Page 130 of As a Last Resort
“What was that all about?”she asked as he beelined down the hall.
“Growth, Ivy.Growth.”
She shook her head.“Dad’s petitioning to steal you.”
“I have absolutely no idea what that means.”
“Nothing’s final,butthe idea is Robby would keep his promotion, obviously, but Dad’s going to recommend you head up a whole new division for boutique hotels using your strategy for the Lighthouse Collection.Finding the properties, retrofitting them, everything we talked about in the meeting.”
This was it.It wasn’t what I expected—it was something better.I’d be able to find and negotiate multimillion-dollar deals and cherry-pick those I thought would make the best developments for the collection.I’d have a whole team at my disposal, and be able to find the unearthed gems of tourism.
And Rock Island wouldn’t be turned into a neon dumping ground for high-density polyethylene.The quaintness of the island would be preserved.Locals would grow their businesses, not lose them.And new visitors would love and appreciate the island for what it was, not what millions of dollars of development could make it.
I should have been screaming at the top of my lungs, wanting to down a bottle of Dom and dance on top of a bar.It was officially a champagne kind of a night.I should have been over the moon.
But I wasn’t.
This is what should have made me happy.
But it didn’t.
Something was missing.
As I looked down at my desk, all I could think about was how proud Austin would be if I told him.He’d scoop me in his arms and tell me we were going to celebrate.He’d set me on the couch and tell me not to move.He’d make dinner from scratch for me and tell me how I deserved it, and how there wasn’t a single other person in the world who deserved it as much as me.Then he’d kiss me once, then twice like he couldn’t get enough.Then we’d forget about dinner as it got cold and spend the whole night wrapped up in each other.
She sighed.“You’re thinking about him, aren’t you?”
I shook my head to scatter the thoughts.I had finally let myself live a little instead of being scared that everything would fall apart if I made a wrong move.All my life I’d been running from that place and now, it was somehow finding a way to seep in through the cracks.
I had Austin to thank for that.For the first time, I let myself see something other than the hurt that’s always been there.It’s like I experienced a whole new place with him and now I couldn’t shake it.
I didn’t know if I wanted to.
“I don’t see you just up and leaving everything to move back there.You’re not exactly the damsel-in-distress archetype that givesup your entire life for some guy whose widowed mother owns a family Christmas tree farm.”
“Oh, I’m definitely not, but I’ve got an idea.Can I ask you one more favor?”
Her eyes twinkled.“Always.”
39
SAMANTHA
I scheduled Mom’s rehab visit for the day of Lexi’s rehearsal dinner.Might as well kill two birds with one trip.
The hallway smelled like bleach.Not strong enough to sting your nose, but strong enough you knew without a shadow of a doubt someone finished cleaning thirty seconds before you walked in.
The floor was white and shiny and my shoes squeaked as I walked down the hall to where my mom had spent the last couple weeks.I hated how it reminded me of the hospital.
“She’s been really excited for this visit.”Dr.Joseph introduced herself in the reception area as Mom’s counselor.My deep dive desktop research told me there was a 47 percent chance she was an addict too.A former addict?Recovering addict?I didn’t know the lingo or how you were supposed to address people.
I didn’t want small talk.I was clinging to my mother by the last tiny bit of rope that was fraying anyway, and I wasn’t in the mood for someone to act like they knew our entire dynamic.Like they knew what existed in the space between our conversations and our politeness.
It felt like walking down a hallway where a black hole was waiting at the end that I would disappear into forever.For so long we had done this dance of moving around each other and ignoring themassive rain cloud that hung above us.We werefine, with gallons of rain dumping on us, drowning us in our own heads.
I was ready to face it though.Whatever the outcome would be, at least we could stop pretending there was just Coke in the Styrofoam cup.
“She’s been doing really well.Has checked off all the boxes and has held firm to all her commitments,” she continued.“She’s become someone people count on here.Other patients.Even some of the staff.”She smiled and paused before we walked into her office.
