“I was about to tell you the same thing.”
He yawned, and they both laughed.
“I have never worked so hard or been so happy in my whole life.”Lia’s expression took on a dreaminess which meant she must be thinking about her husband.They’d been married a little over a year, and theirs had been the Citadel’s first wedding.
“There is certainly always something to do around here, that’s for sure.”His phone pinged with a text, and he glanced at it.It was from REKD Gaming.A spike of adrenaline stabbed him, and he spoke louder than he intended.“Hang on just a sec.I need to check this.”
All right, Heath.You drive a hard bargain, but my partners have decided to give your proposal a try.I’m having our attorney prepare an agreement which we’ll send to you to review with your attorney.Make sure you have it notarized.And welcome to the team.Kayn.
For a second, Heath stared at the screen, numb.Then a myriad of emotions washed through him, ranging from excitement and vindication to insecurity.To be part of the REKD Gaming team was huge.Besides being one of his favorite video games to play, it was also one of the most popular online games in the world.After doing so well with Esports, the company had recently branched out into other types of PC games set in the REKD world, including an app version of REKD for the phone.
AndHeathwould be part of that creative team.His chest heaving, his body flushed, he glanced at his sister and found her watching him with a crease between her brows.
“You look like you’re about to burst with excitement.What’s up?”
“You can’t tell Mom.Not yet.Or Dad, because he’ll tell her.”
Lia’s hands went to her throat, her eyes wide.“You’re not leaving here, are you?”
“Of course not, but I’ve just been offered my dream job.”His heart raced again just thinking about it.
A flash of hurt crossed her face.“I thought working herewasyour dream job.”
“It is, but it’s only part of my dream.”Heath jumped to his feet, his mind already spinning with ideas about how to meet his obligations.“My new job is in game design.”
“Tell me,” Lia demanded.
He took the seat beside her and started in.
“I think that should do it,”Quinn said to the mother.“You have a wonderful family, and it’s been an honor toshootyou.”She winked, and the middle-aged couple chuckled.
“I can’t wait to see the results,” the woman said.
“I’ll have some choices for you to consider in two or three weeks.”Quinn arched a brow.“Do you have any questions?”
“No, but would it be all right if I emailed you with any I may think of later?”the mother asked.
“Absolutely.Thank you again for letting me be part of your day.Enjoy the rest of your stay.”
Once the family had set off toward the village, Quinn quickly gathered her equipment and headed for the Citadel.It’d been a little difficult to transition from the large city of Seattle to the smaller destination location of Wildstone Historical Park with both a village and a castle, but she’d come to love it here in Northern Washington.
She’d had jobs in the past where she’d liked her work but didn’t fit in with her coworkers, or she fit in but hated what she was doing.At Wildstone, she had the best of both worlds.And the Savages, who were her idea of a dream family, had welcomed her like one of their own.
Her phone pinged.Since it could be her mother changing their plans for the weekend, Quinn paused at the castle entrance to check it.It was an email notification.Not recognizing the address, she almost deleted it as spam.Then she noticed the wordGlenloriain the domain name.
A knot formed in her gut, followed by a flash of anger.Why wouldn’t he leave her alone?She stared at the screen so long, it went dark.With a sour taste in her mouth, she opened the email.
My dear Quinn,
It was wrong of your mother to keep you from me after my father died.She had a responsibility to tell you about me then…
Right.Grinding her teeth, Quinn stopped reading and closed the email app.
She didn’t need this distraction.Usually, she’d call her mom about how to handle the situation, but the memory of how her mother had sobbed when she’d told her about the man on Quinn’s birth certificate made that impossible.She would do everything in her power to keep her mother from being hurt again.Taking a deep breath, Quinn pushed thoughts of the email behind her.
She entered the Citadel lobby.As she always did, she paused to take in the atmosphere.Quinn loved what the Savages had done with the transplanted Irish castle, maintaining the authenticity while bringing modern comforts to the place.When she finally got her big break and moved away, she would miss this place.Someday she meant to visit Ireland and shoot a ton of pictures of her mother’s family home, but for now, Quinn had the privilege of stepping into this real bit of history almost every day.
At the front desk, Heath’s mother, one of the owners, helped a guest.When Quinn had first opened her shop in the village, Gabbie had asked if she had any filmography experience because they wanted to create a video of the Citadel’s history.It’d been the first time Quinn had worked with Heath.
