Your parents are not my favorite people. They came barging into my office and demanded to know where you are. I asked them to leave. I told them you had a late night, were probably still asleep, and would call when you woke up. They went on and on. No matter what they tell you, I promise, I did not call Gray.
But that doesn’t mean that no one called him. Because Gray showed up and escorted them out of my office and gave them a strictly worded reprimand that involved words like“trespassing” and “invasion” and one “will not hesitate to put you in jail” ...so, I’m pretty sure they won’t be sending a wedding gift.
He couldn’t stop the chuckle at that last comment and returned the phone to Bronwyn. “Remind me to buy my future brother-in-law a steak.”
“I think I owe Cal, Landry, Gray, Meredith, and the entire Haven security team a meal at Hideaway. Do you think Cassie could be hired for a group apology dinner?”
He pointed to her phone. “Might as well call them quick and get it over with. Granny won’t be happy with us if her biscuits are cold when we get there.”
“Mo, I can’t...” She looked at the phone, then looked at him. And grinned. “Yes. Yes, I can. One moment.”
She dialed a number and put it on speaker. Mo wouldn’t have asked, but he was delighted that she’d done it.
A gruff voice answered with an expletive followed by, “Where are you?”
She stared at it for a moment. “Dad, if you ever answer a phone call from me like that again, it will be the last time you receive a phone call from me.”
“Bronw—”
“Not that you asked, but I’m fine. I had a very long day. In fact, I’ve had several long days in a row, and I was asleep when you reached out. You, Mother, Grandmother, and everyone else with the last name of Pierce needs to cool it. I am working off-site today. The Haven will manage fine, and if it doesn’t, I’ll fire the people who failed and replace them. Consider it a trial by fire. Please pass this information along to Mom. I’ll call Grandmother.” She took a deep breath. “And by the way, if anyone, Pierce or employee of The Haven, steps foot in my house while I’m away, I will press charges. Is that clear?”
There was a response all right. Lots of heavy breathing and spluttering, and eventually a few words. “What has gotten into you?”
Bronwyn paced as much as she could in the small space. “I’ll tell you what’s gotten into me, Dad. Someone shot at me yesterday. Real bullets. It’s an absolute miracle that I’m still alive. And not a single person who blew up my phone this morning cares about anything other thantheirreputation and whethertheymight have to get offtheirrear and pulltheirown weight. I learned a lot in the past twelve hours. I learned even more in the last five minutes as I’ve read these messages.”
“We are your parents!” Mr. Pierce roared into the phone. “We deserv—”
“You deserve nothing. Not one thing. You lost that privilege when you didn’t drag my sixteen-year-old self back from California. You let me stay out there. You let me rot. You claimed it was because I was old enough and I knew my own mind when, in reality, you didn’t want to offend the pervert who groomed me, lured me, took me, and then deserted me.”
Bronwyn shook with rage.
Mo shook with an emotion he couldn’t quite put his finger on, but it wasn’t rage. It was more.
“You care about your reputation, and you need The Haven to be successful to keep it. So when I came home and it turned out I actually knew how to run a resort, you were more than happy to let me have at it. Less work for you. More certainty that everything would be done correctly.”
“Now—”
“But never, not once, did it occur to you that you should let me come home because of the example of the prodigal’s father. You know who filled that role in my life? Douglas and Jacqueline Quinn.”
Mo’s non-rage turned to confusion.Wait. What?
“They loved me. They welcomed me. They didn’t hold my past against me. They acknowledged the pain I’d caused their son, their daughter, and their entire family, but they rejoiced that I was home. They never made me feel like anything other than a beloved daughter and a precious member of their family.”
Mo’s world shifted on its axis.
“They aren’t your family!” Mr. Pierce’s shrill voice screeched through the line.
“They’re the only family I have.” Bronwyn’s tone held a finality that shocked him. “Take it to the board. Fire me. I don’t care. I won’t be in the office today. If you want to see me, you can make an appointment with my assistant.”
Bronwyn hit the end button with so much force, Mo half expected the screen to shatter.
She dropped the phone and fell to her knees sobbing.
Bronwyn couldn’t stop crying. Her entire body shook as decades of hurt spilled out of her.
Mo knelt beside her and brushed her hair back from her face until it wasn’t in her eyes and no longer hid her agony.
“Shh.” He soothed and whispered and rubbed her back, and all she knew for several minutes was that her world was shattered but that Mo was there.
