A half smile played around Mum’s lips. “I’ve always been like this. I simply hide it beneath my passion for interior decorating and cross-stitch.”
Taya guffawed in surprise. Mum had a sense of humour. Who knew?
“It’s not only Andrew, although I’m angry at him for the timing of the breakup. But I miss Dad all the time. I regret the way I treated him all those years, the resentment I held on to about him being gone so much. I should’ve accepted him and enjoyed the times we had together. Now that’s all gone, and I can’t get it back. I can’t change the way I spoke to him or the hurt I caused.”
Mum patted her leg. “Oh, honey, he wasn’t hurt by you. He was proud of you and loved you. Parents know their children are going to be angry sometimes. It comes with the territory. You have nothing to regret. Dad didn’t hold on to any of it.”
Tears slid down Taya’s cheeks. “I know I have to let him go.”
“You do, honey. Let him go. It’s not a tragedy to say goodbye. He had a good life. He achieved everything he wanted to in this world. He raised a wonderful daughter, saw his granddaughter grow into adulthood. He told me last year that he was content to retire and leave the company in your hands, which is a very big deal for him.”
“I’m not ready though,” Taya said, wiping her eyes with her fingertips. “I don’t know what I’m doing. I’m sure everyone can see that. They won’t respect me the way they did Dad. I’m not him, and I don’t know how to do what he did.”
Mum sat up straight and looked Taya in the eye. “You don’t have to be him or even belikehim. Being yourself is good enough.”
Taya rubbed both hands over her face with a groan. “What if I mess up? What if I destroy the company that took Dad his entire life to build? I could lose it all, Mum. What then?”
“Your father never meant his company to be a burden to you. He wanted it to be your birthright. The heritage he never got from his family — an inheritance on which you and Camden can build the kind of life you’ve always wanted.”
Taya sat up as well, swinging her legs over the side of the lounger. “Are you sure? That company was his baby.”
“No,youwere his baby. The company was his pride and joy, but never more than you. We talked about it a lot in recent months — that he wanted you to enjoy the business, to have a happy, fulfilled life. He hoped it would be something you could pass on to Camden one day and maybe she can pass it on as well. A family business to span the generations — that was his dream.”
“That’s a lot of pressure, Mum.” Taya tipped her head to one side and stretched the tension from her neck muscles, then did the other side. Her stomach clenched. Her father’s dream depended upon her ability to manage a huge company, and she’d never done anything like that before.
“I needed more time to learn the business. To see how Dad operated. I hardly got the chance to work with him, and now he’s gone.”
“Taya, you’re underselling yourself. You’ve watched him operate your entire life. You know how to do this. You’ve got it inside you — the strength, resilience, confidence you need. Dad believed in you, and so do I. I’m not worried one bit. I’ve seen you at that little inn of yours managing the staff — who loved you, by the way. You somehow turned that tiny boutique inn into a profitable business for two decades all on your own. That’s impressive, honey. If you can do that, you can do anything.”
Mum went inside to mix up some mocktails for them to sip by the pool. Taya stretched her arms over her head, and dove back into the water. The cool blue of the pool swallowed her whole, easing her burgeoning headache and soothing the tension in her shoulders. She swam beneath the water to the end of the pool, then stood to her feet, puffing hard and leaning her back against the wall.
Perhaps Mum was right. Maybe she had everything she needed already buried deep inside her. Whenever she thought about the huge task ahead, she felt as though a wave was curling over her head, ready to smash her into the sand. But if she took one step at a time the way she’d always taught Camden when she was a little girl, she could manage it. She’d start by drafting that companywide email. It didn’t have to be the kind of email her father would write—it could come from her heart. She was different from him, but they shared so much of the same blood and personality, skills, and gifts. She would bring a new flair to the role, but she understood how he worked. Her mother was right — she knew her father and what he’d say right now.
If he was standing in front of her, he’d cross his arms over his chest and grunt. “Pull it together, love. There’s nothing stopping you from reaching your dreams, so go out and get them.”
Sixteen
The towerof flowers almost toppled to the ground, but Charmaine managed to keep her balance by tottering to the left and then the right. The flowers remained in their vases, and she didn’t drop a single one. She shouldn’t have taken so many vases at once from the florist shop, but she hadn’t wanted to walk from there to the new Coral Island Tours office down the street more than once.
Bradford’s company was having its official grand opening on the island, and Charmaine was responsible for the floral arrangements. She hadn’t done any of the other organising since she was so busy working at the shop and planning the reunion as well as several upcoming weddings. She’d barely had time to see Bradford all week.
At the front door to the brand-new offices, she spun around and used her rear end to shove the doors inwards, then shuffled through the gap and into the offices. True to her word, Evie had warmed up the place with a few blue cushions, throw rugs, and pieces of art. She’d even purchased a matching trio of Charmaine’s latest paintings.
The three paintings connected to form an impression of the foreshore down by the docks. The dark timber of the dock contrasted with the pale golden sand and the clear azure water. There were pelicans dotted against the sand, and seagulls as slashes of white and grey hovering over the water. The paintings expressed how Charmaine felt about the island, how it was home to her and yet still so wild and remote. She was proud to see them hanging on the wall, and a lump formed in her throat.
She set the flowers down on a table.
“I’m here,” Charmaine said. “I brought the flowers. Where would you like them?”
Evie greeted her. “Just in time! If you could place them around the space, I think it will look lovely. I’ve got the food table set up, the drinks in the corner over there, plenty of flyers… I think we’re ready.”
“It looks amazing,” Charmaine said. “You’ve done a lot of work to get everything set up.”
“Now, let’s hope someone shows,” Bradford added as he stepped through the front door.
He caught Charmaine in his arms and bent forward to kiss her.
Her face flushed with warmth. She wasn’t accustomed to public displays of affection.
