “You better go. The production crew is waiting.”
“Sure.” I turn away, my feet heavy.
“Hang in there, Nora,” Harrison says. “Today may have been bad, but I promise things will get better.”
Please don’t say that. You’re tempting fate, although how could this day get any worse?
26
Verbally Incontinent Bachelors and the Women Who Hate Them
Theo
It’shard to believe another storm is coming. It’s a beautiful, calm day at Eden. The air is filled with hope. I may have struck out two days ago, and I couldn’t get any face time with Nora yesterday, but today I’m determined to talk to her. She’s on her way to Eden right now with the liquor the crew needs. When she completes her mission, she and I can sit back and relax.
I spoke with our lawyer, Don, yesterday and he said it’s doubtful we’d be liable to Jacardi, but the real issue is, if a lawsuitisfiled, it would likely make the news and our name would get dragged into it. Not fatal but not ideal either. Don figures Armas Productions will settle out of court to keep everything quiet. I hope he’s right.
The crazy thing is, I’m only a little worried about it instead of obsessing every second of the day, and that has everything to do with Nora. She’s probably upset because of what happened this morning, but when she finds out how well things have been going here, I’m sure she’ll feel better about the whole thing. And even if she doesn’t, maybe she’ll feel better once I tell her how I feel about her. I want to start a life with her. The timing of me confessing my love for her is definitely not ideal, but I have no choice. I’m on a flight out of here first thing tomorrow morning and this is the type of conversation that must happen face to face.
Yes, it’ll be fine. I’m sure she feels the same way I do. I’ll tell her I’m in love with her and hope that this is the beginning of something wonderful. Obviously, I won’t open with that news. You don’t just blurt out that you love someone and want to marry them. After all, this is not Regency Era England.
Getting up, I take off the headphones the sound guys loaned to me and set them on my chair. Attempting to look casual, I stroll down to the dock in time to see theRogue Funarriving.
