Page 76 of My Totally Unfair Deal

THIRTY-NINE

ELIZA

Weeks Later

I’m still checking my phone.

Not obsessively, not every second—but enough to embarrass myself. I keep hoping for an apology. A call. Atext, even.

But there’s nothing from Harrison.

And it hurts.

I haven’t had time to fall apart, though. The resort’s booked solid for the next eight months. While Jackson handles interviews for new staff, I’m covering everything from front desk duties to early morning tours.

I’m in the garden house when I spot a familiar silhouette on the other side of the screen door.

Lance?

His eyes meet mine, but he still knocks—standing there like a stranger, like the years between us are too thick to cross with just a doorknob.

I open it anyway.

“Hey, Lance.” My heart stutters. “You checking in this week?”

“You know damn well Jackson still has me blocked from making a reservation here,” he says, grinning that same crooked, boyish grin I remember from summers before everything went sideways.

“I just came to say congrats,” he adds, holding out a bottle of wine—cheap, gaudy, and something Harrison would definitely disapprove of.

So I’ll be drinking ittonight.

“Janey told me this stuff tastes expensive.”

I take it from him. “Thank you... Is that all you came here for?”

“Not really.”

He picks up a pair of shears and starts helping me cut down dried stalks, like no time has passed at all.

“Two things,” he says. “One—I’m sorry.”

The words are simple. But the silence that follows? Heavy as hell.

“For leaving the way I did. For checking out of the family. For not coming back sooner.”

I glance down at the wine bottle. Then back at him.

“You know what sucked more than you leaving?” I ask.

He shakes his head.

“You didn’t even let me hate you properly. You just disappeared. No fight. No goodbye. Nothing.”

He winces.

“But I’m not angry anymore,” I say, softer now. “I get it. You needed distance. I just wish I didn’t have to grow up overnight because of it.”

“You did more than grow up.” He pulls me into a hug. “You became the most talked-about businesswoman in agriculture overnight. All my old friends at other farms have been raving about you after seeing you in New York. Mom would be proud.”

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