Walter’s voice drops pleadingly low. “Like your mother said, we’ll discuss it in private, Blair. That’s the end of it now, okay?”
But it’s not okay. Not according to the look on Blair’s face. She’s devastated, and the hopeful light in her eyes has completely died.
The worst part isn’t even that her father is cutting her off from taking an active role in the team’s draft picks. It’s that Blair is still convinced she’s going to eventually be in charge of the Tisdale Corporation—when I know that nothing could be further from the truth. There’s so much more at play here than she realizes.
She pushes her chair back from the table and straightens her spine. “You always say we’ll talk later, and then we don’t. Talk to me right now. I’m sitting here in front of you, and I have a right to know what you’re planning for my future.”
An uncomfortable silence descends over the table.
Nobody is going to tell her that her future includes being married off to the highest bidder—a man she will not choose for herself. A man who will not only gain a stunning wife and the daughter of one of the richest families in America…but also an extremely attractive bonus. Because he’s also going to begroomed to inherit ownership of the baseball team. Not Blair. Never Blair.
And she has no idea.
Walter quickly changes the subject by asking me about the weather forecast for the next few days, if any boat charters might be available for a day of deep-sea fishing, and if I have any recommendations for the best places his wife can lay out and tan while still having access to an attendant to wait on her? Blair silently observes the conversation for a few minutes, and then rises from her chair.
“If you’ll excuse me, I’ve lost my appetite. I’m going to go get settled into my room.”
“Blair!” her mother snaps. “Sit down.”
But Blair simply smiles tightly, her gaze bouncing off me as she quietly pushes in her chair and walks away.
Mrs. Tisdale drums her fingernails on the table before giving me a charming smile.
“Blair has always been an impetuous child. A temper like you wouldn’t believe. Unappreciative for what she has. Sadly, I imagine you see a lot of that with the clientele who can afford to stay at this establishment, don’t you?”
I very nearly say that I don’t agree with any part of that description of her daughter. But of course it’s my job to smile sympathetically at her and use my very best placating voice. “I could share some stories. Believe me.”
She laughs a little. “Oh, I bet you could. Now, why don’t we put all this fuss behind us and you can tell us all about the itinerary you’ve built for the trip.”
“Of course.”
But as I shift into full-on resort host mode, I can’t get the image of Blair’s face out of my mind.
If her parents think she has a temper now, I can’t imagine what they’ll think when the truth finally comes out.
11
BLAIR
I’m solivid at my parents that I’m about to explode by the time I reach my new hotel room, but I’m relieved to see that my luggage has been delivered. At least I have something to do with my hands now.
I put my things away with harsh, angry motions, stuffing clothes into dresser drawers, stabbing hangers through the straps of my dresses, slapping my toiletries onto the bathroom vanity. It’s hard to say if I’m more disappointed at my dad’s sudden refusal to let me help with the draft, furious at him and my mother for refusing to discuss the career that I’ve been planning to build my life around, or humiliated that Scowl was sitting at our table to witness the entire debacle. But one bright, shiny fact keeps circling in my mind: Scowl—no, Sebastian Argos—is one of the owners of this resort.
How interesting. How…fun.
Hownaughty.
Apparently my parents have paid him a hefty sum to cater to them and provide all the personal attention they desire. But that might just work out to my benefit. Because now that Sebastian is on the clock and I’m technically one of his VIP hotel guests…well, we could easily come up with all sorts of clandestineways to continue this fling a little longer. He can come and go anywhere on the property, after all. And I can excuse any disappearances by saying that Sebastian was just showing me around.
He hadn’t mentioned he was a resort owner. Granted, we never got to know each other that well. Leaving out the personal details of our lives had been intentional, and I get that. But he seemed so down to earth, I never suspected he was a secret millionaire. And there I was, feeling so pleased because for once I was seeing a guy who was interested in me for who I am, who didn’t know how rich my family is, who wasn’t just trying to get a foot in the door at the Tisdale Corporation like the guys I dated at NYU.
Is it possible that Sebastian knew who I was all along? But no. The look on his face when he walked up to my parents’ table said it all. He was just as shocked as I was to be crossing paths again, and so soon after we said our not-goodbyes.
I flop onto the bed and heave a sigh. I still can’t believe that my dad is purposely cutting me out of assisting with the draft. It doesn’t make any sense. We’ve been discussing potential picks for a year, and never once has he let on that he had no intention of allowing me to sit in on the proceedings with him. He knows how much I care about the game, about our team, about proving myself. What changed? Why now? Why didn’t he say anything before?
There’s something else niggling at me, too. I can’t put my finger on it, but I know something is up with my parents. I keep getting the sense that this family vacation is more than just a vacation, that they’re going to spring some other horrible news on me. Maybe they’re getting divorced, or worse, maybe one of them is sick. They are getting older, and Dad’s such a workaholic. And Mom…she hasn’t taken care of herself properlysince Sophie died, either. All of her focus has been on me. My stomach churns.
I’m overthinking this. Maybe it’s nothing to do with their personal lives. Maybe they’ve finally decided to sell off some of the family business. Mom’s always saying the corporation is getting too big and unwieldy, and Dad has talked about slowing down someday.Please, let them both be healthy, I think to myself.And if they do have to sell off some of the business, let it not be the baseball team.
