Page 343 of The Parkers' Handsome Holiday
“I’m going to have to stay in Nevada for a little longer than planned,” Bailey said, as though I hadn’t already figured that out. She had told me one or two weeks maximum, and those two weeks had come and gone. I already knew that she was staying there longer.
I just didn’t know when she was coming back. But I held back on asking, not sure how to phrase the question so that it wouldn’t sound too needy. I knew that she had business that she was taking care of there, and I couldn’t ask her to drop everything and come back just because I missed her. I didn’t even know how to turn it into a joke about Ethan missing her.
I really was in over my head. I was only starting to realize just how much so.
“I had a meeting with the board of directors yesterday. That’s actually what I was stepping into when you called. Sorry I didn’t get back to you.” Bailey sounded a bit frazzled, and I wondered if I was the only one with too much on my plate at the moment. It made me wish that there was something that I could do to help her out.
And it only emphasized, yet again, how wrong I was for her. She deserved to be with someone who could understand her business woes and help her figure out ways to solve them. That wasn’t me.
“Anyway, the board wants me to stay here and keep an eye on Ian for another month, just to make sure that he doesn’t do anything stupid. I tried to tell them that Ian and I have made a plan and everything, but they’re afraid that the minute I leave, Ian’s going to go rogue again. And if it was just them, it would probably be fine; I could tell them to just get over themselves. But they’re talking about the investors possibly losing confidence in him and pulling out. So I really have to stay.”
From the way that Bailey said it, I wanted to believe she really didn’t want to stay there. But who knew. Again, I wanted to ask if she was ever actually going to be coming back. Then again, I didn’t exactly want to hear the truth if she was planning on staying there in Nevada.
“So,” Bailey said, “basically what I’m saying is that I need you to keep holding down the fort until I get back. I know it’s a lot to ask. I hope things are going well?”
“Things are fine,” I said, still trying to process the rest of it. Still trying to hold back the question about whether or not she was ever going to come back.
“Well, good,” she said. She paused, and I thought she might say something more, maybe about us. But instead, she just said, “We’ll talk more soon. I have to get to work. But thanks for everything.”
“Don’t worry about it,” I said, feeling slight disappointment course through me. I hung up the phone and got Ethan off to school. Then, I headed to work.
I couldn’t help missing Bailey’s presence around the lodge as I walked in. I couldn’t help feeling stretched too thin as three different people came up to me and told me about customer complaints that morning.
And I couldn’t help feeling that maybe I was doing something that I didn’t want to do for a woman I wasn’t even sure would ever be coming back.
Just when I thought my morning couldn’t get any worse, my phone rang again. This time, it was a call from Ian. I could only imagine what he might want to say to me right now. He had been pissed when he found me kissing his sister in my office. He had done his best to sabotage my job before he’d gone back to Nevada with Bailey to sort out the problems at his own business.
Bailey had assured me, before she left, that Ian had come around, and that although he wasn’t happy to think of Bailey and I as a couple, he had agreed to stay out of things. But still, what the hell was the dick doing calling me now?
I didn’t bother to find out. I ignored the call. I had enough other things to deal with right now.
CHAPTER 50
BAILEY
I could feel Ian’s eyes on me as I finished up work at the casino on Wednesday evening. We were working on a new promotion to bring people into the casino, trying to build a new group of regulars to supplement the ones that we had managed to win back in spite of the damage Ian had done to the business’ reputation. Things seemed to be going well, although our numbers still weren’t what they had been before.
But that was none of my concern, really. Things had turned around enough that Ian would be able to keep his job, at least until he screwed up again, and my work here was done. If things continued to improve or not, that was up to him. This was his business, after all.
Yet here I was, apparently stuck here for another month.
“Hey,” Ian said, coming over to me. His brows knit together. “You know, I can tell that you aren’t as interested in this as you were in the ski resort.”
I grimaced. “Sorry,” I said. “I’m doing my best.” I was surprised that he had seen through me, because I’d thought that I was hiding it well enough. But the truth was; “You know that this isn’t what I want to do with my life. I can’t honestly say that I do want to be here.”
“I know,” Ian sighed. “You’re just here because I fucked up.” He shook his head. “Dinner? Sorry I had to bail on you last night, but Bill wanted to chat to me about some stuff. Work meeting.”
“Yeah, I know,” I said, waving away his apologies. “But yeah, let’s get dinner. Where do you want to go?”
We headed to an Italian place that Dad used to bring us to all the time. I smiled across the table at Ian. “A little comfort food?” I joked. “How did you know that that was what I needed?”
Ian shook his head. “Look, if you don’t want to stick around for another month, you don’t have to,” he said. “I can tell how bummed you’ve been ever since your meeting with the board yesterday.”
“I can’t just leave,” I protested. “I mean, you’re right, I’m pretty bummed. I thought I was this close to heading home. I told everyone right from the start that I was only going to be here for a couple weeks. But if it’s a matter of the investors pulling out if I leave? I couldn’t do that to you.”
“I’m the one who got myself into this mess,” Ian reminded me. “I know that I shouldn’t have done what I did with the casino. It was reckless. But I legitimately did think that I was making things better in the long run.” He paused, clearing his throat. “But my reasons for doing it don’t matter. The point is, I’m the one who fucked up. You shouldn’t be punished because of that.”
I shrugged. “It’s not really a punishment,” I said. “Honestly, there are some perks to being here. I get to spend more time with you, for one.” I grinned crookedly. “I just wish it could have come after I was a little more settled in Utah. As it is, it feels like I just left. I didn’t have time to miss things yet!”
