Page 58 of Fighting Gravity

Later that week, Rosie had her first post-whatevermeeting scheduled with the OrbitAll team. Since Elle was leaving Victory and the hotel design was complete, and because she was a coward, Rosie switched their in-person meetings to virtual. She knew she wouldn’t get away with online meetings forever. The groundbreaking, always a ceremonious occasion, was the following week. But the less time she spent in person with Tate, the better. Time with him would just remind her how she’d failed herself. She’d failed him, too. Tate had loved her and expected Rosie to love him in return.

She hadn’t. She couldn’t.

She pulled up their virtual meeting program in the conference room that held her untouched-for-too-long homeless housing sketches. She should have plenty of time now to devote to her hobby. Maybe she could finally make a feasible design a reality.

Andrew joined her, chinos perfectly pressed and coffee in hand. He also had a cup of tea for her in a branded Abode mug. Rosie accepted the steaming tea with a smile. In the turmoil of the moment with Tate, she’d said that Andrew would take over the Hotel Astra project. With a few weeks behind them, she’d changed her mind. She had won this dream project for the firm. She wouldn’t give up just because she couldn’t love its owner in the way he deserved. She decided to share duties with Andrew instead.

“Can’t wait to dive in. Commercial space travel. Insane.” Andrew sipped his coffee calmly, belying his excited words.

“It really is,” Rosie agreed, fiddling with the camera angle as they waited for the OrbitAll team to call in.

Quinn’s face appeared first, against the backdrop of a dense skyline and sparkling harbor. Definitely not Victory.

Rosie greeted her happily. Despite the emotions swirling through her the last time she’d seen Quinn, as she left Tate’s house cracked open and numb, she was glad to see the woman she’d started to consider a friend. “Long time no see, Rosie.” Quinn opened her mouth, shifted her gaze to Andrew, then closed her lips again with a sigh. She gave Rosie a half-smile.

Rosie nodded. She knew Quinn was offering sympathy. “Where are you?”

“Tokyo.”

Andrew whistled. “Is Tokyo as crazy as people say?”

Quinn’s smile was genuine this time. Her freckles popped on her defined cheekbones, like the summer sun had brought them out. “Japan has special energy,oui.”

Rosie’s heart crashed to her grass-green pumps as a new square with Tate’s face appeared on the screen. Their CFO, a woman she’d met only once, sat next to him, clicking a pen open and closed at impressive speed.

Tate greeted Quinn first. “I told you this meeting was optional.”

Quinn shrugged. “It’s only six o’clock here. I have dinner plans later.”

Shaking his head, Tate brought his gaze to the Abode staff. To Rosie. His amber-flecked eyes weren’t as startling on the screen. Or maybe she was getting over him, though her tumbling stomach told her otherwise.

Another square appeared, the contractor Rosie had suggested Tate meet with. She was pleased to see the small firm had been hired.

“Rosie, do you want to start introductions and walk our team through what construction administration looks like? Then Hector can give us a breakdown of the schedule.”

“Of course,” she replied, pleased at how steadily her voice came out of her turbulent, trembling body.

They had done it. Seemingly, they had both moved on.

Elle moved in the following weekend. First item on Rosie’s agenda? Brunch. Elle’s? Buy a freaking house.

They spent their evenings the following week touring homes in San Diego’s beach communities. Wandering through the different styles of homes was a nice distraction for Rosie. She liked the Craftsman style best.

Jeremy contacted her late in the week to ask if Rosie wanted to come to a networking event for developers interested in sustainable multifamily housing. She’d given Jeremy an emphatic yes, relieved that he had laid to rest her fears about her reputation in the design community. God, if she could connect with a green developer, this really would be the year that built Abode into the design firm she knew it could be. She could focus on growing the business instead of healing herself. Her healing plan hadn’t worked, anyway. She’d even cancelled all her upcoming appointments with her counselor.

Rosie drove to Victory for the groundbreaking the following week still in a business mindset. Andrew came with her. Elle had declined the invitation. She’d said she’d given OrbitAll everything she could. To Rosie, declining the invite was further proof that her friend was healing. Proof that healing could happen. Rosie tried not to dwell on the differences between them as she covered the dusty miles into the Mojave Desert.

She really tried not to dwell on her lack of healing as they neared the construction site. The big equipment for earthwork was already on site. Safety fencing and OrbitAll-branded signage were up. She recognized Tate’s stocky form, in a beautiful suit on a construction site, before she even parked.

Rosie’s hands shook as she turned her car off and climbed into searing midday desert heat. The wind whipped her dress around her legs. She felt out of sync as she and Andrew joined the group gathered on the dry tract of land that would hold the hotel her team had designed. There was some joy about the project milestone, of course, but excitement was drowned out as her gaze collided with Tate’s.

Her heart launched into an erratic rhythm. Sweat pooled on her lower back. The wind created more chaos with her dress and hair. The sight of his big, tan hands sent tingles dancing across her skin. She swore she could even smell him on the wind. Her stomach twisted with the strangeness of Tate so close yet worlds away.

Only her head remained steady.

Rosie couldn’t trust these volatile feelings. When it came to her heart and her mind, she couldn’t trust anything.

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