Page 104 of Beautifully Wild

When I’m alone in my room, I close my eyes and replay the memory. I threw his key at them before slamming the door. Seeing his name come up repeatedly on the screen of my phone and rejecting his calls of apology and refusing to discuss it with him even though he told my father he messed up, I can still hear my father saying, “How bad could it be?”

Everyone believed hekissedsomeone else. I never ratted on him but simply told my family to let us work it out—meaning for him never to contact me again.

As usual, my father had other plans.

When I stop taking the malaria medication in a few days, hopefully, the vivid dreams will stop because it’s a memory I don’t want to think about. Or is it the fact I’m worked up about working with him?

A crack of thunder wakes me. I toss for about twenty minutes and can’t go back to sleep, so I shower and dress, then I creep down the stairs. When I unlock the office door, it’s still dark, and I’m the first to arrive. An hour later, Dana strolls in, mumbling something about Mondays when she walks past my desk.

“You ready for this?” she asks as she slips off her coat and places it over the back of her chair.

“You know how I asked you to be nice? Well, scrap that,” I say and swallow the last of my coffee. My second cup. “At least for today.”

“Consider it done,” she says, firing up her computer.

By the time Ethan waltzes into the office, both Dana and I are well into the day’s work with most emails addressed.

“Eden,” he says with the warmth I remember from happy times. “It’s good to see you.”

He’s wearing a lilac shirt and black tie that matches his pants. The way his dark hair is swept away from his tanned face accentuates his beautiful brown eyes even more. Their beauty was the first thing that caught my attention when we met ten years ago.

I stand and hold out my hand. “Thanks for all you did while I was away.”

Ethan takes my hand, and he reaches in for a friendly kiss on the cheek. “Glad to have you back.”

It grinds on me how he says it as though he’s got this covered. I remind myself it’s not a bad thing even though this company has been my baby since I left school.

“Do you want coffee while I go over everything I’ve ticked off your list?”

Raising my mug, I smile. “On my second cup already. Heads up… in my father’s eyes you’re late even though you technically haven’t clocked in. And I worked through your list last week while you were in Sydney. I’m sure Dad will cover everything in his Monday morning meeting.” I raise my arm to check my watch even though I’m not wearing one—only to make a point. “Which is in one hour, so best you check your emails now.”

The space between his eyebrows creases, only slightly yet enough for me to notice.

“I replied to most of mine yesterday except for a couple that may have come through early this morning.”

Working on a Sunday would impress my father.

“He has placed me on the pool and guest house reno.”

My gut drops. It was my idea. I even had architects draw up my design.

“With you,” he adds.

“Okay…” I’m breathing faster in a combination of relief and pent-up anger. Some projects are my babies. If I’m planning to move on, I need the reassurance everything will be handled in a way that’s best for the business.

“Did you peruse my plans?”

“They look great, but I have a couple of ideas to add.”

“Yeah,” I say, tapping my fingers on the desk. “Same. I’ve been inspired by the architecture from my holiday. Perhaps we can brainstorm over lunch.” I want to kick myself the moment the words fall out.

I give myself a moment and accept I’m capable of working alongside Ethan. Untilthat night,we got on well. We told each other everything. He was my best friend. It would make my father happy if we can work alongside each other.

As an added benefit, it would allow me to get the wheels in motion to gain freedom for myself because that’s what I crave—freedom and a certain someone hidden away in the jungle with a tight hold on my heart.

49

Eden

---