I pull up the website for commercial-based properties on my phone and start looking for potential venues. I find one in the West Loop, an old church that looks to have been converted into an event center with six separate event spaces.
Damn. Six spaces. The idea of holding not one, or even two…butsixevents all at the same time is a tad overwhelming.
But with the right people in place, I can make anything happen.
While I’m here, I might as well tour the place. I click themessagebutton to get in touch with the realtor and put in my request for tomorrow. It’s worth a shot.
Against my better judgment, I pull up the Bradley Mansion again, too, and I look through the pictures. The listing still says it’s accepting backups.
I should’ve been more insistent. I should’ve given Ford a plan before it was too late. I just got caught up with Winston Manor and our own wedding and Lindsay and Devon…all of it. It was my continual chaos that landed me right here, I’m afraid. I couldn’t get my own shit together enough to present a valid plan to Ford to save that place for me.
I blow out a breath, and then, since I’m up, I look through some venues available in Vegas, too…because why the hell not? It doesn’t hurt to look.
I spend the next few days burying myself in work. Ford is giving me the space I asked for, checking in via text message a few times a day but not calling me. In some ways, that makes it feel like an actual adult relationship. He’s giving me what I requested, no matter how hard that is for him. Or he’s making up for keeping something else from me. That’s still something I’ll just have to get over.
I have dinner with my brother, Layla, and Maddox one night, and I book a flight out to Vegas to check on things there and see if I can find any event spaces. I’ve searched online a bit, but everything I’ve found is either too industrial or it’s an old hotel. I don’t want to own a hotel.
But I know people in Vegas. It’s where I built my business. I’ll find someone who can help me find a place, and things will magically fall into place. They always do.
Right?
But Vegas…it’s a tougher market. It’s a travel destination, sure, but how do I make my venue stand out among all the other venues in town? The hotels, the chapels—the quickie weddings Vegas isknownfor. From extravagant and luxurious to cheap and cheesy, they already exist there.
Maybe I shouldn’t pick Vegas as one of my cornerstones.
Man, these Bradley boys have really done a number on me if I’m sitting here doubting myself. It’s not like me.
I blow out a breath as I board the plane to Vegas.
It was home for the last five years, and even though I’ve already let Archer go, I’m not quite ready to let this city go.
Ford texts just after I buckle into my seat.
Ford:Checking in. How are you today?
Me:I’m okay. On my way to Vegas.
He doesn’t reply, and I don’t either.
I miss him. I miss Tampa. I miss what we built there. I miss being his partner and his teammate.
I miss hisfriendship.
I want to go back in time to when he got the offer. I want him to discuss it with me like two married adults should do.
Yes, it was his mansion to do with what he wished, but his siblings didn’t want him to sell. I didn’t want him to sell. After he started helping me out with my business…I guess I got overly excited. I really thought we were going to find some way to team up on it like we did with Winston Manor.
I sweep those thoughts behind me. No sense in dwelling on it now.
Instead, I stare out the little airplane window as day turns to night and contemplate whether I can move past all that so we can get back to where we were.
CHAPTER 46: Ford Bradley
Well and Truly Alone
Vegas?
She’s going to fuckingVegas?
