Page 30 of Always Yours

“Sucks that he’s gotta leave for a business trip on your anniversary.”

I shrug my shoulders, knowing it isn’t really a big deal. He never had much interest in the wine industry and I’m eternally grateful for the sacrifice he made in moving out to the west coast to be with me.

“We had dinner together last night and there was this morning,” I say, winking at Lauren and she makes a gagging noise.

“I don’t want to know what you and Will did this morning,” she says feigning disgust. “But yeah, you can come by and stay the night. The kids will like that and we can all watch a movie together and stay up late.”

She sounds natural and normal, like she isn’t still a complete mess, and maybe she is getting better. Maybe things are settling down.

But it doesn’t stop me from opening my inbox the second she walks out the door.

And there it is, the email I’ve been waiting for.

Hi Ellen.

So wonderful to hear from you. I’m so sorry to hear that your crusher is acting up, and had you contacted me a few years earlier I would’ve been happy to help you. I’m now retired from the wine industry, but I can put you in contact with my assistant. She handles all inquiries and forwards them on to a list ofcontacts I have in place for situations like this. These people have all been hand selected by me and are quite capable of helping you. Just a word of warning, because you live in The States most will decline the offer to help you because of the travel and the expense, but I’m sure someone will be able to assist you.

Please pass my contact info along to your father. I’d love to catch up with him.

The email goes on to share his contact information and the information of how to reach his assistant.

It’s my last ditch effort to pull Lauren out of this funk, either that or she’ll hate me for the rest of our lives.

I immediately shoot off an email to Tony’s assistant and again with the punctuality, the woman gets back to me right away. She asks for my contact details, all the information on the machine, when we need it fixed by and how much we are willing to pay to retain someone for their services.

I want to tell her I’ll pay anything and that I’m not looking for someone off the list Tony has left her, but that I’m looking specifically for Jack. Yet something about that feels like it will come across rather stalker-ish, so I decide to wait to hear back from her.

I’m hitting refreshing on my inbox for the millionth time when Will appears in the doorway to my office.

“What are you up to, beautiful?” he asks and my heart flutters at his words. After all this time he still makes me weak.

“I’m trying to find Jack,” I reply, the determination evident in my tone.

“But?”

“But nothing. It’s just not happening as quickly as I would like, and when I say quickly, I mean instantly.”

“You’ve never been the most patient person,” Wills says, winking at me.

“Me, impatient? I distinctly remember someone being rather impatient this morning.”

“I’m always that way when it comes to you,” Will murmurs as he leans down to kiss me. His lips are soft against mine and I stand, slipping my arms around his waist. “It will happen,” he adds, and I cock my head to one side, confused by his comment. “You’ll find Jack and if you don’t, something will come along for Lauren. I know it feels like it won’t right now, but it will. Time will help.”

“You’ve always been so wise,” I say, teasing him with a pinch to his side and his arms tighten around me just as my computer chimes out indicating I’ve received a new email.

I shove Will away and nearly collide with my desk chair as I scramble to read the message that is waiting for me.

“Yes!” I shout out loud and throw a fist up in the air when I see Tony’s assistant’s name on my screen.

“It’s him?” Will asks, equally as excited.

I open the email and quickly scan her words only to find my shoulders sagging and my excitement dwindling fast.

“No, but she has someone who says they can fix the crusher and can be here in the next three weeks.”

“Well, I know that’s not what you were hoping for, but hopefully one positive will come out of this. You’ll finally get that fucking crusher fixed.”

“Yeah,” I say, feeling defeated.

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