“I was just giving you some time to process.” He reached over, his hand squeezing my thigh in a way that made me warm inside. “I think he cares about you. He didn’t try too hard. He spoke to you when you spoke to him but he gave you space. He doesn’t want you to be uncomfortable. That could be a manipulative tactic but I don’t think he’s devious enough for that. He’s hiding something and I’m going to keep pushing Elliot until he gets to the bottom of it, but your father does care about you.”
Unfortunately, caring about someone and hurting them anyway weren’t mutually exclusive things, as Alfie had taught me all too well. I didn’t need to bring that up though. My father might care about me, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t here with ulterior motives.
I breathed a sigh. I didn’t want to talk about our parental drama anymore today.
He slowed the car as the gates to Harrington opened, then wound us down the driveway, guided by the canopy of trees. “Do you have to leave tonight?”
“Not if you need me.”
“So that's a yes, you do have somewhere else you need to be?”
“It's a ‘nothing is more important than you.’ If you need me, everything else can wait.” We fell silent as he pulled to a stop outside Harrington. He turned to look at me, his fingers under my chin. “Do you need me, Lo?”
“I always need you.” I let him pull me into his lap. I was somehow comfortable despite the awkward position in the car. I gazed up at Harrington. “I really love it here, you know. It’s so beautiful. Peaceful. Though it probably won’t be once it's full of tourists.”
“It doesn’t have to be. I can keep it just for you if you want.” I snorted and he side-eyed me. “I’m serious.”
“Sure you are. The amount of money you’ve sunk into this place and you’re not interested in turning a profit on it? Wouldn’t your board members have something to say about that?”
He shrugged. “Harrington is my project, I bought it with my money, not company money.” I wondered why I hadn’t known that before. I guess it had just never come up. I’d always assumed it was company property, not just private property he was making part of the business. “I could survive the financial loss. If you really wanted it for yourself.”
“In that case, can we move in?”
“Whatever you want. I mean it, Lo. Whatever you want.”
I leaned into his chest. “Right now, all I want is you.”
Twenty-Four
Iwoke to Alfie’s lips brushing over mine as he kissed me goodbye. Not seeing him every day was harder than I’d thought it would be. I watched him leave, sighing as the door closed behind him. While I’d slept, he’d somehow managed to fill the room with vases of bleeding hearts. They weren’t enough to take his place, but they helped.
My phone buzzed with a text from Keira.
I managed to get time off for Natalie’s wedding! Can’t wait to see you! Mwah!
I breathed a sigh of relief. I needed my best friend. I had just hit ‘send’ on my reply to her when there was a knock on my bedroom door. Maia stepped in.
“I’m sorry to disturb you, someone from production is asking for you.”
“Already? I’m not late.” I glanced at my phone to double check the time. I didn’t have to be on set for another hour.
“Yeah, I’m not sure what the problem is. I’ll go with you.”
“No, it’s fine, it’s just work,” I said, knowing full well she would follow me anyway. She wasn’t taking any risks since Julia had her mini-meltdown.
My stomach rumbled, complaining that I’d skipped breakfast as I made my way across the grounds to the collection of white tents and scattering of people that were already at work setting up their morning shots. As I approached, an older gentleman spotted me and met me halfway.
He stuck his hand out. “You must be Lola O’Connell. You’re building the demo sculptures?”
“Yeah, that’s me.” No one else was here yet except for the film crew who were just setting up. The contestants hadn’t arrived either and I couldn’t see Sid. “What’s going on?”
“I’m Jeff, I’m taking over as producer. As I’m sure you know, Julia has been moved to another project.”
“Another project? Why?” I didn’t know but I could guess why.
“It doesn’t matter. I just wanted to touch base with you, I’m familiar with your role here already, is there anything else you need that I need to be aware of?”
“Um no. Everything’s running smoothly. I have two more projects to finish but Sid ? my assistant ? and I, we’re on track for that. Julia’s really gone?” I wondered what the rest of the crew would make of that. They looked nervous.
