Page 63 of Sunset Tides
“I am excited.” Rob leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. They ached from staring at his computer screen for so long. “It’s just been a lot.”
“Try not to lose your nerve at the last minute,” his dad said. “Don’t sabotage yourself. You’ve done it before, and I can tell you’re thinking of doing it again.”
Rob sat up. How did his dad know that? “Thanks for the confidence, Dad.”
His dad bellowed another laugh. “Be strict with yourself, that’s all. Get back to work.”
“Will do. See you.”
It was perhaps the proudest his dad had sounded in recent years, so ofcourseit had to be about this disastrous deal.
How had his dad known he was thinking of ways to back out? Could he hear it in his voice? Or did he have so little faith in him?
Was it really about Lucy? Or was it Rob being weak, again, and thwarting his own success?
Unlike other deals that had fallen through, all he had to do this time was stay out of the way.
Why did it feel impossible?
With his dad’s comments rolling around in his head, Rob’s insomnia only worsened. By the time Monday rolled around, he was no closer to a solution and as erratic and panicked as ever.
The more tired he got, the more difficult it was to focus. Lucy’s face kept flashing into his mind, ripping him away from whatever revenue statements, building proposals, or condemnation arguments he was looking through.
He decided to drop by the farm shop to see Lucy, telling himself it wouldn’t hurt his productivity in the least. It would help his inspiration and clarity, and it had absolutely nothing to do with him wanting to see her again.
When he got to the shop, he opened the door and smacked into a towering bookshelf.
“I’m sorry,” he said, peering around the corner.
“Oh good!” Lucy popped her head out from behind. “You can help me move this.”
He eyed the stack of candles teetering dangerously off one of the shelves. “Should we take all the stuff off first?”
Lucy shook her head. “Absolutely not. That’ll take forever. Come on!”
He did as he was told, pushing the shelf as Lucy pulled and steered. She was impressively strong, and they ended up only losing one candle. It hit the floor, bouncing and rolling without a crack.
Once they had the bookshelf where she wanted it, Lucy ran to the other side of the store to rearrange a display of local candy, then to another shelf to move postcards, and finally back to her computer.
“Having a good day, then?” he asked.
“No.” She slumped into her chair behind the counter. “I feel useless. There’s nothing for me to do here, and there’s nothing for me to do for the hotel.”
“Maybe that’s a good thing,” he said. “Maybe you should move on from the hotel.”
Lucy clicked away on her laptop. “Yeah right. Move on to what? It’s the most important event of our – wait!”
“What?”
“I just got an email! My FOIA request is ready!”
His heart sank. Without realizing it, Rob had started slowly backing up. “I’ll let you get to it then.”
She ignored him, clicking fiercely. “Oh my gosh. This has three hundred pages of documents.”
“Oh yeah?” Could she hear him breathing heavily? It seemed like he was breathing heavily all of a sudden.
“They’re trying to bury me in paperwork,” she said with a scoff. “It’s not going to work! I happen to be excellent with sorting through garbage.”
