Melissa is my manager on-site, and she has six years more experience than me. She’s been on the Devlin account for four years and is the senior member of the team. As it is, there have been a few clashes between us since I was assigned to the client. After I started dating Seán, I discovered he’d fucked her one time years ago. Apparently, she pursued him quite aggressively, but he wasn’t interested. I’ve no doubt that plays into our dynamic, which makes things uncomfortable at times.
“Screw that bitch. She’s tried to undermine you plenty of times, so she deserves it. I still think you should tell Seán about her.”
“He’d have her fired…or killed,” I add, remembering the earlier conversation.
She laughs, dismissing it as a joke. “So what if he fired her? It’d get her off your back.”
“I can handle her, and besides, it’ll be a moot point if I take the project I’m being offered because then I’ll be reporting directly to Noémie, and I’ll be quitting when it’s completed.”
“Which is why you should take it.” Paige sits up straighter in her chair. “I get why you’re angry, but that’s not really the issue, now is it?” She arches a brow. “Seán shouldn’t have done it, but he’s only trying to help. The experience you’ll glean will enable you to set up your own business. If Noémie didn’t think you could handle it, she would not have agreed to assign it to you. Who gives a shit what Melissa or any of the girls in the office think? Given the choice, they’d all do the same. You know you want to take it, but your past is holding you back.” Her features soften. “I thought we agreed we wouldn’t let that happen again?”
“Why do you think I’m so troubled?” I force a smile at a couple as they pass by. Glancing around, I see the tables are starting to fill. “How can I go back to Ryemont? I assume they’re still living there, and I can’t face running into them again.”
“You’re assuming a lot. Anything could’ve happened. Callan is a professional soccer player, so at best, he’s only in Vermont a few weeks at a time. It would be easy to avoid him if you needed to.” We halt our conversation when a waiter appears to refill our glasses.
“Thank you.” I smile at him before he walks off. “It’s not just running into him. The whole town holds memories of us together.”
“Babe.” Paige sets her flute down. “You’re strong enough to do this. You have a fiancé and a successful career now. Your life is good, more than good, and you have nothing to fear. Seán is going to be there in Vermont, right? That’s what you said a few months ago.”
I nod. “He’ll be spending three days a week in Vermont, working with local management in Ryemont to get the hotel reopened on schedule and overseeing the construction of the two other hotels in Woodstock and Stowe. He’ll be in New York the rest of the working week, and he was planning to stay with me in Connecticut on weekends, but that was clearly before he came up with this new plan.”
I’m seething again. He could at least have suggested this to me before talking to my boss. Or told me he’d done this, so I was prepared to receive an email, but no, he left it until the last minute, when resource plans have already been altered, making it virtually impossible to decline.
“Then you’ll be fine. You’ll have Seán for support.”
“He doesn’t know the details. He has no clue the guy who broke my heart is from Ryemont or that he owns a house there.”
The last thing Mom confirmed before she and Dad moved themselves, my sisters, and their businesses from Ryemont to Ystad seven years ago was that Callan had bought a house near his parents for him, Gwen, and Darcy. There was no further information forthcoming because a) I told Mom I didn’t want to hear a single thing about them—it’d only set back my healing process—and b) she cut all contact with the Hunts because there was too much hurt for any of the Nevans and Hunts to remain friends.
“Maybe you should tell him now.”
“I don’t want to. We don’t discuss our past relationships, and I’ve no desire to start now.” Especially not after the comments Seán made earlier. “Seán has restored my faith in men, andCallan is in the past.” I thrust my shoulders forward. “I’m being ridiculous.”
“You’re not.” Paige squeezes my hand as couples surround our table, starting to take their seats. “It’s understandable you’d be nervous, but I think you need this, babe. I think you need to go back to that town and confront your past. It’s the closure you need, and then you can truly move forward and leave it all behind.”
57
CALLAN
“Bye, Daddy. Love you!” Darcy blows me a kiss before skipping out the door under Mum’s watchful eye.
“Thanks, Ma. I’ll message you if I’m going to be late back.” Usually, I drop Darcy to school before work, and Ma picks her up when school is over, taking her to her place. I try to finish my day by five so I can collect my daughter and spend a few hours with her before it’s bedtime. But today I’m meeting the consultant I’ll be working with on the resort remodeling, and we have a lot to discuss, so I’m not sure if I’m going to make it home in time for dinner.
“Don’t stress it, son. You know how much we love having her around. Darcy can sleep over if necessary.”
“I don’t think I’ll be that late, but we can discuss it later.”
Darcy reappears in the doorway, clutching the straps of her pink backpack and wearing an impatient face I’m familiar with. “Nanny! Come on, slowpoke. I don’t want to be late for school!”
My daughter is obsessed with being on time for things. At weekends, when we regularly head out on adventures, I can guarantee she’ll be downstairs before I’ve even woken,showered, and dressed with the beginnings of breakfast already on the table.
Although the way she entered this world was in the most horrific circumstances, I love her with my whole heart. She brings me so much joy, and at times when it felt like I couldn’t go on, she gave me purpose and a reason to fight to reclaim the things that bitch took from me. It’s still a work in progress—I’mstill a work in progress—but as long as I have Darcy, I know I’ll be okay.
“School doesn’t start for thirty minutes, love.” Mum smiles at her granddaughter. “You won’t be late.”
“I like to get there early so I’m first in the classroom.”
“I know, honey.” Mum takes her little hand in hers before lifting her head to look at me. “Bye, love. Have a great day at work.”
