She’s not wrong.
The Johnsons’ living room is just as I remember—warm and cluttered in the best sense. Mariel settles into a wingback chair and gestures to the couch. I sit, the bottoms of my shoes rigidly planted on the floor, unable to make my spine relax against the cushions.
“How were the last few days of camp?” I start, feeling the need to warm up with small talk even though I’m vibrating out of my skin.
She tilts her head. “I thought you were in California.”
“I flew back this morning.”
The look she gives me says I’ve stepped in dog doo and then tracked it across the carpet. “You didn’t cut a trip short to ask about camp, Jeremy.”
Fair.
I lean forward, elbows on my knees. “I need to talk to you about Avah.”
“Okay.”
I exhale slowly, trying to separate what I know from how I feel about the information.
“Her father is a man named Robert Ramsey. He served fifteen years in federal prison for running an insurance fraud scheme. He’s out now, and he’s been making contact with people in my circle, dropping my name and mentioning The NorthStar Way.”
Mariel’s expression doesn’t shift, but her fingers tighten around the arm of her chair.
“Avah didn’t tell me about him. I found out yesterday from my assistant.” I run a hand over my jaw. “Her ex-fiancé is involved, too. He’s been using information about her father and her past to threaten her, and potentially my partnership with you and Joel.”
“And you’re here because?—”
“Because I’m handling it. My people are going to deal with her father and her ex, so thoroughly that they won’t dare to come within a hundred miles of NorthStar or any of the families in your community.” I hold her gaze. “I wanted you to hear that from me directly.”
Mariel studies me for a long moment, displaying the calm self-assurance of someone who has listened to people in crisis for years. Then she removes her reading glasses from the top of her head and sets them on the side table.
“Avah Harris has a lot of baggage.”
I blink.
“Her father’s a criminal, and her ex is apparently not much better. She kept all of it from you, the man intent on being an active leader to a community built on trust.” Mariel tilts her head. “Maybe the apple doesn’t fall far, and it’s time to cut our losses. All of us.”
The words are so far from the response I expected that it takes a full three seconds for the fury to climb from my gut to my throat.
“Avah Harris is the reason you gave me a second look.” My voice is absolutely lethal. “She defended me on the beach in Bora Bora and showed up to your dinner and your retreat and made every person she talked to feel seen. She wasn’t working an angle. That’s who she is.”
Mariel holds my gaze, her eyes revealing nothing.
“Her father’s choices aren’t hers. Her ex’s slimy-ass behavior isn’t her fault. She’s carried that weight alone because people have spent her entire life telling her she’s too much or not enough?—”
I pause, draw a breath through my nose, and notice my hands are shaking. “I came here as a courtesy, not to throw Avah under the bus. If you can’t see and appreciate the person she actually is, then maybe this partnership isn’t going to work. For either of us.”
As soon as the words leave my mouth, my brain wants to backpedal. I’ve spent the better part of a year courting the Johnsons. Am I really willing to walk away from NorthStar? I’ve wanted this partnership more than any deal I’ve ever closed. It’s the purpose I’ve been chasing since Sloane’s diagnosis made me confront how hollow my life had become.
I force air in and out of my lungs as my mind reels, then suddenly settles, like a hummingbird landing on a branch after frenetically flying for too long.
Yeah, I’m willing to let NorthStar go. It feels less like a sacrifice and more like the clearest decision I’ve made in years.
Mariel watches me with an expression I still can’t read. Then the corner of her mouth curves slowly upward.
“Well done, Jeremy.”
“Excuse me?”
