I’m sure we could get Izzy to a cornfield post haste.
Pete named the conversation “Shucked Up“.
Kiera
Flights into Traverse City? Or do we drive from Detroit?
Danica
Traverse City, unless you want a road trip. It’s 4+ hours from Detroit. I will not be doingthat.
Izzy
You don’t want to christen another of Aunt Jade’s properties with car sickness?
Pete
Oh we’ll be christening it alright.
Maggie
Hell yeah, get it.
Danica
Kiera
I’m scrubbing that from my brain so I can continue to look my aunt in the eyes.
Maggie
Okay but real question: what’s the weather like in Michigan in October?
Danica
Looks pretty brisk.
Izzy
Bring on the lesbian flannel fest.
CHAPTER 24
Gwen
The conference roomsmelled faintly of burnt coffee and carpet cleaner. Gwen sat at the head of the table, the blueprints spread before her like a map of someone else’s life.
She folded her hands, blazer sleeves brushing against the cool surface. The stainless steel watch at her wrist caught the light. She rotated it slightly, a nervous habit she’d never broken, the way her thumb brushed the ridged bezel. Maggie had given it to her for their seventh anniversary — slipped the box across the table at a quiet restaurant, murmured,You’re always on time, might as well look good doing it.
Across from her, Michael — one of the senior principals — beamed. “It’s a legacy project, Gwen. You’ll get promoted off this alone. The Board is ready to push you forward as Principal Architect.”
The others chimed in, all praise and handshakes. Words likevisionary, leadership, career-defining.
Gwen nodded at the right beats, even forced a smile. But the drawings blurred. The sleek glass towers they were proposing would level an entire historic neighborhood.Shops she’d walked past for years. Houses people had raised families in.
Back on her desk, she had dozens of sketches of what the neighborhood could be if they’d invested in upgrading structures, increasing affordable living spaces, prioritizing the residents who already lived there.
She should’ve been thrilled. This was what she’d spent two decades climbing toward. Proof of worth. The kind of title she could hang around her neck like a medal.
